PASTOR’S CORNER, David Hoffman, First Church of the Nazarene, Liberal

For many years, I recall my personal biblical model and mentor for ministry was Moses. He portrayed several characteristics for which I could relate. After enjoying life in the Egyptian palace under Pharoah’s daughter's care and protection for his first 40 years, he became a runaway due to killing an Egyptian who mistreated a Hebrew slave.

I will highlight several commonalities from both Moses’ and my own callings from God. I also want to emphasize how God worked in Moses’ life.

First of all, God creates interest to get our attention. Exodus 3:3 says, “The angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. . . I will go over and see this strange sight.” It’s a theophany, or divine appearance, when God calls us.

Secondly, God calls us by our personal name. 3:4 says, “God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” God knows us because He created us in His image. His fingerprints are all over us. (Check out Psalm 139!)

Thirdly, God calls us into worship to honor, adore and revere Him with awe. 3:5 says, “‘Do not come any closer,’ God said, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’” God is transcendent, i.e. beyond our comprehension, yet we encounter His divine presence in real time!

Fourthly, God cares about our sufferings, pain and adversities. In 3:7, “The LORD said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians.” 3:9 continues, “And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.”

Fifthly, God commissions Moses (and us) to be involved in partnership as His instrument in the rescue operation. God is the Senior Partner and our constant Companion. He establishes a limit to adversity. We participate and cooperate with His redemptive plan to have ownership.

Sixthly, God has answers for our reluctance.

In 3:11, Moses responds, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Like us, Moses is out of his comfort zone. The task is overwhelming! In 3:12, God reassures him with His personal presence - “I will be with you.” He gave him a sign that He would again meet with Moses at the same exact location, known as Mount Horeb or Mt. Sinai, when the people were delivered from bondage. Again, Moses uses the hypothetical question, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God provides His name “I AM WHO I AM” then “I AM” in short. God guarantees He will be faithful by His eternal character!

God explains to Moses how the Pharoah will harden his heart, but the LORD will compel him with His “mighty hand.” (3:19) In 3:20, “I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders (10 plagues) . . . After that, he will let you go.”

In my story, I became a “runaway” spiritually from God’s call to preach – for three years from age 14 to age 17. Jonah’s story also became familiar to me, since at the age of 12, I had read the biography of David Livingstone. He served God in the role as a medical missionary to Africa. Subsequently, my lifelong goal became to help people in the medical profession.

When I turned 12, my dad moved us from the urban life of Fort Worth, Texas, to the rural life on a farm sixty miles south. During my middle school and high school years I rode a school bus to Hillsboro. I learned to take care of chickens, pigs, cattle, goats, etc. as well as haul hay, hoe five acres of watermelons and a similar amount of all kinds of vegetables in addition to the orchard.

My mom took me to church at age 5. During a Sunday School class the teachers presented the life of Jesus weekly on flannelgraph. One day the “light bulb” came on in my brain, and I understood Jesus was the Son of God who suffered death on the cross to provide salvation and atonement.

While attending the Hillsboro, Texas Church of the Nazarene, I vividly remember praying at the altar on a Sunday evening. As I prayed to offer to God my life in a deeper relationship, His voice spoke to me inquiring, “David, will you preach for me?” I was 14 years old at the time. I was dumbfounded and shocked the Lord would call me into full-time ministry. I opened my eyes at the altar and saw another teen named Gary praying on the other side. Immediately, I replied in my spirit, “Lord, use him because he is dating the pastor’s daughter, and he sings very well. I am not worthy to be used in your service. Besides, I stutter trying to speak in front of people because I get nervous.”

At the age of 17, I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior. The pastor shared about justification by grace through faith in Christ. He stressed that our sins against God’s laws as well as breaking His heart could actually be forgiven “just-as-if-I’d” never sinned due to Jesus’ death for me on the cross. Jesus also imparts His grace in a person’s life by His cleansing power. The Holy Spirit gave me assurance that I was a child of God and that I was adopted into God’s family.

Finally, on October 30, 1975, I surrendered and responded “yes” to God’s call on my life to preach, at age 18. So, this year is 51 years since I accepted God’s call to preach the gospel in full-time ministry. How time flies! I have also, like Moses, learned to fully rely on the Lord’s faithfulness instead of reluctantly denying His will for my life. Now, what is God calling you to do for His Kingdom?