Jonah Albrecht

Last Sunday in Church Year

November 24th, 2024

Exodus 3:1-15

“I AM” A Name You’ll Never Forget

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

13But Moses said to God, “If 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?’ what should I say to them?” 14So God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He also said, “You will say this to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” 15God also told Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers―the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob―has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered from generation to generation.’

In the name of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, our Maker, Redeemer, and Comforter, DFR:

There are many names that have been etched into the annals of history that the world will never forget. You have those who were great warriors conquering wherever they went. Names like Alexander the Great, Julius Ceasar, and Genghis Khan. Names found in the realm of peace-makers such as Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresea, etc. Then you have those whose names live forever in infamy: Vlad the Impaler, Bloody Mary, and Adolf Hitler.

The number of people that have made their name in history, whether for good or evil is endless. But each of these names share one thing in common: Their name is the only lasting memory. The empires of Alexander, Ceasar, and Genghis Khan have fallen. Ghandi, King, and others, though they are remembered for what they did, others have taken their place as leaders of peace. Vlad, Mary, and Hitler have long been placed in the rearview mirror.

The lives of the people I mentioned span across 2,380 years. There are other names from history that came before them and more names that will come after them that will find their way into history. There is one name, however, that has been in history well before Alexander the Great and will continue to be present well past any of our lives. This Name is different from all others because it does not fade away, it does not die off, but it is alive, active, and unchanging. The name? I AM.

I AM, the personal name God revealed to His servant Moses and the name that brings us every comfort, every joy, and every drop of peace we have in our lives. I AM; A Name You’ll Never Forget.

There are few accounts in Scripture that reveals as many personal details about God while also revealing our own shortcomings and dependency on Him as does Moses before the burning bush.

When we think of Moses, we often think of the man talked about in the great heroes of faith chapter Hebrews 11: 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

But there is more to Moses’ story than just great acts of faith. He was still a human being just like you and me and he had his own shortages of faith. When God said to him, “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt,” Moses’ response was not “Yes, Lord, I will go.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Moses was bold, or foolish enough to make an excuse before the LORD whose glory was in a unburnt-burning bush.

From the outside looking in, it looks like the most outrageous thing he could have done. Was he really that blind? Now, it pays to look at the context of Moses’ life. Not as an excuse for his lack of faith here, but to show how the pressure of those around him overwhelmed him and took his eyes off of God.

When Moses was in Egypt, he did not embrace the fact that he grew up in the palace of the Pharaoh. He wanted to be with his people and be considered an Israelite. He sought to be the redeemer of his people early in his life, but it only led to him murdering an Egyptian, alienating his people, and fleeing to the wilderness. It was the uncertainty of his reception before his people that put fear in his heart, that made him think, “no way am I doing this job!” Even when the LORD Himself called him into action, this fear of rejection, humiliation, and a lack of credentials led him to avoid the call into the Lord’s service.

Have you had your own who am I moment? Though the Lord doesn’t usually speak to us directly in the way He did to Moses, He still calls us to do His will. Each one of you are provided with opportunities to forward the Kingdom of God; with vocations to lead by example and to show the hand of God in your life. Is it so easy to always follow His direction? Or does the outside influence of people’s perception cause you to look away from God’s Word and shrink back into a hole?

If we’re being honest, doing the will of the LORD is not the easiest thing to do. Even the Apostle Paul admitted that. He said, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” Moses, Paul, you, me, we all have corruption and sin dwelling in our hearts that makes God small and our problems Goliath. That is what happened with Moses.

The fear of his people rejecting him, his fear of Pharaoh punishing him, the fear of his own abilities in being 80 years old all loomed so large that they covered the face of the glory of God that was right before him in the burning bush. But don’t think for a second that Moses had all the advantages of seeing God and his failure to trust is worse than ours. We have the testimony of the Scriptures to look at. We get to see how God protected His people over thousands of years, never once failing them. God has given us an impeccable track record to rely on that shows He can overcome whatever “problem” lies in our path. And yet, we still fail Him, don’t we.

That is the legacy of Moses’ name – failure. It is the legacy of your name and mine. Without God we can only manage to fail Him miserably. That is why God doesn’t give in when Moses says, “No.” God knows our failures and that is exactly what God uses to accomplish His will. God didn’t want Moses to lead the children of Israel on his own. Moses needed the I AM to lead with him.

13But Moses said to God, “If 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?’ what should I say to them?” 14So God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He also said, “You will say this to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”

When you look at the name I AM, it really doesn’t stand out much. Not when you compare it to other names for God like Jehovah, Wonderful, Mighty God, Counselor, Ancient of Days, Adonai, and so on. But I AM speaks volumes. It is the personal name of God and it tells us everything we need to know about who our God is.

I AM is the Creator of all things. He is the one who spoke the entire world around us into being. He said, “Let us make man in our own image.” So, I AM is the one who fashioned and made you with His own hand. You are special because you are God’s creation.

I AM is the one who is Just. When the entire world was dragged asunder by the poison of sin, God remained perfect. He wrote His law on the heart of mankind so that the world would retain a sense of morality. It would be the testimony to all that God is present, He is I AM.

I AM is the deliverer. Whether Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, to prevent them from eating from the Tree of Life and living forever in their sin, or the children of Israel in their numerous oppressions and eventual captivity. It was always I AM who heard their plea, raised up nations, and orchestrated the deliverance of His people and always kept His promises.

I AM is the redeemer. Did you know that Jesus laid claim to this personal name of God? One of the many times the Jews were arguing with Jesus, He said,

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

There was no doubt that Jesus testified to being the one, true, almighty, I AM God, and it drove those Jews crazy. But while it drove them crazy, it drives us towards Him and fills us with comfort. Jesus being I AM meant that God Himself, the Creator, the Just, the Deliverer, stepped into human history. I AM was born a child of the Virgin Mary; I AM grew up following the Law of God; I AM showed love and compassion to everyone He met; I AM went forward with complete trust and faith in His Father; I AM was betrayed and sentenced to death; I AM died as a common criminal before the Romans, but judged by God as the one who was guilty for everyone else’s sin; I AM willingly gave up His life.

I AM did all of this for you. He knew you and knew the depth of your sin-sickened heart and He did something about it. He didn’t just sit back and let you rot away. The same way He didn’t sit back and let Moses dwell in the weakness of His faith. The depth of the love of our God. No matter how many times we buck Him, He stays and offers us His forgiveness and restoration because He died for your sin and mine and He took His life up from death to make your eternal life a guarantee.

Finally, I AM is eternal. We read earlier in the service a section from Revelation 1. Hear again verse 8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” This is what brings every detail of our God together. Alpha is the beginning of the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last letter. It is meant to signify that eternal, unchanging nature of God. Think about how often things change in our world. Now hear this: The One who is in control of all things, the One who holds you in the palm of His hand never changes. The care I AM showed for you in creating you? Never changing. The justice He proclaims on your behalf? Never changing. The deliverance from trials and tribulations? Never changing. The love I AM has that sent Him to the cross for you? That love is never changing and never ending.

This is the I AM God who transformed Moses from a fearful shepherd to a man of faith who led God’s people to the promised land. This is the I AM God who transforms you from a lost sinner to His own child who has made you and will continue to make you able to accomplish anything that I AM calls you to do. I AM is truly a name you’ll never forget. Amen.