"Why Me?" - Exodus 3:l-l2 - August 3l, l997

One morning this past week I was having coffee with a friend and he asked me if I could help him move an elderly couple. They had no family and were in a bind. I thought to myself, "what excuse can I use to get out of this one?" And as he talked I kept thinking, "Why me?" Doesn’t he realize that I have other things to do? Then he told me how both of the people had major health problems and they needed help in a hurry. I felt some compassion and I replied, "call me this afternoon if you can’t find anyone else." It was one of those half-hearted responses. And I must admit I was relieved when the call didn’t come.

Why me? All of us have asked that question at some time. This is what Moses was thinking when God called him from the burning bush. Moses protested. "who am I to lead the Israelites?" And God responded by saying, "it is YOU I have chosen."

When we are asked to do something the first question we ask is Why Me? Surely there are others who are more qualified for the task at hand. We can think of a hundred other persons who would be right for the job, but for some mysterious reason, we have been chosen. Why me also has a hidden agenda. It can mean, this task is beneath me. It disrupts my schedule. Or, I have more important things to do. So when there is someone else who can do the job we say, Why Me?

Notice that as the Lord invited Moses to lead the people he was also asked to take off his shoes. In other words. The call to work for God is a call to humility. We are influenced greatly by the Protestant Work Ethic. And what we do is glorify our work when our work is nothing more than doing the creative work of God. Martin Luther attacked the work ethic by saying that all work is divinely ordained. For him the word vocation is not work but worship.

One time William Willimon at Duke University was asked by a student what they could do to serve God while at college. Willimon replied, "First by studying hard. You are called to be a student." That is what Luther meant by vocation.

It was not just leadership that God wanted Moses to provide, it was also a relationship that called for an attitude of humility. God created a garden, like he did with Adam and Eve, then invited them to help. Like with Moses, God invited him to help. And God calls us not to work ourselves to death, but to help.

When we say "why me" we may be just whining. One thing the world is full of is whiners. You know, people who always complain when they are asked to do something. People who are negative when it comes to responding to a need. Whining is a outward visible sign of an attitude problem.

Thomas Edison once stared at the ruins of his laboratory which was totally destroyed by fire. Instead of saying what a waste of resources or whining about what he had lost he said, "All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew." Three weeks after the fire he delivered his first phonograph. Edison didn’t say, "why me?" He saw a disaster but saw the potential in it. In this case, an end to past mistakes and an opportunity to begin new.

God calls us to respond, but our attitudes stand in the way. It’s not that God wants us to work like crazy. God wants us to humble ourselves and respond when there is a need.

There was a professional golfer by the name of Robert De Vincenzo, who gave his winning paycheck to a woman who had a dying baby. It turned out that she was a phoney. When a golf official asked told him about the woman who and swindled him, Vincenzo replied, "Thank God no baby has died."

We have no record that Jesus ever worked or urged anyone else to do so. In fact, we have one example where he told Mary and Martha that it was just important for Mary to study as it was for Martha to work. (Luke 10:48-32) The call of Jesus was a call to ordinary people like fishermen and tax collectors and housewives to leave their careers and follow him. It is a relationship God wants not professional workers.

When we give our jobs too much time and energy they dominate our lives. And when the soul purpose of life is our work then work becomes idolatrous. Our relationship to God is a gift from God, not a human achievement. Our vocation is not a job but a call, a means by which God is glorified by the work we do. There in lies the key. Our work is only a means to an end. But, no matter what our work, it is for the glory of God.

Why Me? Not because we have great talents. Not because there is no one else. Not because it is our turn. Because we have been chosen.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio