Introduction:

How do mothers know when you are walking into the house with dirty shoes on? Do they have some kind sensor and alarm system in their brain to know this? I don't care where my mother was in the house, she could have been deep in sleep, but she would know. "Don't think that you're walking on my clean floors with those dirty shoes." It is amazing gift that she has. Maybe all mothers don't have this gift, but I grew up with one who did.

Now at the point of confrontation I could do one of two things. I could either, out of respect for my mother, take off my shoes before I took another step, or I could try to sneak through house tracking dirt everywhere I went. Usually the warning was enough to strike fear in my heart and I would have stopped immediately and removed the shoes. But if I didn't, well . . .

In Moses' day it was customary to always remove your sandals so you would not track your dirt and filth into the place you were entering. This gives us good symbolism for when we enter God's presence. We come before God covered with the dirt and grime of our sin. So let us take off our sandals. To do this we must drown our Old Adam. Then we can come with holy respect.

1. Drowning the Old Adam

In the lesson for this morning, Moses was face to face with God. Forty years earlier, Moses was willing to stand up and be the deliverer of God's people. He was a young man, who grew up in Pharaoh's house with power and influence. His murder of an Egyptian changed all that and Moses was forced to flee to the country of Midian where he met his wife, Zipporah, and worked as a shepherd for his father-in-law. These years as a lowly shepherd taught Moses humility. But now he was standing before the burning bush. However this was no ordinary blazing shrub. The LORD spoke to Moses from its flames. Moses was in God's presence.

How would you act if you were Moses and all of a sudden you realized that you were standing before God? Would your knees have buckled a little bit? Would your mouth have become like a desert? Would your heart have sunk in shame as a movie of your pasts sins raced through your brain?

We may never see a burning bush that is hosting the Angel of Lord, but we stand in God's presence everyday and especially when we come to his house. And so as God told Moses, he tells us to take our sandals off. No, we don't literally take off our shoes when we come to church, but we show this respect by drowning our Old Adam.

What is the Old Adam? Romans 7:18 says, "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." Our Old Adam is our sinful nature, our sinful being - that which is filthy and disgusting in God's eyes. Sin is not pretty. It is not cute and funny. How do we know this? Two things tell us this. First our conscience tells how terrible our sin is. We all know the sin inside of us. We all know what separates us from God. And if your conscience has been worn and dulled, God also gives us his law in the Bible. There we unmistakably see that we are sinful. Listen again to Romans 7:18, "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." The dirt and grime of sin is on us and in us. Would we really want to come before God like that?

No, and so we must drown the Old Adam, our sinful nature daily. How do we do this? We do this with daily contrition and repentance. It is OK to feel sorrow over sin. That is a good thing. Our sins should bother us. But let us then, lay our sins before God and ask for forgiveness. True repentance is being sorry for our sins. But that is not all. True repentance is trusting in Jesus as our savior from that sin. True repentance believes that Christ paid for our sins once and for all on the cross. We can only drown the Old Adam because of what Jesus did on Good Friday.

That was the difference between Peter and Judas. Peter showed true repentance. He felt sorrow for his sin. He asked God for forgiveness. He trusted that he was forgiven. Judas felt sorrow for betraying Jesus, but he never trusted that he was forgiven.

Let us then take off our sandals by drowning our Old Adam. Let us repent of our sin and trust in our forgiveness won by Jesus Christ. When that happens the Holy Spirit will raise in us a New Man to approach God with a humble heart. That is what God did for Moses. He humbled the proud boy. Then He brought Moses into his presence.

2. Coming with holy respect

God told Moses that he was standing on holy ground. Moses showed holy respect with his actions when God told him this. The Bible tells us that Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. It seems that Moses was no longer the headstrong defender of the Israelite slaves. He was now the humble shepherd standing before God.

This Lenten season we are standing before God also. We can see our sin so clearly. And yet as we gaze upon the cross, we clearly see the one who showed his unmistakable love by dying for us. Knowing the dirt, grime and shame of our sin, we must marvel at one whom willingly took this upon himself and give up his life. Can you fathom that kind of love?

I pray that our hearts and minds are filled with awe this Lent. I also pray that we take off our sandals and come with holy respect before God. We may be tempted to run away from God, but let us fight that temptation with the strength he gives us. I know some are bearing much guilt. I know some of you are burdened with sorrow over your sins. God invites you into his presence because of Jesus. He calls you near to be relieved of your guilt. The Good Shepherd has promised to mend your broken heart.

Come with Holy Respect into God's presence. Hear the comfort of the Gospel. Receive forgiveness in the body and blood of Jesus that is offered at the Lord's altar. Know that Jesus died for you and rose for you. Because he lives, you also will live. See his love. See his sacrifice. See your salvation when you come into God's presence.

Conclusion:

Later in this Old Testament lesson, God makes his name known to Moses. "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.'" God is not a has-been. God is not a will be. God must always be an "IS." In the book of Malachi God reinforced this for his people when he said, "I the LORD do not change." And Hebrews 13:8 tells us, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

God does not change. But we saw how Moses became a changed man. He changed from the proud prince of Egypt to the humble shepherd in the desert. By God's grace this change occurred and by God's grace he chose Moses to lead his people out of slavery to the Promised Land.

God changed us from grimy sinners to pure saints washed in the blood of Jesus. By God's grace he has given us freedom to be his faithful servants also. Let us go forth to lead others out of the slavery of their sin so they may see the Promised Land of heaven. This Lent, take your sandals off. Drown the Old Adam with daily repentance of your sin. Then come before God with holy respect that he may send you out with new life to be his servant. AMEN.