ORLANDO – In a culture awash in spiritual doubt, political upheaval and economic fluctuation, Southern Baptists have an opportunity to change the course of history if they will embrace the presence and power of God through faithful obedience to His Word.
That was the challenge issued by Caleb Turner, senior pastor of Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas, during the convention sermon delivered Wednesday at the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting.
Turner’s message – titled, “If not you, then who?” – was rooted in Exodus 4:1-3, which recounts the moments after God commissioned Moses to announce to the Egyptian ruler Pharoah that He was about to deliver His people from hundreds of years of slavery. Moses initially responded to God’s call with fear and doubt – a feeling many followers of Christ may experience when facing the challenge of proclaiming His message of salvation today.
Moses had experienced failure, living for decades in self-imposed exile having fled from Egypt after murdering a man. He was a shepherd who didn’t even own his own sheep, tending his father-in-law’s flock. Even so, the Israelites were delivered from slavery through Moses’ obedience that was grounded in his willingness to embrace God’s presence and power.
Turner indicated that Southern Baptists can experience the mighty works of God by doing the same.
His presence matters
Upon receiving God’s command, Moses asks, “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” The Lord responds, “I will be with you.” That God, Turner said, is greater than any of the false gods worshipped by the Egyptians at that time, and He has authority over all of creation.
“What peace it is to know that the one who is not limited by time because He is the creator of time can look throughout the course of history and time and call our name at the appointed time so we [can] have no doubt that it is the right time,” Turner said.
Southern Baptists must rest in that truth, Turner said, even when, like Moses, it moves them beyond their comfort zones. Getting comfortable outside the presence of God will leave a void marked by the absence of His peace, comfort and joy.
“As we move into the next season of this great Convention, we must relish and hold in high esteem the presence of God,” Turner said. “Lord, we do not want to be anywhere you are not. Your presence matters.”
His power makes the difference
Turner said Moses’ first excuse in response to God’s command was, “Who am I?” His second excuse followed: “But suppose they will not listen or believe me?” In Exodus 4:2, God directs Moses’ attention to the staff in his hand and commands him to throw it on the ground, at which time it became a snake. God then commands Moses to take the snake by the tail.
The miraculous moment was significant because it showed God’s authority superseded that of Moses, but also of Pharoah – whose crown included the likeness of a snake.
“The staff in Moses’ hand had always just been a staff,” Turner said, “but when he laid it down before God, a miracle was performed. Jesus is not the only man to ever die on a cross, but it is His death that makes all the difference, and when God asks us as Southern Baptists what is in our hands, it should be our convictions that are rooted in God’s Word in one hand and the grace we received from the cross in the other hand.”
His people must be obedient
Turner said Southern Baptists must be obedient to God and faithful to His Word, even if it clashes with their cultural convictions or personal desires. For example, Turner said he did not want to be a preacher and spent three years running from God’s calling on his life.
“I’m so glad God met me in the desert of my life so that I could get the opportunity to tell a dying world that we serve a risen Savior,” he said.
Turner noted that family research has revealed he is the descendant of a woman named Lucy Turner, who was enslaved in the 19th century and died in bondage serving under the most prominent Baptist leader in the state of Georgia. In March, Caleb Turner said he preached at an evangelism conference at the invitation of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.
That contrast – the descendant of someone who lived in bondage who now preaches the freedom Christ offers to all – is a display of God’s divine providence and power, Turner said. It happened because of his obedience to God’s call.
“I wish Lucy could have witnessed it,” said Turner, the second African American to deliver the convention sermon at the SBC Annual Meeting, following Fred Luter of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in 2001. “I wish little Lucy would have known that my father [Terry Turner] would become the first African American to serve as president of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. I wish my grandparents could bear witness to something they could never have fathomed in their lives but could only pray for and hope for their children and grandchildren.
“Before we leave from this place, we must lock arms with one another, unified in the mission God has called us to, holding fast to the words of Christ,” Turner concluded, “not for political or personal reasons, but because He came, He died, He rose, and [because] He still sits on the throne.”
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