YELLOW = Banner GREEN = Quote THE STORY The Battle Begins A sermon by Dr. J. Matthew Burton, Jr. Clemmons United Methodist Church August 9, 2015 Joshua 1:1-9 (NRSV) 1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, 2 "My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. 5 No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. 9 I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 24:15 (NRSV) 15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." CHOOSE THIS DAY Pretend with me this morning that the board of directors of one of the world s largest corporations has just selected you to be their CEO. Now picture yourself in the board room immediately after your selection and try to imagine how you would feel if several of the board members said to one another (in your presence) that the previous CEO was irreplaceable. Furthermore, how would you feel if you knew in your heart they were right? 1
You would know they were right because you worked day in and day out with the former CEO. You knew his heart and you witnessed his leadership ability. You saw his wisdom of courage. How would it feel thinking you could never measure up? No matter how much the board of directors tried to reassure you of their confidence in your ability to do the job, the awesome reality of the previous man s track record would constantly haunt you. The fact that you could never quite measure up would threaten you every day as you made your way to the office. I wonder if Joshua felt this way. He was following in Moses footsteps. He was taking the place of the man who had marched into Pharaoh s court demanding that he free the Hebrew people. Joshua had been with Moses when he led the people across the Red Sea. He watched in amazement when Moses parted the waters so the people could escape to freedom. Joshua accompanied Moses up the Mountain when it was aglow with fire and rumbling with thunder. He knew Moses talked face to face with God. He saw Moses come down the mountain reflecting the glory of God. Throughout the Hebrew people s desert wanderings, Joshua had watched in amazement how God had used Moses. He watched Moses bring down Manna from Heaven and strike a rock with his staff to bring forth water. He saw Moses give the people meat by raining down quail from the sky. Moses handled rebellion, dissatisfaction, anger, and turmoil as the people wandered in the desert. Stepping into Moses shoes was a daunting task and maybe even an impossible one. Now Moses was gone. 2
Joshua was the new leader. Joshua was going to lead the people into the Promised Land. You remember the song: Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho Joshua fit the battle of Jericho The walls come a tumblin down. While the battle at Jericho was decisive and important to the Hebrew people gaining a foothold in the Promised Land there is much more to the Joshua story than this one battle. Joshua had large shoes to fill but Joshua was a leader in his own right. The evidence of his leadership capabilities started early. Joshua was chosen as the military leader of the just freed children of Israel. He was also one of the 12 spies sent by Moses to scope out the Promised Land. When the spies returned, only Joshua and Caleb gave a positive report. The other ten pessimistically reported that the land was inhabited by giants and that they felt like grasshoppers in their presence (Number 13 & 14). The majority report scared the Hebrew people and they began to grumble and shout. Joshua and Caleb presented the minority report saying that The land we walked through and scouted out is a very good land very good indeed. 1 They went on to give a very positive report saying, If God is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land that flows as they say, with milk and honey. And he ll give it to us. Just don t rebel against God! And don t be afraid of those 1 Numbers 14:8, The Message. 3
people. Why, we ll have them for lunch! They have no protection and God is on our side. Don t be afraid of them! 2 But the people were fearful of the minority report and threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb. Instead of making the bold move of going with Joshua and Caleb, the people chose the majority report and remained stuck in the wilderness for another 40 years. The Bible tells us that none of those who trusted the Majority report entered the Promised Land. JOSHUA PEOPLE Only Joshua s people, those of the minority report ultimately made the journey into the Promised Land. These were the ones who believed in God s promises and who were willing to go boldly forward into a new place and a new life. There is a lesson for all of us in this story. Will we be Joshua people who move forward with hope trusting bolding in God s promises? Will we be church that makes a difference in the future? Are we willing to make the adjustments necessary to go to a new place, a new land so that we can follow God into a new time and place Will we follow what is often the minority report or will we stick with that which makes us comfortable (The majority report)? The big question is are we willing to be Joshua people following God boldly into the future? DON T FORGET If we are going to be Joshua people, we can never forget what God has done for us in the past. Joshua people see God s hand in those points in history that made a difference for the Kingdom. Having just returned from England, I cannot help but think of the Wesley brothers, John and Charles Wesley, who were non-conformists when it came to the church 2 Numbers 14:9, The Message. 4
in England. They were the minority who said the church needed to be in the coal fields and brick yards of Bristol. They were the ones who started a movement that changed the way people thought about discipleship. I think about Francis Asbury who traveled to America and as soon as he stepped off the ship, started preaching and never stopped preaching the Gospel until his death. When Asbury started out in America, there were 1,000 Methodists. At the end of his ministry, there were 200,000. Maybe these are the people we need to be emulating rather than those who promote a prosperity Gospel or draw people in through show and selfpromotion. The question for Joshua and the people as they stood at the boundary between the wilderness and the Promised Land was this: Could the people of God live in the new land without losing what was learned in the wilderness? Joshua knew they were going into a land that was fertile. Some would became wealthy because of it. Could the people live in abundance and still lean on the God who provided manna and water in the wilderness? Could they resist the temptation to become too secure and to hoard the resources God was getting ready to give them? As Joshua people, how can we, who live in a land of plenty, restrain from becoming complacent, selfish, and self-sufficient in our comfortableness? How can we constantly look to God for guidance? How can we remember that God is the foundation of everything we are? As the Presbyterian Pastor, writer, and theologian, Frederick Buechner reminded me this week, Hope stands up to its knees in the past and keeps its eyes on the future. There has never been a time past when God wasn t with 5
us as the strength beyond our strength, the wisdom beyond our wisdom. To remember the past is to see that we are here today by grace, that we have survived as a gift. 3 The gift of grace, the gift of God s presence is what challenges us like Joshua challenged his people to recommit our lives to God. Choose this day whom you will serve... 4 is as important a command today as it was when Joshua first shouted it out to his people. LOOK FORWARD WITH HOPE Joshua people who choose God look forward with hope. They don t get caught up in the majority report, the naysayers and the negative. Joshua s response to his own command were these strong words, As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. 5 I love the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon where Calvin says, You could step in the road tomorrow and wham! you get hit by a cement truck. That s why my motto is, Live for the moment! What s your motto? Hobbes answers: Look down the road. Joshua people, people who follow God, people who love Jesus, people who love the church, look down the road with hope for the future. They are people who follow God believing that his presence in the past and the future will make all the difference. LOOK FORWARD WITH TRUST Joshua people always look forward with hope and hope always starts with trust. How do we live with hope during the difficult times? How do 3 http://frederickbuechner.com/content/weekly- sermon- illustration- wait- hope, Accessed on 8/4/2015. 4 Joshua 24:15, NRSV. 5 Ibid. 6
we look forward with hope when the world and the church seems to be in turmoil? How do we maintain hope when we are in despair? Sadness? Hopelessness? We maintain hope with a spirit of trust. It s the same trust Joshua had when God told him it was time to take the Children of Israel into the Promised Land. As far as I know, you cannot have hope without trust. You cannot have trust without faith and that is exactly why the faithful always have hope because through your faith you trust God. The 19 th century Danish philosopher, poet, and theologian, Søren Kierkegaard told this parable: A certain rich man bought a team of excellent, faultless horses. His own Coachman was somewhat inept and undisciplined, but the rich man hoped that the quality of the hoses would offset this. After a few months, it was impossible to recognize the once proud horses. They were dull and drowsy, their pace inconsistent, their stamina gone. They developed strange quirks and habits. So the rich man called the King s coachman who knew horses. After he drove the horses for a month and they were familiar with his voice, they hold their heads high, their eyes were bright and their pace beautiful. The capacities and possibilities were there all the time. It all depended on whose voice was directing their lives. 6 The Hebrew people needed to be reminded of whose voice they needed to follow because there were many new voices in the Promised Land. There were the voices of Baal and temple prostitutes. Whose voice would they follow? Whose voice will we follow? Think about it as I close with this prayer: 6 Source unknown. 7
Lord, I have been in control of my life, but I now want your Spirit to be the One who runs my life. I am giving you all of my rights. Please take control of every area of my life. Whenever I am tempted to take back control, please point that out to me and help me have the courage and strength to resist successfully the temptation or desire to take control again of my life. Show me how to live on top of my circumstances and not under them. Help me keep my eyes on you, Lord Jesus, instead of on my problems. Let me see you, Father, as the One who can and will meet every need of my life. Let me be sufficient in you and not in my own abilities and strengths. Help me to have the right balance between living in your control and exercising diligence as I respond to each facet of my life. Whenever pressures come that have been unbearable or debilitating, show me your perspective anything I ve been doing wrong or thinking improperly. Then show me how to correct my faulty actions and thoughts so that I can continue to walk in your Spirit s control. Thank you that you want to do these things in my life even more than I do. Remind me of that when my faith gets weak. 7 In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen. 7 Glen Martin, Beyond the Rat Race (Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman, 1995), 101-102. 8