“Whom will you serve?”

Meditation on Joshua 24:1-3a; 14-25

Nov. 9, 2014
Here's the video link to this sermon:
https://vimeo.com/111415424

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       Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many….

        ‘Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 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.’

       Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.’

        But Joshua said to the people, ‘You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good.’ And the people said to Joshua, ‘No, we will serve the Lord!’ Then Joshua said to the people, ‘You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.’ And they said, ‘We are witnesses.’ He said, ‘Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.’ The people said to Joshua, ‘The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.’ So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.

***

      What is the secret to success and prosperity? How does one find happiness and satisfaction in life?

      A poster on a doctor’s office wall caught my eye this week.  It was a numbered list with the heading, “21 suggestions for Success” by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.  Brown is the author of 30 books, including the bestseller, Life’s Little Instruction Book. Curious about this author’s guide to “success,” I read on. Here are some of the items on Brown’s list:

   “Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery. Work at something you enjoy and that’s worthy of your time and talent. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know. Be forgiving of yourself and others. Be generous. Have a grateful heart. Persistence, persistence, persistence. Commit yourself to constant improvement. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect. Be loyal. Be honest. Be decisive even if it means you’ll sometimes be wrong. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the one you did. Take good care of those you love. And don’t do anything that wouldn’t make your Mom proud.”

     I would agree that these “suggestions” are all good things. Some of them are supported by Scripture. And I have to smile at the last one about not doing anything that wouldn’t make your Mom proud. I hope my children are listening!

     But I can’t agree with the premise of these suggestions—that these are the keys to success. Certainly, not the “success” or “prosperity” the Lord desires for us! Because this list does not include serving the Lord—something that should be our highest goal!

    God desires an intimate relationship with each of His children. He doesn’t wish to share us with any other love in our life. The Ten Commandments tell us that the Lord is a jealous God. We read in Exodus 20:

 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

      And as we continue our study of the Book of Joshua this week, we learn the key components of a godly life. His children are called to 2 things:

1.    Reverence or “fear of the Lord” and

2.   Service—acting in obedience to His Word

     These two things were never easy for God’s people. They could be distracted and tempted, as the Lord God of Israel was not the only “god” across the Jordan River in Canaan. The land God had promised to Israel was already populated with many different people groups, worshiping their own pagan gods with the rituals and traditions of their cultures. Further, it was common to worship more than one deity and to adopt the idols of other cultures in the community. Israel was unusual in that it was monotheistic—the people worshiped only One God, and did not make any representations or images of Him.

     Yes, this would be a challenge for Israel to remain faithful to the One True God, without adopting any of the pagan beliefs and ways of their new neighbors.

     So the Lord in His grace, when he calls Joshua to lead the people across the Jordan River to the land of the promise, vows to be with them and help them—just as He always had. But they must, in turn, vow to be “strong and courageous”—trusting in the Lord, meditating on His Word “day and night” and being careful to live according to Scripture.

***

    In today’s reading, in the final chapter of Joshua, we encounter the familiar call to God’s people to make a choice that will mean life or death. Joshua calls for the renewing of the covenant of God’s people with their Lord. He asks Israel, “Whom will you serve?”

      Joshua, at the age of 110, is delivering his farewell address at Shechem. The place is significant. This is where God first addressed Abraham in Canaan in Gen 12:7; it’s where Joseph’s bones would be buried; and it’s where Jacob led his household in an idol-burying ceremony in Gen. 35.

    Joshua asks, “Whom will you serve?”

     The assumption is that serving no one is not one of the choices. We will serve someone or something with our hearts and our lives, whether we are truly aware or intentional about it or not.

    It’s either God OR…. (Fill in the blank). It can’t be God AND…. Because serving the Lord means rejecting all other gods and anything that could become a god or an idol to a human being.

    The commitment to serve the Lord was intimidating in Joshua’s time, especially after he tells the people the truth about themselves. That they are sinful human beings, unable to be faithful to God.

     “You cannot serve the Lord,” he says. “For he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.”

    But Israel remembers God’s promise when the Lord led them to cross the Jordan into Canaan—that the Lord would be with them, wherever they go and whatever they do. He would guide and empower them, just as he will guide and empower us, as long as we are “strong and courageous” and remember what he will always require of His people: that we revere Him and serve Him, meditate on His Word. And seek to obey.

    Israel answers Joshua by insisting that they will serve the Lord.

***

      Friends, the question for the children of God is still, “Whom will you serve?”

     Soon, our nominating committee will be meeting to seek the Lord’s will for our congregation’s leadership beginning in 2015. This is a difficult task for this group that realizes the weight of this responsibility.

     Please pray for them and for the members they will invite to serve on session—that the Lord would give them courage and prepare their hearts and minds to receive His call.  Not all who are invited to serve welcome the opportunity. Some have other commitments with work and family and are reluctant to add on church leadership to their already busy lives. Some worry that they don’t have the gifts that are needed to serve, though if they are being invited, then others already believe that they do. Still others might say, “I’m too old.” Or, “I am too young.” Or, “I haven’t been a member long enough.” Or, “I already served. It’s someone else’s turn.”

    But truly, answering the call to serve is a matter of faith. No one feels ready! Everyone worries that they don’t have the time or the gifts that are needed. Everyone feels anxious. Yet God always provides! He has a plan for this church!

    Remember—only 2 things are needed for “success” in the tasks God calls us to do: reverence for the Lord and a desire to serve, to be obedient to His will. So if you are approached and invited to serve on session, pray about it! Study His Word. Then trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. He will guide your footsteps.

       To Israel’s proclamation that they will serve the Lord, Joshua responds with the words his ancestor, Jacob, spoke to his family when they gathered at Shechem years before.

      ‘Then put away the foreign gods that are among you,” Joshua says, “and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.’ 

      “The Lord our God we will serve,” says Israel. “And him we will obey.”

     How about you, Ebenezer? Choose you this day! Whom will you serve?

    As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord!

Let us pray.

Holy One, we thank you for your faithfulness to us and to all our ancestors. Thank you for providing for all of our needs through difficult times—for always guiding our footsteps as we crossed into new and uncertain territory, for protecting us from harm. Lord, we declare to you this day that we will revere and serve you. That you are Our God – our Only One! Strengthen us to put away any idols and be faithful to our commitment. Remove all fear from us. Give us courage to serve you in bold, new ways. And Lord, we pray you would strengthen and give wisdom to the leaders of our church and that you would raise up new leaders that will serve our congregation in the years to come. Lead our nominating committee as they seek to do your will. Mold and shape us into the people you want us to be, doing the kinds of ministry you have ordained for us to do. We pray in the name of Christ our one and only King. Amen!

“The Wonders of Our Living God”

Meditation on Joshua 3:1-17

Nov. 2, 2014
Here's the video link to this sermon:

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      Early in the morning Joshua rose and set out from Shittim with all the Israelites, and they came to the Jordan. They camped there before crossing over. At the end of three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the people, ‘When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place. Follow it, so that you may know the way you should go, for you have not passed this way before. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, a distance of about two thousand cubits; do not come any nearer to it.’ Then Joshua said to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.’ To the priests Joshua said, ‘Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass on in front of the people.’ So they took up the ark of the covenant and went in front of the people.

     The Lord said to Joshua, ‘This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses. You are the one who shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, “When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.” ’ Joshua then said to the Israelites, ‘Draw near and hear the words of the Lord your God.’ Joshua said, ‘By this you shall know that among you is the living God who without fail will drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites: the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass before you into the Jordan. So now select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap.’

 ***

          It wasn’t my idea. Well, not really.

          About a month ago, during fellowship after worship, I was eating a cupcake with Alaina Bruns, who is about 4 or 5. My cupcake had frosting; hers didn’t.  So she sent her mom to get her another cupcake—one with “icing.” 

         This reminded me of when we had our cupcake decorating event at church—and how much fun it was. For who doesn’t like eating cupcakes with lots of frosting? One Sunday afternoon, a crowd of children and adults filled the fellowship hall to learn from Lou Ann how to dress up plain cupcakes for the holidays.

        This was on my mind when Alaina and I started to talk about the pretty fall decorations in the fellowship hall. And we talked about pumpkins.

    “I like to paint pumpkins,” I said.

    Alaina said, “Me, too.”

    Then she invited me to her house that very day so we could paint pumpkins and play.

     “C’mon,” she said, tugging on my hand and getting out of her chair. “C’mon.”

      The next thing I knew, I was choosing a date for a pumpkin decorating event for families and inviting the confirmation class and children and youth leaders to join me in a new ministry opportunity.  I was so pleased when all of them said, “Yes!”

      But it wasn’t really my idea. Alaina had a lot to do with it!

      Then, although all the details were falling into place, as the day of the event grew nearer, I began to feel anxious. As James and I set up tables and chairs the night before our pumpkin decorating, he complained that it was more work than he expected. Yes, it was a lot of work—and not just for us, but for all the volunteers, some of whom put in a full day’s work and shopped for more supplies before they came to Ebenezer that night to help with the event. What was challenging was that we hadn’t done this before. We weren’t sure how or where to set up and how to plan the crafts.  We didn’t know what supplies volunteers were bringing, how many people would come, or how old the children would be. We didn’t know how much food to provide or if we had enough pumpkins.

    But there was no turning back. I had seen the happiness on little Alaina’s face and felt a kind of stirring in my heart, a “nudge” of the Spirit. We could only keep moving forward, trusting the Lord as we took one step at a time.

***

     We don’t often encounter Joshua in our 3-year cycle of scripture readings. And there’s so much more to Joshua than what we sing in the song, “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho.”  

      We talk much more about Moses than Joshua, though it was Joshua, Moses’ successor, who brought God’s people—finally—to the promise land. Moses never makes it there; he is punished for his lack of faith and dies at the age of 120 on a mountain overlooking the promise land.

      And when we think of the awesome wonders of God revealed to the Israelites during their journey, we think again of Moses and how he stretched out his hand and the wind blew and the Red Sea parted, allowing the Israelites to pass through on dry land.

      But God continues to do awesome wonders during Joshua’s leadership of Israel to reveal God’s power and presence with His people. Some of those wonders, such as the one we read about today, bring to mind God’s wonders of old, including the miraculous “parting” of the Red Sea.

       Joshua, from the tribe of Ephraim, first appears in the Bible in Exodus 17 as “Hosea.” When the Amalekites attack the Israelites after their crossing of the Red Sea, Hosea leads the counter-attack. After defeating the enemy, Moses makes Hosea his assistant. He continues to prove himself to be one of God’s faithful when he is waiting on the edge of the mountain for Moses to descend with the 10 Commandments and he is not with the Israelites when they fashion and worship the Golden Calf. Then, in the episode of the spies in Numbers 13-14, he is one of 12 men chosen to travel to Canaan and scout out the “promise land.” When the spies return, they praise the virtues of the land, but 10 of them say it will be impossible to conquer; there are giants in the land. Joshua and Caleb disagree and try to convince the people to trust that God will give them the land. But Israel believes the 10 frightened men—and not Joshua and Caleb.  For this, God punishes the Israelites, making them wait 40 years until the Lord will lead them, through Hosea/Joshua, into the promise land.

      At the beginning of the book of Joshua, the Lord assures Moses’ successor that as he was with Moses, he will be with Joshua. He commands Joshua to lead Israel to “cross the Jordan.” God says, “Be strong and courageous.”

     Joshua will need strength and courage. The river runs through a deep gorge that may be the earth’s deepest valley.  It flows into the Dead Sea, which lies 1286 feet below sea level. On both sides of the river are mountains with steep slopes and huge precipices. Joshua 3:15 tells us that at this time of year—at the time of the harvest—the river is at its fullest and overflows its banks.

       Joshua, still the man of faith that he was when Moses anointed him for leadership, warns the people to sanctify themselves, prepare their hearts to see the wonders of the Living God. Following God’s instructions, Joshua chooses 12 priests to carry the ark of the covenant into the middle of the Jordan River and tells the people to follow the priests at a distance.

       The Israelites trust Joshua’s leadership as he trusts in the Lord. They follow the priests and watch as they dip their feet in the edge of the water. And then they see the wonders of the Living God!  “The waters flowing from above stand still, rising up in a single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while those flowing towards the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, are wholly cut off.”  The priests that carry the ark—containing the 10 Commandments and symbolizing the power, presence, and the very breath of God—stand in the middle of the Jordan on dry ground. And the entire nation of Israel crosses over on dry land.

***

   

    Friends, we, too, must trust that the Lord will guide us in ministry, from generation to generation. We can’t be like those who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because they didn’t believe in God’s promises. We must endure the trials and lift up others as they suffer through trials. Let us be strong and courageous, like God urges Joshua. We can’t be afraid to “cross the Jordan” at the Lord’s command.

      All of us need to be open to those little nudgings of the Spirit, leading us to try something new or go a different path, though it may mean a change in our routine and, occasionally, more work to do.

      The Lord will be with us as we seek to be obedient to Him. We may not see the parting of the Red Sea or the Jordan River. But we will experience his miracles, just the same.

     On Wednesday night, though the weather was chilly and gloomy, a crowd of happy, energetic children came to Ebenezer with their families to our pumpkin event. We had plenty of food and plenty of pumpkins. Like the miracle of the loaves and fishes, we had cupcakes and pumpkins left over! God provided what we needed—including the peace of Christ that blessed all who came.

      Our volunteers worked hard and cheerfully; they stayed late to clean up, though they were tired—and for this and all the joy that they brought to the children, our community is grateful. When Carol posted photos of the event on Facebook, more than 1,100 people viewed them; many responded with “like.” Some left notes of thanks.

      And when we consider the next new ministry opportunity, and we think, “I don’t know. What if people don’t come? What if we can’t find enough volunteers? What if it’s a lot of work or we don’t know what to do?” I hope that we will remember this week—and the many times God has been faithful to help us whenever we seek to be servants of Him.

       Remember that God was with us. He helped us, every step of the way. He blessed us with His peace.

     Now, I can’t keep from thinking about little Alaina—and how the Lord uses small children to plant some crazy ideas in our heads sometimes—so that we can reach the world for Him.

       I guess that’s just one more wonder of our Living God!

     

Let us pray.

Awesome and wonderful God, thank you for your faithfulness to us from generation to generation. Thank you for your love and your forgiveness for all of our sins through Jesus Christ. Thank you for the families that you are drawing nearer to us, so that we may urge them to draw closer to you. Thank you for the many faithful volunteers in our congregation. Please help them so that they do not grow weary in doing good. Forgive us for our anxieties and our doubts, and for complaining that ministry is so much “work.” Thank you for the privilege to be included in your wonderful plan for the salvation of the world. Thank you for the faithful work of other Christians before us, for without them, we would not have heard the gospel and our church would not be here in this community today. And Lord we pray for those who came to our event and especially those who do not normally go to church. Draw them—and us—a little closer to thee. Build up our faith, Lord, and lead us, now, every step of the way as we seek to minister to our neighbors for the sake of your Son, in whose name we pray. Amen