"My House Will Serve the Lord" - sermon for dedication service on 27 Feb (based on Joshua 24:14-28)

In our home we have a slogan up on the wall. It says, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. This is not just a slogan of course ... we have read these words from the Bible in Joshua chapter 24 verse 15. The context was Joshua speaking to the gathered people of Israel, challenging them concerning their ongoing allegiance.

God had done so much for these people, bringing them out of slavery in Egypt, raising effective leaders like Moses, and Joshua himself, to guide them into a better future in a better place, constantly considering their welfare. Yet these people had a history of complaining and finding things wrong with their situations. This seems to be a very human trait.

We see the tragedy of Christchurch and appreciate our own safety, yet despite feeling deeply for the suffering, we will still find minor things to complain about. In the case of Joshua’s nation, such complaints tended to disrupt the people’s relationship to God; at worst these people looked in other directions for their needs to be met. So no matter how good God was to such people, it seems inevitably they strayed anyway.

So perhaps it is, that the level to which God has been kind and gracious to us, is not the most important factor in giving God our allegiance. What would be then? Let me suggest, that actually the most important factor in us giving God our absolute allegiance, is us simply knowing and wholly believing that God is truth! No matter what happens in the world, or happens to us, God is truth – and our life is based on that.

God did create us and everything around us. God has intimately known us from our conception. God has given breath and life to everything that lives and breathes. God even entered into all the chaos of the world through Jesus’ life on earth. Jesus, in his earthly life, revealed who God is and what God is about. We have a spiritual void which only God can fill. We were created for relationship with God, and we will only be fulfilled through a relationship with God. In effect ... God is truth!

In this way Joshua is able to state, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”; for what other sensible alternative is there!?! To come up with any other alternative, to invest our lives in any other small “g” god, no matter who or what that is, is to declare that God is not true.

So, in our passage, this is precisely the reasoning behind the choice that Joshua gave the people: “If you really want to serve other “gods”, go do it!” (24:15a). Why would he have suggested this? Joshua needed the people to face this crucial choice head on, because so many of them had spoken as if they were on the Lord God’s side, yet acted contrary to this – they couldn’t walk the talk!

Hence Joshua saying (in verse 22): “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord to serve him”. Their actions had betrayed their words. The people had answered in verses 16 to 18 that they are indeed committed to the Lord God of Israel (because of what He had done for them), but Joshua had to reply: “REALLY!?!” The question needed to be put to them: “Are you serious about God or not?”

This was a sober warning! If you are truly on the Lord God’s side, then you will live up to your promises and commitments. Commitment to God is not a matter of ‘lip service’, but a very serious undertaking. Having said ... “a very serious undertaking”, I would need to quickly add ... that it is also ‘a thoroughly wonderful, transforming and fulfilling undertaking’!

So Joshua stridently promotes the need to break all connections with former (and perhaps still current in some ways) small “g” gods that disrupt and compromise our relationship with the Lord God (and service for Him). These small “g” gods are also “foreign” to our best interests. Then we come to that place in our life where we only worship the one true and living capital “G” God.

This will mean standing out against the crowd at times. Going ‘half-way’ in this direction will not be enough, and cannot save us! To regress toward pursuing “foreign gods” of different varieties will not be without consequences. Joshua knew his people well – how even well-meaning God-intentioned people tend to hedge their bets and hang on to quiet superstitions and competing interests.

To say, “As for me my house, we will serve the Lord”, suggests what? It suggests that this particular home will have God in the centre ... that this home will follow the principles of life outlined and lived by Jesus. Even though Jesus lived many centuries after Joshua, we can already see in such texts the preparations being made for the focus we now put on Jesus.

For us today, Jesus shows us what God is like! And, we so much need the peace-making and reconciling mercy shown in Jesus’ life in our lives. This is what we should want in the centre of our home-life, and through our example, in the centre of our neighbourhood.

I was glad to be one of the first homes completed at our end of the street when we made our last move to Sanctuary Lakes, because we had the chance, however short we may have fallen, to set a God-centred tone in our street. I think that it’s wonderful that Gloria and Nevil were able to move into their village early on for the same reasons. We all can show that God is alive to our neighbours ... as we say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”.

But then, there should also be obvious internal benefits for our children, as we say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. Children born into such God-honouring homes, have the great advantage of seeing the truth of God consistently lived out. Jesus is such a natural companion within the home that the children are never in doubt about God’s existence nor love. Discipline is always applied with good reason. Jesus is the unseen guest at every meal in such a home. The atmosphere encourages growing personalities and broad creativity. At least, that is my experience.

And where mistakes are made, the norm will be towards understanding and forgiveness. No guarantees about the outcomes of course ... everyone has freewill ... we can’t control the future. But we can sow tremendous seeds of knowledge and love in the present (to be drawn on later). Some of us, because of certain circumstances, will have difficulty in formally applying this principle in our homes; yet we can all work away at it quietly - through the integrity of our lives, and the prevailing attitudes we work from.

We know sadly that God has been used in some homes as an abusive weapon to manipulate behaviour and justify oppressive parental control. This of course is not what is being promoted here. What is being promoted here is the centrality in the home of the God that Jesus represents in his healing ministry and in his parables like the one about the prodigal son and his loving father – a God who loves unconditionally, a God who clearly cares, continually seeks out and creatively restores. This is the Jesus who said, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs (Mark 10:14).

Those parents who have made promises today, have really in effect said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. The children will need to come to know this, by seeing the reality of it – in their parents’ attitudes, priorities and expressions of love (to all people). The most read book in the home will be the Bible. There will be a prayerful and trusting and welcoming atmosphere noticeable to all who enter such a home. We will have to work at this, because sometimes life throws up significant challenges, but we don’t work at it alone – as we discovered last week from Joshua chapter 1, God is present with and supports all those who show courage and seek God’s purposes.

It’s actually difficult to say that we are “serving” God. How do we know? Often we can be actually “serving” our own interests and clothing this as serving in the church or the community. That is why “serving” God will always first and foremost be about our relationship with God, much more so than what we do. We can all be doing things, but the question is whether we are doing our good works out of our heart for God; thereby purifying the motive and releasing the outcomes (to be in accordance with God’s will).

This all sounds a little heavy today ... so let me add this. The centrality of God in our homes should be a really joyful experience. We know firmly what we believe and are peace with that. At the same time we can be humble learners from one another. When we have a need, or feel someone else’s need, we can pray and know that God hears and responds. When we struggle and fail we know that we can access God’s forgiveness (as we are willing to forgive one another). When we have an issue, we are able to talk it through, confident in the help of our Divine counsellor. This means we are far more hopeful and blessed than many people as they experience family life. And God will bless our sincere efforts for good.

"Being Courageous" - a sermon on Joshua 1:1-9

1. Introduction – finding courage

· To live life we need courage;
· To live life to the full and meet its challenges, we need courage;
· The Christian life is all about having courage – the courage to constantly face up to our mistakes, and humbly give control of our lives over to Jesus;
· And, to really address God’s purpose for our lives, we need courage. To be an effective leader in any community, we would especially need courage.

Just like Joshua, we need to be “strong and courageous” ... actually “strong and very courageous” (as we have it in 1:7). Joshua had the job of leading the people of Israel into the “promised land” in Canaan – quite a responsibility, so he indeed would have to be very courageous. This hefty task of Joshua’s would involve some danger, but most challengingly, this would mean leading a large number of people towards a common goal. This would be enough to scare anyone!

But when God said to Joshua, “be strong and very courageous”, we know that God would also be with Joshua every step of the way, and thus provide a measure of protection ... that is of course, once Joshua exercised enough faith and courage to get moving! We can pray for courage, but in so praying, we need to be prepared to step out as if God has already answered that prayer. Verses 5 & 9 are full of expressions of God’s (effective) availability to us! Thus Joshua, and by extension ourselves, are truly in the position to go for it!

From the mention in verse 9 of the possibility of Joshua becoming “dismayed” along the way, which is quite natural when dealing with any group of people, Joshua would also have to have the courage to rise above any disappointment and keep going forward no matter what; with God continuing to journey with Joshua.

The call to mission and leadership, involving great courage, flows right through the Bible. Jesus calls his disciples (in Mark 4:35ff) to go to the other side of the lake and share the good news. Here they would encounter the “gentiles” and all sorts of perceived threats to their comfort and safety. This brings the sort of discomfort that certainly requires courage. Going to the “other side” out of our comfort zones is an inescapable part of following Jesus. So we need to embrace the concept of developing courage!

We come together as a church community to worship God and learn together from the Bible. Why?
· Because we love God, or at least we think that we should be loving God
· Because we want to make the most of our life, and be part of what God wants done in the world
· Because we want to gain encouragement in our struggle, as we bring encouragement to others in their journey.

So, in a sense, we gather together to build up our courage!

What then is courage? And there are two further questions that are raised in the text of Joshua 1: What are some of the other things that (necessarily) go along with courage?? And, what can be the outcomes of showing courage???

2. What is Courage???

· to be brave in the face of challenging circumstances
· to push oneself into a particular venture
· to be able to take risks, and move through unchartered waters (with a knowledge of God’s abiding presence)
· to be able to move forward ... without being [overly] deterred by the cost, or by emotional or spiritual pressure, or by the discouragement of any other person
· to prefer what could be over what is.

Want to know what courage looks like? In the recent uprising in Egypt, when Islamic extremists threatened to attack Christians worshipping in the Coptic Orthodox church, local Muslims attended the Christian services in solidarity with their neighbours – to seek to provide some level of protection for them. Then when pro-government forces threatened to attack Muslims participating in public prayer at their appointed time, Christians joined hands and formed a protective circle around these Muslims, putting themselves in the line of fire in defence of their neighbours. Now that’s courage!

You can check these moving scenes out on You Tube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDUsmY1JGJI.

3. What are some of the other attributes that (necessarily) go along with courage??

(a) Strength (v.6,7,9) – this would be both ‘strength of character’ and ‘strength of conviction’.

‘Strength of character’ means that a person has great integrity, that their words and actions are consistent; and it also means that such strength and integrity will be impressive to those who observe it, and will thus exert worthy influence. This will lead to one being able to endure difficulties and set-backs. ‘Strength of character’ will require a good foundation – and we know the firmest of foundations for life is having Jesus Christ as Saviour.

A ‘strength of conviction’ moves beyond natural doubts and fears to persist in the just course of action that has been decided upon, no matter what is thrown across the path. To have ‘strength of conviction’ is to be solidly committed to a (good) cause. Having said this, the ‘strong’ person will also be content enough in their own skin, to hear and apply the good advice and guidance that becomes available along the way (without feeling any undue threat).

(b) Obedience (v.7) – God has provided plenty of easily accessible insight for us, and expects us to take notice of it ... refer verse 7 again. Once we understand God’s attitudes and priorities as revealed in the Bible (especially in the life of Jesus), we are expected to live these out without deviation. In Joshua’s case, to deviate from God’s straight path and take another road, would have taken Joshua and his people into places they shouldn’t be and from where they might get lost entirely. If we do this, we might find ourselves wandering aimlessly in a wilderness for forty years. This is way too dangerous and so unnecessary!

We might think that our decisions only affect us, however nothing is further from the truth, especially for those with various responsibilities. Joshua’s leadership potential was undeniable; the biggest danger Joshua faced though, was to try to act independently of God according to his own desires and plans – thereby wasting his abilities and never realising his full potential.

(c) Devotion (v.8) – this is to be disciplined in prayerfully reading, understanding, reflecting upon and applying God’s Word in all of life’s situations. And we have got far more to go on than Joshua did in his time. This is about getting to know God better by absorbing the revelation about God we have been given. The truth thus becomes part of who we are, and we become reliable and living interpreters of this truth to all those around us. And we become good decision-makers.

It’s interesting in verse 8 that we read about the “book of the law” not departing from our “mouth” – meaning that we should always speak as if we know very well God’s Word; and also that because we do know the Scriptures well, we will actually be more prepared to speak ‘righteousness’ or the ‘right things’. The things of God are on the tip of our tongue, easily shared as required.

Yet this knowledge does not become a weapon to hit other people over the head with, but rather positions a guard that protects us from error and guides our own actions. Knowing God’s Word means that we can be creatively proactive in life, rather than unhelpfully reactive to the negative incidents that cross our path.

(d) Focus (v.1) – God set Joshua firmly on the task of crossing the Jordan and settling God’s people into their promised land (v.1). Where we read that “the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun”, we should best interpret this in terms of Joshua having a deep and strong inner conviction concerning God’s direction – for this is usually how God speaks ... quiet and physically voiceless, yet clear and definite. Having come to this surety, now Joshua would need to often remind himself of his ultimate focus ... especially as various distractions, temptations and desires came to him.

4. What can be the outcomes of showing courage???

(a) Success (v.7,8) – what we have been given to do, and what we have faithfully pursued, comes to be. Where verse 8 mentions “prosperity”, we know that this usually does not mean in a financial sense. This has more to do with the good investment of a life that then experiences a sense of peace and feelings of accomplishment.

How can we determine success? We might think of a list of achievements. But I think this illustration is better:

Some people, like me, like to stay in the movie theatre while all the credits role through; this in my thinking pays respect to all those that contributed to the making of the movie. It might also give me time to clear away the tears from particularly moving conclusions like there was in “The King’s Speech” that we saw recently. But just visualise all those credits rolling, and think about these in terms of a human life, and as the range of investments made in various people’s lives. On how many of these films ... on how many of these lives ... will we appear on the credit role?

It’s not what we do, but how many lives we contribute to that really determines success!

(b) A “Promised land” experience (v.2) – if I can use this term metaphorically, this is where we experience a sense of fulfilment, a feeling of heaven on earth, our (full) potential is realised; here is an early appreciation of eternal life, a knowledge of God’s will being done on earth in at least one particular way, seeing God act in a very obvious way (and being a part of that).

We should never be content just possessing a little bit of God’s peace, or a small amount of hope, or some sense of God’s purpose, but rather be desirous for more of God and the Holy Spirit’s activity in and through our lives. God sees an even more beautiful picture of what we can become – this is the “promised land” of our personal futures! Courage chases this!!

(c) Respect & Response (v.3,5) – the person who shows courage, integrity and faithful strength of conviction will gain respect in the places and responsibilities they travel through. Whereas this respect may actually unearth persecution because there has been a clash of agendas, at least ‘the power of one’ has made a difference for good and for God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt.5:10). Others, because of our faith and courage, will come to ask questions, and find their hearts touched, and come to know Jesus.

5. Exercising courage and faith

Remember that when we follow God’s call and find the courage to apply faith, God will go with us and support us (v.5,9). We can be humbly confident in our call, for God can make the seemingly impossible come to be. Obstacles can be removed and possible outcomes radically changed. God has made a costly investment in each of us, and wants to see that investment bring rich returns. So we need to cross our particular “Jordan River”, whatever obstacle that may be.

So let’s turn the light of this passage on us. Let’s ask ourselves some questions. I’ve got two:

· How is God speaking to us – in what areas of our life might God be addressing us?

Often what holds us back from exercising courage is the baggage we still carry from the past. This allows fear, the enemy of faith, to persist. It is not inevitable that we have to continue to carry that baggage, those hurts, disappointments and that dull pain for the rest of our lives – for Jesus came into our life to deal with these issues ... he just needs to be given access to them.

However, I have noticed that people often go on carrying their baggage when help is actually close at hand. Why is this? It is because sometimes the reality, even a dark reality, has become such a regular life companion that it is hard to imagine life a different way.

· What tough decisions ... that I’ve put off, do I need to make?

Let’s pray for courage!!