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Wallingford Presbyterian Church June 10, 2007 |
Rev. Ray Smith |
Joshua 1: 1-9
A magazine article labeled the years in which we live as “The Age of Anxiety”--- to describe the tension and stress of our time. Stores are flooded with books that attempt to tell us how to overcome it. Articles ask, “Will the family make it?” “Does marriage have a future?” “Can we as individuals or businesses survive the economic squeeze?” “Will the Mariners make the playoffs---- or a philly win the Belmont Stakes for the first time in over 100 years?!” Few would argue that our time of living does seem to be one of unusual pressure. But as we read of Joshua in the scripture this morning, we see that the situation for him was strikingly similar to our own. What he faced then, we face now—stress, anxiety, pressure to carry out the difficult tasks before us.
What was the task that Joshua faced? God had delivered the Hebrew people from slavery out of the land of Egypt under the leadership of Moses, the one whom God had chosen for this work. But because of the thankless disobedience of the people, God allowed them to wander in the Sinai Desert for 40 years. Then at the end of this 40-year period, just as the people were at the shore of the Jordan River ready to enter the promised land, Moses died. So God called upon Joshua to complete the task that had started with Moses.
Now that seemed simple enough. Moses had really done the dangerous and dirty work of getting them that far. Joshua merely had to take them across the river and into the promised land. Right? Wrong!
For Joshua it was not so simple. In fact, it was an anxiety-producing, frightening situation. Joshua faced a task for which there were no precedents. No one had ever done it before. I’m a map fanatic. When I was 10 or 11 years-old I wrote the Tourism Bureau of every state, asking them to send me an official state map. Any trail I hike or trip I take I’m never far from a map, plotting and planning, seeing which is the best route to get there or the most scenic or combination of the two. But Joshua had no maps. There were no highways or marked trails. Joshua was to forge the first. It’s always frightening to be the first at anything. Charles Lindbergh faced a similar situation. Today with so many jumbo jets flying around the world it is difficult to imagine the fear that faced Lindbergh in his first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in a tiny single prop airplane. Joshua too was going to do something no one had succeeded in doing before. He had little knowledge of what lay ahead and he undoubtedly was frightened by the unknown.
Joshua’s task was also frightening because others had previously tried and failed. They had been trying to enter the promised land unsuccessfully for 40 years. And as Joshua began to gather the facts to chart his first move, this negative awareness confronted him. Moses, the great leader, hadn’t even succeeded. It was frightening enough, to attempt what had never been accomplished before, but more frightening yet to attempt that which others had tried repeatedly to do and failed doing. Sometimes this factor alone stops us in our tracks. It is as though we would rather not attempt than attempt and fail. Joshua was confronting the fear of failure.
But there was something even more unfavorable. Joshua was certain of meeting opposition. We often face a task uncertain of what kind of response we will get from others. But Joshua was pretty sure there would be many against him. He knew there were tribes in Canaan, the promised land, who would consider the Hebrew people as enemies, perhaps justifiably. So we see that Joshua’s task was a formidable one, a scary one. The task itself was difficult.
But not only was the task difficult. The temptation to avoid the task was likely worse for Joshua than the task itself. For Joshua continually faced the temptation to measure what tomorrow may bring by what yesterday already brought. Taking his eyes off of God’s promise to lead them into the land, he could have easily predicted the people would never get there because they had failed so far.
Joshua also faced the temptation of allowing others to determine his destiny. If the people had their way, they would never attempt to enter Canaan. They would settle by the Jordan River and call that home. In fact, they had been harping to Moses for the past 40 years to let them turn back to Egypt, a secure place even though it was a place of slavery. Joshua was tempted to take the easy way, instead of doing the right thing.
The Lord is aware of human frailty, of human fear and the need for divine help and guidance. The Lord knew the difficulty of Joshua’s task and knows the difficulty of every task we face. The Lord knew the temptation Joshua faced and knows the strong pull of every temptation we face.
And so the Lord spoke to Joshua and speaks to us today in our time of anxiety, stress, and frustration. God first reminded Joshua of the work he had to do. Then God proceeded to give Joshua the formula for doing it, a formula for the successful doing of any task, a formula for the future, what is God’s formula for our living.
First of all, the Lord says to act in accordance with God’s Law. Study it, live according to it, live in it. In other words, God’s word to us is to be taken seriously—both the written word and the living word, Jesus the Christ. And as Christians, we know that that means more than an intellectual understanding of what God’s word says—it means a daily living of it. It means to follow the Ten Commandments and the directives for living in the New Testament. It means to pick up your cross and follow Christ, even when it is difficult.
Secondly, the Lord tells Joshua to accentuate the positive. The Lord said, “Be strong and courageous.” One translation says, “Be determined and confident!” Knowing what we are to do, knowing that it is right, we must be determined to do it and confident that, with our own willing spirit and God’s help, it will get done. God is not so needful of our ability as God is in need of our availability. God provides the ability if we provide the availability. Be determined and confident, strong and courageous.
Thirdly, the Lord told Joshua to eliminate the negative, the things that will only pull us down and defeat us. Stay away from those things, the things that pull you under. The Lord said, “Do not be frightened or dismayed.” Don’t become paralyzed and unable to function because of the fear of the future. And do not allow the size of the task to discourage you from doing it. Take it one step at a time and it will get done. Don’t be defeated by the idea of defeat!
And the final part of the formula for living God gave Joshua, and gives us too, is the part that fits the others together and makes them effective. It is the part that makes nothing impossible, that makes life bearable when things are tough and enjoyable when things are nice, the part that gives every task meaning and gives us purpose in carrying it out. It is the presence of the Lord in the doing of the task. “Be strong and courageous! Do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
God is with you. That may be the most profound fact of human existence—that God is with us.
It is the Lord’s presence in our lives that gives life meaning, that tells us there is purpose in the birth of a child, even our own child, that tells us there is meaning in the death of a parent, even our own parent. It is the Lord’s presence in our lives that allows the spirit of joy and peace and love to take root within us, to live, and bear fruit in the world. It is the Lord’s presence that helps us do that which we know we cannot do on our own. It is the Lord’s presence which gives us confidence and determination to enter into all the promised lands we are called to risk entering for the sake of others. It is the Lord’s presence which takes away fear and discouragement. For we know God’s faithfulness and we’ve felt God’s love.
No matter what is ahead of you, God has given the formula for doing it. “Be strong and courageous! Do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
AMEN