Equipping the Called

Joshua 1:1-9

October 11, 2020 • Mount Pleasant UMC

Maybe you’ve heard the story of the mother who was tucking her little boy into bed in the midst of a thunderstorm. She was about to turn off the light when she heard his trembling voice say, “Mommy, will you stay with me all night?” The mother smiled and said, “I can’t, dear. I have to sleep in Daddy’s room.” She turned off the light and started to close the door, and just before the latch clicked, she heard the boy’s voice again: “Daddy’s a big sissy!” (Hubbard, NIV Application Commentary: Joshua, pgs. 97-98).

Well, you may not be afraid of thunderstorms like the little boy was, but there is no question there is fear in the air these days. For the last six months, we’ve been frightened to varying degrees by a virus we cannot see. It’s keeping some people in lockdown and it’s made us all look for a mask when we go out. It’s a hard habit to get into, though. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten halfway to the store and had to turn around because I’d left my mask in the car! And even if COVID has not caused fear for you, there are lots of other things to be afraid of. We have riots in the streets, we have racial injustice and tension in the air, we’ll cross the street when we see “that type of person” coming because we have this undefinable fear of “the other,” and we’re only 23 days away from a highly contentious election. Fear is in the air, and it seems that in some way we have lost something precious to us. Safety, security, maybe even a way of life that we were used to—all of these things seem lost. There are a lot of reasons to fear.

Loss brings fear, anxiety, even dread. In varying degrees, that’s what we’ve experienced over the last six months (at least). But the good news is that we are not the first to travel down the road or to confront fear. What we need is a good dose of courage—faith in the face of fear—but lasting courage is not something we can conjure up on our own, no matter how hard we try. So for the next few weeks, we’re going to spend time in the book of Joshua, a book whose theme is stated very simply in the opening few verses: “Be strong and courageous!” Hopefully, if you follow the daily Scripture readings, you’ve already read the first chunk of the book; if not, there’s still time to catch up. As Pastor Rick and I walk with you through some specific stories in the book, you’re invited to read the whole book, to understand the story in its full context and to see what this ancient warrior/leader can teach us about facing down our fears. To get a good start, though, and to understand what Joshua was up against, we need a little bit of context, an understanding of where Joshua’s story fits in the larger Biblical story.

When the book of Joshua opens, Moses is dead. That’s a huge deal because Moses has dominated their lives for forty-plus years. None of them had been with Moses when he died. He had gone to the top of Mount Nebo, in modern-day Jordan (on the east side of the Jordan River), and God had shown him the Promised Land, the prize he had worked his whole life to give to the Israelites. And then he died and God buried him (cf. Deuteronomy 34:5-6). So as the book of Joshua begins, God brings the news: “Moses my servant is dead” (1:2).

So time had come to move into the promised land. Many years before, they had sent spies into the land, to see if they could conquer it. Joshua was one of those, and only he and Caleb had believed they could take the land. The rest of the spies said it was impossible. The people who lived there were like giants; they were too well-armed, too big. And so the people went with the majority opinion and decided to wait. And because of their lack of faith, God told them no one would move into the promised land until that generation had died. (It goes to show that the majority opinion isn’t always right, especially where things of God are concerned!) Only Caleb and Joshua would get to see the fulfillment of the promise because they believed God could do it (cf. Numbers 13-14). What that meant, then, in practical terms, is that the people of Israel spent the next forty years wandering in the desert, waiting for everyone from the original generation to die (how’d you like to be the last one living?). Moses had also gotten himself shut out of the land by disobeying a direct order from God (cf. Numbers 20:1-13). But that’s all in the past. Now they need to remember that God did not give up on them in those forty years. In other words, “the plan of God did not die with Moses” (Hubbard 83).

As I said, the promised land was always a gift from God. It had been promised some six centuries before to Abraham (Hubbard 77), and now all those long-ago promises were coming true. It is a gift, but it’s also something they must participate in (Hess, Joshua, pgs. 68-69). Just like a gift given has to be unwrapped, the Israelites are going to claim what God is providing, and they’re going to have to do it just the way God tells them to do it. First, they’re going to have to cross the Jordan River. Today, that same river is the border between Israel and the country of Jordan. I’ve stood on both sides of that river, and in the summer, when I’ve been there, it’s not a terribly impressive river. It’s not very wide, and it’s not very deep, even on the best days. In the area where most scholars believe Joshua and the people crossed over, near Jericho, it’s a desert, so for much of the year, the Jordan River is a relatively shallow, muddy place (cf. Goldingay, Joshua, Judges & Ruth for Everyone, pg. 8), but even if the physical crossing wasn’t a terribly big deal, it was a huge symbolic act. For the first time in forty years, the Hebrews are entering new territory. They are going into a land that, if all goes well, will soon become their new home. Crossing the Jordan means leaving behind all the old and entering into whatever new God has for them. This is a big deal, which is why God speaks directly to Joshua on the far side of the river, and tells him (three times) to be strong and courageous. 

We’re a lot like that band of Israelites, standing on the far side of the Jordan River, looking for a land or a new situation in life we believe God has promised to us. As I mentioned, we’re only a few days away from a presidential election, and while we hear the hype from both sides that this is “the most important election in our lifetimes,” I seem to remember hearing that same thing said four years ago, and four years before that, and four years before that…you get the idea. But I do believe every election is important, and that it is our civic duty to vote in every election; we have the privilege of choosing what land we will move into as a people. We are also standing on the far side of the Jordan River when it comes to this pandemic. While some of us may still be hanging onto some mythical time in the future when we will “return to normal,” probably most of us have realized, at least deep in our gut, that there is no such land. “Normal” as we used to know it doesn’t exist anymore. What new land will we move into when we begin to get the virus under control? And will we go there together or as splintered tribes? We stand on the banks of the Jordan and we hopefully look across to a new land—a land in which people love each other as people rather than seeing only the outside. Some talk a lot today about “racial reconciliation,” but as I said a few weeks ago, I think that’s getting ahead of ourselves. I heard a message a couple of weeks ago by David Watson in which he pointed out that the word “reconciliation” means putting two formerly together things back together. You can’t reconcile two things that have never actually been together, so can we really talk about “racial reconciliation” in our country or in our world? Maybe the land we’re looking toward is called something more like understanding, forgiveness, love.

As we stand on the shore, it’s easy to become intimidated, fearful. How can we conquer such a land? How can we move forward with what little strength we have? The answer is: we can’t. (Well, thank you very much for that encouragement, pastor.) But God didn’t expect the Israelites to move forward in their own strength either. They didn’t have within them what it would take; they were a bunch of former slaves, not a well-oiled military machine. They were not equipped to conquer the land, but that’s okay. There’s an old saying that goes like this: “God does not call the equipped; he equips the called!” If God has called you to it, he’s going to see you through it, and God has called Joshua and all the people of Israel to this time, this place, this land. That’s what God wants Joshua to hear when he says, “Be strong and courageous” (1:7). The original Hebrew phrase shows up elsewhere in the Scriptures, and it means being “unshakeably (or doggedly) courageous” (cf. Hubbard 79). But it’s not about Joshua reaching deep down inside him and finding the energy, the strength, the courage to face scary things. No, that’s not it at all. Courage ultimately is not something we conjure up or find in ourselves. Instead, what God is calling Joshua to make a decision to be courageous—to decide that he will live “a life that is shaped by the Lord’s instruction” (Bible Speaks Today Bible, pg. 276). It has to do with taking what he knows of God’s teaching and applying it, living it out. The people of God would only be able to possess the land when they learn to be follow the Lord their God. 

And so, in God’s word to Joshua, there are three things that are meant to help him be “unshakeably courageous,” three things that will help him live as one of God’s people (and, in Joshua’s case, to lead God’s people). So let’s look at those three things and see how they might still have a word for us today, as we stand on the edge of our own rivers Jordan. The first thing is in verse 7: “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.” Now, just a quick refresher course: much of the text of Exodus through Deuteronomy, books 2-5 of the Bible, contain laws. Lots of laws. Lots of rules about how to live your life. There are laws about how to cook things, how to wash things, how to worship, what to do with mold, and my favorite Old Testament law: “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk” (Exodus 23:19). You may laugh, but that’s an important enough law that it’s repeated two more times—once more in Exodus and once in Deuteronomy. It must have been a real problem back then, but I can safely say without any doubt: that is a law I have never broken. Those are the laws of Moses, and God tells them to obey it all.

So what does that have to do with us, you might ask? I mean, after all, much of the Old Testament law seems so irrelevant to twenty-first century American life. We don’t even eat goat all that often! Let me say two things about the Old Testament law. First of all, Jesus himself said that none of it would go away (cf. Matthew 5:18), and it is still in all of our Bibles. It’s valuable for us to study, not just for historical information but also to see why God gave them that law in the first place. There are principles behind the laws that I believe are still meant as guidelines for us, even if the specific laws don’t connect with our particular time and place. So Jesus said it wouldn’t go away, but he also said he came to fulfill it. By fulfilling it, by living it out perfectly like no one else could, he set us free from the burden of this law. Paul said, “You are not under the law, but under grace” (cf. Romans 6:14). Being “under grace” means we live our lives first and foremost in response to Jesus’ love for us. In other words, we want to love Jesus so much that we won’t want to break the law. We don’t live right because we might get caught doing wrong. We live right because we know this is God’s best for us. Living God’s way becomes an act of gratitude. So the law hasn’t gone away, but we live in such a way that we’re so busy doing the good we don’t have time to do the bad! For example: one of those “top ten” laws says, “You shall not commit adultery.” Living under grace, I follow it not because I’m afraid of going to hell. I live that way because God says it’s the best way to live, it’s the healthy and holy way of life. To live any other way brings brokenness and breaks not only my relationship with my wife, but my relationship with God. This command to Joshua might be paraphrased for us today this way: do what God says. Live the way God calls you to live. Determine that nothing will stand between you and God. The first piece of living courageously is to choose to live in gratitude, to live the way God tells us to.

Then, the second piece to being equipped is in verse 8: “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” So, how do we know how to live God’s way? We must know God’s book. Of course, when Joshua was told this, the “book of the law” would have referred to those earlier writings. There was no complete Bible at that point, but for us, who have these 66 books given to us, the meaning is much broader. If we’re going to live like God’s people, we need to know God’s story. We must know God’s book. The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, said he wanted to be “a man of one book.” Even though Wesley read (and wrote) about all sorts of different subjects, he still saw himself as a man shaped and formed by the Bible. He wrote, “I want to know one thing, the way to heaven—how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the way: for this very end he came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price give me the Book of God! I have it. Here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be” a man of one book (cf. Jackson, ed., The Works of John Wesley, Vol. V, “Preface,” pg. 3).

“Meditate” brings up a lot of different images for different people, but the Hebrew word means to “keep it in your mouth.” Joshua is to recite it, not just hear it in his head but to actually speak the word out loud (cf. Goldingay 9). Of course, in ancient days, you didn’t carry the Scriptures around on your phone or tablet or even in printed form. You had to memorize it, literally get it inside of you. The ancient practice was to mutter or mumble what you were studying (cf. Madvig, “Joshua,” Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, pg. 257), and there is something to hearing it, even muttered, that helps us remember it better. Sometimes you might catch me in my office muttering to myself. No, I haven’t gone crazy (at least as far as I know), but sometimes if I’m trying to work through a difficult part of a sermon or figure out how something should be said, I need to hear it. I need to mutter it. God tells Joshua to mutter the Scriptures. Keep the Word of God always on your lips; get it down deep inside of you.

You know I love technology and I think many of the technological tools are wonderful. I think it’s great we can access the Bible anytime, anywhere on our phones or laptops, on the internet or in an eBook, but let’s just be honest: it’s made us lazy. We don’t memorize Scripture because we think we don’t have to because we’ve always got it handy. And we’ve also developed the tendency to pick and choose and focus only on the Scriptures we like. But God didn’t tell Joshua to “mutter” only those laws that he already agrees with or the ones that are easy to follow. He and we are called to know the whole of Scripture, not just the parts we like, not just the parts that back up what we already think. Several years ago, in another state, we were visiting at a church and the speaker went on and on with the message, and with about 2 minutes left in the sermon, the speaker said this: “I was just about finished with my message when I decided I should find some Scripture to go along with it.” And Cathy will tell you I about came out of my seat. We’re not the ones who shape Scripture; Scripture shapes us. I want to be a man of one book, because knowing the Scriptures leads to being strong and courageous.

And then the third way God tells Joshua he will equip him is in verse 9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” In the midst of whatever happens, know that God is with you. In the face of all that brings you fear, know that God is with you. When a pandemic threatens your health, when riots seek to steal your safety, when an election rocks your world, and when you face enemies you have no idea how to conquer—know that God is with you. When the finances aren’t working out, when you're facing an uncertain future, when your health isn’t bouncing back or when the doctor calls and says, “We need to talk”—know that God is with you. This is the third piece of being strong and courageous for a reason. This is where a lot of people like to start, just a warm and cuddly feeling that “God is with me.” What bolsters that knowledge, what reassures us that God is actually, really present with us is coming to know him, living the life he has laid out for us, knowing that he has been there for his people in the past.

This past week was eleven years since my college roommate took his own life. I still remember waking up and getting a message from his wife that her husband was dead. I remember telling Cathy and both of us being in shock. Initially, we didn’t know what had happened but over the next few hours and days, the story unfolded: he had ended up in a mess with his business and his life, and the only answer he saw was to leave it all by ending it all. So he took his life and left his wife and two young children behind to deal with everything. All he could see as he stood on the shore of the Jordan River were giants, too big to conquer, too many to defeat. It was and continues to be heart-wrenching, but I can tell you that his wife and family would say they could not have gone on if they had not known God was with them. His wife would affirm without hesitation that her faith is sometimes the only thing she had to hold onto. Even when everything else is in question, she knows that she knows that God is with her. Even when she doesn’t feel strong and courageous, she knows that God is with her. “Do not be afraid,” God says, “for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go,” even if it is through the darkest valley you can imagine. Jesus reaffirmed that promise after his death and resurrection. Just before he went back into heaven, he gathered the disciples, who had been through so much with his death and resurrection, and he charged them to go into a world he has already told them would be hostile toward them. How are they going to be able to do it, these men who ran away at the first sign of trouble in Gethsemane? Here’s how: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). God is with you. God is calling you. And he is equipping you because you are called.

Be strong and courageous: live a life honoring to God, know your Scriptures, and know that God is with you. One more thing. Joshua is described in our text as “Moses’ aide” (1:1), but he was much more than someone who got coffee for Moses. Moses was Joshua’s mentor. He spent decades at Moses’ side, watching how he led the people, learning from the way he ordered his spiritual life, seeking to know God like Moses did. For decades, Moses was training Joshua to be his successor, which leads me to ask this question: who are you training up? Who are you mentoring to replace you? For some people, that’s an intimidating question. Some people, maybe some of us gathered here, are afraid that if we mentor someone or train them to take over for us, they just might do that very thing. But let’s be honest about two things. One, none of us will be here forever. And two (the harder thing to admit), none of us are irreplaceable. Not even Moses. When Moses was gone, someone was going to have to take over for him, and so he invested much of his life into this younger man. He spent much of his life modeling for Joshua how to lead and how to follow God.

I’ve been blessed to have many mentors in my own life, but two men primarily come to mind—and they just happen to both be men. I’ve had very influential women in my life as well, but the two pastors who shaped me the most happened to be men. Mike Powers, our pastor when I was in seminary, was assigned to me as my supervisor for our field education, and so we met by happenstance when I first went for my placement at Harrodsburg United Methodist Church. And, as part of that semester, I got to do all sorts of pastoral things, but even after the semester, Mike let me continue to walk beside him, to learn from him, and to become a better pastor than I otherwise might have been. He mentored me—not because he had to, but because, for some reason, he saw in me someone he could and should invest in. I am forever grateful for those two and a half years at Harrodsburg. When I graduated from Asbury, my first appointment was to High Street United Methodist Church in downtown Muncie. I was “Associate Pastor B.” That was actually my title! My senior pastor there for the first two years was Dr. Tom Rough, and Tom invested a lot in me as he allowed me to preach, to lead youth groups (the only department I didn’t take any classes from during seminary), and even to make mistakes. One of the most formative moments in my ministry there was when we had an issue with the youth group, and Tom supported me fully in the meeting that followed. In private, he shared with me a different way of seeing or approaching things, but he never downgraded me or shamed me. He mentored me and I’m a better pastor because of Tom and because of Mike. They worked with God in equipping the called—in equipping me (and so many others). They both modeled faithful and faith-filled ministry for me, not so that I would directly succeed them, of course. That’s not how it works in the United Methodist Church. But in a way, they were investing in the next generation of pastors—me and many others. They are both retired now, and in many ways, I feel as if I am carrying on their legacy and the legacy of others who were Moses to me. So…who invested in your life? And, more to the point, who are you mentoring? Who are you investing in for the next generation? Who is your Joshua?

That’s an important question to answer because now, more than ever, those young women and men need to hear from you the same word Joshua heard from God on that fateful day: “Be strong and courageous.” Let it ring out loud and clear: “Be strong and courageous!” To those paralyzed with fear, whether it’s from the virus or the political sphere or the violence in our streets, let them hear it: “Be strong and courageous!” To those standing on the shores of their own Jordan River, about to launch out into something new, let them hear: “Be strong and courageous!” Speak to our hearts, Lord, and let us hear: “Be strong and courageous!” Be strong and courageous, Mount Pleasant, for the Lord your God is with you! Hallelujah! Thanks be to God! Let’s pray.