Every sport has a Hall of Fame. This is where each sport recognizes the greatest players and coaches of all time. To get into a Hall of Fame, you cannot just have been pretty good. You have to have been great. You cannot have been great for just a little while, either. You have to have been great for a long time. You have to be one of the all-time greats, what they sometimes call a legend in sports, to go into the Hall of Fame.
The thing about those all-time greats is that there always comes a time when they are no longer there. No matter how great someone is, no one lasts forever. There comes a time when that great player, that great coach, that great legend has to be replaced.
It’s not easy to be the person who replaces a legend. In fact, in sports there’s a saying that you don’t want to be the guy who replaces a legend, you want to be the guy who replaces the guy who replaced the legend. See, once a person achieves that kind of greatness, that kind of legendary status, nothing the next person does can ever be good enough. No matter how good you are, even if you are really good, you can never live up to what the person before you did. It takes a lot of courage to replace a legend.
Today we continue our sermon series “Selection Sundays”, looking at the stories of people in the Bible who were selected by God, with the story of Joshua. Joshua knows exactly what it’s like to try to replace a legend, because that’s exactly what he had to do. Joshua was the person who replaced Moses.
We talked about Moses last week. If there was a Bible Hall of Fame, Moses would be in it. Moses is considered one of the all-time greats in the Bible, and rightly so. After all, Moses stood up to the mighty Pharaoh. Moses led the people of Israel across the Red Sea into freedom. Moses led the people of Israel for forty years of wandering in the wilderness. After Moses died, here’s how he’s described in the Bible:
Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
That’s what the people thought of Moses. So now, here comes Joshua. He’s supposed to replace Moses. He’s supposed to be the next leader of Israel. Talk about having big sandals to fill. These would be size twenty-five quadruple X’s.
Now, Joshua was not unknown to the people of Israel. He’d been Moses’ chief aide. He’d fought for Israel and gone out on spying missions for Israel. He’d served the people loyally for many years.
Still, there’s a big difference between being the number two guy and being number one. There’s a big difference between executing someone else’s decisions and being the one who’s supposed to make the decisions. Joshua had to be pretty nervous about this.
He had to be nervous, really, on a couple of levels. For one thing, he had to have some doubts about himself. He had to wonder whether he could ever be as great, as wise, as strong as Moses had been. Plus, he also had to wonder whether he could ever get out of Moses’ big shadow. He had to wonder whether he could ever get the people to follow him the way Moses had. After all, even as great as Moses was, there were plenty of times when the people had questioned him and threatened to rebel. If there were times when the people had not even wanted to follow the great Moses, why would they ever want to follow Joshua?
That, to me, is one of the coolest things about the reading from Joshua that we heard today. When we read the words God said to Joshua, it’s obvious that God understood exactly what Joshua was going through. God knew all the doubts and fears that Joshua had. God knew that Joshua was pretty unsure of himself, that Joshua did not know if he had what it took to lead the people of Israel.
The thing is, though, that God remembered how it was when Moses started out. We talked about that last week. Moses was nobody when he started out, but God saw that Moses had greatness in him. God worked with Moses, God was there for Moses, and eventually God helped Moses develop greatness and let it out.
God knew that was true of Joshua, too. God knew Joshua had greatness in him, too. He might not be Moses, but God was not selecting him to be Moses. Moses had done what Moses was supposed to do. Now it was time for Joshua to do what Joshua was supposed to do. God did not ask Joshua to be Moses. God asked Joshua to be the best Joshua he could be. In doing that, Joshua would achieve greatness on his own.
Just like with Moses, though, God knew Joshua would need some help to develop that greatness. So, what God basically does is give Joshua a pep talk. Listen again to what God says to Joshua:
…get ready to cross the Jordan River…I will give you every place where you set your foot…No one will 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 never leave you nor forsake you…Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land…Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law…Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips…Then you will be prosperous and successful…Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Replacing Moses was not going to be easy. God knew that. So, God told Joshua that he did not have to do it by himself. God promised Joshua that God would be with him, every bit as much as God had been with Moses. Then comes the big part, the part you probably noticed, the part that God says to Joshua three times in these few verses: Be strong and courageous.
We talked last week about how each one of us has been selected by God to do something. We also talked about how, a lot of times, we really know, deep down, what we’re supposed to do, but we just don’t want to do it. One of the main reasons we don’t want to, frankly, is because we’re scared to.
The things God selects us to do are sometimes not easy. The things God selects us to do sometimes take us out of our comfort zones. A lot of times, we’re happy with the life we already have, and even if we’re not, we’re at least used to it. We don’t know what might happen to that life if we do what God has selected us to do. We don’t know where the things God has selected us to do might lead. Besides, we don’t know if we’re even actually capable of doing the things God has selected us to do. Agreeing to be selected by God can be pretty scary.
If that’s where you are, God understands. And God is saying the same thing to you that God said to Joshua. Get ready. I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will be able to do what I’ve selected you to do. Be strong and very courageous. Do what I’ve told you to do. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
God knows why we hesitate. God knows why we’re scared. But God knows we have what it takes, and God will bring that out in each one of us. When we’re weak, we can rely on God’s strength. When we’re scared, we can rely on God’s courage.
Each one of us has greatness in us. God may not select us to lead a nation, like God did with Moses and Joshua, but that’s not the qualification for greatness, at least not in God’s eyes. Greatness, in God’s eyes, means agreeing to do whatever God has selected us to do, whether it’s something big or something small. Remember, too, that something that seems to be small in human eyes can be something big and great in God’s eyes. Those things might not put us in a human Hall of Fame, but they can make us hall-of-famers to God.
You have greatness in you. If we all trust God, and rely on God, we can say yes when God selects us. We can be strong and courageous, just like Joshua was.
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