This is the message from the WOW (Worship on Wednesday) service in Gettysburg August 7, 2013. The Bible verses used are Joshua 1:1-9, 6:1-17a, 20-21a.
We're going to focus on Joshua tonight, but before we talk about Joshua, I want to talk a little bit about Moses. Moses was a great prophet. In fact, a lot of people would say he was the greatest prophet ever. Moses is not only considered the most important prophet of the Jewish faith, he is also considered an important prophet of the Christian faith, an important prophet of the Muslim faith, and an important prophet in many other faiths as well.
Now, Moses was not just a prophet. Moses was a political and religious leader. He was the one who led the nation of Israel out of Egypt. He was the one who defeated the might and powerful Pharaoh, the strongest political leader of the time. He was the one who led Israel during all its years in the wilderness.
Moses was also the lawgiver. He was the one who talked directly to God. He was the one to whom God gave the Ten Commandments, which we talked about last week. The law that's found in the first five books of the Bible is called “the law of Moses.” By tradition, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible.
So that, very quickly, is who Moses was. And as our story opens tonight, Moses has led Israel to the brink of the Promised Land, the land God had promised would be theirs for forty years. They're so close that if you go climb a mountain you can see it. And then Moses dies. And God says to Joshua, okay, it's up to you now. You take Moses' place and lead the people into the Promised Land and defeat anybody who's in your way.
And Joshua says, “Who, me?”
Well, we don't know that Joshua actually said that. It would not surprise me, though. How would you feel? The greatest man, the greatest leader you've ever known, the greatest man and the greatest leader anybody you know has ever known, has died, and you're the one who's supposed to take his place. And not only are you supposed to take his place, you're supposed to do what that great man could not do. You're supposed to lead the people into the Promised Land and take on all the armies of the people who are already there and defeat them.
“Who, me?” is certainly what I would've said. And even if Joshua never said it, there must have been a part of him that felt it. So, God gives Joshua a pep talk. That's the first part of the scripture that we read tonight.
God tells Joshua that Joshua is going to be able to do all this stuff, whether he thinks he can or not. He'll be able to do it because God will be with him. He tells Joshua that God will be with him just as much as God was with Moses. Because God will be with him, Joshua will be able to do all the stuff God has told him to do. He'll be able to defeat all the armies of all the people that are living in the land. God will make it happen. All Joshua has to do, God says, is be strong, be courageous, and do everything God tells him to do.
So, they cross over and come to Jericho. And God says to Joshua, “Here's how you're going to defeat Jericho. You and the rest of the people march around the city once a day for six days. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, and this time have the priests blow the trumpets. When you've done that, have everybody scream real loud, and the protective walls that are around Jericho will fall down and you can destroy it.”
And Joshua says, “Say what?”
Now, again, we don't know that Joshua actually said that. But I would have. “You want me to do what? And that's going to make what happen? Uh, God, I think we have a bad connection here. It sounded like you just said that we'll defeat Jericho by marching around the city a certain number of times, blowing some trumpets, and yelling as loud as we can. I must've heard wrong. We both know
that's not any kind of military strategy. So now, tell me what the real plan is.”
In fact, though, if Joshua had any doubts about what God told him to do, the Bible does not say so. The Bible tells us that Joshua was strong, and was courageous, and did everything God told him to do. He had everyone march around the city, he had them blow the trumpets, he had them give a loud shout, and sure enough, the walls came down. And the people of Israel destroyed Jericho.
We talk a lot in church about how we need to trust God. What we forget to say is that, a lot of times, that's not an easy thing to do. Sometimes God asks us to do some really hard things. Sometimes God asks us to do things we really don't want to do. Sometimes God tells us to do things nobody thinks we can do. Sometimes God tells us to do things we don't think we can do, and that we'd really rather not even try to do. Sometimes God tells us to do something, and we say, “Who, me?” And sometimes God tells us to do things that don't make sense to us, and we say, “How's that again? You want me to do what? And that's going to make what happen?”
When that happens to you, remember that Joshua felt the same way. The Bible does not tell us that Joshua was particularly eager to take over for the great Moses. The Bible does not tell us that he was just chomping at the bit to be the one who led Israel into the Promised Land. The Bible does not tell us that he had any desire to be a great military leader and lead an army against the powerful and well-defended city of Jericho.
God told Joshua to do something really hard. It was something Joshua may not have wanted to do. It was something he probably did not think he could do, something that he probably would rather not even have tried to do. And yet, he did it. He did it because he was strong, he was courageous, and he did what God told him to do.
And you and I can do that, too. Because all of us, at various points in our lives, are asked by God to do things that we think we cannot do and that we may not really want to do. Maybe it's taking a leadership role on some project. Maybe it's trying a different job. Maybe it's volunteering our time and our talent. Or, the thing we're asked to do by God may not be a thing at all. We may be asked by God to raise a child that is not ours. We may be asked by God to face cancer or some other disease. I'm not saying God specifically gives diseases to certain people, because I don't believe that. But God allows it to happen sometimes, and God asks us to face it.
We get asked by God to do stuff that's hard, that's scary, and that we really don't want to do. And what God says to us is the same thing God said to Joshua. God says, “You can do this, whether you think you can or not. You'll be able to do it because I will be with you. I'll be with you just as much as I was with Moses, and just as much as I was with Joshua, and just as much as I was with any other great hero of the Bible you can name. Because I'll be with you, you'll be able to do all the stuff I've told you to do. I'll make it happen. All you have to do is be strong, be courageous, and do everything I tell you to do.”
It's not easy to trust God that much. It's not easy to be that strong. It's not easy to be that courageous. It's not easy to do everything God tells us to do when we did not want to face something in the first place and we really don't think we can succeed and when what God's asking us to do does not really make a whole lot of sense.
But we can do it. We can do it just like those great people in the Bible did. Because you know, they were not great people before God called them. Moses was a shepherd. Joshua was Moses' second-in-command, but he'd never actually been in charge of anything before. But God was with them, and with God's help, they succeeded.
God makes the same promise to us that God made to Joshua. God promises us that we can face anything, whether we think we can or not. We can do it, because God is with us. All we have to do is be strong, be courageous, and do what God tells us to do. If we do that, God will take care of the rest.
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