Joshua: The God who calls for our loyal obedience
His Story: Discovering the God of Scripture • Sermon • Submitted
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Around this time of year, you begin to learn who the true fans are. March Madness or Baseball season comes around and before long, as soon as their team is out they jump ship and begin to route for the other team. Maybe its that old saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but loyalty often seems in short supply. There are few things that are more stunning than to watch a loyal fan paint their face or dye their hair all to say, “We believe in you team!” Loyalty is in short supply these days. Sometimes even in our relationship with God. I think one of the great temptations in this life is to try to route for multiple teams. On one hand, we say that we want to follow Jesus, we want to know and love Him, but on the other we see the countless pulls of self and the world. In this life of faith, loyalty becomes an important expression of our following Jesus. It’s here that the the book of Joshua speaks so much to us today.
This morning, we’re continuing on in this series called “His Story: Discovering the God of Scripture.” What we’re doing is going book by book through each of the books of the Bible and what they teach us about the character of God. This morning we come to the book of Joshua. Now, the book of Joshua tells the story of the nation of Israel as they prepare to enter into the promised land. For years they had looked forward to the time when they would receive the land that God had promised to Abraham. Joshua tells the story of the military conquest of the land. You find some incredible stories here like the story of the fall of Jericho or God’s powerful victory over those at Ai. I’m convinced that some of the most powerful words in the whole of the book come at its close. Joshua is preparing to die and he speaks to the people a powerful call to loyalty. It’s found in . If you have you’re bible, open with me there.
(READ PASSAGE)
As we launch into Joshua, I think its important to get a feel for the overall structure and flow of the book. To help us do that, I want to look again to our friends from the Bible Project. Let’s watch this video together.
(VIDEO)
Loyalty expresses itself in obedience.
In verse 14, Joshua calls the people to “Fear the Lord.” “Fear” is a word that we don't often use to describe God. It conjures up images of a bitter and angry deity who is ready to strike down anyone who steps out of line. Biblically, this idea of fear is a never important concept. As one commentator put it, “Fear of the Lord is the attitude of awe and filial reverence which begets the child of God over and against His maker.” In other words, fearing God is about recognizing that He is God and we are not. It’s about recognizing that He is the one true God and as a result, he and he alone is the rightful object of our praise. The the response to that kind of love is that we follow and obey him.
It’s why Joshua calls us to “serve” the Lord. This word to serve carries with ti the sense of devoting ones life in service too another. It implies an exclusive commitment to of one who is the rightful king and master of our lives. Throughout the Scriptures this word is connected with the whole idea of worship. It’s why we are called to worship him in sincerity and faithfulness. One of the most humbling places that we can come to in this life is when we recognize that God is more important than our individual lives. Serving Him is far more important than my personal agenda. It’s a devotion that flows from the heart and expresses itself in obedience.
For Joshua, this finds it’s expression in a willingness to “Put away the gods that your father’s served.” You know what really struck me when I read these words this week? Those gods must have been among the people! After everything they had experienced and seen, after God’s presence being so powerfully manifested among them, they still were worshipping idols. Throughout the wandering in the wilderness and even in the conquest of the lands, the pull of worshipping false gods was constant. Even in the book of , we learn that the people were making sacrifices to a goat god even in the midst of their following God.
When we talk of loyalty what exactly do we mean? Webster defines loyalty this way, “a faithfulness to commitments or obligations.” Loyalty expresses itself in a willingness to say what we mean and mean what we say. In the Hebrew it emphasizes a willingness to obey not just out of wrote obedience, but from the heart.
He says if its evil or displeasing in your eyes to serve the lord, to live for the lord, to follow him. Then make a choice. Don't sit on the fence with God. He is worthy of our complete and total devotion. This week as I was reading Joshua, I was reminded of another moment in Israel’s history where she would be called to radical obedience. Elijah had just confronted the prophets of Baal on the top of Mt. Carmel. God showed up in a powerful way and Elijah called the people in . “And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.” He calls the people you can't have it both ways follow God and choose him or don’t. In each of our journeys, there will come a decisive moment when we will be called to align with the
A dear friend of mine warns of the danger of being what he calls a splinter Christian. Essentially, a splinter Christian is someone who lives with one foot in the world and one foot following Jesus. As he puts it, you know what happens when you sit on the fence. You get splinters! The fear and concern that Joshua had for the people is my own. That a great many people think that mostly following Jesus is enough. It isn’t. Yes, God loves us as we are, but he also loves us enough not to leave us there. Following Jesus calls for a life of total abandon and surrender. Nothing less. As the passage continues, Joshua will remind us why this is the appropriate response.
2) God demonstrates His loyalty to us
One of the ways that I know my wife loves me is because she sticks with me. I’m not always the easiest person to be married to. Add to that the fact that she has taken on this mantle of being a pastors wife that sometimes is even harder than being the pastor. As I see her love, I recognize that the natural response is to love her in return. Its the same with God. When we recognize that He is so kind and so generous we find that the voices that would draw us away from Him are just silly. In fact, the people answer Joshua, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods.” What follows is a powerful reminder of who God is and why He is worthy of all we have. Particularly, they celebrate two things that they have seem the faithfulness of god and they become a tool for helping us see and cherish the faithfulness of God.
The first is that God delivers. The nation reminds themselves that God is the one who brought them up out of the house of slavery. In the Hebrew it emphasizes a willingness to obey not just out of wrote obedience, but from the heart. God who set them free from their captors. It was God who performed great signs to demonstrate His sovereign care for the people. Again and again, God proved himself loyal and decisive to stand with his people. The only appropriate response is that we do the same.
One of my favorite Psalms is . The Psalm opens with a powerful statement. It says, “God is our refuge and strength, a well-proved help in times of trouble.” The structure of the Psalm begs the question. God has proven himself faithful, He has shown up 10,000 times before and He will show up today. Friends, one of the most encouraging promises that we have in Scripture is the repeated fact that God is good. There isn’t a single thing in this life that can come our way that God can't ultimately use for our good.
I know if we were to go around this room we could tell countless stories of God’s faithfulness and deliverance. Stories of how God protected in the midst of battles, stories of how God proved himself loyal in bringing healing, stories of God’s financial provision, how he solved crises again and again and again. When we are tempted to turn to something other than God. One of the best things we can to is to reflect and remember just how faithful He really is. When we understand that He is faithful, we begin to see just how foolish sin really is. The second is that,
God fights our battles The people go on to affirm that God had preserved them in all the ways that they went. The Lord drove out before us all the peoples of the land. What I love so much about this statement is that they are recognizing that any victory that they’ve had is because of what God has done for them. One of the greatest places that we can come to in this life of faith is to come to a place where we really trust that God has the situation handled. One of the verses that I’ve been memorizing and meditating on is . There Moses speaks to the nation of Israel and they stand on the edge of the Red Sea. He tells them, “The Lord will fight for you. You need only be silent.” He’s saying God doesn't need you to do anything but wait, trust, and faithfully obey him.
I can’t tell you how many times, I have seen God take a situation where I am so in over my head and work it for good. The stories of Scripture are filled with impossible battles that were won, impossible circumstances that were overcome, impossible obstacles that fell flat not because of what people did, but because of what God did. When we understand just how good and faithful God really is we recognize that He and He alone is worthy of being our God alone. It’s why the people say, “We will serve the Lord, for He is OUR God.
Would we say the same? I will follow Jesus. No matter the cost, no matter the circumstance, He is our God and we will follow Him. If you want a picture of just how good He really is, perhaps there is no better place than this table. This table is the table of God’s deliverance and His faithfulness to fight our battles. When we consider what He has done, we recognize that He is worthy of all we have.
Here at Grace, we believe that communion us a way to remember what God has done for us. tells us that on the night He was betrayed Jesus took bread and he broke it and said, “This is my body that is given for you.” Loyalty lays down its life for the benefit of the other. In this act, Jesus is saying I am your God and I will down my life to pay a price you never could. It’s why I think Joshua says to the people you’re not able to serve the Lord. You can't do it perfectly. The good news of the Gospel is that as Jesus breathes His last on the cross, He pays that price once and for all. What we remember in this bread is that the debt has been paid. God has dealt with the sin of our past, if we would just receive that gift by faith.
In the same way, He took the cup and He said this is the new covenant in my blood. He’s saying I’m going to connect you with myself in such a way that it isn't even based on you. It’s a covenant in my blood. Now the response to that kind of love is that we follow and serve Him in obedience. This cup invites us to live courageously because God has loved extravagantly. Now we can turn from our sin and follow him alone. Today, “Where do we need to follow Christ in surrender and loyal obedience?” Maybe its acknowledging a sin as a sin. Maybe its trusting that His grace is greater than those nagging thoughts of condemnation. At this table are we willing to say, we will serve the Lord! If that’s you, heres what I want to invite you to do. In a few moments take a piece of bread and a cup of juice. When you’re ready take.
Friends, there is no god like our God. He is more powerful, loving, and faithful than we could ever comprehend. Today, May God be our God and may His loyal love lead us in loyal obedience to the Glory of His name.