Don't Do It Without Me
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1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 At the end of three days the officers went through the camp 3 and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. 4 Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” 5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” 6 And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.
Introduction
Introduction
Inclusion in the wonders that God works, requires the right kind of preparation. There may not exist a worse feeling in the world, than the feeling of being left out. This is true for almost any situation.
Many times we are left out and it is due to our own negligence. We have no one else to blame. Maybe we didn’t get ready in time and they left us.
I think we need to contextualize this idea inclusion as it relates to the biblical text as being first-hand witnesses to the faithfulness of God through the wonders he performs. Because God is God and works independently of human influence or acts he can and will still do wonders. However, those wonders might exclude us. Thus demoting us from first hand witnesses, to second hand witnesses.
I. Preparation
I. Preparation
Preparation is what separates those with 1st hand experience from 2nd hand experience. Joshua instructs the people for the very first time and his instructions are very clear, “consecrate yourselves”. This call for consecration is very similar to the instructions that God gave Israel in Exodus 19:10 as he was preparing to come down from Mt. Sinai and meet with the people. He told them to consecrate themselves and wash their garments. Consecration or sanctification in this sense was ceremonial. It required some action to be taken so as to prepare for divine service or divine encounter. In Israel’s case God was preparing first to cut off the Jordan so that the people of Israel could pass to the other side.
To consecrate is to separate oneself from anything that might separate us from God. It is more than just getting your mind together. It is about getting the totality of your life in line with God. There has to be some cutting off, throwing out, separating from those things that might separate us from him. This is an idea that has some direct relationship to New Testament believers in that as Jesus called his disciples they were to consciously make the chose to leave where they were and what they were doing to follow him.
Preparation is about removing ourselves from the things that take us out of alignment with God. Perhaps we have not experienced God’s power in awhile because we have been out of alignment with him. Consecration is about taking the necessary steps to remove any obstacles that take us out of alignment with God. He calls them to ceremonially prepare themselves for the work that he is about to do. He needs a clean canvas to work with.
II. Assurance
II. Assurance
God’s work does not depend on human cooperation. Joshua assures Israel that God is going to do wondrous works among you. The Lord has already made up his mind as to what he is going to do in regard to Israel’s future. He has a plan for getting them to the promised land just as he promised. However, contrary to how we operate God does not change his plans to align with our priorities. He will go forward with or without us because he is faithful to his will. This is why we must have a sense of urgency when it comes to aligning our lives with God’s will. He’s not going to change his plans to accommodate us.
I was listening to a podcast this week where a Pastor was talking about how hard it is to minister to a generation that sees death as optional. The issue with this kind of mentality is that it breeds indifference to the call to prepare ourselves for his return. We don’t know when he’s coming back, but we do know that he is coming back. At that time we won’t be able to say hold a minute before you come I need to get myself together. He’s coming back like a thief in the night.
The works that he plans to do in the midst of Israel are not in relation to the eschaton, they are more immediate than that which is also an important reality. Because God is going to do what he is going to do if we are not prepared we may miss out on the opportunity to be in the way of his will. That is why alignment is so important because when God is moving we want to be in his will. When he is blessing we want to be in his will. When he is fixing, we want to be in his will. Israel was charged to prepare themselves because God was getting ready to move.
So if God is going to do what God is going to do regardless of my preparation or cooperation why go through the trouble of consecration?
III. Vocation
III. Vocation
We need to understand that the kind of work God was preparing to do among Israel, much like the work he desires to do among us, is redemptive in nature. At the Jordan and beyond God was preparing to work in might ways to fulfill the redemptive or salvific plan he had for HIS people. From the beginning everything that God had done was toward this larger plan that he had for his people. Everything he had done he had done in an effort to free them, redeem them, save them. As Israel was preparing to cross the Jordan and eventually drive out the inhabitants of Canaan it was also toward this same goal, redemption.
Because his vocation is redemption this means that we cannot coax God into doing something that is not in his line of work. Our expectations have to be level with his vocation. It is not a bad thing to understand the nature of God’s work as being redemptive. It does not suggest that God is only concerned with getting us to heaven. It means that his primary concern is getting us to glory. He is not a God who sits in heaven disconnected from the cares and affairs of his people. No, God condescends and walks with us through this journey. We need to understand his purpose however is redemption. He is in the business of saving souls. His mission is not your happiness, your material wealth, nor fulfilling everything on your personal wish list.
It’s important to understand what kind of work God does. He is in the business of saving his people . This does mean, however, as we are seeing with Israel, part of redemption is preservation. While his vocation is salvation, we see through Israel, this often requires him to play multiple roles in our lives. Much like the manufacturing enterprises in our community produce a thing. Whether it be a car, a car part, a car engine, furniture, no matter what the final product is to be produced there are steps along the way to get it there. The final product doesn’t come together all in one place. There is an assembly process that is used to manufacture the final result. So there are different jobs within the plant to get that final product out the door. Because God works alone, he plays all of the roles. The final product is salvation but along the way he plays different roles in our lives in order to get us to that desired end.
What kind of work do you do? I save people.
Conclusion
Conclusion
God is still doing wondrous works in the lives of believers because God is still in the redeeming business. That is God is in the business of not only saving souls, but changing lives. He’s opening doors. He’s breaking chains. He’s fixing troubled hearts.