Receiving Your Inheritance and Living Into Your calling
Dave Harvey writes about the greatest rescue mission of World War II. Late in the war, American bombers were sent on dangerous missions over southern Europe to cripple the Nazis' oil supplies. Hundreds of crews soared through storms of anti-aircraft shells. Many American pilots were forced to bail from their shot-up planes. The injured airmen drifted by parachute into occupied Yugoslavia, expecting to be captured or killed. Instead, on the ground Serbian peasant rescue teams were already in place. Their sole mission was to grab the pilots and bring them to safety—before the Nazis arrived. Amazingly, those Serbian peasants rescued every single American airman—over 500 in all. Risking their own lives, the peasants fed and sheltered the downed solders. While in friendly hands, they were on enemy soil and still needed to escape.
The story of what became known as Operation Haylard ended with a daring mission, a secret landing strip, and a clandestine evacuation plan. But to travel to the evacuation site, the airmen had to spend weeks following the Serbian freedom fighters, who alone knew the path to the site. Everything, the direction, the pace, and the destination were in the hands of their rescuers. The men had been saved from their enemy, but the journey to freedom had just begun. And then he writes, The story of Operation Halyard sheds light on an important spiritual reality: to be rescued from something sets us on the path toward something. For the airmen it was a journey of survival. For us it's a journey of faith. The One who saved us is now calling us to walk. It's nonnegotiable. Though snatched from spiritual death, we soon discover that the Christian life isn't an arrival; it's an adventure. Christ rescues us then he points us to the path of following him.”
In the third month of the Hebrew’s journey through the wilderness, Moses led the people to the mountain of God, the very same place that God had revealed himself in the burning bush. Moses ascends Mount Sinai to receive the civil and religious laws of God that will guide and shape them into a nation and unify them. Apparently, he is gone for some time, leading the people to panic in Moses’ absence. In their impatience and forgetfulness of the very God who delivered them out of slavery, the people turned to Aaron to fashion a golden calf to worship. Instead of trusting God and waiting, the people chose to take things into their own hands.
How often do we lose our faith and trust in the God who has chosen and delivered us, and instead, choose to take matters into our own hands, do our own thing, or go our own way? And what happens when we do? Not only do we break our relationship with God and miss out on God’s good plans for our lives, we also fail to live out our calling to participate in God’s plan of salvation. One moment we are being rescued from slavery to sin and death, the next we find ourselves, once again, in bondage to the very things that caused us so much pain and confusion in the first place. I think this begs the question: do you have a golden calf? To whom or what are you turning for your hope, your safety, or your security? We struggle with alot of other gods in our society: money, power, fame, possessions, sports, alcohol or drugs, other people and even ourselves. What is your Golden calf? Have you placed someone or something ahead of God?
First, God is with us. The Book of Joshua opens with God’s words to Joshua to “Be strong and very courageous” because He will be with him as he leads the Israelites to inherit the land God promised. God then makes the very same promise to the Israelites. Joshua tells the people that God will make victory possible if the people obey the Law. “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. 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. 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.” Joshua 1:5-9 With these words, the invasion begins. No matter what you are facing, ‘Be strong and very ‘courageous’ because God is with you.
Second, always give God the glory. Joshua 2-12 tells the story of Israel’s conquest. The Jordan River is crossed in a miraculous way similar to the crossing of the Red Sea, a major shrine is dedicated to Yahweh, Jericho falls to the power of God’s ark of the covenant, Ai is defeated and all of the peoples stand terrified at God’s might. Chapter 12 closes with a list of the peoples who have been defeated. Through all of this, we see Israel was not fighting alone. It was God who gave the help and strength for this small band of tribes to overcome much more powerful enemies. Israel claimed title to the whole land of Palestine because they had won it with the help of God on their side. There is no mistake: the victories came from God because Joshua and the tribes followed God’s directions carefully. After each victory, Israel always dedicated made sacrifice to God in thanksgiving for His aid. What about you? In your victories, successes and blessing of life, do you take the credit or give God the glory?
John Wesley rode horseback from one church to another to preach. On one such journey, he was stopped by a bandit who shouted, "Halt, your money or your life." Wesley got down from his horse, emptied his pockets to reveal only a handful of coins. He even invited the robber to search his saddlebags - which only carried his books. In disgust, the thief was turning away when John Wesley cried "Stop, I have something more to give you." Puzzled, the robber turned back. Wesley then leaned towards him and said "My friend, you may live to regret this sort of life in which you are engaged. If you ever do, I beseech you to remember this: ’The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, cleanses us from all sin.’" The robber hurried silently away. Wesley got back on his horse and rode on his way praying in his heart that the word might be fixed in the robber’s conscience. Years later, at the close of a Sunday evening service, a stranger stepped forward and earnestly begged to speak with John Wesley. Wesley recognized him as the robber who had stolen from him so long before, but now he was a well to do tradesman and better still, a child of God. Raising Wesley’s hand to his lips he affectionately kissed it and said in deep emotion, "To you, dear sir, I owe it all." Wesley replied softly, "Nay, nay, my friend, not to me, but to the precious blood of Christ which cleanses us from all sin." Who do you give the glory to?
Third, be holy. One of the most shocking parts of our Scripture this week is the brutality of these battles. This raises a troubling question: how can a God of love command his followers to destroy an entire nation of people? Such vengeance sounds very little like a God of love (1 John 4:8). What appears to be genocide was actually the norm for wars in that day. But Israel stands apart in one key aspect: before they entered the land, they send an envoy to the Canaanites with the message, “God, the Creator of the Universe has promised this land to our forefathers. We are now here to claim our inheritance, and we ask you to leave peacefully.” Needless to say, most of the Canaanites don’t leave. Only one tribe takes the offer and leaves. Meanwhile, Joshua has clear instructions from God that if the Canaanites don’t get out, the Israelites must kill them all. The reason? First is the practice of blood retribution by ancient tribal culture that bound a person to attempt retribution against the enemies of his people. This required the Israelites to destroy not only the soldiers of their enemies, but their families as well. So long as one member of a family remained, retribution was a danger. Such unrest and hostility would have persisted throughout the nation's history, with no possibility of peace in the land.
The second reason was holiness. God called the Israelites to be a holy nation and an example for other nations of life with God. God knew that if the Cannanites remained in the land, they were going to influence the Israelites with their immoral and idolatrous ways. They would eventually influence the Israelites away from how God wanted them to be and live. Thus, the Israelites cannot live among them. In these formative early years of Israel's history, it was imperative that the people be kept from the influence of sinners. And so Jericho is resoundingly defeated and destroyed because God wanted his chosen people to be holy. Thus, purity is paramount. As soon as you tolerate something, it becomes bearable, and before long it will become common and accepted. If you tolerate even small indiscretions by a few, eventually these few are going to pollute the nation. Indeed, this is eventually what does happen. Because the Jews didn’t get rid of all the Canaanites as they were commanded to do, their influence was felt and God’s people began to worship other gods and live like them. What are the influences in your life you need to avoid to remain pure for God says, “Be holy for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13
Fourth, it’s about community before the individual. The Israelites move on to the next city called Ai. But here things don’t go as smoothly. In fact, they meet with a terrible defeat with many of their number killed. Traumatized by the experience, they plead to know why God had abandoned them and quickly learn the terrible truth—that one person, Achan, had taken some items back in Jericho. One person out of 100’s of 1000’s didn’t listen to God and everyone suffers! This is not just an issue of individual obedience to God’s commands but communal as well. They were meant to be ONE people where all are for one and one are for all. Thus, the Israelites learn there is collective responsibility as well as individual responsibility—no person is an island, each exists as part of the whole and is responsible for the actions of others as well as his or her own. What an individual does impacts not only themselves but everyone else as well. It is always about the community as a whole.
Fifth, there are repercussions to sin. Judges 2:8-14 says, “And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord ... and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers ... and he gave them over into the hands of their enemies.” When the Israelites betray their covenant with God, bad things happen—usually, an enemy comes and attacks. God says over and over again—keep the Torah, all facets of it and no one will bother you. You will live in peace in your land. You will prosper, and not only that, the whole world will come to learn from you and you will be a light to the nations. But if you don’t, there are repercussions and punishment, usually at the hands of others. Only one person sinned yet, the entire nation is held accountable. The lesson is clear: every Jew is responsible for every other Jew, and what one does impacts everyone. And God will hold us accountable to the covenant and the commitments to His Law and His will for our lives. It’s a lesson we need to hear today. First, we are called to be one people and the individualism that is so prevalent in our culture is against God’s will for us. But we also need to hear that the relativism of moral ethics, that is, what I do is not wrong if it doesn’t hurt anybody else is just plain wrong and a lie. No person is an island. What we do is important because we are called to follow a holy God and our lives are our worship.
Sixth, look inward first. From Mount Sinai onward the Jewish people were always aware of their covenant with God, the responsibilities it entailed and the consequences of their not adhering to their side of the bargain. Because of this awareness, when calamities have befallen the Jewish people, they were always viewed as symptoms of deeper problems in the their relationship with each other and /or with God. When bad things happen to Jews, it is never by chance. It is always a consequence of their actions, and therefore, the remedy is never to deal solely with the external threat. If an enemy attacks, defense is in order, but so is introspection; the presence of enemy is only a symptom of a deeper problem that must be dealt with. This cause and effect relationship repeats itself over and over again, even through today. We are called to look inward to see the sin that is in us. John Wesley had a ritual at the end of each day where he would review the day and his words and actions and then confess his sins and ask for forgiveness. That’s a practice we would do well to follow as well.
Seventh, God provides. The Jews had no king, but when they needed guidance, God raised up “judges,” who were both warriors and prophets. The Judges were leaders who arise during a time of need or great threat. They unified the people, got them to repent and deal with the spiritual problems of the nation, and also deal with the physical threat. They are sometimes military leaders who know how to mobilize the nation for war against an enemy, but their real power lies in their Torah knowledge and ability to adjudicate Jewish law. During this period there were seventeen different judges. Some led the Jewish people for decades while others only for a few years. They are men and women, young and old, educated and uneducated. Some led the Jewish people for decades while others only for a few years. But regardless, they were the right person for the right season and God raised up each judge, reminding his people that God provided for His chosen people’s every need including leadership.
The exodus of the Hebrew people, their wanderings in the wilderness and the conquering of the promise land remind us that faith isn’t a destination. It’s a journey. Faith isn’t a one time experience, it’s a process you go through. It’s not a sprint, it’s a life long journey. It is often a winding and challenging road filled with great successes and with failures. It will be the hardest journey you have ever made. But it is always worth it! Karen Watson served in Iraq and wrote a letter to her pastor in case of her death. When news of her death arrived, her pastor opened her letter which read: "When God calls there are no regrets. I tried to share my heart with you as much as possible, my heart for the Nations. I wasn't called to a place. I was called to Him. To obey was my objective, to suffer was expected. His glory was my reward. His glory is my reward. Care more than some think is wise. Risk more than some think is safe. Dream more than some think is practical. Expect more than some think is possible. I was called not to comfort or success but to obedience." That is the God’s call to the Hebrew people and ours as well. Amen
