William Williams, the Isaac Watts of Wales, wrote the famous hymn Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah, one my favorite hymns. It too conveys a similar thought when he wrote in one stanza:
While such imagery is not forbidden, it does confuse the point of the Joshua. The conquest of Canaan following the freedom from Egyptian bondage is a picture of our Christian life. This is all about our growth in Christ. As we heard earlier from Hebrews 3 and 4, Canaan is our rest today and in the future. We are brought out of bondage and into possession of all the riches in Christ. Our possession begins with regeneration; it encompasses all the benefits of salvation. Our calling now is to be prepared to possess.

The imagery we will see as we move through Joshua is the picture of the Christian life. What you and I want in our relationship with Christ is rest: peace of conscience, lasting joy. But far too often we possess anything but that. We face battles each and every day, so that we often falsely imagine that we do not have what God has promised.

The confusion comes when we are not prepared to possess, when we have not considered the truth that we are to take possession of what God has given us to possess. Joshua pictures our sanctification, a “work of God’s grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.”

Our calling today is to be prepared, to first remember that you have an inheritance in Christ beyond your comprehension and, in faith, you are to claim it. You must recognize that you have died with Christ and are now risen with him. The old man is dead and you are alive in Christ. You can not go forward unless you account yourself as such, unless you know that the victory is won on the cross and yours to possess. But you must be prepared. Yet that preparation to possess is not just for you … it is for us.

We must be prepared to provide for others             12-15

Our preparation means we must provide for others

This is the heart of the passage. This is where the Deionization of America, of the church, is most dangerous. For you to be prepared to possess what God has given you, you must prepare to provide for others. Far from the radical individualism of our age, what happens in vv12-15 is a clarion call to community. 

Joshua reminds 2½ of the tribes, Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh, what they promised to Moses, to their brothers and to God. We read about this in Numbers 32.

When Israel defeated Sihon, the king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan, across the Jordan, Rueben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh wanted that land for their inheritance. It was a fine piece of real estate. Moses became enraged and said (read Num 32:6-15). The 2½ tribes acquiesced, vowing not to rest until all Israel obtained possession of the land.

It would be tempting for these tribes to go for their own good, benefit their families. It would be very understandable for them to wish their fellow Israelites good luck, God speed, see ya later… don’t forget to write. But instead, they quickly assent to the promise they made earlier and become models for not only obedience, but encouragement.

It was crucial that all Israel enter the land together. Community is a central theme in Joshua.

Throughout this book, the community of Israel fights together and worships together. We will see that all Israel crosses the Jordan, all Israel is circumcised, all Israel celebrates the Passover, all Israel walks around Jericho, all Israel suffers when Aachan sins, all Israel reads Deuteronomy at Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim. This points out the truth that all Israel is designed to experience life together in the land.

Unity then and now is no idle luxury. It is not a goal we hope to one day achieve. Unity is not about a warm gooey feeling of togetherness, of hand holding around the campfire singing Kumba Ya. Unity is caring enough to encourage each other – even when it doesn’t encourage you.

The outcome of our preparing to possess all that God has for us is to encourage others to do the same. This is the heart of Hebrews 10:25. If Christ’s work means anything to you, you will not abandon the body which does not always meet your needs; you will find ways to meet the needy where they need to hear the gospel.

Human nature is to look after itself, to forget about others. It is part of our vocabulary, as in NIMBY – not in my backyard – when we are faced with issues we want others to handle but not us. The backyard of the eastern tribes is secure, why should they risk their lives? Why should they put the lives of their wives and little ones in danger?

“My kids are grown – why should I help out in the nursery?”

“I don’t have any youth, so why would I give time to spend with our young people?”

“I spend fifty hours a week dealing with office politics; I just don’t have time or energy to listen to someone who’s struggling.”

A crucial element to your growth in Christ is serving, not being served. Cornerstone has in the past, does not, and will in the future fall far short in serving the needs of everyone here. When you see it, your only response is to roll up your sleeves and discover what you can do.

If you find yourself wishing that people look after you, provide worship music that suits your tastes, youth programs to your liking, preaching that hits you where you hurt, you are engaging in the Deionization of the Church, the self centeredness of American Christianity in which demands others serve me. But growing to be like Christ is about serving others.

Our preparation means none rest until all rest

While the 2½ tribes are able to rest, they will not rest until all do. They will send their wives, little ones (those under 20 years) and livestock to settle the land. They will not be defenseless, however, for according to Numbers 26 there are about 100,000 men of fighting age, but in Joshua 4:13 the number that cross is 40,000. These are the men of valor, the best of the best.

The “men of valor are to pass over before your brothers.” They are to march ahead of the rest, weapons in hand, ready for battle and lead the way, in full view. Their encouragement is not a small token force. They are not willing to leave their families but stay in the rearguard.

Back in 1983 a major storm dumped 2ft of snow in Lancaster, PA. As Janet worked for the Red Cross, she and I were drafted by the coordinator of disaster relief, who was a neighbor, to go across town to aide people in an apartment complex whose roof collapsed from the weight of the snow. Getting there was not easy. The roads were not well plowed. I made it part way through the city when the car became stuck. I flagged down a snow plow driver, hoisted up my bride of six months and her friend. But there I was stranded. My spirits were lifted when trudging through the snow was a police cruiser. The car, with four officers, pulled up along side and said: “You can’t park your car in the middle of a busy highway.” I agreed this was not the best spot, even for a `73 AMC Hornet. They suggested that I push it out of the street … through 2 feet of snow. They then informed me they would give me “visual assistance.” That was not the help I wanted. I did manage to move the car out of the way of the next snow plow, but as I then turned to see if they would give me a ride back to the police barracks, just a block from our apartment, they took off. That is not the kind of assistance these tribes were going to give.

Rather, none of the tribes would enjoy the comforts of home until all could enjoy them. The rest was to be for all of them. Rest in Scriptures is an important concept. It is part of the created order as God rested on the seventh day. It was celebrated by Israel in the Sabbath, associated with their freedom from slavery in Egypt. In the New Testament it is the picture of the life of faith in Christ. 

The rest we have now in Christ does not mean we can take it easy in our Christian lives, for there our countless outside the church who do not know Christ who need to hear of the good news of what this rest means. There are many in our own church that need others to come alongside and not give visual assistance, but must roll up their sleeves and get to work of encouraging one another. Your growth in Christ is only so far as our growth in Christ.

The rest we have is the sense of the family table, lost art of eating together, passing food, interacting with one another. In church we by-pass true community for pseudo community.

Instead of the family table we have a cafeteria. There we get to choose what we want and were we sit. If something does not appeal, move down the line and get something else. You may eat a well prepared meal, but you eat it alone. There are more choices, but it only nourishes so much. The cafeteria may even give the appearance of community; it will have a name that harkens back to good old days, like Old Country Buffet, as though that is what life used to be like. It feeds, but it doesn’t nurture. Church is not about customer service, but life together. It is to be a shared life. It may be loud and a tad uncivilized at times, but that is where we are well feed, physically and spiritually.

We must be prepared to promise obedience               16-18

The tribes respond appropriately. The promise they made to Moses stands. They may have easily reneged, claiming that Moses’ death ends their agreement. But they knew their promise to serve the whole nation stands for their promise was to God. 

On the face of it their promise of obedience would greatly encourage the other tribes as well as seal Joshua’s leadership. Yet in the context of Israel’s history the promise may seem a bit hollow. The strong language leaves no loop holes, so that one wonders if they understand what they are promising. The history of God’s people is full of promises made and broken, so that when they said “just as we obeyed Moses in all things…” you can picture the people cringing, recalling all those times when Moses was not obeyed. What about the accompanying curse in v18? Are they talking big, but will fail to deliver?

The answer is in v17. It doesn’t stand out in English. The adverb raq, only, when it occurs before an imperfect verb form, it expresses something which contradicts that which precedes it. It is as though they say:

We will do what we say, but even if we don’t what matters is that the Lord is with you! That is where you confidence should be, Joshua.

They are sincere in their vow. Yet they know the sinful human heart. Joshua’s hope should not rest in a human promise. Rather, Joshua’s success will come from the Lord’s presence. It is God who will graciously empower His people to keep their promises. And when those promises are broken, the pain of death will come. But as we see in the New Testament, that pain of death will come upon not the people of God, but upon the final Joshua, Jeshua, Jesus. He took the punishment for our broken promises and he alone has kept all his promises.

This truth does not keep us from making promises. Instead, it is the source of our promise making and keeping. Christ is the promise maker and fulfiller for us. It is to him we look and trust when we vow. Just as you, the member of Cornerstone have vowed to uphold this community, not to turn from it to fulfill your own desires – so your Session knows, I know, that our hope is not in the strength of your will, but in the God who is with us.

How prepared are you? Are you willing to invest yourself in a covenant community to prepare yourself and to give of yourself to prepare others?

Service is at the core here, not rugged individualism or radical independence. The Church must not buy into the Deionization of America, always wanting to be in control, keeping their options open, refusing accountability, unwilling to submit to authority. 

Without unity, we can not fight the Canaanites; we will not take possession of what God has given us. It will take loving, serving, walking together in Christ, willingness to be lead, giving.

Will you accept the challenge to live in covenant? There is no use going over the river if the answer is no.

What about the Deionization of America?

We began with Bob Greene’s criticism of Deion Sander’s self centered approach to sports, to life. There is more to the story. God in his providence provides a new chapter in the story. Late in his career Deion Sanders came to faith in Christ, altered his lifestyle, and adjusted his values … of himself and others. Greene, who often wrote of the victimizing of children, was fired after it was revealed he had an inappropriate relationship with a young teen.

Interestingly, what Greene called Sanders to was a Boy Scout moralism which he could not keep. It was Greene whose self centered life destroyed him, seeking his own pleasure and not the good of others. It is the self centered life well sees the sin of others but never in oneself.

Rather, we have in God’s Law the perfect standard and in Christ the perfect law keeper. To Christ we flee as our only hope and in Christ we move forward to obey the Law of God.