Joshua 8:30-35

March 14, 2004               

Remembering God’s Faithfulness

In our American consumer culture, some food products are associated with faces and names. But when we dig behind the surface, we may discover that the names or faces are but fabrications to hawk a product, culinary frauds, perpetrated on an unsuspecting … and hungry … public.

You want the standard middle class American cookbook? Betty Crocker of course! 55 million people can’t be wrong. The trouble is Betty never existed? The people at Gold Medal flour invented Betty during a contest promotion, and she's been "alive and well" ever since--for 70 years. There is no Aunt Jemima. Duncan Hines was a restaurant critic in the 30’s but not a baker. Harland Sanders, a consummate business failure for most of his life did finally succeed by using an old family recipe, selling his fried chicken from a Kentucky gas station. But he wasn’t a Colonel.

Of the famed faces associated with American food at its best, or worst, is Chef Boy-ar-dee. His likeness can still be seen on what is a culinary fraud of a different ilk. Hector Boiardi came from Italy in 1914, eventually opening a successful restaurant in Cleveland and whose dishes were praised for their fine taste. So he mass-marketed the idea, but not the flavor, making him millions, but left lovers of fine Italian cuisine reaching for the Pepto-Bismol.

There is a disconnect between the product and the reality. It is an advertising sham, albeit not terribly damaging one that lulls us into trusting the product because there is a familiar face or name which we find comforting. Our memories are toyed with, our emotions tugged. When it comes to a cookbook or a can of Beefaroni there is not a tremendous loss, aside from taste. But when it comes to our relationship with God, we must be certain that what we celebrate and the God behind our celebration is one in the same. We must be assured that when we worship God’s faithfulness we worship correctly.

The trouble is when times are going well we don’t stop to consider all God has done for us, how in his providential care he brought us through, blessing us, giving us his grace to succeed in life. When times are bad, we become so focused on battling the here and now we ignore the God who stands behind the dark cloud of his frowning providence. In either case, we pay paltry praise to the God of grace, giving him little more thought than we do to whether Col. Sanders is ex-military or Betty Crocker is a crock. It is nothing more than a label, to get us through our day, our week, our lives.

In Joshua 8 the children of Israel stop in the midst of a difficult conquest of the Promised Land to remember God’s faithfulness. Having endured triumph and tragedy; they realize they can not continue without renewing their allegiance to the God of grace who has established his covenant with them.

The triumph they experienced was enough to make their head spin. Whatever obstacle they faced fell before them. The Jordan River parted, the Canaanites trembled in fear, and the walls of Jericho collapsed. Yet while their external successes were reason to celebrate, internal sins exacted a heavy toll. God’s intolerance of sin was not just toward the pagan Canaanites, but applied to his own people as well. When Achan sinned, the nation was punished. Failure was soon to follow as they confidently faced the hamlet of Ai, God’s chosen people were routed. Although they dealt decisively with the sin, there was reason to question whether they would see success ever again.

Into that situation God spoke, in Joshua 8:1 God said: “Do not fear and do not be dismayed.” Sin repented of was no longer a threat to God’s presence. On the heels of failure God promised them his blessing at Ai. God laid out the rough plan for Joshua, who filled in the details. An ambush was laid for the city, this time they would succeed. Ai is sacked. Victory is once again theirs. Just as it would appear success would roll unstopped, the nation suddenly shifts gears to remember. They gather to worship. READ Joshua 8:30-35

With momentum building, it is necessary to recall God’s faithfulness. Rather than pursuing the goal of the conquest of the land, they pursue worship of the God who gives them the land. They stop, take account of God’s mercies, they reflect on God’s faithfulness.

We must remember what God did for us

This is where Israel began, more than a millennium before Christ. Before they moved on to the next victory God would grant them, they remembered what God promised he would do. Joshua builds an altar and offers a sacrifice. In this we see a picture of what the Father did for us in Christ.

It is an altar of uncut stones on Mount Ebal.

As Exodus 20:25 stipulates, their altars were not to be fabrications of their own hands, but a common pile of field stones on which the sacrifices were made. Their worship of God was not to be adorned by their skill, but their attention was to focus on God’s grace. Worship was not a product of packaging, marketing, and consumer driven desires, but pointing to the simple truth of God’s favor based on his promise. Simplicity was the order of the day so attention would not be misdirected.

It was to be located on Mt Ebal.

Their worship was not just to be anywhere, but specified by Moses before he died. In Deuteronomy 27 Moses says that when they enter the land they are to gather on Mt Ebal. He specifies the altar and the form of worship. But our lack of familiarity with the region keeps us from understanding.

In order to worship as God directs they must pack up the multitude, travel 25 miles, a three day journey, pass by potentially hostile cities, lay down their weapons and worship. They are just 2 and 1, two victories and one defeat. It seems premature … unless you recognize the centrality of remembering who provides the victories and the seeming failures.

Their destination held significance. Ebal and Gerizim, some 30 miles north of Jerusalem, flanked to the north and south the valley of Shechem, a place of God’s promises in the past. This valley was the first resting place for Abraham six hundred years before, after leaving Haran. It was there God enacted the covenant with Abraham. It was there two generations later did Jacob, like grandfather Abraham, build an altar and worship, dugs wells, where the bones of Joseph were buried.  

Taking time to worship, to remember God’s faithfulness may not be convenient, but it is always necessary. Loading the cranky kids in the minivan may not be as arduous as trekking through enemy territory to locate the ancient site where ancestors worshipped, but it is equally important to come aside from frenetic life to consider once again how he has given us victories and failures that we would remember his goodness to us.

Worship must begin with redemption from sin

On that altar on Mt Ebal, burnt offerings were made. The burnt offering was the foundation of their entire worship system. The male animal without blemish was brought before the priest who laid his hand on the animal, signifying the transference of sin from those offering the sacrifice upon the animal. The animal was slain, its blood thrown against he altar and its body completely burned up. This pictures the atoning sacrifice of Christ, the one who died as propitiation, who took our place, taking on the wrath of God for our sins. 

As we see in v33 there are two mountains referred to, but Ebal is the one where the altar was. It is on Ebal that the curses of the law are read. This all is not without significance.

Ebal to the north is a barren out cropping of stone. Gerizim, to the south is a verdant hill. The mountain on which the curses were read and sacrifices were made was the lifeless Ebal.

Paul reminds us of this truth on the other side of the cross when he writes in Galatians 3:10 that all who rely on the works of the law, trust in their own goodness are under a curse. What they produce is but barren rocky soil. But Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us to redeem us from the curse of the law.

As you are faced with a life of both triumphs and tragedies, of personal success and failures, this is where we must constantly return. Not to rehearse our achievements or bewail our failures, but to see what God does with our sins. He places them on Christ, who suffers in our place. As we said last week, we can either be like Achan, whose refusal to repent leads to his death, or like Rahab. She looks to Christ to take on her many sins and she, and her household is saved.

Worship must conclude with celebration and joy

There is another sacrifice mentioned in v31, the peace offering. With the foundation of Christ’s substitution in our place, we can then respond by giving praise to God for his grace. In Leviticus as the sacrifices are specified, the peace offering follows the burnt. This offering remembers that with sin removed and God appeased, there can be a relationship with God, there is now peace.

The sacrifice is made, but a portion of it was to be eaten by the people, as a reminder that God is no longer angry, but invites us to dine with him. In the Lord’s Supper, we are invited guests, feed by God’s grace, welcomed and accepted for Christ as secured the way for us.

Fortunately that kind of reluctant peace is not what we have with God. He joyously welcomes us, failures and fears, pains and troubles. His arms are outstretched for us, for his Son’s arms were stretched out on the cross for our sins.

When Martin Luther entered the monastery at Erfurt, Germany, he gave himself wholly to prayers, fasting, and labors-all in a gigantic effort to gain peace from the guilt of his sins. Yet the more he tried to conform his life to God’s demands the more he felt distant. The more he tried to love God the more he hated God. He was notorious among the monks for wearing out Confessors who grew weary listening to his gut wrenching confessions. It was the simple advice of the dean of the theological faculty, John Staupitz who enabled Luther to find the peace he sought. He urged Luther to look away from his deceitful thoughts and evil impulses, and to cast himself wholly in the Redeemer's arms.

"Trust the righteousness of His life and the atonement of His death," he said. Luther did that and found peace. But a short time later he lost the joy of his salvation. "Oh, my sin, my sin, my sin!" he lamented.

With utmost kindness the dean replied, "Well, would you only be a sinner in appearance and also have a Savior only in appearance? Know that Jesus Christ is Savior even of those who are great, real sinners, and deserving of utter condemnation." That is the peace God offers, peace for real sinners who sense real turmoil from their sin.

Acknowledging our sins and celebrating God’s grace, Joshua then etched the law of God upon the stones of the altar where the sacrifices were made. With the demands fulfilled in Christ’s punishment for us and our acceptance before God, now his law is ours to joyously keep.

No longer a tyrant demanding exacting perfection from weak and sinful people, we constantly look to Christ and know our acceptance is guaranteed, certain and complete.

Just as read earlier from the Beatitudes, those demands to be poor, to mourn, to thirst are not manufactured on our own, but ours because of Christ. When you stare at the law and see your sin, look and see in the reflection of that mirror the completed work of Christ, He bore that for you.

We must remember what God said to us

We must have a complete remembrance

Gathered on each mountain side, the twelve tribes faced each other, with the Levitical priests in the middle next to the Ark of the Covenant. There they rehearsed the curses and the blessings of the Law of God. With their status before God assured, they were reminded how they must live.

Deuteronomy 27 clarifies what is described here. The curses were read from Ebal, the mountain of rocks, the blessings from Gerizim, the green, lush mountain of life. Nothing was left out, the good and the bad were heard and pictured as they stood facing one another, voicing their agreement with each curse spoken, each blessing promised.

After the curses were read, the whole Law was read, a reminder of what God had agreed to do for them and how they were to live in response. Verse 34 – all the words of the law – nothing was left out, all was valuable.

Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 3:16 that all Scripture is inspired and profitable for teaching. We do not have the luxury to pick and chose those parts which warm and comfort us and ignore those sections which prick our conscience. If we ignore those passages which we find perplexing or condemning we do so to our peril.

When veteran journalist Ted Koppel was honored as Broadcaster of the Year, he tellingly said: “Consider this paradox: Almost everything that is publicly said these days is recorded. Almost nothing of what is said is worth remembering.” But consider this truth, all what God has said is worthy of our attention.

God’s people gathered to participate together. It is important to personally reflect on God’s work of grace in your life, yet that flows out of corporate celebration. We begin with gathering together and move from there to worship privately. But without this start, the rest becomes muddled. We live in an age which values isolation to our determent. Robert Putman speaks of the decline of community his book Bowling Alone in which he writes.

The most whimsical yet discomfiting bit of evidence of social disengagement in contemporary America that I have discovered is this: more Americans are bowling today than ever before, but bowling in organized leagues has plummeted in the last decade or so. Between 1980 and 1993 the total number of bowlers in America increased by 10 percent, while league bowling decreased by 40 percent. (Lest this be thought a wholly trivial example, I should note that nearly 80 million Americans went bowling at least once during 1993, nearly a third more than voted in the 1994 congressional elections and roughly the same number as claim to attend church regularly. …) The rise of solo bowling threatens the livelihood of bowling-lane proprietors because those who bowl as members of leagues consume three times as much beer and pizza as solo bowlers, and the money in bowling is in the beer and pizza, not the balls and shoes. The broader social significance, however, lies in the social interaction and even occasionally civic conversations over beer and pizza that solo bowlers forgo. Whether or not bowling beats balloting in the eyes of most Americans, bowling teams illustrate yet another vanishing form of social capital. (R Putnam, "Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital," Journal of Democracy, January 1995)

Whether it is bowling or bowing in prayer – we are mistaken to think we can engage in life alone. We must remember together. We do this every Lord’s Day where our worship is a covenant renewal, forming the foundation for our week. It is the opportunity for you to express with others God’s faithfulness. The noisy voices of the past week which have screamed that who you are and what you do does not matter are silenced as you see the source of your worth is Christ. But we do this not in isolation, but in community.

This passage repeats the idea of the totality of God’s people gathering together.

Rahab and her family where there, the warriors who fought at Ai were present, as were the women and children. The greatest leader to the youngest child – none were excluded. All were a part of this covenant gathering.

Alone we are powerless, but together we are designed to build off one another. By way of analogy, the New York Times (10-22-03) reports the birth of a homemade supercomputer about to be ranked as one of the fastest machines in the world. Supercomputers traditionally cost $100 million to $250 million and take years to put together. But the faculty, technicians, and students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute used 1,100 off-the-shelf Apple Macintosh computers and assembled a supercomputer in just one month for $5 million. The result is a machine that can compute 7.41 trillion operations a second.

Their efforts produced a system that ranks at least fourth fastest in the world.

So here we come together as God’s people, reminding each other of God’s faithfulness to us. When we sing with one voice, we sing of God’s grace and whether we sing well or poorly, we encourage one another that what we believe is not a figment of our imagination, but that God’s grace is at work in us, as God’s Word promises. In the face of the failures or victories you may have had this week, we gather as one to look to Christ for his grace.

We stand as God’s people together, encouraging one another to live as God has called us to live. One way in which that is most clearly done is in baptism. Our community is evidenced by the way in which we look to God to enable us to raise our children, to encourage the kids as well as the parents, to look to Christ for all they are and need.