Having crossed the Jordan but before the first battle, God told Joshua it was time to re-establish the distinctive mark of the people of God. For forty years of wandering in the wilderness, they had not been circumcising the male children, and now was God’s time to put that right.
Of course you and I might think it strange that God didn’t get them to do this before crossing the river. At least there was some security the other side of the Jordan. But here, on this side of the river, surely they are vulnerable. If word got out, their enemies might attack during their recovery period. It might only be a few days, but a few days would be all that was needed to wipe them out. Perhaps this is a timely reminder to us that God’s way of doing things is not the same as our way of doing things.
The point of the exercise:
When God called Abraham and promised him both an inheritance of land and a long line of descendents, he gave a mark of distinctiveness. Circumcision becomes the outward sign of the chosenness of Abraham and his descendents as the people of God. It’s a sign of grace. But beware, the Bible is clear that this is only a sign, and it’s possible to have the sign and not the relationship that it signifies.
In the NT the sign of the new relationship is baptism. Full of the symbolism of death and resurrection, baptism is our outward mark of the inward grace we have received. But again, just as with the OT sign, it’s possible to posses the mark, to have been baptised, but to have nothing more. The sign does not save. The sign does not guarantee a relationship.
What are the distinctives of our relationship?
If the mark is a mark of distinction, then what are the distinctives of our relationship with God?
#1 Distinctive faith
The first thing is that faith is distinctive in itself.
Three aspects to our distinctive faith:
Incarnation: Central to our faith is the belief that God became human. That he came and lived out a human life in full view of human beings.
Grace: Grace can be defined simply as getting what you don’t deserve. We don’t deserve God’s forgiveness, but he gives it. We don’t deserve his mercy, but again he freely gives it away.
Atonement: God dies for us. How the immortal and eternal God can die, I don’t know, but in Christ this is exactly what he did for us. And because he did this for us, we now have access to the Father; we have the opportunity of forgiveness and reconciliation.
#2 Distinctive community
There are many things that mark the Christian community as distinctive. Some of these can be found in the early description of the church in Acts 2:42ff. We’ll pick up on three things:
Devoted to the core teaching. What made the community a community was the commitment to the core teaching. It doesn’t mean that they never disagreed or had differences, but the heart of their community was marked by this devotion to the teaching of those who had been with Jesus.
Devoted to the core relationships with each other. It’s never easy to live out the principles of Jesus command to love one another as he loved us. It’s the easiest thing in the world to take offence at what someone says or doesn’t say, what they do or don’t do. It easier to withdraw from relationships than it is to persevere with them. But relationships are at the heart of being a community.
Devoted to worship and prayer: There are many clubs and societies that do things together. You can join the ramblers or the gym, or you can join a social club. At the heart of the community of faith is a relationship with God, a relationship that in part is expressed through prayer and worship.
#3 Distinctive mission
To live out the grace of God in a broken world. Many of us would probably begin to define a distinctive mission in terms of outreach or evangelism. But it seems to me that the first step in our mission is to live out the grace of God that we have experienced. We add our words to our actions.
Into all the world: One of the great things about Bedford is that world seems to have moved into the neighbourhood. I’ve been told that it is the most ethnically diverse town in the UK. You don’t have to go far to go into all the world these days.
Introduce your friends: There was a follower of Jesus called Matthew. He was a tax-collector by trade, and I guess that meant most of his friends fell into the “undesirable” category of society. But he did an extraordinary thing. He threw a party and invited all his friends, old and new. He mixed sinners into the disciples of Jesus. He didn’t appear to do anything else; he just put them in the same room.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Sunday, May 7, 2006
Meeting the commander
What do you do when you meet someone with more authority than you have? In today’s world you are most likely to rebel against their authority and demand your right to make your own choices. Not so for Joshua. He met someone who outranked him by some considerable degree. Today he would realise that with all the authority he’d been given, he was still a man under authority.
Jesus met people who knew about authority.
He met demons that knew about authority. They recognised him for who he was and were subject to his authority over them. They still are. But he also met a soldier who knew about authority.
The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, `Go,' and he goes; and that one, `Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, `Do this,' and he does it." (Matt.8:8-9)
He met people who recognised that he had the authority to deal with their problems, to heal them when they were sick and set them free from anything that held them captive.
Joshua met someone with more authority than he had, and now he faced a choice: rebellion or submission.
When you meet the Commander of the army of the Lord
#1. Plans Change
When you say, “Yes,” to God, you give him permission to interrupt your plans.
Do you have a dream? Do you have an ambition? Do you have a plan? A list of things you want to do before you’re 30, or 40, or 50 or just before you die! Are you living off “what if’s” and “if only’s”? Do you spend your time wondering how life might have been or how it might be if only things were to go your way? But what about if things go God’s way?
There’s a question Dave Ping and Anne Clippard call the miracle question.
If a miracle happened tonight and you returned to the church tomorrow with everything and everyone operating just the way God intended, what would be happening?
Instead of the church, think for a moment about your own life. What if you woke up tomorrow morning and you began living just the way God intended, what would that look like?
When you say “yes,” to God, plans change. Life changes. Everything changes. The problem is that not long after it changes, we change it back again.
#2. Perspectives change
Joshua asks a simple question. He’s a military commander. A man with a drawn sword means one of two things. He’s come to fight with you or he’s come to fight against you. So Joshua asks: Friend or foe?
The answer is neither. This is not about God joining forces with human beings to fight their battles, this is about God fighting his own battles. The question is not: Is God on our side? The question is: Are we on God’s side?
Years earlier Moses had posed the self-same question to a previous generation. He’d asked them: “Who is on the Lord’s side?” It’s the same question now that Joshua’s generation of Israelites must answer. It’s a question you and I must answer too.
Are we on God’s side or are we looking for God to be on our side?
When we take route 2, we assume that God will do what we want when we want it. But that’s not how the Christian life works. God is no heavenly slot machine. Put in a prayer, pull the lever and wait for the jackpot to pour out over our feet. Life is not a casino.
The commander of the army of the Lord does not come to fight Joshua’s battle for him.
Our perspective changes when we realise that he that is in us is greater than he that is in the world (1John 4:4)
#3. Situations change
Joshua suddenly found himself on holy ground. This wasn’t anywhere particularly special, until God showed up. When God comes visiting, suddenly we find ourselves in the presence of holiness, and it’s awesome.
For Isaiah it was in the temple and his plans, his perspective, his situation and his attitude changed. For Paul it was the Damascus road. He changed. Peter was by the lake over breakfast, David watched a child die, Elijah hid in a cave, Joseph sat in prison.
Wherever we find ourselves, when God turns up things change.
#4. Attitudes change
Joshua worshipped.
Now at the risk of repeating myself… worship is always an appropriate response.
You wouldn’t naturally thin k about worship at a time like this. Facing Jericho you’re more likely to be thinking about how you’re going to get inside and take the city. But meeting the commander of the army of the Lord changes all that. Now you worship.
Have you noticed how often in the Old Testament the role of the human army in battle was to sing and worship? I haven’t researched this, but the one example that comes to mind is that of Jehoshaphat in 2Chron.20.
Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful." After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:
"Give thanks to the LORD,
for his love endures forever."
As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
The commander we meet is Jesus, and when we meet him we face a choice: rebellion or submission. Which is it going to be? Plans will change, situations will change, perspectives will change and attitudes will change, because Jesus changes everything.
Jesus met people who knew about authority.
He met demons that knew about authority. They recognised him for who he was and were subject to his authority over them. They still are. But he also met a soldier who knew about authority.
The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, `Go,' and he goes; and that one, `Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, `Do this,' and he does it." (Matt.8:8-9)
He met people who recognised that he had the authority to deal with their problems, to heal them when they were sick and set them free from anything that held them captive.
Joshua met someone with more authority than he had, and now he faced a choice: rebellion or submission.
When you meet the Commander of the army of the Lord
#1. Plans Change
When you say, “Yes,” to God, you give him permission to interrupt your plans.
Do you have a dream? Do you have an ambition? Do you have a plan? A list of things you want to do before you’re 30, or 40, or 50 or just before you die! Are you living off “what if’s” and “if only’s”? Do you spend your time wondering how life might have been or how it might be if only things were to go your way? But what about if things go God’s way?
There’s a question Dave Ping and Anne Clippard call the miracle question.
If a miracle happened tonight and you returned to the church tomorrow with everything and everyone operating just the way God intended, what would be happening?
Instead of the church, think for a moment about your own life. What if you woke up tomorrow morning and you began living just the way God intended, what would that look like?
When you say “yes,” to God, plans change. Life changes. Everything changes. The problem is that not long after it changes, we change it back again.
#2. Perspectives change
Joshua asks a simple question. He’s a military commander. A man with a drawn sword means one of two things. He’s come to fight with you or he’s come to fight against you. So Joshua asks: Friend or foe?
The answer is neither. This is not about God joining forces with human beings to fight their battles, this is about God fighting his own battles. The question is not: Is God on our side? The question is: Are we on God’s side?
Years earlier Moses had posed the self-same question to a previous generation. He’d asked them: “Who is on the Lord’s side?” It’s the same question now that Joshua’s generation of Israelites must answer. It’s a question you and I must answer too.
Are we on God’s side or are we looking for God to be on our side?
When we take route 2, we assume that God will do what we want when we want it. But that’s not how the Christian life works. God is no heavenly slot machine. Put in a prayer, pull the lever and wait for the jackpot to pour out over our feet. Life is not a casino.
The commander of the army of the Lord does not come to fight Joshua’s battle for him.
Our perspective changes when we realise that he that is in us is greater than he that is in the world (1John 4:4)
#3. Situations change
Joshua suddenly found himself on holy ground. This wasn’t anywhere particularly special, until God showed up. When God comes visiting, suddenly we find ourselves in the presence of holiness, and it’s awesome.
For Isaiah it was in the temple and his plans, his perspective, his situation and his attitude changed. For Paul it was the Damascus road. He changed. Peter was by the lake over breakfast, David watched a child die, Elijah hid in a cave, Joseph sat in prison.
Wherever we find ourselves, when God turns up things change.
#4. Attitudes change
Joshua worshipped.
Now at the risk of repeating myself… worship is always an appropriate response.
You wouldn’t naturally thin k about worship at a time like this. Facing Jericho you’re more likely to be thinking about how you’re going to get inside and take the city. But meeting the commander of the army of the Lord changes all that. Now you worship.
Have you noticed how often in the Old Testament the role of the human army in battle was to sing and worship? I haven’t researched this, but the one example that comes to mind is that of Jehoshaphat in 2Chron.20.
Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful." After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:
"Give thanks to the LORD,
for his love endures forever."
As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
The commander we meet is Jesus, and when we meet him we face a choice: rebellion or submission. Which is it going to be? Plans will change, situations will change, perspectives will change and attitudes will change, because Jesus changes everything.
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