Clarity - November 9, 2008

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25

A college student was heading home to New York for the holidays.
When she got to the airline counter to check her luggage, she presented her ticket to New York. She said to the agent taking her luggage, "I'd like you to send my green suitcase to Hawaii, and my red suitcase to London."
The confused agent said, "I'm sorry, we can't do that."
She said, “I am so relieved to hear you say that because that's exactly what you did to my luggage last year!"

Getting to our destination isn’t always the easiest thing …
But we make it …
Maybe we’re late …
Maybe some of the luggage gets lost …
But we make it.

We made it here this morning …

From near and far
We gather here
At Covenant on the Corner …

We lift our voices and
We lift our hearts
In prayer and praise and hope …

For some weeks now, we’ve been on the road with Israel … Willie Nelson’s song, On the Road Again, might well have been written for God’s people … heading to the Promised Land.

Last week Sunday, we stood with Moses on Mt. Nebo …
There it is Moses, said God … there’s the Promised Land …
After 40 years of wilderness wandering …
But it’s time to say goodbye Moses.
Time to fold ‘em and leave the table …
Time for a new leader for a new day …
Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumblin’ down …

Joshua took command that day … and mapped out the strategy.
They crossed the river and entered the land …
Getting into the Promised Land was easy …
Staying there was another matter …
Enemies on every side …
Doubt and fear within …
But they did it.

Our reading today is from the last chapter of Joshua … mission accomplished, if you will … the Promised Land is theirs after many a bloody battle … from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south … they made it, they’re in … and now it’s time for Joshua to say goodbye …

To say a few final words …

Let’s open our Bibles and see what’s happening … [read text] …

Remember who you are – that’s the first piece here.
Remember who you are!

Once upon a time, says Joshua …
Our ancestors lived in a far away land … beyond the Euphrates River … and they worshipped other gods.
But God took our father Abraham …

The story of grace …
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

God took our father Abraham from the land beyond the river …
This is our story, too, isn’t it?
Your story …
My story …
It’s been our story from the get-go …
We’re wandering in a far-away land … in the land of Nod, east of Eden … far from the presence of God …

But God pays us a visit …
God finds us …

Not one of us is here by our own will … nor our own strength …
We are born anew of the grace of God …not of blood or the will of the flesh or human will but of God (John 1:13).

In one of my favorite stories in the Bible, God sets aside the fig leaves, the flimsy fig leaves, the sad attempt we make to cover ourselves – fig leaves won’t do.
So God become a tailor, God makes clothing for Adam and Eve, durable clothing, costly clothing … the skins of animals, it says … life given in exchange for life.
The journey is long … good clothing needed … and there is no better clothing then clothing made by God.

Clothed in Christ, says Paul the Apostle to the church in Galatia … and to the church in California, to the church in Los Angeles, to the church called Covenant – clothed in Christ.

We are here today because God took us …
God took us by the hand and walked us into the kingdom of light …
Like a father takes his daughter’s hand and walks her through a storm …
Like a mother takes her son’s hand and guides him along a rocky pathway …
God has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14).

You didn’t choose me, says Jesus.
I choose you.

Peter describes it like this:
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, _ in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Dear Christian friends … remember who you are …
We are here today because of grace …
Because of Jesus Christ …

It’s easy to forget who we are …
Spiritual things slip away in the cares of life …
We forget who we are and why we’re here …
We end up like Caden Cotard in the film, “Synecdoche” – a remarkable film, not for the faint of heart … starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, portraying a playwright always working, but no results… always rehearsing the play, but the play never has an opening night … until one day, he realizes that all the characters have grown old, many have died … and it’s too late; it’s just too late … there never will be an opening night …

The powerful film, “Remains of the Day” starring Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins … she’s the housekeeper in Lord Darlington’s manner in the fateful days leading up to World War 2, and he’s the head butler … she loves him, and all around them flow the great events of the day as the world builds toward war and the Holocaust… but he neither sees, nor hears, nor speaks … he avoids all feeling, even for that of his father, even as he watches his father fail and die.
In the end, it’s too late for feeling; it’s too late to regain love lost; it’s too late for everything – there is no going back!
He pays her a visit after many years have passed … they chat; the evening draws to a close she gets onto the bus for home … their hands clasp one last time – her eyes fill with tears for what might have been and never will be …
The bus pulls away … and there he stands, all alone …
Opportunity missed …
A wasted life …

Powerful stories that remind us of what Joshua said … “Don’t waste your time on this good earth.”
The God Project.

That’s what life is all about …
Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself …
God has told you, O mortal, what is good: and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).

Don’t waste your life on this good earth …
Serve the LORD!
Remember grace … God took Father Abraham from beyond the river and made something of him … God took us from the land of land of slavery, from the house of bondage and made something of us …

I gave you a land, says God, on which you had not labored, and towns that you had not built, and … you eat the fruit of vineyards and olive yards that you did not plant.

Joshua speaks to the people … Joshua speaks to us here and now:
You have an unparalleled opportunity …
Don’t waste the moment …
Don’t rest on your laurels …
Now is the time for renewed effort …

Years ago, I read something that forever changed the way I look at things … the author, long-forgotten, wrote: The greatest cause of failure is success.

Corporations and churches …
Nations and families …

Success comes, but only for a time …
New times requires new strategies …
Nothing stays the same …
Yesterday’s success lulls us to sleep …
And while we sleep, the thief breaks in and steals …

The greatest cause of failure is success.

God’s people were enormously successful in taking the land … they achieved so much … their dreams had come true …
But Joshua knows the danger of success … now, more than ever, vigilance and faith.

Now is the not the time to rest.
Now is not the time to settle down and take a breather …
Now is not the time to let down your guard … now, more than ever, vigilance and faith … a fresh determination to serve the LORD.

Serve him in sincerity and faithfulness.
Put away the gods from another time and place …

Choose this day what it will be.
Choose clearly … choose decisively …
One way or the other …

As for me and my house, says Joshua, we will serve the LORD.

The people protested.
Of course, we’ll serve the LORD. Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods.

But Joshua doesn’t let up … You cannot serve the LORD … God is so much more than you think … you’re not determined enough, you’re not decisive enough, you’re not clear enough, to serve the LORD …

Joshua understands the moment … the people talk about God, but they don’t know God very well … they say, “LORD, LORD,” as if they knew what they were talking about … but Joshua knows better … and so does Jesus …

In one of the most remarkable passages in the New Testament Jesus says:

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’

And by the way, did you know that Jesus is the Aramaic equivalent of Joshua … Jesus and Joshua both push the people for clarity of commitment and full-hearted decision … it’s not a little of this and little of that, and maybe so and maybe not … it’s a clear and faithful decision to do the God Project …
Half-heartedness will not do …
Poorly framed thoughts and confused thinking will not do …
Resting on our laurels will not do …
Merely saying the words, “LORD, LORD” will not do …
Yesterday’s success will not do for the challenges of a new day …

Joshua pushes hard …

The people protest all the more.

Yes, we are ready.
We will serve the LORD and no other …

Are you sure? asks Joshua.

Yes, we’re sure …

Simple psychology, isn’t it?
We use it all the time with children …
Is this what you really want?
Do you really want the dog?
You’ll have to take care of it … take it for a walk … clean up after it … are you sure this is what you really want?

Joshua put it to the people – is this what you really want?

Good question for us here at Covenant on the Corner … we’ve come so far; we have a fine campus and glorious stories … but there’s no time to rest … no time to kick back and take a breather … we cannot rest on our laurels, nor relish our victories … so much more needs to be done … the God Project goes on.

Yes, said the people.
Yes, we really mean it …

Yes to God all over again …
When was the last time we said yes to God?
Twenty years ago, thirty or forty years ago … just last week?
It’s a renewable moment …
It needs to be renewed in a timely fashion …
To be fresh and relevant …
Being an 8th grade cheerleader doesn’t cut it in the board room …
Getting a gold star on your jr. high report card doesn’t stand the test of time …
Just because you scored the winning touchdown in the last game of your senior year guarantees nothing for the future.
Saying Yes to God needs frequent renewal … yes, all over again!
Because it’s a brand new day.
That day, the people said, Yes, this is what we really want!

Yes … we will serve the LORD!

Amen and Amen!

Finally - November 2, 2008

Audio version HERE.

Joshua 3:7-17

Finally … at least … we’re here!
We’ve made it; we’ve arrived.
Cross this river … and we’re home!
The Promised Land at last … Finally!

What do children ask on a road-trip? Are we there yet?
Every ten minutes … Are we there yet?

Forty years of wilderness … are we there yet?
Forty years of rock and sand … are we there yet?
Forty years to get ready for the Promised Land …

It took time …
Things like this don’t happen overnight …
Big things move slowly … important things take their time!
And where was Moses?

The Burning Bush man …
The man in Pharaoh’s court, Let my people go!
Where’s Moses now?
This glorious moment …
Ready to cross the river …
Everything Moses dreamed of …
Every prayer …
Sweat, blood and tears …
For this moment – the Promised Land.

Where’s Moses?

Just this side of the River, God takes Moses to the top of the mountain … Mt. Nebo …
And on that mountain, high and clear,
Moses could see Jericho City and the land of hope …
There it is Moses … the Promised Land … what you and I have been working for all these years …
Did God and Moses reminisce?
Remember when I called you at the Burning Bush?
Sure I remember; who could forget?
Like a couple of old friends, about the way it used to be, all the stories … the fiery pillar at night … the cloud during the day … manna in the morning … quail in the evening … water from a rock?

On Mt. Nebo … Moses could see the Promised Land …
Just across the river …

But this moment was the close of a chapter …
The end of a journey …
The last page …

God said to Moses:
This far Moses, and no further.
It’s time to say goodbye.
You’ve carried the torch of hope all these years …
You’ve been faithful and good … you’ve been my leader.
But it’s time to say goodbye,
To let someone else bear the burden and lead the way home.
It’s time to say goodbye Moses.

There, on that that mountain, Moses said goodbye … there on that mountain, within sight of the Promised Land, Moses died …
Moses was 120 years old … his eyes were good and his strength unabated … he was ready for more, but it’s time to say to Goodbye!
Nothing lasts forever!

The text says, He was buried in a valley in Moab … and to this day no one knows the place.
No monument … no shrine … no tourist trap …
Dust to dust … earth to earth …
God knows the place …
And that’s all that counts.

The torch of leadership was passed to Joshua …
Moses said goodbye!
Joshua said good morning.
This day would belong to Joshua …
A new generation …
A new leadership …
A new way for a new day!

The text adds a humorous touch …

The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.

That was that …
It was time for Moses to say goodbye.
They wept for 30 days … the obligatory time of mourning … they dried their tears, and on they moved …

It’s amazing how God replaces us …
Important as we may be importance is but for a season - there’s always a time to say goodbye, to lay our burdens down.
By the way …
Did Moses ever make it into the Promised Land?

Matthew 17:
When Jesus went up the mountain … Peter, James and John with him …
Remember the story?
We cal it the Transfiguration …
Jesus begins to shine … glory revealed … white and bright …
A luminous cloud enfolds them …
And in that cloud, two men …
Elijah the prophet … and? … Moses … talking with Jesus.

Moses made it to the Promised Land.
All in due time …
God is good all the time … and all the time God is good.

Moses said goodbye.
Joshua took charge.

Joshua said to the people: before we go anywhere …
Draw near and hear the words of the LORD!

A gathering … like what we’re doing right now …
The chemistry of the company …
Some things have to be done together …
Strength in numbers …
Side-by-side …
All together in a holy moment …

Draw near, says Joshua.

To hear the words of the LORD your God.

I can’t think of anything more important for us here and now … for Covenant on the Corner …
This is the God Project …
It’s not about Moses … it’s not about Joshua … it’s not about us … it’s not about Covenant … it’s not about the Presbyterian Church … it’s not about our pews, our buildings, our traditions, our memories, our comfort, our hopes and dreams …

That’s a tough message for any of us to hear.

Aren’t we always the center of our little universe?
Doesn’t the sun rise and set on our little plot of land?
Isn’t our take on things the right take on things?

It’s not about us.
That’s a tough message.
But it’s the truth …
And the truth sets us free.

There’s no smaller package in all the world than a man all wrapped up in himself.

God wants to unwrap us.
Unfold the arms …

Open our minds and open our hearts …
To welcome one another …
To help one another …
To devote ourselves to the God Project …

For therein is where we find our true selves …
The God Project …
To love God with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind … and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Draw near, says Joshua, to hear the words of the LORD.

The God Project …

For the Israelites that day, the ark lead the way … the Ark of the Covenant …

We always have to ask ourselves … what or who is leading us?

Elders and Deacons ask this question constantly as they lead others …
Pastors and missionaries ask this question constantly as they teach others …

Who’s leading the leaders?

The other day, I read of a local preacher of some influence declaring to his congregation about Prop 8 – the marriage thing, and the gay thing … and the preacher said, vote for it; it’s the right thing to do, and then added, … I just preach the Bible” … and then paused, as if that settled it, as if that meant anything …
But what does it mean? I just preach the Bible.

Every Tom, Dick and Harry has claimed to preach the Bible … the Inquisitors torturing a young man - they were just preaching the Bible.
The Crusaders killing Jews and Muslims - they were just preaching the Bible.
The Salem Witch Hunters burning a woman at the stake - they were just preaching the Bible.
Andrew Jackson expelling the Cherokee out of the Carolinas and Jefferson Davis leading the Confederates States to keep slaves … they were just preaching the Bible.
Jimmy Jones in Guiana Town - just preaching the Bible.
Crackpots and loony tunes just preaching the Bible.

But so have good and thoughtful people.
Martin Luther King, Jr., in an Alabama jail, preached the Bible …
Mother Teresa, on the streets of Calcutta, preached the Bible …
William Sloan Coffin, Jr., at Riverside Church, preached the Bible.

And they preached welcome and acceptance …
They preached grace and kindness …
Mercy and tenderness …
Their preaching opened doors and made room …
They laid out a big table … and invited everyone …
There’s always room at the Table of our LORD …
There’s always one more chair … a little more food in the refrigerator … we’ll make do, because there’s plenty for everyone.

Preach the Bible?

We have to be careful … sort of like changing lanes on the 405 during rush hour … we don’t rush pell-mell into it … we do it carefully, thoughtfully …
Preaching the Bible isn’t so easy …

Last I week I said to you,
We have to speak from the center of the Bible … not from the edges …
We can find a verse to support every cockeyed idea that comes along … but it’s not about finding a verse or two or three … it’s about Jesus …
Jesus is the center!

Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so …

The rest isn’t so easy …
I preach the Bible … and I’ve done so, with all my heart, for 40 years …
And I believe Prop 8 to be the wrong idea at the wrong time.
I’m going to vote against it.
I hope it’s defeated.

But I’m not going to tell you what to do.
Nor am I going to hide behind any claim that I know the Bible better than you do … or all that I do is “preach the Bible” as if that made my word gold.
It’s all opinion … the preacher railing against homosexuality … and the preacher urging justice for everyone … yes, we all use the Bible … we all read and study it … we all have our favorite verses and our favorite stories … but like building blocks, it has to be put together … and we can put the blue block here, and the red block there … and then stack a few yellow ones on top … and someone else comes along, and puts the yellow blocks there, and then some green ones that we had forgotten, and a few purple ones, too.
We play with the building blocks of Genesis and Exodus, Matthew and Luke …
We rearrange the Bible all the time.

So we have to be careful …
We have to speak from the center of the Bible … not from the edges …
It’s not about finding a verse or two or three … it’s all about Jesus …
Jesus is the center!

Draw near, said Joshua, to hear the words of the LORD.

That’s the God Project …
A people devoted to God …
Paying attention … and praying …
It’s a lot of work dear Christian friends …

Jesus doesn’t ask to sit on down and relax …
He calls us to get up and follow him …
He doesn’t offer an easy chair …
He offers a cross.
Jesus doesn’t call us to a life of leisure, but a life of great love …

Jesus the Center … Jesus, the Ark of the Covenant …

Follow Jesus, and we’ll never be lost …
Follow him, and we’ll cross those rivers and find the Promised Land …
Follow him, and we’ll be able to play our part in the long march to glory …

Draw near and hear the words of the LORD your God.

Amen and Amen!