Stories of Love and Loss ~ Taking Down Walls; April 10, 2011

Stories of Love and Loss—5. Taking Down Walls The Church of the Wayfarer Dr. Norm Mowery, Pastor April 10, 2011 Joshua 6:1-5, 20 Note: This is the fifth in a series of six messages for the Lenten Season. These messages begin with first-person presentations based on the lives of persons in the Hebrew Scriptures. Today we meet Joshua. The Israelites have come to the end of a long, long journey. They had wandered in the wilderness for forty years and now have come to the valley of their dreams. Finally, after years of false starts, dark detours, and dashed hopes, they have come to the land which God had promised. They could have gotten out of the wilderness in forty days, but took forty years because of discontent, disbelief, and disobedience. But now God was willing, because they were willing, to move them into a paradise oasis - a land flowing with milk and honey. I have been to Jericho. It is a beautiful oasis with fruit trees and palm trees that spring up out of the desert. The climate there is very similar to the climate in the central valley of California. The people of Israel were ready to move forward because they had a new leader named Joshua. Now they were ready to be led. They trusted Joshua to lead them onwards. This was a new day and a time in which God would do new things in new ways. The people were ready to be led because they were tired of life in the desert. Joshua would now lead them to their appointed place in history. They would now realize all the things God had in store for them because they, learning the lessons of the past, were ready to be led. The scriptures say they had consecrated themselves before crossing the Jordan and had concentrated on the word of God as spoken to them by Joshua before setting out. The Israelites had crossed over Jordan. They were jubilant and victorious, for a dream so long deferred had now become a reality. You see, it is not enough to cross over to a new life. We must be ready to meet the challenges which await us once we're there. This was more than a military conquest. It was a spiritual one, for it spoke more about their relationship and trust in God than the power of their military might. What was the underlying meaning of this story? First, God wanted it perfectly clear that the people's victory depended on spiritual leadership. The priests led the battle because God wanted the spirituality of the people to become the primary focus of their conquest. The military leaders had to rely upon the spiritual leaders for direction. The clergy leading the way meant that God was still in charge and the people would have to rely completely on the wisdom of God and God's leaders to get them through. Some of the people may have thought the battle plan foolish—that no victory could ever be claimed under such conditions. But with God anything is possible. What appears as God's foolishness is wiser than man's greatest wisdom. The Canaanites were baffled by what they saw. They thought the whole thing was a joke. But when the walls came tumbling down, they saw that God was doing a new and miraculous thing among them. It was no joke. God was for real. Some things God gives us the ability to do. Other things require absolute dependence on God and knowing how to pray, and wait for instructions from God before making a move. Second, God's miraculous methods were possible because the people had spiritually prepared themselves for battle. The spiritual walk is a battle with ourselves and others for spiritual victory. The Canaanites were stunned by the battle strategy because nothing in their religious practices or spirituality prepared them for the impossible. The Israelites had already done their spiritual homework. They were psychologically and spiritually ready to do the impossible. Early in my ministry I had only one sermon. It was titled ‘Mission Impossible’ after the TV program. I bet I preached that sermon a hundred times. To Linda it probably seemed like a thousand times. During that time in my life I was a part of the Gospel Team from the college. We traveled on weekends all over the east coast leading worship services at different churches. Every place we went I preached the ‘Mission Impossible’ sermon. Maybe you would like to hear it sometime! This is a mission impossible story because their God was a God of great expectations. They knew from experience that God could do the possible amid the impossible. Their spiritual instruction and diligent preparation through prayer, scripture study, fasting, cleansing, had put them in the right frame of mind. They knew that with God anything was possible. The miracle of Jericho's storming just didn't happen. A long preparation process preceded that victory. God is a God of preparation. Third, God chose different weapons for conquest by using joy songs, trumpets, and hallelujah shouts to bring down the walls of Jericho. God would use entirely different weapons as instruments to claim the victory. Not swords, not slingshots, not daggers and rocks, but hymn books, trumpet blasts, and hallelujah shouts. Songs, prayers, music, marching and shouting were the weapons. God used new leaders, new strategies, and new battle plans that discomfited the enemy and gave the Israelites victory. Trusting God means that we rely on God even if God requires us to do something in a new way. Sometimes we have to change. Sometimes we have to try new things. Sometimes we have to part with tradition in order to meet the requirements God places on us. Sometimes when the walls come down rocks hit people on the ground. What if the Israelites refused to change and kept their own battle plans? They would have been thoroughly beaten by their enemies. Your enemy can destroy you just in your refusal to look at things in a new way. If we trust God completely, if we spend a little time talking it over with Jesus, if we put our hand in God's hand and humbly ask the Lord to direct our paths, God will show the way. The joy songs reminded them of the sweet melodies of God's everlasting graces, the harmony which comes through the unity of God's people. The trumpets were instruments which allowed them to harmonize the jangling discords of military defeat, and the shout symbolized how the power of their testimony in the heat of battle would bring down the walls that separated them from their greatest dreams. Some joy songs, trumpets, and hallelujah shouts were the only weapons they had, and God gave them the victory!