“Yes, I am With You All the Way” 2012

Joshua 1:1-2, 5-9 Mark 13:1-8, 32-33

Joshua 1:1-2, 5-9

1After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, 2“My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. 5No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. 8This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. 9I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Mark 13:1-8, 32-33

13As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” 2Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” 3When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4“Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. 6Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs. 32“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.

Between 7^th and 8^th grade my family moved to the Washington DC area.

One afternoon we drove out to see and tour Reston,

a planned community that had just been built.

With all of its ultra-modern architectural design,

it was reminiscent of the old TV show, “The Jetsons”,

and to me, a most impressive look into the future.

Some 20 or so years later,

I was at an outdoor café in Reston, having lunch with a client,

and I noticed that the buildings around the city center,

all seemed to be pealing, cracking and crumbling.

It struck me that those same buildings

that I had once thought so majestic and impressive,

had deteriorated and were simply not going to last.

The passage in Mark 13 describes the disciples were amazed

and impressed by the majesty of the Temple in Jerusalem…

…like country visitors gawking at NYC skyscrapers,

the Temple’s impressive size seemed so solid and permanent.

It was one of the great monuments of the ancient world,

an impressive structure rising 70 feet up from Mount Moriah,

with its white and gold walls visible from many miles away…

… standing as a monument to glory, permanence and stability,

a remarkable human achievement expected to last for all time.

vs. 1-2

As he (Jesus) came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!' Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

The disciples must have been stunned by his words ---

--- that surely the great Temple

would last and stand until the end of the world;

and so, when they were alone, they questioned Jesus further.

vs. 4~6, 32-33

“Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray… Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray… But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.

As a point of interest, we know that exactly

what Jesus said about the Temple was literally fulfilled.

The Roman general Titus had the Temple deliberately burned down,

and scavengers pried the Temple stones apart

trying to get at the precious metals that had melted

and seeped down between the stones during the fire…

… but Jesus was doing more than just predicting a future event.

The message was, don’t count on human achievements,

for however impressive they may seem,

ultimately they will fail and will not stand…

… and secondly, don’t follow

those who claim they have figured out God’s mysteries.

Just stay on track, faithfully trust in the Lord,

for God alone knows the truth

and what will come to pass in the future.

That message was especially pertinent when Mark was written.

There was a growing rebellion

in Palestine against the Roman occupation.

A political struggle in Rome delayed the army’s response,

which Jewish zealots took to be a sign,

that God was about to restore the nation of Israel

and the ancient prophecies were near fulfillment.

Through this passage, repeating the words of Jesus,

the author of Mark was urging those early Christians

not follow those dangerous and false leaders,

or assume that rebellion against Rome

would usher in the promised Kingdom of God.

The message: Just because there is anxiety, upheaval and chaos,

it does not mean that it is the end of the world!

Just as Jesus originally said, this was a call to persevere ----

-- that whatever was going on, or the situation they faced,

be faithful, be alert, continue to obey and serve God.

There will always be struggle and tribulation,

you may feel afraid, anxious, discouraged or disappointed,

but don’t assume that means it’s the end of the world.

Our true hope is that through it all, we can trust God is with us,

and that by design, God à

is still accomplishing His gracious saving purpose.

Whatever our situation or circumstance,

our call is to live in trust and faithfully serve well

along whatever journey God has laid out before us.

In the Joshua text, imagine his doubt and trepidation

with the tasks and journey God has laid out before him …

… Joshua was supposed to follow in the footsteps of Moses.

Moses, the guy who spoke directly to God,

or from a burning bush, or fire and lightning atop Mt. Sinai,

whose shepherd staff became a deadly snake-eating snake,

and who somehow got Pharaoh to let the people go…

… and so now it falls to Joshua, where Moses came up short,

to lead the people and conquer the Promised Land.

Can you identify with Joshua,

have you ever faced an overwhelmingly daunting task to do?

In the Joshua 1 passage, the task is laid out in two stages.

First, realistically assess the situation. vs. 1-2, 5~6

After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, "My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. … As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them.

Moses is gone. Stop looking backward,

but get going on the task that God has given you.

And here’s the promises that goes with the job ---

I’ll be right there with you,

I’ve called and equipped you to do it well,

and moreover, I will do the heavy lifting.

*** That is God’s desire and intention for how his servants

should see and perceive our tasks and the journey ahead.

The second part: do not waver but be strong and courageous. vs. 7,9

Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. … I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

It’s a sign of importance that three times on these few verses

God tells Joshua, be strong and courageous…

… focus on me, focus on the task, don’t settle for less,

for I will always be there for you, supporting you.

These instructions remind me of a great and favorite movie scene.

In "The Dead Poets Society", Robin Williams

plays an English teacher at an exclusive boys school,

who takes his class to the school's trophy case;

and pointing to pictures of the school's past athletic teams

he says to these young boys:

"Carpe diem – seize the day.

Seize each day and cherish it dearly because you experience

only a limited number of springs, summers and falls.

One day, as hard as it is to believe, each and every one of us

is going to stop breathing, turn cold and die.

Stand up and look carefully at the faces of these boys

who attended this school sixty or seventy years ago.

They're not that different than any of you, are they?

They believed themselves destined for wonderful things,

just like many of you. Where are those smiles now?

What of their hopes and aspirations?

In chasing the almighty deity of success

did they not squander their boyhood dreams?

Many of those gentlemen are fertilizing daffodils.

However, if you lean close, you can hear them whisper ---

carpe diem, lads.

Seize the day; and make your life extraordinary.”

“Make your life extraordinary.” I like that.

We are, all of us, the blessed and beloved children of God.

The amazing grace of God makes us who we truly are,

and assures us of a wonderful and secure future …

… but is that really the way we live?

Do we have joy and passion for the life we are living?

And what is it about today

that will be worth having gotten out of bed this morning?

Do I gratefully embrace each day

for the amazingly wonderful gift that life truly is,

and try to squeeze from it all the joy and delight I can?

In football,

teams are given a two minute warning in the final quarter

and they have pre-arranged strategy and run special plays

to make the best use, and score in the remaining time.

Some of the best plays and some of the most exciting action

occurs in the final minutes or even seconds of the game

as teams make the most of whatever time they have.

The question is,

how will each of us use well and faithfully the life we have,

and where will we derive our life’s meaning, contentment,

and lasting purpose and reason for having lived at all?

Surely life

is too precious to be wasted or rendered insignificant,

and surely we can do better than just run out the clock.

We can surely trust our loving and faithful God

to bring us home at the best and most appropriate time,

and until then, there remains some purpose for our living…

… something wonderful and meaningful that God has for us,

that we are uniquely called, capable and qualified to do.

I have observed that great truth joyfully and wonderfully lived,

many times, but two saints in particular come to mind.

For years until she died, every Wednesday night

Bernice, dragging her green oxygen tank on wheels

had dinner with our Salt and Light family,

and the children got to see and know

the faithfulness of one of God’s aging saints.

Right up until the end,

Eleanor took care of the cashbox every Wednesday night.

Well into her nineties,

she celebrated her birthdays with our children…

… her memorial service was outside during Salt & Light and ended,

with the children releasing balloons in honor of her life,

for she remain connected and contributing for all her days.

These and so many others, God’s steadfast and weathered saints,

who we have seen use up the full measure of their lives

in faithful and useful and meaningful response –

-- to the promises, the gracious love and blessing of the Lord.

Even when life is crashing down all around us,

the promise and truth God gave through Joshua is sure: vs. 9

Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

Whatever is going on in our lives today, whatever our burdens

Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

When we are facing an uncertain future or disappointments;

Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

Though troubles threaten to overwhelm and there seems no way out;

Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

All through Scripture we are reminded again and again,

that God’s power and presence, it is our sure & certain hope;

always the same message, don’t worry, don’t be anxious or give up,

“you are going to be OK, for I will be with you, wherever you go”