February 17, 2008 "Committing to God"

Kevin Saxton, Brewster Baptist Church

Before we get to our text in Joshua 24, I need to provide you with some background to make the text more understandable. A couple books back, in Genesis, God calls Abraham to follow him and promises to make him a great nation. God promises the childless Abraham that he his descendents will be as numerous, and Abraham and his descendents, the Hebrews or Israelites, are promised the land of Canaan to be their home. Abraham has a son Isaac, who has a son Jacob, who has twelve sons, most of whom don’t like their brother Joseph, who they sell into slavery in Egypt. Through a variety of circumstances, with God’s help, Joseph becomes second only to Pharaoh in Egypt, and saves his family from starvation when they eventually settle in Egypt.

Time passes and Joseph is forgotten by the Egyptians and the descendents of Joseph become slaves who are oppressed by the Egyptians. Exodus tells us that God (voiced by Charlton Heston) hears the cries of the Hebrews and sends Moses (played by Charlton Heston) to lead them out of slavery in Egypt to a new life in the land promised to Abraham.

The Hebrews journeyed through the wilderness, and through God’s power, under the leadership of Moses’ successor, Joshua, entered into and took possession of the promised land of Canaan.

As the book of Joshua comes to a close, the Israelites have taken control of the Promised Land, the tribes of Israel have received their allocations of land and have begun to settle into their new lives in their new homes. As his life comes to a close, Joshua gathers all the people at Shechem for one last talk – one last sermon, message, - a reminder and renewal of the covenant with God - before he dies.

He begins by reminding them of their whole history, of everything that God has done for them up to this point in time. He reminds them of what God did for Abraham, for Isaac, and for Jacob. He reminds them of what God did through Moses and Aaron in rescuing them from Egypt, and the parting of the Red Sea. He reminds them of enemies who were defeated and destroyed with God’s help, and how God has led them to victory over the Canaanites and given them possession of the promised land – a land “on which you had not labored, and towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards that you did not plant.”

While we consider what God had done for the Israelites, let us also consider what has God done for you? What has God done for you, what has God done for your ancestors in the past? When you look back at your life and at the lives of those who have come before you, where are the moments that you can see God at work? Where are the moments of grace, the moments of mercy, the moments where God acted? Some of these moments may be dramatic like God leading the Israelites through the Red Sea, while others may be subtle and almost unnoticeable, like the presence of dear friends and family in our lives, or God’s provision in our daily lives, with all sorts of things between those two extremes. Put together, they form the dramatic history of God’s action on our behalf, stretching back from God’s call to Abraham down through his history with the Israelites, through the life and person of Jesus and his death and resurrection, and down through the centuries working in and around the lives of our ancestors bringing us to the place where we stand today, so that as we look back we can see a long chain of God’s grace and mercy as we look back into the past leading up until the present day.

So Joshua reminds the people of God’s many blessings, the last of which they had experienced themselves and seen with their own eyes, reminded of everything God has done, reminded of how good and merciful and gracious God has been to them.

And then Joshua gives them a challenge in Joshua 24:14:

“Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.”

Seems simple enough doesn’t it? Here is everything that God has done for you. Here are all the things that God has done for our ancestors. See how faithful God has been in keeping His promises to us. God has done all this for you, now return the favor. Serve him, put away your other gods, the gods your ancestors served and serve me, the God who has done all of this for you.

Almost seems like a no-brainer, right? God has done all these things it would seem natural to serve Him. Even still, Joshua recognizes that there is a choice that the people have to make:

“Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua points out that there is a choice to be made here. There are options. The people don’t have to serve the Lord, the God who has done all of this for them. They can choose to serve the gods of their ancestors, or the gods of the people they had defeated in conquering the promised land. The people have options. Just like we have a variety of options to choose from, a host of possibilities for our next steps.

When you stop to think about it, it is astounding how many options we have. How many different things we do have to choose from in any decision? What kind of car will you drive? Will you get a new car or a used car? What model? What equipment do you want on it? What color? Or think how many television channels there are . . . (yet how often does it seem that there is nothing on worth watching?) Or how about deciding what we are going to eat – will we eat at home or eat out? If we decide to eat at home, think of how many options we have at the grocery store. How many different brands of pasta sauce are there? Or if we decide to eat out (or get take out) what kind of cuisine do we want to eat? Which restaurant will we go to? And then there is the menu . . . you know, the server comes over after a few minutes and asks have you decided what you would like to order or do you need more time to decide?

And maybe we would consider these to be somewhat insignificant options . . . what about all the big options we have, like what will you do with my life? Think of how many colleges there are, how many different jobs and employers, how many different places we can live, all the different ways we can spend our time and energy, how many different churches there are that we could attend, all the different people we could come to know.

When you stop to think about the number of possibilities we have, the number of options we have, it’s almost overwhelming. Is it any wonder why we sometimes have commitment issues? Sometimes we might even say, I don’t want to commit just yet . . . I want to keep my options open. Sometimes we go as long as we can without committing because we don’t want to make a decision because it means that some things are then out of bounds.

Joshua says that there are even options about who we can serve. Now we probably wouldn’t consider the gods that the Israelites’ ancestors served beyond the river, or the gods of Egypt, or the gods of the Amorites, but like the Israelites we have choices, options about who we will serve. We can serve the Lord who loves us and has been faithful to us, or we can choose to turn away and pick from a plethora of gods from other religions, or decide to simply serve ourselves and make self the god that we serve.

You might even be able to say, that every choice we make is really boils down to choosing who we are going to serve. Joshua pledges clearly that he and his household are going to serve the Lord, leaving the question: what are we going to choose? Or more precisely in this text, what are the Israelites going to do?

Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

So the people make their choice, the choice we would expect at this point. God has done all these amazing things for them and for their ancestors many of which they have seen with our own eyes. C’mon Joshua, of course we’re going to pick the Lord, of course we’re going to pick God. This isn’t really a question is it?

But Joshua objects their answer: But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good.”

Joshua has just reminded the people of everything that God has done for them, he’s told them to serve the Lord, and asked them to decide who they would serve, but when they say “Yes, of course we’re going to serve the Lord,” Joshua says, “nope, you can’t do it.”

Joshua’s response may seem a little strange at this point given that he seems to be leading them to making this very choice and decision, but Joshua wants to make an important point. He wants to make sure the people understand exactly whom they are choosing to serve. He reminds them that God is holy, pure and totally different than they are, and that serving God means being holy, something that a human being could never entirely be.

Now it may seem surprising that Joshua says that the Lord is a jealous God, after all, we are admonished elsewhere in the scriptures to avoid jealousy, but here God is described as jealous. This characteristic makes the Lord different from the other gods in the polytheistic environment that the Israelites were surrounded by, where it was expected that you would worship multiple gods. If you needed rain for your crops, you’d sacrifice to this god over here, but if you were going on a trip, you might sacrifice to this god over here, and if you were sick or wanted to start a family, you might go offer a sacrifice to this god over here. Joshua wants to be totally clear, it is not possible, and the Lord will not tolerate the people serving other gods and there will be consequences if the people fail to devote themselves to God exclusively.

God demands that the people be totally engaged with Him, and as a result reflect His holiness. God isn’t looking for the people to simply perform outward actions that demonstrate devotion, rather God desires that their outward actions be reflective of their inward devotion toward God, that they live in relationship with Him, and as such that they become reflective of His character and nature. Joshua realizes that human fallibility makes it impossible to do this and this is at least partially why he tells the people that they cannot serve the Lord, at least not in totality. But Joshua also is warning the people that they should not make the decision to serve the Lord lightly, because God cannot be taken lightly.

As we consider what it means to be committed to the Lord and serve Him, it is important for us to understand that commitment to God means to seek to be totally engaged with God. It is not enough to simply engage in outward actions like going to church, giving money, and engaging in right behavior. God does not merely want us to act right, he wants our hearts. As Jesus tells us, the entire law, the entirety of what God desires of us is to love God with all of our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

As a result, every choice, every decision becomes important as the decisions we make demonstrate our love and devotion to God. Decisions like how we relate to other people, how we use our money and our possessions, how we spend our time and energy, all should be guided by our commitment to God. Even seemingly insignificant choices like what we eat, wear, and drive become significant when we consider that they are all decisions about our stewardship, of our money, possessions, and even the bodies we have been given. There is no such thing as a decision that does not impact us spiritually, at least in a small way, because one choice is followed by other choices, which are followed by other choices, and soon patterns of choices develop. If we are not careful in making decisions, even on seemingly insignificant things, we make inadvertently establish a pattern that leads us away from total love and devotion to God.

And so we must be mindful in making decisions to ask the question, does this bring me closer to God? Does this individual choice, or the pattern of choices I am making deepen my love for God or demonstrate a love for God? Or are the choices I am making leading me away to serve some other god?

Having heard Joshua’s objection and his warning of the consequences of turning away from the Lord, the people respond:

And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!”

Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.”

And they said, “We are witnesses.”

He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” The people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.”

The people reiterate their decision to serve the Lord, they are committing themselves to the Lord in spite of what Joshua says it requires and what it means. Joshua reminds them that they are witnesses to what they have done. If they turn away to follow other gods, their own words will be the thing that condemns them, and the people acknowledge that fact.

Having done so, Joshua reminds them that they have to put away their competing gods and seek after the Lord, and the people again announce that they will serve the Lord, and that they will not only serve Him, but they will obey Him.

So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem. Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak in the sanctuary of the Lord. Joshua said to all the people, “See, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us; therefore it shall be a witness against you, if you deal falsely with your God.”

To commemorate and remind the people of their decision and their promise to serve the Lord, Joshua erects a stone as a monument, so that when people see the stone they will be reminded of their commitment, and when future generations pass through the area, they will be reminded of the commitment that their ancestors had made.

The erection of a monument or altar is something that is done routinely in the first few books of the bible. When something significant occurs, when people encounter God, or experience God’s deliverance or provision, it is very common for them to erect a stone, monument, or altar as a reminder for them and for future generations so that they do not forget what God had done for them, so that they do not forget their experience with God, and that they do not forget their commitment to follow after God.

We erect monuments and reminders as well. Culturally, we build monuments to remember significant events and individuals. Think of the Mall in Washington, D.C. or even the headstones in cemeteries. We erect monuments to help us remember significant moments or events as well as people.

Personally, we build and carry reminders ourselves. Married people often wear a ring to as a sign, symbol, reminder of the vows, of the commitment they have made. We hang and place pictures of the people who are most important to us, not to remind us of what they look like, but as reminders of their importance to us.

The stone in this story is a reminder of the commitment that the people have made to God, erected so that when they see it, they will remember their commitment, so that when they pass by with their children, or when their grandchildren or great-grandchildren pass by it the stone will stand and testify to what they committed themselves to that day.

Likewise for us, it can be helpful to have things to help us remember the commitments that we have made to the Lord. Some people wear a cross, some carry a cross or some other reminder in their pocket. Others might wear a bracelet or some other piece of jewelry, or maybe have something decorating their home as a reminder of the commitment to God. When we witness a baptism, we are reminded of our own. When we celebrate communion, we remember. How do you, or how will you remind yourself of your commitment?

After setting up the stone reminder, Joshua sends the people home and back to live out their commitment by serving the Lord in their daily lives. And that’s really where the most difficult part of commitment lies isn’t it? As Joshua recognized, it is one thing for us to remember what God has done, and say that we will serve the Lord, and it is another thing to actually do it. Commitments are worthless unless they are lived out. Commitment means sacrifice, it means hard work, it means taking the time to thoughtfully consider our decisions so that our choices help us to become more devoted to God, more in love with our Savior.

As we seek to live out our commitment to love and serve God let us remember this story from Joshua. And as Joshua reminded the Israelites of what God had done for them, Let us seek to remember what God has done for us, both in our own lives, but also what God has done for us in the past, in the lives of those who have come before us. Let us remember the goodness and faithfulness of God in the past. The love of Jesus shared for us on the cross. The hope of new life forever in the resurrection.

May we be like Joshua and fully commit and devote ourselves to serving God, being aware that in all of our decisions, both big and small, we are deciding who we will serve.

And let us seek to find and develop ways of remembering our commitment to God, so that we might better devote ourselves to loving and serving God in every moment, in every decision of our lives.