Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Preparing for Mission Possible Joshua 1 Promised Land Living in Problematic World Sermon #3 Are you prepared? Are you ready for the mission? During the next 36 hours, calculators will be humming, figures will be tabulated, numbers jotted down, erased, re-figured and re-entered.  April 15th is D-Day. Before the clock strikes midnight, nearly 240 million tax returns will be filed. In Wisconsin alone some 4.5 million will be filed. What seemed like Mission Impossible will quickly be Mission Completed. It really doesn’t matter how you feel about this mission, you’ve still got to prepare for it.   Perhaps you feel like the guy who said, “The only difference between a tax collector and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the hide.” But come midnight tomorrow, you had better have your taxes filed or at least have filed for an extension. To be an American citizen, you have to be prepared for the mission – even if the mission is taxes.   The book of Joshua is about a mission, the claiming of the Promised Land. But just as one has to prepare to do their taxes by gathering the necessary papers and materials, Joshua chapter 1 is about preparing for the mission. If you just jump into your taxes before gathering receipts, W-2s, figures and other documents, it’s going to be a very frustrating experience. And you had better not show up at your CPA’s door with a shoe box filled with assorted receipts. You have to prepare first.   The people of Israel also had to prepare for the mission. Sadly, this is their second attempt to take the land. Forty years before they had decided that taking the land was “Mission Impossible.” Now, under the leadership of Joshua, it’s Mission Possible. But before they could embark on the mission, they had to first Prepare for the Mission.   A key phrase in this first chapter is “Get Ready.” We find it in vss. 2 and 11. Americans, though, tend to disdain preparation. We like to jump in with both feet. We love to wing it. But the old saying is true even of spiritual activities, “we don’t plan to fail, we just fail to plan.” J. Oswald Sanders said, “Today is always preparation for tomorrow.” Some have a warped idea that spiritual work means you don a white robe, go to the nearest hilltop and wait for God to work. No, spiritual work demands activity...even in preparation.   What’s noteworthy about this 1st chapter is that most of the preparation is spiritual. Seven powerful nations controlled Canaan; Jordan had yet to be crossed. You’d have thought that they would have begun building boats, stockpiling arms but they first began preparing their hearts. Though some practical physical preparations were made of “Getting their supplies ready,” their preparations were primarily spiritual.   As we work our way through this first chapter, we need to ask “How can we prepare for our mission?” What is God asking you to do in the preparation of your own life today? You must prepare before you can possess the Land.  How should we Prepare for our own Mission Possible?                                                 1. To prepare for God’s mission we must understand that while God’s work never changes, God’s workers come and go. On April 12, 1945, while our nation was in the midst of World War II, Vice President Harry Truman was called at his office and told to “quickly and quietly” come to the White House. At the White House, he was ushered into the private quarters of the Roosevelt family, where in her sitting room, Mrs. Roosevelt was waiting. When Harry Truman entered, Mrs. Roosevelt stepped forward and gently put her arm on Truman’s shoulder, “Harry, the president is dead.” Truman was unable to speak. Finally, he said to Mrs. Roosevelt, “Is there anything I can do for you?” To which she replied, “Is there anything we can do for you? For you are the one in trouble now.” Leadership transitions are rarely easy. We’ve seen that in our own state with the transition from Governor Thompson to Governor McCallum.   But how would you like to replace someone who was considered irreplaceable, who even God said was irreplaceable? Turn to Deut. 34:10, “Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.” Don’t you think that Joshua felt like a midget called on to replace a giant. Even the text indicates this disparity between the two. Moses is called “the servant of the Lord” while Joshua is just called “Moses’ aide.” Moses is the leader, Joshua is just an assistant.   Imagine for a moment that the board of directors of a large corporation selected you to be the next president. But as they appointed you, they also informed you that the previous president was irreplaceable...and you know that it’s true. You had worked side by side with the previous president. You knew firsthand how gifted he was. How do you think you would feel? Inadequate? Insecure?   Multiply that a few hundred times and I think you can relate to how Joshua must have felt. He’d seen Moses march into Pharaoh’s court and go nose to nose with Pharaoh. He’d watched him divide the Red Sea. He’d accompanied Moses up the mountain and knew that Moses talked to God face to face. He’d been there when Moses had done miracle after miracle. But this is so important – God buries His workmen, not His work. While each servant is unique, no one is indispensable.   While Joshua could not take Moses’ place, he could be God’s leader in the place God had for him in this next step for the nation of Israel. Matthew Henry said, “God will change hands to show that whatever instruments He uses, He is not tied to any.” Moses was dead but the real leader of Israel was still alive and always would be. The servant is dead but the Master is not!   I think that Joshua was scared, not just of the task ahead. I believe he was most intimidated by the thought of trying to take Moses’ place. And God in His tenderness touches Joshua at the point of his greatest need. Four times  God tells Joshua, “Be strong and courageous.” We need to be careful that we don’t focus so much on God’s servants that we forget God. He doesn’t need us. It truly is a wonderful privilege to be used by Him though.   This is also important – God’s will is always forward. We do not have God’s heart if we are “backwards looking believers.” God does not want us to focus on “the good old days” but “God’s great coming days.” We need to look forward through the eyes of faith.   Did you know that Joshua and Caleb were the oldest men in the camp. What a blessing it is when the Senior Saints lead the charge to take new territory!! Spiritual victory is never a matter of age, it’s a matter of faith!   Though they would not like to be considered “Senior Saints,” how I praise God for Ray and Carol Ziebell! Every time I turn around Ray is witnessing to somebody and Carol is such an encourager! Rather than  sitting back at this phase of life, they are still actively involved. Carol faithfully serves in our Jr. Church. And if you have never seen Carol work with kids, then you have my permission to skip the sermon one Sunday just so you can go and watch her!   But no one in this church is irreplaceable. It’s easy to think “Boy, we’ll never be able to do that without so and so.” That’s not true. While God’s workers come and go, His work does not change. 2. To prepare for God’s Mission we must listen to God. In verses 2-9 God is speaking directly to Joshua. What a commendation! God does not speak to Joshua through the high priest or the Urim and Thummin, He speaks directly to him, just as He had Moses. While God does not speak to us today face to face, but when His servants take time to listen, God always communicates. Joshua heard God’s spoken Word. In our hands we hold God’s written Word and God is speaking through His Word. Are we listening?   a) Listening to God prepares us by encouraging us with God’s promises. God gives Joshua three wonderful promises. The value of a promise though does not lie in what is promised but in who makes the promise. Joshua could count on these promises because they were not made by a man but by the eternal, infinite God. It’s noteworthy that while God told Joshua to conquer the land, He never told Joshua how he would accomplish this. God’s servants must live on God’s promises, not on explanations. When we trust God’s promises, stepping out on faith, we can be sure that God will give us the direction that we need when we need it. God promised Joshua the land, victory and His presence.   1) The promise of the land, vs 3-4. The perfect tense in the Hebrew text conveys the idea that the land had already been given. The complete act of giving it is in view...though Israel had yet to cross Jordan. What’s the point? God had already given them the land; it was now their responsibility to step out by faith and take it. It was the same promise that had been given to Abraham and Moses. Sadly, Israel has never taken their full territory. The closest they came was during the reigns of David and Solomon.   The lesson for God’s people today is the same. God has given us “every  spiritual blessing in Christ” (Eph. 1:3), but we must step out by faith and claim them. Too often Christians and churches are sitting back and never claiming God-given territory. Often, like Joshua, we’ll take the first steps and have some victories but we fail to claim all that God has for us. Warren Wiersbe writes, “It is impossible to stand still in the Christian life and service; for when you stand still, you immediately start going backward.” God wants us to go forward and claim the territory that He has given us.   I believe this is true for us at Grace. God has great plans for us. The greatest days are ahead but we have to claim the territory. Can I tell you what God’s will is for us? To fill this place up with disciples of Jesus Christ. But we have to step out on faith and claim the territory. Apathy, unbelief and disobedience kept Israel from claiming all that God wanted to give them. Aren’t those the same reasons that we fall short of what God wants us to have today?   2) The promise of victory over the enemy, v. 5a. God promised Israel the victory. Sadly, they ultimately ended up being the one’s who were conquered. Why? They did not heed God’s warning not to compromise with the enemy in any way. Israel, rather than conquering the enemy, became like the enemy.   Are you living as a victorious Christian? I John 5:4 says, “everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” Too often we haven’t overcome the world, the world has overcome us. God wants us to live in victory. Are you living in victory?   3) The promise of His presence. Verse 5b, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you” and verse 9 “the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Here’s the key to claiming the land. This is the key to victory! They weren’t going to do it alone. The same promise which had been given to Moses is now given to Joshua. Moses had died but God hadn’t changed. Joshua wasn’t going to do it alone...and neither do we. In Matthew 28:20 Jesus promised, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Hebrews 13:5 takes these words from Joshua 1:5 and applies it to the New Testament saint, “because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’.” We are never alone!    The Hebrew text carries a powerful picture. It could be translated, “I will not drop you” or “I will not abandon you.” What a wonderful promise in this day of the disintegration of the family when so many believers struggle with their concept of who God is because of what their parents were. Many were either abandoned physically or emotionally. But child of God, your Heavenly Father will never “drop you.” That’s what Jesus promised in John 10:28 “No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.”   It’s because of His continued presence that God commanded Joshua to “be strong and courageous.” Joshua wasn’t to grit his teeth, summoning up his own courage. He could be strong and bold because he was never alone. God was with him. As Martin Luther said, “One plus God equals a majority.”   b) Listening to God prepares us so that we know His commands, vss. 7-8. Just as a general gives commands and does not expect them to be suggestions, God gives Joshua these commands and expects them to be obeyed.   Five direct commands stand out boldly as God’s conditions for successfully accomplishing the mission: 1) “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you.” 2) “do not turn from it to the right or to the left.” 3) “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth.” 4) “meditate on it day and night.” 5) “be careful to do everything written in it.”   And if they obey these commands, “Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Submission always precedes success.   The great ones have taken this to heart. Giants of the faith know the Book, meditate on the Book and obey the Book. If you want to have true success, then you must be a person of God’s Word. Charles Spurgeon said “A Bible which is falling apart usually belongs to someone who is not.”   If we are going to have real meaning in our lives, amount to anything that is worth anything, we must take these commands to heart. We must take time to read and meditate! Do you?   Busyness is not an excuse. Joshua was the commander of an army and the leader of an entire nation but he wasn’t too busy. All of us find time to do that which we think is important. It’s not a matter of being busy, it’s a matter of priorities. We’ll spend hours in front of the TV or on the Internet or playing golf or working. Yet we can’t find time for the Word? The truth is that we aren’t in the Word because we don’t believe it’s important!   Knowing and keeping the Word was critical for Joshua’s success and our’s. It’s striking that on the brink of this huge military campaign, God’s instructions focus on spiritual matters. That’s because true success always begins with the spiritual.   Note: It’s significant that Joshua was told “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth.” Our approach would be “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your eyes” not your “mouth.” Unlike other generations of the faithful, Joshua and his generation did have written revelation, the five books of Moses. Hamlin suggests that Joshua was to chew on and digest God’s Word. The point is that Joshua was so familiar, so much in the Book, it was part of his conversation. It was part of His life, not an external appendage. Are you so much in the Word that It’s part of your everyday life and conversation?    What are the results of being a person of the Book? “Then you will be prosperous and successful.” That’s the American dream, to be a success. Tragically, while most people passionately seek after success, they get to the end of life and realize that they were a total failure, even many Christians. Why? Two reasons: One, they have the wrong yardstick. True success is spiritual success. There is nothing said here about “financial success.” That’s because financial success is not success. Hell will be filled with financial successes. One can be poor yet be a success. And one can be rich and be a failure. Financial status has nothing to do with true success.   Secondly, they have lived by the values of a dying world rather than the commands of the eternal God. They thought that the Word of God was irrelevant for success. Yet, the Word is the key to success. God’s Word is our “owner’s manual.” If you want a gadget to run right, you’d better know the manual. Christian friend, you will NEVER find God’s will apart from God’s Word! Things in your life won’t “run right” without the manual.   Do have a regular habit of reading and studying the Word? Do you know the Word? Are you obeying It? Your answer will determine whether you’re a success or a failure. Obeying the Word brings blessing.   c) Listening to God prepares us so that we know His warnings, v. 9.  Herman Wouk was a famous novelist, who was also a Jew. In 1955, he visited Israel and had the opportunity to spend some time with David Ben‑Gurion, the first leader of Israel after it was re‑established following World War II. Ben‑Gurion kept hinting to Wouk during their time together that he ought to move to Israel during those frightening times. Wouk writes, “When we were leaving, he [Ben-Gurion] came out with his straight Zionist line, no more hints.” “You must return here to live," he said. "This is the only place for Jews like you. Here you will be free." "Free?" Wouk ventured to reply. "Free? With enemy armies ringing you, with their leaders publicly threatening to wipe out 'the Zionist entity,' with your roads impassable after sundown–free?" "I did not say safe," Ben-Gurion retorted, "I said free."   So often we think that becoming a Christian, and, even more, becoming a mature Christian, means that things are going to get safer. In the respect that nothing can ultimately harm us, that’s true. In that respect we are truly free. But we are not safe. Being a Christian is not about safety. Crossing the Jordan and taking over the Promised Land was not safe. When we try to make our lives and our church safe, we are heading the wrong direction. The fulfillment of God’s promises, being in the blaze of His glory is not safe.   Their greatest enemies though were not the Canaanites. God warned Joshua of two deadly enemies: fear and discouragement, “do not be terrified; do not be discouraged.” Fear defeats us before we even get started. Discouragement causes us to quit before we win.   Remember, it was fear that had caused them to wander the wilderness for forty years. They saw powerful giants when they should have seen their omnipotent God. Discouragement causes us to quit when we face a little resistance or conflict. If this was true back then, it seems to be even more true today. Americans like quick, once for all solutions. We have a Super Bowl mentality – one game and it’s done. What’s one of the political concerns with our present war on terrorism? That Americans will get discouraged with a long war and quit before we win the war.   God promised Israel that “Little by little I will drive them out before you” (Deut. 29:30). Why did He do that? May I suggest that “little by little” keeps us in a state of constant dependence upon the Father. Continual battles keep us from becoming overconfident, arrogant and independent of God and instead teach us to lean more and more on Him.   I could not tell you how many times I’ve asked the Lord to remove certain battles from my own life. I just want to get “done” with some things. But the Father recently opened my eyes to see the blessing of the continual internal skirmish. The fight sends me running to the Father.   Satan wants to frighten us and get us to never enter the fray. Or, he wants to discourage us and get us to bail. God though uses the battles to show us His awesome power and to teach us to trust Him more. I’m learning to thank God for the battles because they help me grow!   Too often it is not the enemy that defeats us, we defeat ourselves by giving in to either fear or discouragement. How can we win over them? How can we be strong and courageous? It’s the same answer God gave Joshua, “for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” It’s believing that we are not alone and taking our eyes off the enemy and the battle, and turning them in faith to our awesome God! The Christian life is not about being safe or comfortable. It is about being dependent on God and victorious! 3. To prepare for God’s Mission we must prioritize, vss. 10-15. The nation of Israel was so organized that Joshua could quickly communicate with the people through his officers who formed a chain of command. Joshua didn’t assemble the leaders to ask for advice but to give them God’s orders. While there are times when leaders must consult with their officers, this was not one of them. God had spoken, His will was clear, and the nation had to be ready to obey.   But something happens in verse 12. This word “but,” particularly finding it used again in the middle of verse 14 is a red flag. It’s drawing our attention to the fact that something pivotal is happening. It’s out of flux with the rest of the chapter. So what’s going on?   It’s the moment of decision. The tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh were granted permission by Moses to settle on the east side of Jordan. Moses granted their request on one condition, when the rest of the nation got ready to enter the land, they were to send a division of warriors to help their brothers and sisters in the taking of Canaan. But these 2.5 tribes had made their agreement with Moses...and Joshua was not Moses. It’s a critical test of Joshua’s leadership. Would they follow him or would they renege on the deal?   Have you ever made a commitment and regretted it? I sure have. I’m sure that these tribes thought that this would be easy when they originally made the deal. But now they were starting to build their houses and they were just getting settled in. It wasn’t a convenient time. They were sincere when they had made the commitment.   I heard someone recently suggest that we often commit to the ideal but then we discover the ideal has turned into an ordeal and then we want a new deal.  Can’t you see them wanting a new deal now that there is a new leader? But they didn’t.   This is critical. The mission had priority over personal agendas. The Children of Israel were more important than their own children. The Family of God is more important than my family.   What I’m suggesting is totally un-American. It is also sadly anti-evangelical church which worships at the altar of the family. Today we don’t have the family altar, we have the altar to the family. Yet this scene coincides with Jesus’ words in Matthew 10 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.” Joshua 1 teaches that God’s mission has precedence over my mission.   Today we have often deified the family. We excuse being uninvolved in church family ministry because we’ve got to take care of our physical family. We rationalize not giving financially to our church family ministry because we’ve got to take care of the “needs” of our physical family. If I am truly committed to God’s mission, shouldn’t I ask before I take a new job or a second job or relocate or quit a ministry – “Is this good for my spiritual family? Will this hurt the mission or will this assist in the advancement of the Kingdom?” Obviously, there needs to be a balance here. Another generation sacrificed their family for the church but today’s generation of Christians is sacrificing the church for the family. We have swung the pendulum too far.   Rodney Clapp writes, “The family is not God’s most important institution on earth. The family is not the social agent that most significantly shapes and forms the character of Christians. The family is not the primary vehicle of God’s grace and salvation for a waiting, desperate world...the church is God’s most important institution on earth. The church is the social agent that most significantly shapes and forms the character of Christians. And the church is the primary vehicle of God’s grace and salvation for a waiting, desperate world.”   The decision of these 2.5 tribes demonstrates that the mission is to have priority over my personal agendas, even the agenda of my family. Are you committed to God’s expression of His mission, the local church? Or do you need to readjust your priorities?   When Adoniram Judson graduated from seminary he received a call from a fashionable church in Boston to become its assistant pastor. Everyone congratulated him. His mother and sister rejoiced that he could live at home with them and do his life work, but Judson shook his head. "My work is not here," he said. "God is calling me beyond the seas. To stay here, even to serve God in His ministry, I feel would be only partial obedience, and I could not be happy with that." Although it cost him a great struggle he left his mother and sister to follow the heavenly call. The fashionable church in Boston still stands, rich and strong, but Judson’s churches in Burma had 50,000 converts, and the influence of his consecrated life is still felt around the world." 4. To prepare for God’s Mission we must be “missionites,” vss. 16-18. Those responding to Joshua remind me of an account from the life of Count Zinzendorff. On one occasion Count Zinzendorff when to see one of his Moravian brothers. As you know, the Moravians of that day were very, very mission-minded. And Count Zinzendorff said to this brother, “Can you go to the mission field?” The fellow said, “Yes.” “Can you go today?”  “Well, yes, just as soon as I get my shoes down at the shoe shop.”   That’s the mission-minded spirit that we see here. Notice these phrases, “Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.” It’s as if they cannot express their commitment strongly enough. Four key words, “whatever, wherever, whoever and again, whatever.” Most scholars believe that this was not just the 2.5 tribes but all of the leaders of the tribes who were addressed in verse 10.   And they got it. This is about as close as we get to Old Testament discipleship. They pray for their leader, “may the LORD your God be with you as He was with Moses” and they echo back God’s words to him, that key phrase, as an encouragement to Joshua, “Only be strong and courageous!”   Over and over again I have folk who ask me to pray for them. Please though remember to pray for me, to pray for the other leaders in our church. And as leaders seek to be an encouragement, we also need your encouragement. We’re in this together! The mission is for all of us! God does not want Lone Ranger leaders. He does not want a select few. He wants all twelve tribes. He wants every believer to be prepared and committed to the mission! Israel had to be united in order to be used. Our church too must be united if we are going to be used by God and take the territory that He has for us! Unity is not an idle luxury, it’s a necessity!! Are you on the team?                                                             Conclusion: God has a mission for us at Grace Church. I’m excited about what God is doing. In the last few months we’ve had four adults commit their lives to Christ. The best days of our church are ahead of us but we must ALL  be committed to the mission. We’ve got to do what it takes to prepare and we’ve got to do it together! God wants us the church to take new ground!