A Choice Not to be Taken Lightly - Joshua 24:1-28

Sermon Series: Great Leader, Exceptional Follower

Have you ever spent time thinking about what the appropriate response is for either something nice that someone else has done for you or something nice that someone else has given you?  I have.  It’s not always easy when there isn’t an established response.  For example, when you get married and receive wedding presents from your guests, the established ‘appropriate’ response is to send each of the guests who purchased you a gift a ‘thank you’ note.  That’s an easy one.  But what about a friend who buys your lunch one day – what’s the appropriate response for that?  Is a simple, “Thanks for buying my lunch for me today” comment sufficient?  Do you need to send a thank you note?  Do you need to invite him out for lunch again and then pay for his meal the next time?  If you’re anything like me, you’ve wrestled with these types of questions before. 

But that also got me thinking, “Why is it that I reflect on the good things others have done for me and wrestle with the appropriate response, but rarely reflect on the good things that God has done for me and wrestle with what the appropriate response to Him should be?”  Is it because I take the good things God does for me for granted?  Is it because I have begun to expect them and so I fail to recognize them as gracious gifts?  That reality is more than a little bothersome to me.  The fact that I am quick to acknowledge the good deeds and gifts of others and wrestle with an appropriate response, but am often slow to recognize the good deeds and gifts of God on my behalf and wrestle with an appropriate response to Him isn’t something that I’m proud of.  Especially when the good gifts of God on my behalf are the kind of gift that no human can give and when they have eternal implications.  So one of the things we need to do is to recognize the unique goodness, graciousness, and faithfulness of God on our behalf, and then we need to know what the appropriate response to Him is.  And I think the text of Joshua 24 helps us identify both of those things.

We left off from our series in Joshua two weeks ago having worked through chapter 23 of the OT book of Joshua.  As you’ll recall, as we worked through the content of that chapter, we placed an emphasis on the Israelites’ response to the faithfulness of God.  To do that we used the modern day phrase “in light of” to help us process the content of chapter 23.  Joshua had brought together the elders, judges and officers of Israel and laid out before them evidence of God’s recent faithfulness, so that “in light of” that evidence they would be obedient to his exhortations to (1) do all that God had commanded them to do, (2) to cling tightly to God, and (3) to love God.  As chapter 24 begins we will see a somewhat similar pattern – Joshua reminding all of the Israelites of God’s graciousness and faithfulness both in the distant and recent past, and then a call for the Israelites to respond appropriately.

Verses 1 through 13 make up the first section of chapter 24.  These 13 verses consist of Joshua’s reminder to the Israelite nation of God’s unique faithfulness to them both in the distant and recent past.  Verse 1 tells us that Joshua has gathered together all of the tribes of Israel at Shechem.  Shechem is an appropriate place to bring the tribes together because it was at Shechem in Genesis 12:6-7 that God first promised to give Abraham the land.  Now, many centuries later, God’s promise had come true and the people were experiencing the reality of God’s promise.  The text says that the Israelites had come to Shechem and that they had “presented themselves before God” – a phrase that most likely means they had gathered as a nation before God’s presence represented in the Ark of the Covenant.  Then in verse 2 Joshua begins to pass on to the Israelite nation a message that God had given Joshua to proclaim to the people.  God wanted the Israelites to remember how He had acted graciously on their behalf in the past.  So in verses 2 through 4 God reminds the people that He had acted graciously on their behalf by bringing Abraham (and ultimately his descendants which would follow him) out of an idolatrous land.  God promised Abraham a new land in Genesis 12:6-7 as we just mentioned, a land that God not only possessed, but a land that was to be dedicated to the worship of and service of God.  But God’s plan for the Canaanites who were inhabiting the land had not fully come about yet, so the text tells us that Abraham’s grandson Jacob and his family ended up dwelling in Egypt.  In verses 5 through 7 God reminds the people that He had acted graciously on their behalf by delivering them out of Egypt.  God demonstrated His faithfulness to the Israelites by sending Moses and Aaron as His representatives before Pharaoh.  God demonstrated His faithfulness to the Israelites by sending plagues against the Egyptians to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.  God continued to demonstrate His faithfulness to the Israelites by providing the Israelites with a cover of darkness while they were crossing the Red Sea and then by causing the waters of the Red Sea to crash down on and drown the Egyptian army that was pursuing the Israelites.  In verses 8 through 10 God reminds the people that He had acted graciously on their behalf by giving them victories in the wilderness.  When the Amorites came to fight against them, God gave the Amorites into their hands.  When Balak (the king of Moab) tried to defeat the Israelites he did so by trying to hire Balaam to pronounce a curse on the Israelites, but God reminds them that He would not listen to Balaam and delivered the Israelites out of his hand.  In verses 11 through 13 God reminds the people of a fourth and final act on their behalf.  In these verses he reminds them that He had acted graciously on their behalf by going before the Israelites into the promise land and giving them possession of their promised inheritance.  As the Israelites were before the presence of God having taken possession of the promise land, God reminds them that their present state and position was all an act of His doing.  It wasn’t the strength of their forces or the wisdom of their military strategies that this had been accomplished – it was entirely dependent upon God’s initiatives and His provisions.  The land that they now had possession of was all a gracious gift of God to His people.

Make sure that you note the unique form of God’s faithfulness which the author of the book of Joshua emphasizes in these verses.  He doesn’t talk about God’s faithfulness to provide financially for the people of Israel.  He doesn’t talk about God’s faithfulness to bring healing to those Israelites who were sick and suffering.  All of the author’s reminders in verses 1 through 13 deal with issues of salvation!  Listen again to what God had done for the Israelites: He brought them out of an idolatrous land, He delivered (or saved) them from their enemy, He gave them victories while in the wilderness, and He ultimately gave them possession of their inheritance.  These were incredible acts of graciousness and faithfulness done on behalf of the Israelites and they were acts that only God could do.   And just as Joshua reminded the Israelites of these things, the challenge for us today is to reflect on the unique graciousness and faithfulness of God in our lives – which amazingly looks exactly the same.  Those of us who have received God’s gift of salvation have experienced God’s graciousness and faithfulness in our own lives in exactly the same way that these Israelites had.  In extending salvation to us, God has brought us out of an idolatrous land.  God has opened our eyes to see the inability of the gods of our world to save and satisfy and opened our eyes to the truth of the gospel.  In receiving the salvation offered to us God has delivered (or saved) us from both sin and our enemy, Satan.  In receiving the salvation offered to us God grants to us victories over sin and temptation while we are still residing in our ‘wilderness’ (i.e. earth) where sin and Satan are still asserting their power and influence.  And in receiving the salvation offered to us God has given us possession of our promised inheritance – God, Himself.  These are amazing gifts of God which demonstrate His incredibly grace and power and they are gifts we have received that are unique to Him alone.  So while we ought to reflect on all the areas of God’s goodness and faithfulness in our lives, we ought not to dwell on any of those good gifts more than we reflect on the gracious gift of salvation that God has freely extended to us in Christ.

A distinct transition takes place between verses 13 and 14.  In verse 14 and following Joshua is no longer relaying the message of God to the Israelites.  In verses 14 and following Joshua, himself, presents a charge to the Israelites.  It is a charge that represents what the proper response of the Israelites to their gracious and faithful God should be.  In verse 14 Joshua begins by charging the Israelites to “fear the Lord.”  A God who had demonstrated such power, grace, and faithfulness was not One to be taken lightly and not One to be approached without reverence and awe.  He was One who was to be revered and feared.  Joshua also begins by charging the Israelites to literally “serve Him with integrity and truth.”  One commentator writes, “The [Hebrew] word tamim connotes the idea of wholeness, blamelessness, integrity, even ‘perfection,’ and thus Joshua’s exhortation is a passionate one that the people should be totally devoted – blameless – in their worship of their God” (Howard, David M.  Joshua.  The New American Commentary. [1998: B&H Publishing Group] pg. 435.).  Joshua continues by charging them to “put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.”  The proper response of the Israelites to God was to worship Him alone!  And the means by which they were to worship Him was by serving Him.  Several times in verses 14 and 15 we see Joshua exhorting the Israelites to “serve” God and not to “serve” (worship) the gods of their fathers or the gods of the Amorites.  Then Joshua charges them to make a choice – and not to put it off.  They were to make a choice that very day.  If it seemed evil for some reason to serve Israel’s God, Yahweh, then they needed to make a choice concerning who they were going to follow.  But Joshua ends verse 15 by declaring to the nation what his choice and the choice of his family would be, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Understand today that there is no better expression of love than that of willing, joyful, whole-hearted service.  Service says to the other “Your good is better than my own.”  It says to the other, “You are worthy of my greatest effort.”  It says to the other, “You are more important than convenience and ease.”  Service says to the other “You are deserving of all I have to give – time, energy, finances, and comfort.”  That’s why Paul writes to the church at Rome, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” Romans 12:1.  Paul’s appeal to the Roman church wasn’t one without grounds.  Paul had spent the earlier part of his letter to the Romans spelling out to them the amazing grace and faithfulness of God who provided a means of salvation to a people who had been storing up His wrath against themselves.  Through the provision of His Son, Jesus’ atoning death on the cross, Jesus’ resurrection from the grave, and the gift of God to open unbelieving eyes to the truth of the gospel, God had provided a means of restoration and reconciliation between Himself and sinful humanity.  This graciousness and faithfulness (Paul articulates it – by the mercies of God) is the grounds on which Paul makes his appeal – just as Joshua made his appeal after having recited the graciousness and faithfulness of God.  And just as Joshua charges the people to worship God by ‘serving’ Him, Paul makes an appeal to the believers in Rome to worship God by presenting their lives as a ‘living sacrifice.”  Their worship was to be expressed by living daily lives of service. 

So here’s where I want to camp out this week.  Like Joshua appealing to the Israelites, I want to make an appeal to you.  Today marks a new and fresh calendar year.  It’s a great place and time for us to put aside bad habits.  It’s a great place and time to begin new resolutions.  It’s a great place and time to make new commitments that will define what the year 2012 will look like for us.  Today I want you to make a choice.  I want you to make the choice concerning who it is you are going to serve “in sincerity and in faithfulness.”  For many of us 2011 was a year in which we chose to worship and serve another god – the god of ‘self’.  When we hear that, our first reaction is to deny it and in self-righteousness declare “that’s not true of me.”  Some of us may be quick to even point to marks of our ‘worship’ such as our Sunday morning church attendance or other moments of service that we participated in in the name of Christ and say “Look!  What other evidence do you need?”  But allow me to ask a few questions this week.  What percentage of the decisions that we made in 2011 were decisions we made based on what would bring us the greatest pleasure?  What percentage of the decisions that we made in 2011 were decisions we made based on what was most convenient for ourselves?  What percentage of the decisions that we made in 2011 were decisions we made based on what would be best for our bank accounts?  What percentage of the decisions that we made in 2011 were decisions we made based on how much ‘spare’ time we had available on our calendars?  What percentage of the decisions that we made in 2011 were decisions we made based on what would keep us from being uncomfortable?  I am not trying to downplay the times in 2011 in which you did worship and serve God in all sincerity and faithfulness.  What I am asking you to consider is whether or not you put the god of ‘self’ before the One living and true God?  Did you spend more time worshipping and serving the god of ‘self’ than you did our Heavenly Father?  I know that many of you were faithful in your church attendance – praise God for that!  But little serving takes place on Sunday mornings.  Sunday morning worship for most churches has largely become a consumerist activity.  We come with the mentality, “I’ll come, but I want to sing the songs that I like, I want to hear a good message, and I want to be done in an hour.”  Listen, I am so, so, so, appreciative of those who serve at Escalate on Sunday mornings. I have two guys who come an hour early every week to make sure that everything is set up for worship to take place.  They make sure the kids have a suitable place to learn.  They make sure signage is out for visitors who may be new.  They make sure the restrooms are fully supplied, trash is empty, and snacks are out so that we have a comfortable and inviting atmosphere to meet together.  There are a handful of ladies who sacrifice their corporate worship time on a rotating schedule to make sure that the children have an opportunity to learn about God with an age-appropriate lesson and in an age-appropriate environment each and every week.  There is another lady who comes early each week to make sure we have the opportunity to worship through singing and then spends part of her afternoons preparing band deposits so that we have the financial means to continue worshipping from week to week.  But for the rest of us, Sunday mornings is largely a time to have our spiritual tanks filled.  Then as Monday sets in we turn our service towards ourselves.  We don’t look for opportunities to engage lost people because it makes us uncomfortable to be around them.  We don’t invite people over to our homes for meals because we don’t have the time or because it would cost too much.  We don’t engage in a small group where there’s a better opportunity to engage in ministry by praying for one another and sharing with one another how God is shaping us through His word because that’s the night that our favorite TV show comes on.  We don’t check up on one another when someone has been out because that’s the pastor’s job.  We don’t invite others to church or to small group because that makes us uncomfortable or because that means I have to make a commitment to be there and to sit with them because I’ll be the only person they know.  Too much of last year was spent serving the god of self rather than serving the Living God – and that is something we need to repent of and strive to do better at in 2012.

Let me highlight how the chapter ends.  Immediately following Joshua’s charge in verses 14 and 15 the people of Israel respond by saying, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods . . . Therefore, we also will serve the Lord, for He is God.”  In verses 16 through 18 the Israelites vow that they will follow Joshua’s example and that they too will serve the Lord.  They acknowledge God’s hand of graciousness and faithfulness on them and vow that they will respond in appropriate fashion – by serving him in sincerity and in faithfulness – just as Joshua had charged them to do in verse 14.  Having heard their response it seems as if Joshua was concerned that the Israelites were taking his charge lightly and in verse 19 he tries to call them on it.  A half-hearted commitment to serve God wasn’t going to cut it.  A half-hearted commitment to serve God would only result in occasional service, occasional worship, and would result in the people putting other gods before the One True God.  So Joshua reminds the Israelites of God’s character and nature – God is both holy and jealous.  And a holy and jealous God doesn’t take idolatry lightly.  God’s holiness sets Him apart as the only One worthy of worship and service; and God’s jealousy means that He’s not content sharing our worship with others (including ourselves).  In reminding the Israelites of God’s nature Joshua is challenging them not to make a vow to serve God alone if that isn’t really their intent.  If they were to make that vow and later participate in the sin of idolatry then Joshua warns the Israelites that God would not continue to do good to them.  In fact the opposite was true, if the Israelites chose to forsake God and chose to follow other God’s instead, then God would consume them and do harm to them.  In verse 21 the people respond to Joshua’s objection to their commitment and say again that they will serve the Lord.  So Joshua tells them that they stand as witnesses against themselves of the commitment which they have made.  Therefore they needed to put away their foreign gods (the false objects of their worship) and they needed to incline their hearts towards the living and true God.  Then for a third time the Israelites voice their commitment (verse 24), “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey.”  The text says after that Joshua made a covenant with the people expressing their commitment to serve and worship God alone and that he set up several reminders, writing the words of the covenant down and also setting up a large stone that would serve as a reminder of the covenant the Israelites had made with God.  Then Joshua sent the people out to their inheritance.

Before we close, let me point out the title that Joshua finally receives at the end of the book of Joshua.  Verse 29 says, “After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old.”  What a fitting way to end the book of Joshua and our series, Great Leader, Exceptional Follower.  Nowhere else in the book of Joshua is Joshua called by this title.  Joshua wasn’t given the title “servant of the Lord” after one or two acts of service that he did for God.  Joshua was given the title “servant of the Lord” after a lifetime of service and exceptional following.  “Servant” characterized Joshua’s entire life – not a handful of moments in Joshua’s life. 

So let me ask you this, “At the end of your life, would the title ‘servant of the Lord’ or the description ‘exceptional follower of God’ be appropriate to be engraved on your tombstone?  Or would the description ‘servant of self, who occasionally followed after God’ be a more appropriate engraving.  You get to make that choice.  How are you going to live in 2012 and in the remaining time that God gives you on this earth?