Week 10 of Grand Sweep Bible Study

[1] Now this is the commandment--the statutes and the ordinances--that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy,

[2] so that you and your children and your children's children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long.

[3] Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.

[4] Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.

[5] You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

[6] Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.

[7] Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.

[8] Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead,

[9] and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. [NRSV]

INTRODUCTION:

A young man was enjoying the loud sound of his new car speakers, you know the kind I'm talking about, the ones you can hear when they pass the house. The ones that rattle the glass in your windows. Well, when he pulled up to a stop light, the guy in the convertible next to him began to wave at him frantically as he motioned for him to turn down the stereo. This guy shouted over the loud music, "Hey, would you turn that down, can't you see I'm on the phone?" (1)

A colleague, Dicky Love writes: "It helps to think of rock music as youth's way of getting even for spinach." (2)

I like music. I like all kinds of music. I love contemporary Christian music. I like Classical, especially Chopin. I like Country Western, folks like John Anderson. I like show tunes; Jazz, Rock-a-Billy, Rock and Roll, bluegrass, and even some opera. But if you told me I had to limit myself to only one type of music, it would be the blues. I don't know, there's just something about the blues and especially the blues guitar that speaks to me, that stirs my soul, so to speak. There's just something primal and earthy and soul moving to the blues.

One of the first and probably most influential blues guitarists of all was Robert Johnson. He's the one who wrote the blues tune "Crossroads." I think almost every blues guitarist I've ever known has either played or recorded their version of Crossroads. I especially like the words of the first verse.

"I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees. I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees. Asked the Lord above for mercy, 'Save me if you please.'"

For some reason, that song has been running through my head all week. I don't know why. I haven't heard it in a long time. But it's been running in my head. Maybe it's because of the readings for this week. You see, Moses and the children of Israel are at a critical crossroads in their life and faith. They are standing on the verge of the having the promises of God fulfilled. They are standing at the edge of the Jordan River ready to cross into the Promised Land. They are at a Crossroads.

Now, I know from the readings and from talking with some folks that there has been a lot of questions asked about why we're having to read all of laws and stuff again. And to be honest, Deuteronomy does sort of sound like a Reader's Digest condensed version of Leviticus and Numbers, which we've already read.

But then that's the point. Here they are. It's Christmas morning, so to speak. Everything they've asked for, everything they've worked for, everything they have ever looked forward to is right across the river. It's in plain sight. The excitement is like that of little kids on Christmas morning. They can hardly wait for Mom and Dad to get up.

And like a parent, Moses can see it in their impatient stance. He can see it in their eyes and constant looking across the river to make sure it's real. But like a parent, Moses knows there is a right time. A time that is God's time.

The Israelites are in the chocks. They're just waiting for the starting pistol. But Moses says, "Wait. Don't forget who you are. But mostly, don't forget Whose you are. Don't forget the One Who brought you to this point or the story and history of how you got here."

Moses reminds them and us that we whenever we come to a Crossroads in our faith or in our lives, we need to remember who we are and whose we are. And to do that we need to TELL THE STORY, GIVE GOD THE GLORY AND LIVE A LIFE THAT IS DEDICATORY.

I. TELL THE STORY:

A. All of this rehash of the history and Ten Commandments is simply Moses TELLING THE STORY. Moses reminding them of their story. By this time in their journey, there weren't but a handful who could remember all the events and the importance of what had happened. There were very few who remembered the struggles for water and food. Or the endless wandering because of their failure.

And so, like a kindly grandfather telling his grandchildren stories they have heard a hundred times, Moses begins retelling the people of Israel history of their faith and their faith journey. There were some of the older members of the group who had grown old with Moses, and his retelling was like them retelling the story. They smiled and nodded in all the appropriate places.

There were those who simply loved Moses and knew he had a good reason for telling the story again and so they were patient. And then there were those who, even though they rolled there eyes gave each other looks as Moses began, listened out of respect for Moses and the history that they were hearing. And finally, there were some who had never heard Moses tell these stories. For them it was all new and exciting. Children, youth, even young adults who had been a part of the journey and the faith but had never really put it all together before, were suddenly keyed in.

Moses saw that his people were about to take a giant step and so Moses reminded them who they were. Moses reminded them Who it was who had brought them to this place and time. Moses reminded them about their relationship with God. Moses wanted them to remember so that the distractions and joy of actually taking possession of the Promised Land didn't distract them from their responsibility, their faith and more importantly, from their faithfulness. So Moses TOLD THE STORY.

B. I got to thinking about that and about the parallels with our Church and our plans. It's almost scary. For you see, we stand at a Crossroads just like the Israelites. We can look and see the Promised Land of our new property. We all have a vision of the building and ministries that will go on there. But before we move, we need to remember who we are and whose we are.

We belong to God. And our story is His Story. The story of how God has changed our lives. The story of how God has led this group of people to this point in time and history. So, like Moses, we need to review our history. We need to TELL THE STORY.

Years ago, in 1874, God called a group of Christians together as a Methodist congregation in Caddo Grove. They had no building of their own, so they met in a borrowed building. Somewhere between 1881 and 1883, after the railroad built a town, the Methodists and others relocated to Joshua.

From 1874 until 1892, members of the Methodist Church continued to meet in borrowed buildings. It wasn't until 1892 that that they were able to build their first structure. The building consisted of one room, a Sanctuary. That Sanctuary sufficed until 1915 when wings for Sunday School were added.

In 1938 and again 1950 more rooms were added: a recreation room, kitchen, classrooms and the "piece de resistance" indoor bathrooms.

In 1959 this Sanctuary was built. The cost was $75,000. In today's money it would have been approximately $451,000.

In 1968 the Fellowship Hall, kitchen, chapel and classrooms were completed.

In 1976 the Tower and Steeple were added.

In 1985 we purchased the property across from Elder Elementary and began drawing plans. We sent out our scouts and some of them came back saying that it was a giant of a project and we couldn't do it. Some, like Joshua and Jacob, said that with God on our side we can do anything. The wind went out of everyone's sails and the plans sat and gathered dust. Then it was decided to start over. To try again.

In 1999 we sold the property across from Elder and purchased the new property for our relocation. Again, the spirit of Joshua and Jacob spoke saying, "If this is God's will, and with God on our side, we can do anything." And so we pressed on.

But you see, none of this tells of the everyday life changing events of this congregation. It doesn't tell of the babies, children, youth and adults who were baptized and accepted Christ as their Savior. It doesn't tell of the lives that were changed because of the way this congregations lives their faith and loves one another.

This history of building dates doesn't show us the faces of the couples who were married here or tell the spiritual history of those whose funerals were held here. It certainly doesn't tell us how many meals have been eaten in fellowship together or how many hours have been spent getting ready for Lord's Acre. It doesn't tell us the number of children who have participated in Christmas and Easter productions or the adults who gave of their time to make that possible. It doesn't tell of the hours spent in Sunday School and the unselfish loving service of all of the Sunday School teachers.

It doesn't tell us any of these things. But it does tell us the effect of all of these things. You see, during all of this time, members of this Church have been busy doing God's ministry. We have been busy being the Church. We've been busy loving each other and living the faith. And as a consequence, the Church has steadily grown in faith and in need for space.

We too, have been busy being the Church. We've too, been busy loving each other and living the faith. And now, I think we are almost to that point where the Israelites find themselves in our readings. We are on the banks of the Jordan. We're ready. We're already looking across into the promised land. We can visualize and almost see the reality of our dreams. They're just not fully tangible yet.

And as we stand here on this side of the bank, looking to our future, we need to rehearse and retell our story like Moses is doing with the Israelites. We need to know who we are and why we are moving.

We want to move for the same reason each of the other buildings were built. Not so we can have a shiny new building. It's so we can serve God more fully. It's because God has called us to be involved in more life changing ministries. It because God has called us to be a part of this long history of ministry that has lead to all the building that is Joshua, First United Methodist Church.

We're called to TELL THE STORY. We're called to TELL THE STORY of Christ, who delivered us from captivity to sin. We're called to TELL THE STORY of Christ who gave us new life. We're called to TELL THE STORY of Christ who inspired the Methodist families in Joshua for the last 118 years. We need to TELL THE STORY of OUR faith. And the Story of Christ.

II. GIVE GOD THE GLORY:

A. In the process of answering God's call, in the process of TELLING THE STORY, we also need to GIVE GOD THE GLORY. We need to remember that all we HAVE and all we ARE comes from God. There is nothing in our lives that doesn't originate with God. Whatever we own, whatever we have, it either originated as a blessing from God or it came as the direct result of a talent God has given us. As a result, we're called to GIVE GOD THE GLORY.

Do you remember the admonitions in Deuteronomy 8 about not forgetting THE STORY and the origins of all the blessings? It's a warning against neglecting our relationship with God, in the midst of prosperity. And although Moses never uses the word thanksgiving. Giving thanks, is one way not to forget. And it's one way to GIVE GOD THE GLORY.

B. So, we need to be thankful. We need to give thanks to God and give God the glory for bringing us together to carry out this task in this time and this place. And that spirit of thanksgiving encompasses everything.

Someone once wrote: "If the stars came out one night in a thousand, everyone would wait to observe them. But the stars come out every night, and most of us ignore them."

The blessings of God are all around us. In smiles and laughter. In reachable itches. In friends and safe journeys to and from work everyday. In healthy children and food to eat. In sunlight and flowers blooming. In a wet spring to compensate for a dry summer. yet, we get so used to the everyday aspects of life that we forget that it all comes from God. And we forget to GIVE GOD THE GLORY by Giving Thanks.

We're called to TELL THE STORY so we don't forget. And then in remembering through the story, we're called to GIVE GOD THE GLORY through Giving Thanks.

III. LIVE A LIFE THAT'S DEDICATORY:

Through both TELLING THE STORY and GIVING GOD THE GLORY, we're called to LIVE A LIFE THAT'S DEDICATORY. What I mean by that is that we are called to live a life that IS dedicated to God and the ministry of God. God didn't free Israel from slavery in Egypt just to show the Israelites how great God is. God didn't free the Israelites to show the Egyptians how great God is. No, God freed the Israelites it so that the Israelites could live lives dedicated to God. And through those dedicated lives they could show the whole world how great God is.

And we're called to do the same thing. We're called to live a life that is dedicated to bringing glory to God and showing the world just how great God is. There are a number of tools that we need to be able to do that. Tools like worship and prayer, study of God's Word, and fellowship with other Christians. As well as missions and outreach.

But one of the chief tools needed is discernment or listening to God to discover God's will for a situation, a ministry, a direction.

Discernment brings vision. The vision is here. There's no doubt about that. We're at a critical part of our Building Program, determining how much can be built and what the details will be. We need your help, through prayer. We need you to pray for us, which I know you have been doing. But pray for God to shows us what do to. Pray that God will lead us with a spirit of discernment. The Building Committee wants to represent the Church that commissioned it. So, pray for us. Pray for the Church and the members of the Church. Pray for our LRE ministry. Pray for our youth and children. Pray for those who visit us in worship.

We are at the Crossroads and now it's time to "fall down on [our] knees. [And ask] the Lord above for mercy, [guide] us if you please."

We want to A. Through both TELLING THE STORY and GIVING GOD THE GLORY, we're called to LIVE A LIFE THAT'S DEDICATORY. What I mean by that is that we are called to live a life that IS dedicated to God and the ministry of God. God didn't free Israel from slavery in Egypt just to show the Israelites how great God is. God didn't free the Israelites to show the Egyptians how great God is. No, God freed the Israelites it so that the Israelites could live lives dedicated to God. And through those dedicated lives they could show the whole world how great God is.

And we're called to do the same thing. We're called to live a life that is dedicated to bringing glory to God and showing the world just how great God is. There are a number of tools that we need to be able to do that. Tools like worship and prayer, study of God's Word, and fellowship with other Christians. As well as missions and outreach.

But one of the chief tools needed is discernment or listening to God to discover God's will for a situation, a ministry, a direction.

Discernment brings vision. The vision is here. There's no doubt about that. We're at a critical part of our Building Program, determining how much can be built and what the details will be. We need your help, through prayer. We need you to pray for us, which I know you have been doing. But pray for God to shows us what do to. Pray that God will lead us with a spirit of discernment. The Building Committee wants to represent the Church that commissioned it. So, pray for us. Pray for the Church and the members of the Church. Pray for our LRE ministry. Pray for our youth and children. Pray for those who visit us in worship.

We are at the Crossroads and now it's time to "fell down on [our] knees. [And ask] the Lord above for mercy, guide us if you please."

We want to TELL THE STORY, GIVE GOD THE GLORY and LIVE A LIFE THAT'S DEDICATORY to God. So, pray for discernment for our Church and LIVE A LIFE THAT'S DEDICATORY to God.

CONCLUSION:

Let me close with a story. In the early days of the Tennessee Valley Project (TVA), a dilapidated log homestead had to be abandoned to make room for a lake behind the dam. A new home on the hillside had already been erected for the cabin's poor Appalachian family, but they refused to move into their beautiful new split-level ranch ("splanch," as they called it).

The day of the flooding arrived, but still the family refused to move. As the bulldozers were brought in, the Appalachian family brought out their shotguns. No amount of legal brandishings or bulldozer menacings would budge this family from their cabin. Then someone from the TVA decided to try one last-ditch effort to end the stalemate. They called in a social worker to talk with the family and find out what their problem was.

"We ain't goin' anywhere," the family announced to the social worker. "Nobody can make us. We're not budging no matter how many threats you make or how rundown our li'l cabin may look to you!"

The social worker pleaded, "Help me to explain to the authorities why you won't move into your beautiful newhome."

"See that fire over there?" the man asked, pointing to a blazing fire in the primitive hearth of the log cottage. "My grandpa built that fire over a hundred years ago," the man explained. "He never let it go out, for he had no matches and it was a long way to a neighbor's .Then my pa tended the fire, and since he died, I've tended it. None of us ever let it die, and I ain't a-goin' to move away now and let grandpa's fire go out!"

This gave the social worker an idea. She arranged for a large apple butter kettle to be delivered to the home. She explained to the family that they could scoop up the live coals from the fire and carry them to the new home where they would then be poured out and fresh kindling added. In this way grandpa's fire need never go out. Would this be acceptable? This Appalachian family huddled, and then agreed to move from their shack in the hollow up to the new home on the hillside.

But they wouldn't budge until they could take with them the fire of their ancestors. (4)

Our past, our history is important because it gives us comfort and hope in the present. Moses knew that. But Moses also knew that OUR STORY should also give us direction for the future.

The Israelites stood at the Crossroads. He was telling them to fall down on their knees in prayer. And he was trying to stoke up the fire of their ancestors. He was providing the big apple butter kettle in which the Israelites could carry the fire of their faith.

For the next few months as we prepare detailed drawings and actually make plans to move, we have to carry the fire of our ancestors' faith with us so their fire can continue to kindle ours. We have to take this fire which caused them to reach out to others; the fire that lead them to build and make it ours.

For you see, that fire is the fire of the Holy Spirit and the Fire of God's love in our lives through Christ. And we know what our ancestors knew, that Fire changes lives.

We're at a Crossroads. TELL THE STORY, GIVE GOD THE GLORY and LIVE A LIFE THAT'S DEDICATORY so the fire of God's love can change your life and the loves of others as well.

1. Reader's Digest, May 1992, p. 72.

2. Parables, Etc. (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), October 1996.

3. The Pastor's Story File (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), October 1998.

4. The Pastor's Story File (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), March 1999 From A Cup of Coffee at the Soul Cafe, by Leonard Sweet.