Our Encouraging God (Joshua 8:1-29) Series

Many of us can read the exact same words in the Bible, and draw completely different understandings from it. Some of you, when you hear me say this, think I'm talking about how Christians argue over meaning and interpretation. But I'm actually talking about tone.

Let's open to Joshua 8, and just begin by quietly reading the first two verses. As you read, try to answer the question, "How does God sound here?"

8 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. 2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”

My guess is that when some of you read the Bible, you feel like you never get anything out of it. You never see anything new-- anything that moves you. If you feel this way, part of the problem might be that you only read quietly. If you read the Bible out loud, you will hear new things, and you're forced to make a decision about how things sound.

So when you read these words, how do you think God sounds? Is he angry? Is he bossy? Is he impatient? Is he rude? Or does he sound kind and loving?

At this point, you may shrug your shoulders and say, "How could we know?" Usually, I think when we read God's words, how we think God sounds is largely based on how we view God.

It used to be, even a hundred years ago, that Christians regularly read scary passages in the Bible like we had last week, and they used to regularly hear scary sermons, because pastors used to faithfully teach on scary passages.

If you grew up under a preacher who preached fire and brimstone week after week, you might think that God moves among us with a ruler, ready and itchy to rap us on our knuckles--or worse-- if and when we stumble. If this was your church and your experience, it would be understandable if you viewed God as basically stern and harsh. It would be understandable, if you tended to read God as sounding angry.

But church today looks nothing like it does even a hundred years ago. The percent of Christians who tend to view God as harsh or stern has to be in the single digits.

Today, if you tend to view God has harsh or stern, and you hear his words in the Bible that way, it's most likely because you are living wickedly. You know you're living in ways that can't make God happy, but you don't want to repent. You never give money to his church, because things are always tight. You live as friends with the world, trying to keep one foot in the world, and the other in God's kingdom. You watch TV shows with gore, crude humor, and immorality, and you feel guilty. But you tell yourself, it's no big deal. You tell yourself, the next episode will be cleaner. You tell yourself, the next episode will only have clothed people in it.

You work desperately to convince yourself you're living ok, but you go to bed each night, and you're a little scared. How does God really think about you? Is he sad? Is he angry? When you read his words in the Bible, you read him as being angry, because you have this sense he's angry with you.

And maybe He is. If this describes you this morning, please, repent. God will be happy to have you come back to him. Look at your life, and realize you're walking in darkness, doing things that aren't good for you. Repent.

If you're not willing to repent, the next best thing you could do would be to ignore everything else I say this morning. Joshua 8 is an encouraging passage. It can lift your hearts, and bring you to trust and praise God. But this is a passage for people who have repented. It's not for you.

My main focus this morning is a different group of people. A few of of you this morning, hopefully, are living for God. You've repented of your sins. You've given your allegiance to King Jesus. You are trying to walk in step with the Holy Spirit. You want very badly to please God. But you do all this, and you find yourselves afraid of God. You think God is harsh, and severe, and when you read his words, you hear them as being angry. You come before his throne, and part of you does so reluctantly, and with fear and trembling. If this is you--if you hear yourself in this-- consider this sermon especially for you.