Eclipsing Doubt
Heroes—The Secret—(part 3)
In the battle of the Argonne in October 1918, the allies were attempting to break German lines when Cpl Alvin York and his men came upon well-hidden machine guns on high ground. As he later put it, "The Germans got us, and they got us right smart . . . and I’m telling you they were shooting straight." American soldiers "just went down like the long grass before the mowing machine at home."
Attention Video Techs: Roll the SGT YORK slide show as I’m telling this story
But Cpl. York and his men went behind the German lines, overran a unit, and captured the enemy. Suddenly there was new machine-gun fire from a ridge, and six Americans went down. York was in command, exposed but cool, and he began to shoot. "All I could do was touch the Germans off just as fast as I could. I was sharp shooting. . . . All the time I kept yelling at them to come down. I didn’t want to kill any more than I had to." A German officer tried to empty his gun into York while York fired. He failed but York succeeded, the Germans surrendered, and York and his small squad marched 132 German prisoners back to the American lines.
His Medal of Honor citation called him fearless, daring and heroic.
York wasn’t born a hero. Alvin York was born in 1887 into a Tennessee farming family that didn’t have much, but nobody else did, so it wasn’t so bad. He was the third of 11 children and had an average life for that time and place. Then World War I came. He experienced a crisis of conscience over whether to fight. His mother’s Evangelical church tugged him toward more or less pacifist thinking.
“I didn’t know what to do. I’m telling you there was a war going on inside me, and I didn’t know which side to lean to. I was a heap bothered.”
That’s exactly the point that we’ve been making in this series of sermons called “Heroes—The Secret” The secret behind every hero is that heroes become heroes internally before their exploits are displayed externally.
Alvin York needed to experience an internal eclipse. His doubts were eventually eclipsed by faith and trust. And a hero was revealed.
Joshua is the leader of an untested army. They’ve got doubts. For them to possess the Promised Land and win Independence for their new nation of Israel their doubts must be eclipsed by faith. Their desire for certainty must be eclipsed by a comfort with uncertainty.
For the nation of Israel this is the opening campaign of their War of Independence. This is their Lexington and Concord. This is their Bunker Hill.
But as they set out in early morning hours for their march to the Jordan River they don’t know the plan. They don’t know what’s next. There’s a great deal of uncertainty. Their parents and grandparents were here 40 years earlier and it didn’t go well. They allowed their doubts and fears to immobilize them.
Would this new generation of Hebrews repeat that mistake?
How about you and me? How comfortable are you with uncertainty? The Hebrew nation is moving towards the Jordan River to launch a military campaign and they don’t even know how they’re going to get across the river.
Set up video Here (everything shaded in gray below is covered by the video)
IF DOUBT IMMOBILIZES US, WE WON’T EXPERIENCE GOD’S SOLUTIONS
Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. [2] After three days the officers went throughout the camp, [3] giving orders to the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it… [5] Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you." Joshua 3:1-3, 5 (NIV)
Tell the story of the priests with ark going into the water. Tell how the waters were dammed up at the moment their feet get wet, but the miracle happened 14 miles up stream at a town called Adam.
HOW DID JOSHUA HELP HIS PEOPLE OVERCOME THE INERTIA OF DOUBT?
in⋅er⋅tia [in-ur-shuh] – noun—Resistance to motion, action, or change
KEEP ALIVE THE MEMORY OF GOD’S ACTIVITY IN YOUR LIFE
In the future, when your children ask you, ’What do these stones mean?’ [7] tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever." Joshua 4:6-7 (NIV)
SACRED TRADITIONS REMIND ME THAT I BELONG TO GOD
At that time the Lord said to Joshua, "Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again." [3] So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.
[4] Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt--all the men of military age--died in the desert on the way after leaving Egypt. [5] All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the desert during the journey from Egypt had not. Joshua 5:2-5 (NIV)
Tee Up Water Baptism Here (December 12-13) If I want God’s solutions in my life—I’ve got to get my feet wet.
On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. Joshua 5:10 (NIV)
GOD IS RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
[14] "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" Joshua 5:13-14 (NIV)
I’ve got to get my feet wet…I believe that God is right here with me. Right now!
ACT ON GOD’S GUIDANCE DESPITE THE RISKS
Then the Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. [3] March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. [4] Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. [5] When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in." Joshua 6:2-5 (NIV)
From a military point of view, this isn’t much of a battle plan. Patton would have passed out. But where is the source of power? It’s from God..right. This plan emphasizes that. God has to do something for this plan to succeed. But the soldiers of Israel must do something also. They’ve got to get their feet wet before God will knock down those walls.
Why go through all this? Couldn’t God has just said, “Watch this.” What’s the point of making the soldiers walk around the city and the priests blowing the trumpet…They’re getting their feet wet! By stepping out in faith like this, they’re saying, “God we trust you! Despite the uncertainty, despite the risk, despite the doubts, we will step out in faith and get our feet wet marching around this city.”
What would have happened if the soldiers refused? What would have happened if after three days they said…”nothing’s happening here. I feel silly. This is dangerous. I quit.”
GOD WON’T FORGET YOUR FAITH
Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her." Joshua 6:22 (NIV)
Call To Salvation Here
