Letting Go And Moving Forward
GNLCC 1-2-2005 Joshua 1:1-9 Acts 14:8-20
Now most of us in Cleveland know that Lebron James is our star basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Lebron is truly an awesome and incredible athlete. Very few people can make the jump from high school to the pro’s and become such a powerful influence in the NBA in as short time as he has. This past week Lebron was injured in a game. Now suppose for a moment, that you picked up the phone, and on the other end was a call from the Cavs general manager. The manager said, “Look Lebron is going to be out for the rest of the season, and we want you to take his place on the team and provide the same leadership and skillful playing that he does? Could you come down and sign a contract with us.”
Now a few of us might be misguided enough to respond “yes, I’ll will be there for practice today if you need me.” But most of us are going to say, “are you sure you have the right number. I think there may have been a mistake. Who did you say you want to speak to again? Yeah that’s my name, but maybe you intended to reach somebody else with the same name as mine. Thank you for calling, goodbye. Now why would you give up this opportunity without even trying for the team? Because you’re thinking, “they expect me to replace Lebron James on the basketball court.”
Now that same feeling is how Joshua felt when God told him to replace Moses. What kind of stats did Moses have. Well he had been a prince in the royal palace of the king of Egypt, but he gave it up in order to side with a group of slaves. He led a rebellion against one of the most powerful nations on earth, without an army and won. He carried a staff that he threw on the ground and it turned into a snake. When he was trapped by the Egyptian army in the back, and the Red Sea in front, he lifted his staff and the sea parted in the middle so that everyone could walk through dry land.
He asked God for food, and everyday it appeared on the ground. He asked God for meat, and thousands of birds flew in to be fried. When they ran out of water, he hit a rock and out flowed the water. He talked to God face to face, so that when he finished his face was so bright you could barely look at him. He spoke the words and a small earthquake destroyed his enemies.
He used an army made up of slaves to defeat some of the most fierce nations in the area. He led the people for 40 years and got reviews of excellence as a leader year after year. He led the people right up to the promised land that God had promised them. At 120 when he died, his eyesight was as good as ever, and his body as healthy as any young man. His funeral lasted for thirty days.
The words on his tombstone are from Deuteronomy 30:12 and they read “For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did the sight of all Israel. Now those my friends are some statistics that are hard to break. Moses’ record remain intact until Jesus came.
Previously, Joshua had been Moses’ kind of personal assistant. He knew what Moses could do and had done. For forty years he had Moses had talked about what it was going to be like to be in the promised land together. They had hopes and dreams for themselves, for their families and for all the people. God had said they would wander for forty years in the desert, and the wandering in the desert time was about over. Moses was the only one of his generation left among the men, and Joshua and Caleb were the only ones left of their generation among the men.
Just as everything was coming together, when you could literally see the promised land in sight from the mountaintop, Moses died. This great and awesome leader that was loved and revered by so many died. The people would have to face some of the most powerful armies to date, without their leader. They would be going into land they had not spied out for 40 years, and who knows what would happen. In the past when they were losing a battle, all they had to do was to hold up Moses’s arms and their army would start winning. But now they were no arms to hold up. They didn’t even know where Moses was buried because the Lord buried him.
Have you ever been there before? Somebody you loved and admired, whom you depended is not longer here with you to go on with you with the challenges of life staring at you. Death, divorce or a breakup has left you holding the bag alone. Sometimes its not even a person, sometimes it’s a job, or a career that has come to an end but you still have a life ahead of you. It can happen even to a church, when the spirit that once united a people has been broken by selfishness or petty concerns, yet the church must still forward. In these circumstances . You’re left wondering, well what am I going to do now.
It is sometimes during our moments of faithfulness to God, that we can be hit the hardest. In our New Testament reading, Paul and Barnabus was telling others diligently about the power of Jesus Christ to change people’s lives. There was a man who had been born with a handicap and was unable to walk his entire life. The more Paul preached on Jesus’ ability to heal people, the more he noticed how the man was listening and believing in the power of God. Paul looked him dead in the eye and shouted, “stand up on your feet.”
The man didn’t go into an explanation of his past condition, he immediately let go of his past, and jumped up and began to walk around. Now the people wanted to worship Paul and Barnabus for this miracle. They tried to offer sacrifices to them. But Paul and Barnabus instead insisted on trying to turn the attention to God. They kept shouting, “it’s not us, it’s not us, it’s God that did it. You need to focus on God.” No sooner than they got the focus off of them, so other people came and won the crowd over and got them to thinking somehow Paul was an evil spirit.
The crowd started to pickup stones and went crazy over Paul. Bam, Bam, Bam, the rocks coming were endless. One big rocked knocked him out. Blood was running across his face. Stone after stone landed on Paul’s body. Just to make sure there was no life left inside him, they dragged his body outside the city. They left him for dead. What was Paul guilty of. Just telling somebody about Jesus Christ and being used by God? What price will you be willing to pay in 2005 to tell somebody about Jesus Christ. Can you imagine what Paul must have looked like after this horrible beating? Swollen lips, black eyes, purple blotches in his skin, and dried blood in his hair matted together.
After the crowd left the disciples came and gathered around him. If you had been Paul and was able to get up, how many of us would have said, “Lord just get me out of this place and let me never see the city of Lystra again?” But when God gave Paul the strength to get up, the Scriptures said, Paul got up and went back into the city. Now you really have to have God with you to let go of your suffering and move forward by asking, Lord did I need to do anything else before I left.”
It is so easy for us to think, because this has happened to me, my life is over and I may as well give up. Joshua was about at that point when he was thinking about Moses no longer being with them. How on earth would they make it to the promised land without Moses’ leadership? I don’t know what blows you may have encountered in 2004 and what’s trying to come in with you in 2005, but I want you to know God’s purposes for your life are just as real and just as significant. But the starting point is recognizing that some things are not going to go back to what they use to be.
God knew exactly what was going on in the head of Joshua. The first time we know that God actually spoke to Joshua, God began, “Joshua 1:2-5
"Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them--to the Israelites. 3I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates--all the Hittite country--to the Great Sea on the west. 5No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
The first thing God tells Joshua is to accept the reality of the moment. Yes Moses was great, and Moses did a lot, and Moses was the one on whom you leaned, but Moses is dead and he’s not coming back. What is God telling you to accept from the past in order to prepare you for this new year? I’m not trying to destroy anyone’s faith about anything, but the reality is, we are going to have to accept some things as losses and as liabilities. As a church, we’re facing the reality that only half as many people are with us with the New Life Center as before. You can tell it based on how we pledged. That doesn’t mean the vision dies, but it does mean the strategy has to change.
The second thing God tells Joshua is to change his strategy for the future. You’re looking for Moses to come back or for another Moses to arise, but no the person you need is looking back at you everytime you stare in the mirror. You and all the people get ready to cross the River. Why would God require so much of them so soon? Couldn’t they stay where they were for a while. They had already defeated the armies of the people on this side of the Jordan River. Why not just learn to be content with what they had?
Why take on a challenge that might end in defeat. What did God expect them to do to cross the Jordan River?. Were they to build boats for a million people? Were they suppose to build a bridge across a raging river that was at flood stage? How many of you know, there were some people who said, “you all can cross that river if you want to, but I’m happy right where I am.” “I don’t see any need for changing anything.” One of the things you learn about God, is that God will often tell you what to do, and wait on telling you how He plans to get something done through you. This journey is a walk the faith and not the sight.
The third thing God gave Joshua was a promise. He said get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land that I am about to give to them to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot as I promised Moses. God wanted Joshua to recognize that his promise was larger than the man Moses. Circumstances may have changed, but the plans to prosper His people had not. They were going to get the good land God had promised to them, not because they would earn it, but because God was going to give it to them.
We want to keep thinking if only we had such and such, then we could do what God told us to do. The reality is, we can always do what God told us to do. It’s a matter of how much do we really want to do it. God did not tell Joshua, all you have to do is sit back and wait. There were battles that were going to have to be fought for them to receive what God had for them. Let go of that false belief that you’re going to have a change in your life without paying a price to make it happen. God’s promise is real, but there is a price tag. Every time somebody asks me to pray to do better in school, the first thing I ask is are you willing to do all your homework and listen to your teacher.” That’s part of the cost of the prayer being answered.
The fourth thing God gave Joshua was assurance. Joshua did not feel worthy to replace Moses. Who would, the man was a miracle worker. The first signs of problems and people would be saying, “now if Moses was here, he’d do such and such to get us out of this jam.” When God see our insecurities, God doesn’t say, “you know you need to have more faith if I’m going to use you”, nor does He say, “you’ve got to get your act together before I can use you.”
No, God says to Joshua in so many words, “son I know you’re scared to death, and Moses is a pretty big act to follow. But Moses wasn’t the act, I was. Look at verse 5 Joshua 1:5 “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” How many of you know that would build your confidence a little to know that God intends to be with you, just like He was with Moses. Well what if I told you that God has made that kind of a promise to you through His Son Jesus Christ.
The Jordan River God is calling us to cross over as church in 2005 is to tell other people about Jesus Christ. It is probably our weakest area of ministry. But Jesus tells us to go and make disciples of others, and if we do He will be with us always. We have the promise again in Hebrews 13 in which we are reminded God has said, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” You should have your own personal Jordan River you should want to cross in 2005. What do you want God to do in and through you for the kingdom of God first, and then your family or your business next.
The fifth thing God gave to Joshua was a choice. God had called Joshua to be a leader to make a difference. Yet God gave Joshua a choice as to what kind of leader He was going to be. Look at verses Joshua 1:6-9 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
Joshua had to choose to be strong and courageous. He had to develop some backbone and be willing to stand alone if necessary. There would be those who would criticize his leadership. There would be those who would remind him he wasn’t Moses. There would be those who would challenge him even as though they challenged Moses. There would be those who would want to set their own agenda for when things should move ahead. There would be those who would want to compromise and bring in a few other gods just for protection. God is letting Joshua know, you have to stand on what’s right and not back down regardless of who gets upset.
Joshua had to choose study the word of God to know what it said. He had to read the word of God and compare whatever direction and advice he was getting from others and compare it to what the word of God said. He needed to be prepared to say, “No that’s not something we can do, because its contrary to what is written in the Word.” Before you take your friends advice, you need to know how it measures up to God’s word. Don’t be swayed by somebody saying, child if I were you, I’d do such and such. The question isn’t what we would do. It’s what would Jesus have us do.
Joshua had to choose to meditate on the word of God and let it affect him, before he could expect it to have an affect on others. God did not cut Joshua some slack because he was the leader. God specifically said, “so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.” God will not make you or me obey him, and it’s not His job to deliver us from every temptation we face. Sometimes we are to say no, and other times we are to start running when we see it coming. There are some friends and things we need to leave behind in 2004 and don’t even think about calling them in 2005. Let them go and move forward.
The promise to be prosperous and successful came after the requirement of making the right choices. Now God knew what he was asking of Joshua was not going to be easy, so he told him again, “Be strong and courageous. Don’t be terrified and do not be discouraged, for the Lord you God will be with you where you go.”
Sometimes in order for us to move forward God is going to ask some things of us that are going to require us to be strong and courageous. We are going to be scared, and things are going to happen that will get us real discouraged. Sometimes we are going to do exactly what God wanted, and end up getting beat like Paul. That can be discouraging. But it was part of Jesus’ experience as well. But in the midst of it all, we must still remember the battle is not ours, it’s the Lord’s.
Joshua went from that scared assistant to believing what the Lord had said. He told the officers, “go tell the people to get ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan River and go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. Joshua still didn’t know how they would cross the Jordan, but He believed the promises of God. Sometimes we are called to step forward with nothing but the promises of God to land on. This is the kind of year we will have in 2005. Are you ready to take a step to move forward?
Sermon Outline Pastor Rick
