Joshua 17:11-18 – Play It Safe
I read of a report called Play It Safe. The report said, "Avoid riding in automobiles because they are responsible for 20% of all fatal accidents. Do not stay home because 17% of all accidents occur in the home. Avoid walking on streets or sidewalks because 14% of all accidents occur to pedestrians. Avoid traveling by air, rail or water because 16% of all accidents involve these forms of transportation. Of the remaining 33%, 32% of all deaths occur in hospitals. So, above all else, avoid hospitals.
“However, you will be pleased to learn that only .001% of all deaths occur in worship services at church, and these are usually related to previous physical disorders. Therefore, logic tells us that the safest place for you to be at any given point in time is at church. Bible study is safe, too. The percentage of deaths during Bible study is even less. For safety’s sake, attend church and read your Bible."
Now, as much as I would like for people to come to church in order to be safe from accidents, unfortunately, what often happens is the church gets to be too safe. That is, tamed. We throw away our rebellious side. I don’t mean just rebellion against God. I mean, we just stop rebelling against the culture, too. We just try to fit in and play nice.
Writer Annie Dillard finds most churches to be "safe," but she wonders why this should be the case. She asks: "Why do we people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute?" We call this place of worship a sanctuary, which means that it is a safe place to be. We love safety. And because of this love, most of us never actually put our faith to the test. We have a sanitized, sterilized, wimpy faith.
Our Bible passage today describes the condition of the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh had already claimed some land east of the Jordan River, before Joshua had started to lead his people to conquer Canaan, which lay west of the Jordan. But apparently, Manasseh, because it was a large tribe, was to get some land on the west, as well. The verses immediately preceding our passage today describe how much land Manasseh had, and where it was located. I’ll start in v11, which says what towns could be found in that land. 17:11-18.
So you see the problem. The people of Manasseh had these towns in their land, given to them by God, but they couldn’t drive out the people who lived there. The residents had iron chariots, which were fairly scary to fight in battle. They came to Joshua looking for more land, so that they wouldn’t have to fight the charioteers.
At first glance that looks like a good enough request. But Joshua knew what they were asking. They weren’t looking for more land because they needed it. They were looking for more land so that they wouldn’t have to take any chances fighting the enemy.
You see? They were whiny. They were grumblers and complainers. They had so much, but they still weren’t happy. Never mind that they had more land than any of the other tribes. No, they wanted more.
That sounds like us, actually. I mean, we have so much. We have physical blessings, like health, strength, food on our tables, shoes on our feet, roofs over our heads. Plus, as Christians, we have all those spiritual blessings like forgiveness, hope, peace, joy, love, patience, self-control, and answered prayers. And what He’s done for us: adopted us, redeemed us, justified us, purified us, and cleansed us, just to name a few. Ephesians 1:3 says that He “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
And yet, we whine. We whine about gas prices. We whine about grocery bills. We whine about how hot or how cold it is. We whine about what sinners do. We whine about what other Christians do. We whine about our church, our pastor, our teachers, our family, our friends… and I wonder, if because we think life is so bad, we must think that God isn’t doing a good enough job to make us happy. Complaining about everything eventually shows that we are complaining about how good of a job God is doing on earth.
Of course the people of Manasseh whined and complained. They had reached a level in their lives that they did not know how to get past. It’s as if they saw what could happen, but they were too afraid to make it happen. So, instead of moving forward, they stay put. Well, try to keep a child still for any length of time, they get bored. And what’s more, they become unpleasable. It’s the same for children of God. We were meant to move on and press forward. So if at some point we stop, because we are afraid of what might happen, we’ll get bored and restless and whiny and unpleasable.
So what you have to do is move on. You have to get out of your comfort zone every once in a while. You may need to clap with an upbeat song, even if you’re afraid of being on the wrong beat, even if you’re afraid that you’ll look too Pentecostal or something. You may need to volunteer your services in this church in order to bless others. It looks like the Scout program will close down this year, because there aren’t enough people to help. It appears that the Baptist church won’t have its afterschool program for kids because there aren’t enough volunteers. There are too few people who are willing to give of themselves. Too many people, too many Christians, are afraid.
I feel that the longer a person is saved, the more they move from living by faith to living in fear. Maybe it’s age. Maybe it’s too much head knowledge. I don’t know, but it seems that people become more and more afraid of losing their reputations, losing their pensions, losing their health, losing their lives, the longer they live. People crave what makes them comfortable.
But, just as the tribe of Manasseh found out, comfort does not bring satisfaction. They knew the Lord had blessed them with so much, and they still wanted more. They whined about not having enough, because they just weren’t happy. But they weren’t willing to go out on a limb and trust God with challenges. Listen: if you don’t, every once in a while, put your faith to the test and step out a little, you’ll never be content. Last week we looked at Caleb, 85 years old, willing to fight giants. What have you done lately to knock down a giant or 2?
Someone once said, “Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.” And James Conant once wrote, “Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.” That’s courage. That’s risk-taking. That’s also why there are so few men and teens in church. Because we make this place so safe, so secure, never going out on a limb for anything, that there’s no element of risk or danger. Which of course fuels men and teens.
Courage shows up in different ways. The movie, “You’ve Got Mail”, is a love story centered around a big bookstore shutting down a little book store. There’s a conversation that happens over lunch between an older lady named Berdie, who works at the smaller store, and Kathleen, the younger owner of the store, whose mother owned it before her.
Berdie says, “Closing the store is the brave thing to do.”
Kathleen appreciates the comment but says, “You are such a liar, but thank you.”
Berdie, taken aback, says, “You are daring to imagine that you could have a different life. Oh, I know it doesn’t feel like that now. You feel like a big fat failure, but you’re not. You are marching into the unknown armed with nothing. Have a sandwich.”
Sometimes courage means letting go of what you’ve always had. Sometimes courage means stepping out into previously uncharted territory. Sometimes courage means going to someone and saying you’re sorry. Sometimes courage means taking a different view on things that those around you, knowing that they’ll think you’ve flipped or backslidden. I don’t know what you’d love to do, but you’ve been too afraid to do it. I don’t know what courage means for you. All I know is that too many Christians are too afraid to do what God is calling them to do, and we have missed out on God’s best for us because of it.
There’s a story in the book of Luke 13. V22 says, “Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
Then Jesus said, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” Now, what He said is important. He wasn’t saying you could work your way to heaven. What He said was, “Trust in God’s mercy, but work with all your might.” He said that the victory’s been promised to us, but don’t be lazy about it. In fact, just the opposite! I like how the KJV puts Daniel 11:32. It says, “The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” Knowing God isn’t supposed to make life easier; it’s meant to give you courage to do the hard things!
I know it’s hard to risk ridicule for people, non-believers and believers too. I know it’s hard to have people disagree with you and call it spiritual help. But sometimes, as we journey through life, we will find situations where to do the right thing means to step out in faith and courage. But I tell you, do it anyway! As a Christian, you’ve been forgiven. As a Christian, there is now no condemnation for you. If you fail, you have a safety net – His name is Jesus, and He’s more than willing to help you up. Be brave. Be courageous.
I want to share in closing a poem that’s been an inspiration to me over the years. It’s not overtly spiritual, but it’s good. It’s called The Road Not Taken, written by the American poet Robert Frost. It pictures a man in a forest who comes to a fork in the road. Does he take the popular way, or the other way?
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
and sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
and looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
and having perhaps the better claim
because it was grassy and wanted wear;
though as for that, the passing there
had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
in leaves no feet had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference
