OPEN: (A poem by Edgar A. Guest)
"Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But he with a chuckle replied "maybe it couldn’t",
but he would be one who wouldn’t say so till he tried.
So he buckled right in with a trace of a grin on his face.
If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing that couldn’t be done - and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that; at least no one ever has done it"
But he took off his coat and he took of his hat, and the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin, without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing that couldn’t be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out - one by one - the dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin
Just take off your coat and go to it.
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing that "cannot be done," and you’ll do it."
APPLY: Dwight D. Eisenhower once said:
"Every tomorrow has 2 handles. We can take hold of tomorrow with the handle of anxiety or with the handle of faith."
Today we’re looking at the unusual story of Caleb.
He was an old man who took hold of his tomorrows with the handle of faith. He was an OLD man with a BOLD dream.
Years before the incident we’re reading about here in Joshua, the book of Numbers tells of the time when Israel first arrived at the borders of Canaan. God had led the people of Israel out of their slavery in the land of Egypt and across the Red Sea. They’d just been to the Mountain of God and had received the 10 Commandments, and now… just a few days later… they’re at the edge of the Promised Land.
A land God told them would be flowing with milk and honey.
A land God promised to give to them for their new home.
Moses then sends 12 spies into the land to scout it out in preparation for conquering it. But 10 of the spies are not happy with what they’ve seen:
"We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are." And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." (Numbers 13:31b-33)
Now, there’s an old adage about people seeing a glass as half full or half empty and apparently, 10 of the spies saw the glass ½ empty. They saw only the dangers before them.
But not Caleb and Joshua.
They saw the beauty, the riches, and they saw milk and honey by the gallon.
BUT above all else, they saw God.
When you were kids you may have heard the following in a children’s song (ham it up)
“Twelve men went to spy on Canaan
10 (10 finger up) were bad (2 thumbs down) and two (index fingers up) were good (2 thumbs up)
What do you think that they saw in Canaan?
Ten were bad and two were good.
Some saw giants big and tall (Dramatically flex muscles)
Some saw grapes with clusters fall (bring arms down with fingers fluttering)
Some saw God was in it all (point up)
Ten were bad and two were good!"
At the report of the 10 bad spies
– talking about a mighty people they couldn’t conquer
– and impregnable fortresses they couldn’t bring down
– and giants that made them feel like grasshoppers…
the people became afraid.
They didn’t want to go into Canaan
But Caleb stood up before the whole assembly and told them:
"The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them." Numbers 14:7b-9
In essence, Caleb was telling the people –
“Yeah, the Canaanites are strong, but God’s stronger.
Yes, the Canaanites are big, but God is bigger.
We’re gonna chew them up and spit them out because they can’t beat God.
I mean how can they possibly beat a God who whipped the Pharaoh of Egypt??? Egypt didn’t stand a chance against our God… and neither do these guys.
But the people wouldn’t listen to him.
They became afraid.
and they rebelled
and they rejected the promise of God.
And because of their fear and rebellion God turned them away from the promised land and they were forced them to wander in the wilderness for 40 longggg years.
In Numbers 14:29-30 God told them:
“In this desert your bodies will fall— every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.”
Later, in Deuteronomy, God gave expanded on this promise to Caleb:
"Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly." (Deuteronomy 1:35-36)
From that day on, Caleb had a dream.
He knew that he had a special inheritance waiting for him. He had a piece of property with his name on it
And he knew this wasn’t going to be just any old piece of land…
This was a gift from God and so it had to be the best real estate in Canaan.
FOR 45 years, Caleb replayed this promise over and over and over again in him mind. So that when the Israelites crossed the Jordan river into the land of Canaan he staked his claim on the prettiest land available – the hill country of Hebron.
He has seen it with his own eyes. He knew how good it was and he wanted it.
Now, there were a couple of problems with Caleb’s dream
1st – the land that he wanted just happened to have somebody living there. Does anybody know who was living in the hill country Caleb asked for?
THAT’S RIGHT – there were giants in the land, and they lived in large fortified cities. Not everybody in the land of Canaan were giants… but these guys were.
Now, there was a reason why these Giants were the owners of the best real estate around.
They were bigger than everybody else.
Nobody else could live there, because this land belonged to the giants. It was their land… and they had no intention of sharing it. They were the kings of the hills in Hebron… and because they were giants they always won the game of King of the Hill.
That was his first problem.
The 2nd problem for Caleb was that he was 85 years old. That’s pretty old to be taking on giants.
In our society, we’ve convinced ourselves that we become less useful as we grow older.
ILLUS: We make jokes about getting old.
Jokes like:
You know you’re getting old when:
· You sit in a rocking chair and can’t get it going.
· The gleam in your eyes is from the sun hitting your bifocals
· You sink your teeth in a steak… and they stay there.
We joke about old age… but in the back of our minds is the suspicion that when we get old, we lose value.
ILLUS: One man told of a discussion he had with his youngest son. The boy asked him how old he was, and the man replied, "39 and holding."
The boy thought for a moment and then asked, "Well how old would you be if you let go?"
There is a mindset that there comes a point in our lives when we “let go”.
But Caleb refused to think that way. And Caleb wasn’t the only man that refused to let “old age” keep them down.
ILLUS:
· Winston Churchill became prime minister of Britain at 65.
· Thomas Edison was still busy in his laboratory at 84
· At 81 Benjamin Franklin worked with quarreling delegates at the Constitutional Convention – and helped bring about the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
· At 75 a Californian named Ed Delano bicycled 3100 miles in 33 1/2 days.
· And a 96 year old resident of Michigan - George C. Selbach - scored a 110 yard hole in one at Indian River, Michigan.
ILLUS: Larry King tells about the time when Ty Cobb was 70… and a reporter asked him, "What do you think you’d hit if you were playing these days?"
Cobb (who was a lifetime .367 hitter) said, "Oh, about .290, maybe .300."
The reporter wisely nodded his head and said, "Oh, I understand, that’s probably because of the travel, the night games, the artificial turf, and all the new pitches like the slider, right?"
Cobb looked at the reporter with disdain and replied, "No, it’s because I’m 70.
Cobb was essentially saying: “Old age might slow me down, but I refuse to let it stop me.”
AND CALEB was telling his old friend Joshua
· Yes, I know I’m 85 years old
· And yes I know there are giants in the land
But I can whip them… I don’t care how old I am.
And why did he believe that?
Because: “…You yourself heard… that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but with the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” Joshua 14:12
Caleb was depending on God to be there to help him face his giants. And we need to learn to THINK that way too.
ILLUS One professor wrote this on a blackboard: GODISNOWHERE (put this up on the screen in big letters) then he asked his students to tell him what they saw there.
The majority of the students said they saw this: “God Is No Where”.
But a few of the students saw: “God Is Now Here”.
You see: it all depends on what you’re looking for, as to what you see.
When you’re in the midst of conflict and struggles, it IS hard to see God sometimes. But it’s when we’re faced with the giants of doubt and despair that we most need to focus on God’s presence and His power and His promises.
David once wrote:
“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalms 37:4
Notice the key to that promise:
Delight ourselves in the LORD and THEN, He will supply the desires of your heart.
And this truth about God should influence the way we pray.
Had we been able to hear him, Caleb’s prayer probably would have gone a little like this:
“God, I know what you’ve done in the past. I watched you as you brought the plagues down upon Egypt, and I watched as you parted the Red Sea to let us cross to the other side. And I watched as you buried the might of Egypt’s army in that same Sea. I was there as came down upon Mount Sinai in your power and might, and I have seen your faithfulness and kindness as our nation wandered in the desert for 40 years.
I praise You for Your love and mercy and faithfulness.
And right now I come to You to ask You for something You’ve already promised.
I come to You because I know you love me.
And because I know You can do whatever You want to do.
And I’ll just wait patiently here until the time is right for this prayer to be fulfilled.”
Caleb so delighted in God, He believed His God could and would supply what was promised. And he believed it so strongly, he was willing to wait.
Caleb waited 45 longggg years to receive the answer to his prayer. But he was willing to do that, because he trusted his God.
He waited on his God. But he waited expectantly.
His was an “on the edge of his seat” kind of faith.
This is the same kind of faith we need to have as Christians.
An Expectant Faith.
An “on the edge of our seats” kind of faith.
CLOSE: Over a century ago, back when the telegraph was the fastest method of getting a message out over a long distance, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator.
He read the ad in the newspaper and he went to the office address that was listed.
When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background.
A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office. The young man filled out his form and sat down with seven other applicant’s in the waiting area. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, walked right in.
Naturally the other applicant’s perked up, wondering what was going on. They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet. They assumed that the young man who went into the office made a mistake and would be disqualified.
Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the out of the office and said to the other applicant’s “Gentlemen thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled.”
The other applicant’s began grumbling to each other, and one spoke up saying,
“Wait a minute, I don’t understand. He was the last to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job and we didn’t. That’s not fair.”
The employer said, “ I’m sorry, but the last several minutes while you have been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code:
‘If you understand this message, come right in. The job is yours.’
None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. The job is his.”
That’s the kind of expectancy that God wants from us. It’s a kind of faith that is always alert to God’s faithfulness in our needs. A faith that is listening for God to step in and overcome our giants. A faith that is ready and willing to lay claim to God’s promises when the occasion arises.
