Week 24: Reminders for the Journey

Scripture: Joshua 1:1-9 NRSV

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, “My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go.  This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Reminders for the Journey

In grade school, every year began the exact same way. The teacher would stand at the very front of the classroom and offer us an opportunity to introduce ourselves to our classmates. Though most of these were people whom we had met years before, this always seemed like a scary task. We’d be asked to speak of how our summer vacations had gone. We would reveal to our peers, our goals and the manners in which we desired to pursue them. We would begin discussing class rules, and in some cases we would even develop them. Following all the manners of introduction, the teacher would stand at a chalkboard and begin to review information that we should have learned in the year prior. The review would begin in a manner that would lead to lesson being added on the foreknowledge we had already known. No matter the subject, it was important to learn it from a perspective that reflected the level that you were now on. I know you learned how to do addition years ago, but let’s leave whole numbers and level up to add fractions. This is with the intention that at the end of the year, we would be able to say that we have shown competency at this level and are prepared to be promoted to a level that is far greater than this. Some of those lessons are harder than others, based upon our own understanding, but the reality is that we have to confront those places that seem uncomfortable because when we work at it, it’ll make us better and stronger individuals in the end. Those lessons will prepare us for the lessons in years to come, because if we can’t handle this fight, I mean equation, we won’t be fit for what is ahead of us.

Newsflash: This is not only an academic technique, but rather God teaches us the same way on our spiritual Journeys. Everything that we experienced as a child, will be revisited in some way, shape, form or fashion. Unbeknownst to us, we have spent time in training for the bigger battles that are down the road so that when they come, we will be prepared. Even though we may feel unprepared, God prepares us for the battles long before we ever know that the battle is even coming. We see this first hand in the life of our dear brother, Joshua. Joshua just graduated from the Moses Leadership Academy, where he graduated as the valedictorian. There he was afforded the opportunity to walk alongside Moses and get field experience on every situation that could happen. Joshua completed his course work but still felt unprepared. But whether or not he was prepared to step into his role, He had no choice because the text begins by telling us, that Moses is dead. This meant that Joshua was forced to be the new leader of a group whom he once walked alongside of. Not only is Moses dead, but God is telling Joshua that His servant Moses is dead. This confused me quite a bit because surely Joshua should have known that Moses was dead by now. Why did God have to make this statement to him? Clearly, it was because there was something that we all were missing.

Joshua finds himself, in our text today, in a dually traumatic space. Not only has he lost his leader and has to assume the role, but he also is in the very space where his newly acquired people once doubted him. He had been to this place before, and it was named Canaan. You have to remember Canaan? It was a Church, I mean a Land, flowing with milk and honey. It was a community that was promised to become their home. You’ve been to Canaan before, right? This Canaan had strong walls surrounding it, with the hopes of keeping them safe from those who would try to attack them. This Canaan had all of God’s pleasures at their fingertips. It was the promised land of God. Canaan created the image that they were not only a church, but rather a community organization. It was a place that reflected all that God has promised them, but because of all the Giants who were there, 10 out of 12 Spies fearfully decided not to pursue their destiny. The 2 out of 12 who saw the Giants as no threats, were Joshua and Caleb. They were ridiculed to the extent that they thought their lives would be taken. And Moses, God’s Servant, stepped in to deliver them and bring peace before any regretful action could take place. All of this had happened 40 years ago. But now the tables have turned, they have returned to the land that they were afraid to conquer. But as Joshua approaches the land, he is reminded that this is the place where he almost lost his life and the one person who had saved him is no longer here to be the buffer.

It is also important to remember that Joshua’s name means Yahweh is Salvation. How could it be that the one who is the reminder of where salvation comes from, is looking for it in some other place. Joshua didn’t have anyone to save him moving forward and was also without a teacher. Joshua is grieving but feels as if he also needs help. He is not confident that the people will follow him when it is time to go into Canaan. He is realizing more and more that his people want Canaan-like Blessings but have Egypt-Like Faith. Their faith is still in bondage and they are not free to move towards what God really has for them. After all that God had done for them, they didn’t have any faith. God parted the Red Sea and let them Cross on Dry Land. God caused the Egyptians to be swallowed up by the water. God never their clothes and shoes wear out. God provided manna for them 5 days a week and gave them a double portion on the sixth day because they couldn’t work on the Sabbath.  God took great care of them! But unfortunately We, too, are like this, in some ways. Some people see us as the God’s Billboard for faith and the proof of God’s deliverance but in the times of trouble we look for deliverance in other means. We look for help from the sources that God has used before. That’s the problem for Joshua. Moses is no longer here.

What do we do when the person who God gave us as a teacher and leader are no longer with us? What is left for us to do when all we have are the remnants of lessons that they have left behind. The reality is that all of us have had this take place. Graduates, you will find yourself, in the near future, where you are separated from your teachers and professors but only have their lessons to get you through the journey. God told Joshua to remember those words that Moses taught him. He told him to never turn from them, whether to the right or the left. Moses law was a formula that came directly from God. The intentionality of not turning from it, showed a devotion not only to Moses but also to God’s word. This is why God also reiterated the fact that Moses was his servant. Moses only wrote what God told him to write and on most occasions did what God told him to do. So by being obedient to Moses, you are therefore being obedient to God. Don’t turn from the things that you were taught, because it was God who ensured that you learned them. These lessons are building blocks to the character that God is developing in you. So don’t turn from them, neither to the left or to the right. But to ensure that you get the fullness out of the lessons you’ve been learning, there are two things that God wanted Joshua to walk away with, and I also believe that God wants this generation of graduates (and their families and friends) to hear as well.

Be Strong:

God tells Joshua to be strong, which literally means to be someone who can carry a heavy weight. Joshua has a heavy weight on his shoulders before ever making it to the perimeter of Canaan, because Moses has died. Moses was his leader and his mentor, and Joshua had to learn what life would be after Moses. And at this moment, with this weight, he approaches the land of Canaan. It is in that moment that God tells him to be strong. We have to further investigate what God’s intentions are behind that statement. We already can suppose that Joshua is strong, as he has already been a part of the Lord’s army. He was not being overthrown by the power of those who were his opponents. He stood firm against his opponents, knowing that God would see him to the victory, which meant that he had to be strong. What kind of strength is God speaking about? Joshua has no ability to be strong in this moment. He just lost the person who he was closest to and was going through process of grieving and God tells Joshua to be strong.

What does strength look like for God? God had never told Moses to be strong, was Joshua supposed to conform to being a copy of the identity of Moses. Was God setting up the gender norms that in the midst of hard-times, men aren’t supposed to cry? The answer is no! God doesn’t want you to be anything but your authentic self, nor does God care if you cry, and quite honestly it shouldn’t matter to you either. It is my assumption that God wanted to check up on Joshua as he prepared him for the rest of his life’s journey. It is quite possible that God’s intention was simply to check-in on the Strong One. Maybe it’s because Joshua had always proven to be a strong leader and God knew that no one else would check on him after losing Moses. This is something that we have to address, because we need to check on our loved ones and not wait until they take their own lives to become super spiritual. In times like these they need our help to be strong. Joshua’s strength would not just benefit him, but rather it would also benefit the multitude that was following him. This weight, was something that all of his training had prepared him for, now he had to condition himself to carry it at all times. To compound the weight on his shoulders, God doesn’t only tell him to be strong, but God also tells him to:

Be Courageous:

            Courageous means to not be deterred by pain or fear. When someone is courageous, they are not afraid of what is set before them but rather, they go on to see what the end will be. In the midst of all the weight on Joshua’s shoulders, He still walks up to Canaan. Knowing that he wasn’t settled in his current state, Joshua pursued his Canaan? What is your Canaan? What is the promise that God has set before you, that your fear and the opinion of your naysayers would like to keep you from? You should have more than one. Whatever you Canaans are, I encourage you to be both strong and courageous. God has to reiterate both of these different characteristics because it is possible to be one without the other. God reminds us through the lens of Joshua that we need to be strong enough to lift this heavy burden, but we also need to be courageous enough to face our adversaries while carrying it. Throughout your process of achieving your Canaan, you may have lost loved ones, gotten sick or even have been attacked in other manners but nevertheless you kept pursuing. But now there are more Canaans approaching you, with their own new promises for you to acquire and all you will need in your new pursuit is the same formula God gave Joshua. You need to Be Strong and Be Very Courageous. There will be other Giants to fight, and other attacks on the way but Just be strong and very courageous.

            It doesn’t matter what happens that tries to knock us off our feet, we need to remember to be Strong and to be Very Courageous. And before I leave you today, I want to share with you a few examples of what it means to be strong. When you leave this place:

·    Be Strong like: Fannie Lou Hamer and Be Very Courageous: Rosa Parks

·    Be Strong like: Malcolm X and Be Very Courageous: Martin Luther King Jr.

·    Be Strong like: Ida B Wells and Be Very Courageous: Harriet Tubman

·    Be Strong like: Marcus Garvey and Be Very Courageous: Thurgood Marshall

·    Be Strong like: Betty Shabazz and Be Very Courageous: Coretta Scott King

·    Be Strong like: James Baldwin and Be Very Courageous: Muhammad Ali

·    Be Strong like: Mary McLeod Bethune and Be Very Courageous: Shirley Chisolm

·    Be Strong like: Barack Obama and Be Very Courageous: Bayard Rustin

·    Be Strong like: Sojourner Truth and Be Very Courageous: Toni Morrison

·    Be Strong like: Nat Turner and Be Very Courageous: Benjamin Elijah Mays

·    Be Strong like: Madam CJ Walker and Be Very Courageous: Zora Neal Hurston

Some of the Older saints can testify that no matter what life throws at you, there is a need to keep pressing through it. That’s why when we face new issues and challenges, there is no doubt in my mind that God will be there with us. God will make a way. That’s why I can join in with the Song-Writer, Andre Crouch and say:

I’ve had many tears and sorrows,
I’ve had questions for tomorrow,
there’s been times I didn’t know right from wrong.
But in every situation,
God gave me blessed consolation,
that my trials come to only make me strong.

I’ve been to lots of places,
I’ve seen a lot of faces,
there’s been times I felt so all alone.
But in my lonely hours,
yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus lets me know that I was His own

I thank God for the mountains,
and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I’d never had a problem,
I wouldn’t know God could solve them,

I’d never know what faith in God could do.

Through it all,
through it all,
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,
I’ve learned to trust in God.

Through it all,
through it all,
I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.