Joshua 24:1-2, 14-24 Epiphany 5 February 9, 2014

Joshua 24:1-2,14-24 (New International Version) The Covenant Renewed at Shechem 1 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods. 14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."16 Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! 17 It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 18 And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God.

(19) Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to

serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. (20) If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you." (21) But the people said to Joshua, "No! We will serve the LORD." (22) Then Joshua said, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD." "Yes, we are witnesses," they replied. (23) "Now then," said Joshua, "throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." (24) And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."

I.

WE TOO WILL SERVE THE LORD! Because of what he has graciously done for us. II. By what we gratefully do for him.

In many of our hymns and prayers, we state our desire to be more like Jesus. A favorite evening hymn has the verse, “Jesus Savior wash away all that I‟ve done wrong today make me ever more like you good and gentle kind and true.” Like that verse says there are many ways to describe what Jesus is like. Good, gentle, kind, true and the list could go on and on. But of all the ways in which we want to emulate our Savior, perhaps this way is one of the best: to serve. Jesus himself said that he did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. When we learn about what Jesus has done for us by serving, we want to do the same. Such a response of faith is not new to God‟s people. In our Old Testament lesson, Joshua speaks the familiar words we often find on plaques and pictures in our homes, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Our prayer this morning is that God would lead us to respond the same way the children of Israel did to Joshua‟s sermon. When he asked them whom they would serve, they responded, We too will serve the LORD. As we consider that response this morning, let see the why and the how. I. Joshua was the man God had chosen to lead the Israelites after Moses had died. His mission was to conquer the Canaanite nations, to take possession of the Promised Land, and then divide it up among the twelve tribes. And that‟s what he did. When it was all done, Joshua gave a farewell address to the people, part of which we read this morning. Joshua made it very clear to the people that the reason they were living in the land of Canaan was because of God‟s undeserved kindness and goodness.

The people didn‟t deserve that land, but God

graciously gave it to them. And the reason God gave it to them was so that he could keep his promise to send Jesus into the world and in that very land he would win the salvation of the world. So after all the blessings and mercy that Joshua had seen and experienced first-hand, he responded by saying, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” And as the people considered all the gracious things God had done for them too, they also responded, “We too will serve the LORD.” But did you notice something unusual about this dialogue?

After the people

responded, “We will serve the Lord. Joshua challenged them. In fact, the people had to

repeat themselves two other times, “We will serve the Lord!” because Joshua challenged them two other times. This was his challenge:

1”9

Joshua said to the people, „You are not able to

serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.

20

If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will

turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.‟” As we well know the people failed to keep their promise to serve the Lord, even their kings like David and Solomon. Even Moses their great leader had failed in his service to the Lord. Joshua knew that unholy people cannot keep God‟s law perfectly and deserve God‟s punishment. If they are going to be holy God has to act. That‟s what did. Even though his people were unfaithful, God wasn‟t. Even though they failed him, he didn‟t fail them. Even though they deserved punishment, he forgave. They had experienced that mercy and grace already in the desert and they would surely need that same mercy and grace as they settled in the land. Is it any wonder the people would say, “We too will serve the Lord?” Dear friends, by faith we are God‟s chosen people, his royal priesthood, and his holy nation. And we too want to serve the Lord just like Joshua and the twelve tribes of Israel. In fact, there may be many of us who actually have those words on a plague in our home, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”

But why would we want to serve the Lord like

Joshua? For the same reason Joshua did--because of God‟s gracious acts. For example, we do not live in the promised land of Canaan but we live in a land, a country that has more wealth and natural resources than any other in the history of this world. Why should God so richly bless us? Not because we have earned or deserved it, but only because he is our merciful Father in heaven. For all of this we ought to thank, praise, serve, and obey him. But we know that God has done greater things for us than letting us live in this wonderful land. He has made it possible for us to live in the land of heaven. Not because we can earn or deserve it. All too often we fail to serve our holy God as he demands and deserves. But what does God graciously do for us? He forgives us all our sins for the sake of the service Jesus rendered in our behalf—his atoning death on the cross. When we know that and by God‟s grace believe it how can we not respond with Israel of old, “We too will serve the Lord?” II. So how do we serve the Lord? How can we demonstrate our gratefulness to him? Let‟s go back to Joshua‟s dialogue with the children of Israel. They were eager to profess their willingness to serve God, but Joshua knew how difficult that was going to be. Three times he tells God‟s people that to serve the Lord meant throwing away all their foreign gods and idols.

Now that seems obvious to us and it was obvious to them too. But it would be easier said than done, and for two reasons. One, they were sinful and two, they would be living in a land and a culture saturated with idol worship. The Canaanites had idols for every aspect of life providing every excuse for serving self rather than the true God. There were idols for waking and sleeping, idols for eating and drinking idols, for working and leisure, idols for fertility and idols for crops. Is it any wonder that Joshua was skeptical about their promise to serve only the Lord? Although we live in a different time and place, it won‟t be any easier for us to serve the Lord in our own land and for the same two reasons. We live with a sinful nature that doesn‟t want to serve God and we live in a culture that tempts us to put other things before God and even throws a cloak of legitimacy over it all. Work; food; leisure; property; having children, education are all legitimate pursuits in life. But when these activities and pursuits begin to crowd the Lord and his Word out of our lives, or if we think the Lord shouldn‟t be at the center of these activities, we have failed our God. God wants us to love and serve him with all of our heart, soul, and mind, not just parts of them. Nor is he a part-time God whom we can serve on a part-time basis. He is either Lord of all or not Lord at all. And so Joshua‟s call to God‟s people back then is still a timely call for us today. Yield your entire heart to the Lord and yield your heart entirely to the Lord! How can we love and serve the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind? Many examples we could give. But let‟s focus on one that we simply draw from this reading. One way in which can serve God is as elementary as what Joshua pledged, “as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Yes, serving the Lord begins in our hearts. But did we

ever stop to think that it also begins in our homes. It‟s as simple as that. Husbands can serve the Lord by loving their wives as Christ loved the church. Wives can serve the Lord by submitting to their husbands as the church submits to Christ. Parents can serve the Lord by bringing their children to Christ and by showing them, not just with words, but also actions, that God is important so that God will become important to them also. Children can serve the Lord by obeying their parents and honoring them as God‟s blessings. When we consider all that God has done for us, may it not just be written on the walls of our home, but on the very walls of our hearts, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” And you know where we will find the strength to serve the Lord and where we will find comfort and forgiveness when we fail to serve God as we have promised? By letting the Lord serve us! Whenever we gather in God‟s house, through the Word and through the Sacrament our Lord comes to us to serve us with his love that not only forgives us but also empowers us to go back to our homes to serve our Lord according to his Word.

Dear friends, we know who the Lord is. He‟s the one who served us that we might serve him here and now, and forever in heaven. Amen.