New beginnings can be wonderful. They are filled with the hope and promise of expectation. An opportunity to create and enter something new and refreshing . . . a new start. New beginnings can also be filled with anxiety.
We enter the story of God’s people as they have been gathered in the town of Shechem to hear Joshua’s farewell speech. He had been Moses replacement with the charge to rid the Promise Land of its inhabitants and to settle the people into their new home. It had been a long time coming and now Joshua was wrapping it up. The conquering had been completed, though not to the extend God had wanted . . . there remained foreigners in the land. The people had been settled.
In his speech Joshua recounts the people’s long history and relationship with God from the very beginning. He shares all that God has done for Israel . . . the promises to the ancestors, the deliverance from slavery in Egypt, provision in the wilderness, and now the Promise Land. Important stuff for the people to remember as Joshua tells of God’s grace, mercy and unmerited love for the people. God had been good to them and now Joshua wanted their commitment to God and God alone. He hits them with the challenge: “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness.”
Joshua knows his people. He knows their weakness for jumping ship whenever things get tough. He knows their infatuation with “other gods”. He knows how quickly they forget and abandon their faith for something that seems more convenient and easier. Because of this he wants the people to commit . . . to commit whole-heartedly to God and their relationship to follow God. And the people respond that they “will serve the Lord, because he is our God.”
“No, you won’t,” responds Joshua.
Adamantly the people insist that they will serve the Lord. But Joshua knows better . . . he knows the people, knows their history . . . after all, he is an old man. Knowing the people, Joshua holds their words against them. The words of commitment they proclaim would be written down and remembered as “witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”
Joshua knew the people . . . he knew them well.
Years ago, I encountered a man in the congregation I was serving who was an alcoholic. His family knew it . . . the whole town knew it. Everyone knew it except for him. Whenever he was confronted about his drinking as a problem, he denied it. Said he was fine, and on the surface, it appeared to be true. His business was doing well. He had never been arrested. He functioned quite well . . . until one day. His liver started acting up . . . it quit functioning . . . and he ended up in the hospital.
The doctor explained to the man that his liver was being killed by all the alcohol the man was consuming. He was killing his liver and that if he didn’t stop it would eventually kill him. Of course, it was a “wake up” call for the man. But you know what he said. He said alcohol was not a problem. Once the doctor got him feeling better, he went right back to drinking.
A second time he ended up in the hospital . . . only this time it was much worse. The liver had quit functioning again. Again, the doctor confronted him about his alcoholism, offered him help and getting into a program to quit drinking, and pleaded with the man. Scared this time the man listened, and he swore he would quit . . . and, he did. He quit drinking. He went into treatment. And, he came home to start life anew.
Coming home to a new beginning he was told to remember that he had to change things. He was told he couldn’t haunt all his old watering holes . . . he shouldn’t hang out with his old friends . . . and, he had to have faith in his program. To which he swore he would do . . . at least for a while. It was tough to avoid the old watering holes as they were the only places to eat in town. It was hard to ignore his old friends. When he got lonely, he hit both . . . at first not drinking, but soon one became two and two became three. It wasn’t long before his liver started acting up.
Knowing what he was told. He was reminded that he swore that he wouldn’t fall off the wagon . . . that he wouldn’t start drinking. People used his own words against him. He condemned himself.
If you know the story of the people of God from the Old Testament, you know that despite their enthusiasm to follow God . . . their sworn promise that was even written down . . . they fail. They fail many times to live up to their promise . . . to live up to their words. As much as they wanted to forget their transgressions they were reminded by their own words. They were condemned by their own words.
Yes, Joshua knew the people well. Their behavior would betray their words . . . betray their commitment to God and God’s ways. It was their weakness. This is why God had commanded Joshua to conquer the Promise Land and rid it of all its inhabitants . . . to rid it of its foreigners. The temptation offered by these strangers would be too much for God’s people in their weakness to bail when things got tough. Take away the temptation, but he had failed to successfully complete the task. Now he was pleading with the people to completely follow God . . . but he knew better.
Joshua knew better because in the end he understood that nothing would change for the people until they changed their hearts. It was their responsibility to change their hearts. God was not going to change their hearts for them. No, God would patiently wait for the transformation to happen with them. True, there would be consequences to their actions, but God would be patient. It is here that the grace of God plays . . . here that God waits for faith. That is who God is.
When it comes to faith and being faithful, it is up to us as individuals. No one, including God, can do it for us. We must do the work to be committed to God and God’s ways. God expects nothing less. Therefore, we should be careful to hear the words we proclaim when it comes to our faith because those words will be held against us . . . we will have no one to blame but ourselves if we fail. It is our responsibility . . . our commitment.
Two hospitalizations. Two stints in rehab. Constant reminders from those who loved him of the promises he had made and kept failing. The man eventually quit making excuses . . . took responsibility for himself . . . and, he started living up to his words. He moved to another state where his sister graciously allowed him to live until he got settled in and on his feet. He moved to get away from all the temptations . . . all his crutches . . . all his old ways of doing things. His words became his life. He has led an alcohol-free and good life since he moved and taken responsibility for his own actions and life. And, he knows that if he falls off the wagon that it is his own words . . . himself . . . that will hold him accountable. He is a witness against himself.
Joshua gives to us a reminder in how
important our words are when he states: “You are witnesses against
yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.” No other witnesses are necessary as we are
accountable to ourselves in honoring our faith as we have proclaimed it. Our actions will either affirm or deny our
commitment to our faith. That is all
that God needs.
Thankfully we have a gracious and
patient God who roots for us to do the right thing when it comes to our
faith. God will not abandon us . . .
only we can separate ourselves from God.
God waits . . . lovingly, gracefully, and patiently. That is who God is. Amen.
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