September 6th,2009

September 6/7. 2009
Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Joshua 24:1-24

DON’T LET YOUR LABOR BE IN VAIN: SERVE THE LORD

I. Consider How The Lord Has Served Us (1-5,8,11)
II. Should Not Our Response Be Obvious? (13-15a)
III. May Our Serving Show Our Response (15b-18,22-24)

This Monday is Labor Day, and the word "labor" quickly makes me think of two Bible passages. One is written in Matthew 11 where Jesus says, "Come to me, all you are weary and burdened (or: labor and are heavy laden), and I will give you rest." He is talking about rest for our souls because of the forgiveness of sins He won for us. The second one is this encouragement in 1 Corinthians 15, the beautiful resurrection chapter: "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always gives yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." The "Therefore" refers to the victory Jesus won. Without Jesus there is no forgiveness, without His resurrection there is no true life. Without faith in Him, laboring and life itself would be in vain.

DON’T LET YOUR LABOR BE IN VAIN: SERVE THE LORD

I. CONSIDER HOW THE LORD HAS SERVED US (1-5,8,11)

1. The historical setting here (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.

a) Moses had led God’s people up to the promised land; then, after Moses died, Joshua had the assignment to lead them in

b) the time of our text is after they were in the land and now Joshua’s death was near - this was his farewell to the people

2. The background to Egypt (2-4)

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. But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the River and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.’"

a) the promised land had been entered way back by Abraham

b) but, to protect the Israelites from the evil around them in that land, God planned to let them grow into many people in a different land, in Egypt, and used a famine to get them there

3. The return to the promised land (5,8,11)

"‘Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out. I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land.’"

a) the exodus took place [is this history unfamiliar to you? - then please open your Bibles at home and read the history God recorded in Genesis and Exodus], and they came first to land east of the Jordan, the area where so much is happening today

"Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands.’"

b) now, after Jericho’s walls fell, they were back in the promised land and God divided the land among the twelve tribes [if you don’t remember this, read about it in your Bibles]

4. All of this was to fulfill God’s promise

a) you know the promise: a Savior from sin and death!

b) so that this Savior could clearly be identified when He came, God had given details about where He would be born (not only the promised land but the exact place, Bethlehem), the detail of a virgin birth, and details about how He would labor and what He would do to defeat our enemy the devil

c) yes, history truly is spoken of as His story, God’s story, God’s record about how He carried out His plan of salvation which involved an atoning death and a victorious resurrection from the dead in a specific nation and geographical location

II. SHOULD NOT OUR RESPONSE BE OBVIOUS? (13-15a)

1. What we have is clearly God’s doing (13)

‘"So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’"

a) this land and what was in it was a gift of God’s doing

b) so is our salvation; sinners that we are, we could not earn forgiveness, we could not "knock down the walls" to get into heaven by our doing; instead, as Scripture tells us, "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works." (Eph. 2:8)

2. To this there should be an obvious response (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."

a) if God did all He did for the Israelites, shouldn’t they very obviously want to show gratitude by laboring, serving Him?

b) and if God saved us by the life and death and resurrection of His Son so that we can live with sins forgiven and have the promise of the eternal promised land of heaven before us, should not our reaction to love and labor for Him be obvious?

3. But there also is a natural response (15a)

"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."

a) by nature we are sinful, the natural mind is enmity against God

b) what is natural is to serve sin, to follow the gods of my self and what I want, the gods around us that glorify materialism and selfishness and greed and slandering and misuse of sex

4. That natural response would be laboring in vain

a) love the world, love money, love worldly pleasures, worship at their altars, labor for all they have to offer

b) but what profit to gain all that and to lose true life in heaven?

c) once lost, there is no "stimulus package" that will get it back for you - heaven lost is heaven lost, labor in vain!

III. MAY OUR SERVING SHOW OUR RESPONSE (15b-18,22-24)

1. The people said they would serve (15b-18)

"But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! 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. 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."

a) Joshua said he would, and took responsibility for his family

b) the people said the same, and hopefully they took responsibility for their children, as we want that today too

2. But remember what happened (22-24)

Then Joshua said, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD." "Yes, we are witnesses," they replied. "Now then," said Joshua, "throw away the foreign gods that are
among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."

And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."

a) what they said was good, but what they did was not good

b) not serving became their history, and it was only the grace of God that preserved a remnant of this nation so that there finally was a birth in Bethlehem, God’s Son born to pay the wages of sin for the world, God’s Son victorious so that we can look forward to the eternal and glorious promised land of heaven

3. To what have we witnessed? (22)

Then Joshua said, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD." "Yes, we are witnesses," they replied.

a) at confirmation time: "faithful to the true God, stay with His Word!" - but then what has happened to many? - parents, are you concerned about your households, as Joshua was?

b) membership form promises - part of what was witnessed: "promise to attend divine services regularly, to partake of the Lord’s Supper frequently, to support the spread of the Gospel out of love for the Savior and His work" - but then why is church attendance declining, why do parents seem to show less concern for children coming to church unless school is on?

4. May we serve sincerely in response to God’s love (24)

And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."

a) Israel lost much by saying, but not doing; and we would too

b) may God for Jesus’ sake forgive us for our failures, for the weakness we seem to tolerate, for our lack of zeal to labor

c) and may His Spirit strengthen us by Word and Sacrament to let our lives witness to the fact that we truly want to serve the Lord our God whose daily forgiveness means eternal life

The calendar reminds us that it is Labor Day time. May today’s sermon text remind us every day that we should not labor in vain. Instead of vain laboring, let us say with Joshua, "As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Yes, "Always gives yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." Amen.