Sept 02, 2012 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.
September 1,2,3, 2012 Pentecost 14 Sermon by Pastor Paul G. EckertSermon text - Joshua 24:1-5, 11-24
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. 3 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, 4 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. 5 Then I sent Moses
and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and
I brought you out. --- ‘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. 12 I sent the hornet
ahead of you, which drove them out before you - also the two
Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow.
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.’ 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.”
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In this sermon I am going to talk about Labor And Service And
Our God. That makes a person ask: “Who is our God, the God in
whom you and I as Christians believe?” Let me give just some
examples. He is the God who had six “labor days” of creating the
world, the God who created male and female and said those two
should be one flesh in marriage - as that was so beautifully described in
today’s epistle reading, the God who says it is wrong to take innocent
life. We could add much more about the God in whom we believe.
But what about other people? If people worship a statue, it is easy
to see that as a false god. But most false gods aren’t statues. So,
though most say they believe in god, who is that? Some examples.
The god many believe in is a god that accepts evolution, that says
marriage can be other than man and woman, that it is okay to kill by
abortion-causing drugs or surgical procedures. Sad to say, many who
actually believe in such a god or gods may call themselves Christians
and even belong to churches that call themselves Christian churches.
St. Jacobi Congregation is a Christian church. You know what we
say about the God we preach and about the subjects I have mentioned.
But let’s go now to Joshua and the people of Israel who had involved
themselves with false gods. In our text Joshua placed before them the
question about whom they would serve, whether it would be the true
God or false gods. Keeping that in mind, let us talk about
LABOR AND SERVICE AND OUR GOD.
I GOD CLEARLY SERVED HIS PEOPLE. (1-5,11-13)
1. We see that in His deliverance of the people. (1-5)
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. 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. Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the
Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out.’”
a) It was God who had established Old Testament Israel as a
special nation to fulfill His promise of salvation for the world.
b) When Israel ended up in captivity in the land of Egypt, He
used Moses to lead them back to where He wanted them to be.
2. We see that in His blessings. (11-13)
“‘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. I sent the hornet ahead of you, which
drove them out before you - also the two Amorite kings. You did
not do it with your own sword and bow. 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) After Moses, God used Joshua to lead them into the promised
land, and His power and His miracles to give them the land.
b) He gave them finished cities, buildings, fields to possess.
3. God’s guidance and blessings still are with us.
a) Leaving Egypt, 40 years in the wilderness - many labor days
were involved. But God made all of that labor work for good.
He had a plan to have something wonderful happen in that land
in a village named Bethlehem and on a cross near Jerusalem.
b) Life can be filled with much labor for us too. The God in
whom we believe never said we wouldn’t have a “wilderness”
to go through once in a while or often. But His promise to us
stands that He will make all things serve His plans for us too.
4. We see that especially in His salvation.
a) Jesus, sent by God the Father, born in Bethlehem, died on a
cross, once said, “The Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
b) Instead of speaking of one Labor Day, let’s call Jesus’ time on
earth a whole Labor Life, a labor life of service for us.
c) And what a blessing that promises - not just an earthly land
filled with problems, but a heavenly home waiting for us.
II PEOPLE ALSO PROMISE TO SERVE GOD. (14-18)
1. The LORD is the one true God to serve. (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) Recognize that the Lord God, the Creator and Savior of the
world, is the only true God. He is the one to worship, to serve.
b) But many Israelites were guilty of worshiping the false gods of
the nations around them, gods who condoned much evil.
2. Today too many choose other gods.
a) Israel did then. Later on, as we heard in our Gospel reading,
some disciples chose to leave Jesus, thereby rejecting the true
God who had sent Him. And people today, also some who call
themselves Christians, may in fact worship another god who
permits them to go along with things like evolution, sexual
impurity, a disregard of what marriage is, and so on. Or think
of non-Christian religions, like the Muslim Allah, who is not the
Savior God who has revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. Let us pray and work that the Gospel can somehow
reach any such people deceived by any such false religions.
b) But let’s not fail to look at ourselves. Finally whatever we put
first in our lives is really our god. That could be self, money,
sex, pleasure, a lot of things. Who or what is really most
important to you? Who is really the god in your life? We need
to look not only at others, but to look closely at ourselves.
3. Joshua’s choice was clear. (15b)
“But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
a) This was Joshua’s clear public confession.
b) Note that he also took responsibility for his family. Fathers,
are you listening? Are you concerned about your family?
4. We too have promised to serve. (15a,16-18)
“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.” --- 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) Israel publicly made this promise.
b) All of you who went through a confirmation ceremony here,
who were received into membership in St. Jacobi, did the same
thing. You promised to worship the true God, to serve Him, to
hear His Word, to be faithful even unto death.
c) And so it should be. “We too will serve the LORD, because
he is our God.” That should come from all of our lips.
III DO WE, WILL WE TRULY SERVE OUR GOD? (19-24)
1. There are witnesses to our promises. (22)
Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you
have chosen to serve the LORD.” “Yes, we are witnesses,” they
replied.
a) Witnesses: family and friends at your confirmation time.
b) And you yourself. You know what you promised then.
2. Broken promises can be disastrous. (19-21)
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. 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. But the people said to
Joshua, “No! We will serve the LORD.”
a) If unbelief, forsaking is present and shows itself in sin and in
no true serving of the Lord, there will be disaster, eternal loss.
b) But in faith we know whom we promised to serve. It is the
Lord God, the Lord who died to forgive us and receive us, who
wonderfully assures us of that also in the Lord’s Supper.
3. Let our labor and service be evident. (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.”
a) Throw away the gods who say you can join a Christian church
and then stay away from hearing God’s Word and reject the
Savior’s invitation to His special meal. Throw away the gods
who say you can think mainly of yourself and can follow the
world’s sinful life style and there will be no consequences.
b) Instead, in humble and penitent faith, yield your hearts to the
one true God who gave His Son to be your Savior from sin.
4. For our God is indeed the LORD! (24)
And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God
and obey him.”
a) May God the Father, who gave His Son for us, give us the
strengthening of the Spirit to let every day be a labor or serving
the Lord day.
b) May that be evident in hearing His Word and obeying Him.
c) Yes, as Scripture says, “Always give yourselves fully to the
work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is
not in vain.”
In the introduction I asked, “Who is our God, the God in whom you
and I as Christians believe?” I gave some examples, like our God
being the creator of the world, establishing marriage, and so on. In this
conclusion let us again emphasize especially that He is the God who
loved the world and gave His Son to be our Savior, to cancel out our
guilt when we don’t labor and serve as faithfully as we should, to
forgive us and make us His own for now and for eternity. There is no
other true God. Like Joshua, regardless of what others around us do
or say, may it always be our resolve to say, “But as for me and my
household, we will serve the LORD.”
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