October 12, 2014: Joshua Renews the Covenant

Joshua 24:1-15

Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders of Israel, its leaders, judges, and officers. They presented themselves before God. ² Then Joshua said to the entire people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates. They served other gods. Among them was Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. ³ I took Abraham your ancestor from the other side of the Euphrates. I led him around through the whole land of Canaan. I added to his descendants and gave him Isaac. ⁴ To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Mount Seir to Esau to take over. But Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. ⁵ Then I sent Moses and Aaron. I plagued Egypt with what I did to them. After that I brought you out. ⁶ I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. The Egyptians chased your ancestors with chariots and horses to the Reed Sea.^{[a] 7} Then they cried for help to the Lord. So he set darkness between you and the Egyptians. He brought the sea down on them, and it covered them. With your own eyes you saw what I did to the Egyptians. You lived in the desert for a long time.

⁸ “Then I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They attacked you, but I gave them into your power, and you took over their land. I wiped them out before you. ⁹ Then Moab’s King Balak, Zippor’s son, set out to attack Israel. He summoned Balaam, Beor’s son, to curse you. ¹⁰ But I wasn’t willing to listen to Balaam, so he actually blessed you. I rescued you from his power. ¹¹ Then you crossed over the Jordan. You came to Jericho, and the citizens of Jericho attacked you. They were Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites. But I gave them into your power. ¹² I sent the hornet^[b] before you. It drove them out before you and did the same to the two kings of the Amorites. It wasn’t your sword or bow that did this. ¹³ I gave you land on which you hadn’t toiled and cities that you hadn’t built. You settled in them and are enjoying produce from vineyards and olive groves that you didn’t plant.

¹⁴ “So now, revere the Lord. Serve him honestly and faithfully. Put aside the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ But if it seems wrong in your opinion to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Choose the gods whom your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But my family and I will serve the Lord.”

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“You’re gonna have to serve somebody,” sings Bob Dylan. 

“You may be an ambassador to England or France. You may like to gamble, you may like to dance.  You may be the heavyweight champion of the world.  You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls…but you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed you’re gonna have to serve somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”

As usual, Dylan gets it right.  No matter who you are or what you do, we all have to answer to someone.  Perhaps what we ‘serve’ isn’t even a ‘somebody’ but rather a ‘something.’  You have a lot of money? That’s great, but I bet it means that you spend a lot of time and energy working to keep it or increase it.  You have a lot of power and influence? Wow! But I bet you have to do the same.  Quite often we don’t mind the things or the people we have to serve. If you are a parent you are going to ‘serve’ your children. If you are married, you’ll be serving your spouse.  If you are a firefighter, police-officer, or soldier you’ll be serving your community and country.

In our lesson today we hear from Joshua, the leader of the people of Israel who comes after Moses.  To bring you up to speed, the LORD liberated the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt through Moses. Moses led the people to Mount Sinai where they received the Ten Commandments.  Despite the LORD’s constant provision through manna, quails and water-spewing rocks, the people grumbled against both the LORD and Moses.  For this and their overall lack of faith, the LORD says that only two individuals (Joshua and Caleb) will enter the ‘Promised Land.’  The people wander for 40 years until finally entering Canaan under Joshua.  They conquer many cities and establish themselves in the land.  When our lesson begins today, Joshua is reminding the people of all of the scrapes, near-misses, and hair-raising adventures the LORD has brought them through.

He then says, “Revere the LORD!” They have good reason to! But he also adds, “If you’re not going to do that…at least be clear on who you choose! Make it clear right here and right now...and just to show you how it’s done I’ll tell you: “My house and I will serve the Lord.”

He doesn’t even both to imagine that they will serve NO ONE because he knows that’s impossible. Once again…you’re gonna have to serve somebody.  We can all take a break now and then and ask ourselves: who do I serve…REALLY?  What would my calendar, my checkbook and credit card statement say I serve?  Cause it’s someone/something, guaranteed. 

Who are you going to serve?