Be strong and courageous! - Joshua 1:1-9
Today Messiah is excited to install Reagan Moore as our new vicar. We are sheet cake in the narthex kind of excited. The last vicar we had set the bar pretty high so we are looking forward to seeing what you can do. The older members are all wondering what kind of preacher and teacher you will be. The 20 something group is hoping you will be smart enough to help them do better than last place on trivia night at a local brewery, the youth are hoping that you will be a fun chaperone on the ski trip and adventurous enough to do the blob at camp south (you’ll have to ask the Keller girls to explain that one).
I just have one question for you. What are you doing here Reagan? Do you know? I know you have preached some sermons and spent the last 10 years in a classroom studying scripture, but you really don’t have any experience doing something like this. You don’t come from a long line of WELS preachers. In fact, according to my mom who is friends with your granny, you are the first of your kind to put on a gown and stand before God and His people as a candidate for the holy ministry. What makes you think you have what it takes to do this job? You love the baby Jesus. Good! But so does everyone in this room yet you don’t see a single one of them gowned up and ready to go. And yet here you are. Are you up for it? Do you have what it takes? Can you do this job?
I know you have been asking yourself those questions, probably you have been asking yourself those questions for quite some time but now as you are about to start your vicar year, those doubts, and insecurities, and uncertainties that once whispered in the back of your mind are now screaming at you. Reagan, I know how intimidated you feel in this moment because I felt the same way when I sat where you now sit. I too am the first of my kind to stand before God and His people as a candidate for holy ministry. I know a little something about not knowing anything. I had no clue what I was getting myself into and I honestly didn’t know if I had what it takes to do this job. And, Reagan, if I am being completely honest there are days when I am still not sure. This is not a simple 9-5 that you punch in and out of. This is a 24/7 on call kind of gig. We are not making widgets here. The work we do has eternal consequences. Ours is not an entertainment industry. People’s souls are at stake. So yeah, there are still days when I question if I have what it takes to so this job and frankly Reagan, I would be a little worried about you if in this moment you didn’t have some doubts and insecurities and uncertainties.
You and I are not the only ones that feel that way. Turns out it’s not just candidates for the holy ministry that are full of doubts and insecurities and uncertainties. All the people sitting behind you right now feel the same as you do. Some of them have just started at a new school or are headed off to college. Some of them are newlyweds and new parents. Some of them are about to leave a job or start a new job. Some of them are empty nesters. Some of them have buried their parents. Some, who are watching online, are preparing to meet their maker. There are a good number of people sitting behind you who are at this moment standing on the threshold of change looking out into an unknown future and they like you are full of doubts and insecurities and uncertainties.
Reagan, on the one hand it is nice to know that you are not the only one who feels the way you do. But on the other hand, it is even more intimidating to know that they will be looking to you for comfort and encouragement; they will be looking to you to give them strength and courage. Which is why today I am encouraging you to look to Joshua 1:1-9.
Joshua was in a position not all that different than the one you find yourself in today. Though I think you will agree Joshua’s circumstances were significantly more intimidating than being installed as a vicar or serving as a parish pastor or becoming a first-time parent. Moses was dead. The great prophet who parted the Red Sea, delivered the people from slavery in Egypt, and for the past 40 years had led the people through their wilderness wanderings was dead and Joshua was chosen to be his replacement. We read, “1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.”
Joshua stood in the plains of Moab looking out over the Jordan River. On the other side of the river was the land the LORD had promised to His people. There was only one problem, the land was currently populated by a people whose pagan practices were so vile and violent that the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah might blush. Forty years earlier the first scouts reported that the land of Canaan was full of fortified cities protected by giant warriors. The official report read as follows, “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”[1]
The task placed before Joshua was difficult and challenging to say the least. No doubt Joshua felt like you and like me and like all of us who stand upon the threshold of change looking out into an uncertain future. The LORD knew what Joshua was feeling which is why three times in these nine verses the LORD calls upon Joshua to “be strong and courageous”. Thankfully for Joshua and thankfully for us, what the LORD call upon His people to do the LORD equips them to do.
The LORD equips His people to be strong and courageous by pointing them to the promises of God. The LORD said to Joshua, “6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.” The LORD reminded Joshua the land before him was a promised land. The LORD had promised that He would lead His people out of slavery, through a wilderness, to a land flowing with milk and honey. Before they arrived at the promised land, a pharaoh enslaved them, a sea blocked their path, and a wilderness wearied them. But the Pharoah was defeated, the Sea was parted, and in the wilderness, manna was provided. There was nothing and no one who could stop God’s people from entering the land which He had promised to give them.
And there is nothing and no one that can stop you from inheriting the land the LORD has promised to give you. The LORD has promised that He will lead you from this fallen world to His heavenly kingdom where there is no mourning crying or pain. Satan had enslaved you, sin sent you down the wrong path, and a world full of temptation has wearied you. But LORD God sent His Son Jesus to defeat Satan, pay for your sins, and overcome temptation. Because of Jesus, there is nothing and no one who can prevent you from entering the land which the LORD God has promised to give you. As He kept His promises to Joshua and the Israelites so He will keep His promises to me and you and all of you. Therefore, dear people of God, be strong and courageous.
The LORD further equips His people to be strong and courageous by pointing them to the word of God. The LORD said to Joshua, “7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Joshua and the Israelites were not left to their own devices to do as they saw fit. Through Moses the Holy Spirit had given them laws: to curb their sinful behavior, be a mirror that would lead them to repentance, and a guide for righteous living. Through Moses the Holy Spirit also empowered and equipped God’s people with the gospel promises of a substitute who would live perfectly in their place, pay for all their sins, and ultimately crush the serpent’s head. As Joshua and the people held to and meditated upon the words of the Holy Spirit, their faith was strengthened, their confidence grew, and they were equipped to do the work the LORD God had called them to do.
The same thing happens to me and to you and to all of you when we hold to and meditate upon the words of the Holy Spirit. Joshua and the Israelites had the five books of Moses. But for you and for me those are just the first five books of the bible. The Holy Spirit has inspired an additional 61 books to be written. They expound upon the law that serves as a curb mirror and guide for our sinful nature, and they expound upon the gospel that shows us who our savior is and what he has done for us. There is no better place to turn when you are full of doubts and feeling uncertain and insecure. The words of the Holy Spirit are powerful and effective. They have equipped and encouraged a man to build an ark on dry ground, a general to march his troops around the walls of Jericho, a fisherman to defy the Sanhedrin and they can and will equip and empower you to do what God has called you to do. Hold to and meditate upon the words of the Holy Spirit and dear people of God you will be strong and courageous.
Finally, the LORD equips His people to be strong and courageous by pointing them to the presence of God. The LORD said to Joshua, “9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Over the last 40 years, the LORD God had been with His people in rather visible ways. He displayed His power through plagues in Egypt. To guide them on their way, He appeared as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When they arrived at Mount Sinai the Lord’s glory shone through the clouds that covered the mountain and reflected off the face of Moses. The LORD had repeatedly assured and reassured Joshua and the people of Israel that He was with them wherever they went and He would be with them as they crossed the Jordan River to face this next challenge.
The LORD has repeatedly assured and reassured you that He is with you. Maybe not through plague and pillars and clouds of glory. But the LORD was with you when through the waters of baptism, He claimed you to be His own dear child. The LORD is with you in the sacrament of the supper as you receive His body and blood in with and under the bread and wine for the forgiveness of your sins. The LORD is with you whenever and wherever His word is preached from a pulpit, taught in a classroom, or read in a home. The LORD your God is with you as you start the school year. The LORD your God is with you as you start a family. The LORD your God is with you as you transition jobs. The LORD your God is with you as your nest empties of children. The LORD your God is with you as you burry your loved ones. The LORD your God will be with you when you stand before the pearly gates. And Reagan, the LORD your God is with you as you stand before God and His people as a candidate for the holy ministry. The LORD your God will never leave you nor forsake you; the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. Therefore, dear people of God, be strong and courageous.
Reagan, I know in this moment you are full of doubts and insecurities and uncertainties. But I know what you are doing here. You are here because the LORD your God brought you here to learn how to lead His people. For various reasons they too are full of doubts and insecurities and uncertainty. They will be looking to you to give them strength and courage. You know what to do. You have what it takes. You can do this job. Not because you are free from the doubts and insecurities and uncertainties the plague the people but because you have them. You understand what the people are feeling and I pray that you always will. Simply proclaim to them the promises of the LORD their God that strengthen and encourage you. Teach them to hold to and meditate upon the words of the Holy Spirit that strengthen and encourage you. Through word and sacrament, remind them again and again that the LORD their God is with them, wherever they go, and in so doing both they and you will be strengthened and encouraged.
We have the promises of the LORD our God. We have the Word of the LORD our God. The LORD our God is with us wherever you go. Therefore, dear people of God, let us be strong and courageous. Amen
[1] Numbers 13:33