Little Has Changed Joshua 24:14-28
The things I’m talking about today are nothing new, they’re ideas written about throughout the Old and New Testaments.
One can try to make the argument that as people have grown and changed over the millennia, we have inclusive societies, the abomination of slavery is outlawed, rights and freedoms are upheld. But it doesn’t take long to discover these things are not universal in our world. Russia has a closed society with wealth and opportunity available to a select few. China and North Korea aren’t the only countries with forced labor, which is a modern system of slavery. Somalia, Yemen, and other countries suppress human rights for their populations. Even some of the things going on in our country recently. The argument can be made that people haven’t changed much. It can also be argued that spiritually, in our relationship with God, people haven’t changed much.
Joshua gave warning to the Israelites over lack of change, a warning we all can heed. Verse 14, “Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped…” Joshua was talking about the false gods the people started to worship as they were exposed to other cultures and peoples. Israel forged a calf of gold to worship in the desert, and they were punished for it. This is a warning for us, as is our verse 15, “But if serving the Lord is undesirable, choose for yourself whom you will serve…”
Holding up the words of any man or woman above God’s Holy Word is idolatry. Following another whether movie star, political leader, religious leader, or anyone who says, “I am right. Only I know what is right. Venerate me,” Means you have placed that person above God. It means we are lifting one who aligns with our fears, our proclivity, our narrowness, when we should be allowing the power of scripture to change our hearts to be in attune with the grace, mercy, and forgiveness Christ offers the world.
Joshua gives warnings to the ancient Israelites, and to all mankind, but he moves beyond just a warning. Verse 17, “It was the Lord God himself who brought us…out of Egypt…He protected us on our entire journey…”
Joshua tells us it’s not the false gods, it’s not the actor, the politician, the minister who gives us a good life, it is God in heaven. Look at the chapters of your life; you found someone to love and grow a life with, you somehow escaped an accident with no injury, you didn’t see a way you could succeed and yet you did, these things didn’t happen because you have a certain political leaning, or money in the bank. They weren’t coincidences. We must open our eyes and our hearts and see God. See the one who always has your best interest at heart.
Verse 19, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion or your sins.”
Joshua goes back to a warning. People say, “We love God.” “We serve God.” I say this about myself, “I love God and do my best to serve him, but I fail. I let anger, fear, even jealousy interfere. I make wrong choices, and though my intentions are good, sin is sin and must be dealt with.
And now, like previously, Joshua moves past the warning; verse 23, “Now then, throw away the foreign gods that are among you, and yield your hearts to the Lord.” Joshua told his people to turn away from sin and to trust God. For us, we need to repent, to turn away from sin, even as we know we will never completely stop sinning, and have faith, trust that Jesus took our punishment for our sins.
Now we come to verse 24, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.” This verse shows one of mankind’s greatest sins. It’s a verse that exposes man’s greatest lie, his lie to himself, and his lie to God. Our sin, our lie, is when we profess and claim this, but don’t really commit to it, or even really mean it. Does mankind think God is fooled when we say we follow him, and then point at people and say, “You and your kind are going to hell.” Do we think God doesn’t notice when we say we follow him in grace and mercy, because that’s what it really means to follow him, it means we offer grace and mercy to others as God offers it to us; so do we think God doesn’t notice when we claim to follow him and then continue to marginalize and reject people? Have too many Christians forgotten the one who frees us with his grace and mercy was among the marginalized and rejected.
Now, true to his form, Joshua also exposes for us our greatest promise from God in heaven. Verses 25 and 26; “On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people …and Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God.”
Hebrews 8:8, “I will make a new covenant with the people…” The truth of eternity is God has made a new covenant with mankind. Turn to Christ, accept the cross for its truth, and God’s grace sees you as fulfilling your commitment to him. God’s mercy sees you as perfectly keeping the Law.
Romans 8:17, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ.” God’s love adopts you as his child, with all the rights and honor that goes with being a part of his family. And as believers in Christ, it will never be taken from you: Revelation 3:5, “The one who is victorious will be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the Book of Life…”
Finally, verse 27, “This stone will be a witness against us…It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.”
If we are lying when we claim Jesus’ sacrifice as our own, if we just mouth the words of loving God but have no desire or intent of incorporating his grace and mercy in our lives and actions, if we claim to follow God while we continue to marginalize the poor, the sick, the elderly, the foreigner, the immigrant, the LGBTQ, then we lie to ourselves and to God. If we continue to marginalize and reject others, we are not being merciful and gracious. If we are not truthful in words and intent when we turn to Christ, we will still be bound by the stone, still bound by the Law. But if we are truthful then we are witnesses. Our witness is our new way of thinking. Our witness is our new way of acting.
To all mankind, Joshua warns us not to fool ourselves. Accept Christ truthfully in our hearts. Follow God honestly with our lives. Let Jesus push the witness stone of the Law away from in front of us. Let’s live in God’s grace and mercy. And let us be God’s grace and mercy.
Amen