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1 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Your fathers lived of old beyond the Euphra'tes, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. 3 Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, 14 "Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 And if you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." 16 Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 17 for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; 18 and the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land; therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God." 19 But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD; for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good." 21 And the people said to Joshua, "Nay; but we will serve the LORD." 22 Then Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him." And they said, "We are witnesses." 23 He said, "Then put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel." 24 And the people said to Joshua, "The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey." 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem. (Joshua 24:1-3 14-25 Revised Standard Version Bible)
What an incredible news story in the late 70s when the world heard that Robert Zimmerman, aka, dba, Bob Dylan, had converted to Christianity. One source quotes it this way: "Ian Bell, in his excellent biography The Lives of Bob Dylan, recounts that though there had been some religious and biblical imagery in Dylan’s lyrics of the Sixties and early and mid-Seventies, it was in 1978 that the artist found God. And it happened in a Tucson hotel room. Certainly Dylan has gone on record saying that late in 1978 he sensed 'a presence in the room that couldn’t have been anybody but Jesus', and even felt a hand placed upon him. 'Jesus put his hand on me,' he went on, 'It was a physical thing. I felt it. I felt it all over me. I felt my whole body tremble. The glory of the Lord knocked me down and picked me up.'" And for many years, Bob Dylan wrote and sang about his new faith, though he had always been religious in his own faith, Judaism. He later went back to Judaism. The same author says, "By 1982 he had returned to Judaism, occasionally flirting with extremely orthodox Judaism. And his music had returned to secularism." How about you? What decision(s) have you made about your faith and whom you would follow and serve?
Today's passage has Moses' young successor gathering the people of God and challenging them to commit to God. The entire forty years in the wilderness had been a march towards God and God's ideals and law. And yet, there still had to an "altar call," as it were, for the people of God to come to God. One of the reasons was that many of the original trekkers had died and been buried in the desert and, like many churches of today, we still need opportunities to seek and return to God, even for the first time. We have a history with God and we should be reminded of it as we think about the future and the commitment we have or have not made, with God.
I've shared before how some years ago I was invited to preach at a noted United Methodist Church, home church in the city where a noted seminary was located. Some major noted preachers had been invited to preach from that church's pulpit. To way that I was honored, duh. To say I was humbled, duh again. To say I was scared, yes I was. More so before I felt led to have an altar call. I felt led by God and so I didn't stop to do the why's and why-not's of doing such a thing. Had I done that I would not have done it. This pulpit had had the big names of evangelism and Methodism, preaching the Gospel, and I was more than certain that this church had lost count of the altar calls and the changed lives that the church had hosted. I preached the sermon and as I began the closing prayer, offered an invitation to the church to have them consider giving their lives to Jesus, and for those already committed, to re-dedicate their lives to Christ. I had heard The Rev. Zan Holmes, a preaching professor at Perkins School of Theology-SMU, once preach at a preacher's event where he shared that he felt led to have altar calls in his church in Dallas, and went to Cokesbury Book Store, the United Methodist bookstore in Dallas in those days. He found not one book on the subject of altar calls, and so, donning a disguise, went to The Baptist Bookstore and found an aisle dedicated to altar calls. He bought a few and then began that practice that blessed his church with much growth. I did the altar call and was astonished by the response. Later, I was told that it had been quite a long time since one had been offered from that pulpit.
Joshua made the altar call to the people of God. "Choose this day whom you will serve." Boom. He was saying, you always have a choice, so make the right choice. In their case, they could choose the little-g, gods of the Amorites, or big-G, God, Whom they knew. Joshua further stresses that he had made the choice for his family and household. "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." The people responded in kind, 'Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods." and they reclaim again their history and how God had blessed them. The sermon continues with the reality the people were facing; choosing other gods would mean ultimately death for them, along with much misery and suffering, but to choose God was to choose life and blessings. Altar call successful, and the people enter into a covenant with God; along with laws and ordinances that would help them live their new life with God.
Today, we are presented with a similar choice. In a world filled with distractions and alternative paths, we must decide whom we will serve. Joshua's declaration, "as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord," serves as an inspiring example of unwavering commitment.
Friends, let us follow the example of Joshua and the people of Israel, choosing to serve the Lord with sincerity and faithfulness. As we do, may our hearts be inclined toward God, and may we put away the distractions that hinder our devotion.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we stand before you today with hearts inclined toward you. Just as Joshua and the people of Israel made a resolute choice to serve you, we too declare our commitment to serve the Lord. Help us to put away the distractions and idols in our lives, so that our service may be sincere and faithful. May our devotion to you shine brightly in this world. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Commit your life to Jesus!
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
