One might describe the opening chapters of the Book of Joshua as "the
great transition" in the life of the people of God. The leadership of
Moses has just come to an end; the generation that had crossed the Red Sea
has died; and the Land of Promise now waits to be inhabited. The "wilderness
generation" now stands on the border of the Promised Land, ready to possess
the promise. For this generation, the body of water to cross is not the Red
Sea but the Jordan River. What faces the people is certainly a brand-new day:
new technologies (the use of iron had just begun), new climates, new culture,
and most significantly new gods.
Once the people make their way across the river, they stop to carry out what
had been and will continue to be one of the most common practices of the people
of God. They stop to set up a monument commemorating the work of God in their
lives. This monument of piled stones, oftentimes referred to as massebah,
will serve as a sign to provide future generations the opportunity to ask
the question, "What do these stones mean to you?" Within this simple
text, we discover one of the deepest convictions of the people of God throughout
time--the faith must be faithfully transmitted to future generations (Deuteronomy
6:7-9, 20-25; 11:19-21). One of the great tasks of the people of God was to
call to remembrance for future generations all that God had done, while at
the same time pointing the way forward to God's future. Within this passage,
the delicate blend between yesterday's heritage and tomorrow's hope is vividly
portrayed
If ever the phrase "Times are changing" would fit a period in human
history, that phrase would be appropriate today! Almost daily we are faced
with innovations in technology, advances in medicine, and changes in thinking.
Almost as quickly as a new fad arrives, another comes to replace it. Styles
in dress, music, entertainment, even cuisine are in a constant state of fluctuation.
What is in one day is out the next; what is the latest invention today is
a dinosaur tomorrow.
As times change, people react in a variety of ways. For some, a great perplexity
arises. Asking, "If it worked, why change it?" they live in the
nostalgia of the good old days. For others, a silent but burning anger erupts.
While determined to dig their heels in and not move, they watch as the world
seems to pass them by. For still other people, the fear of getting lost in
the shuffle of change becomes a paralyzing force. On the other hand, some
live in a world of naive acceptance of everything that comes along; the sheer
novelty of the new entices them into its world. Still others face the new
with mixed curiosity and skepticism.
Not exempt from changes all around us, the people of God are confronted with
the question, "How are we to face the challenge of a rapidly changing
world?" Do we stubbornly refuse to move on? Do we ignorantly embrace
all that is around us? Is there a stance that we can take that will make us
true to who we are as God's people?
In the midst of changing times, God has always had a people whose lives and
words testify to the God who has acted and the God who will act. At the heart
of this text is a call from God to his people to unashamedly confess, both
verbally and nonverbally, that they are the people of God. God calls His people
to establish remembrances or testimonies that will allow the voices of yesterday
to point forward to tomorrow.
With one hand pointing to the past, the people of God have unashamedly passed
the faith of the ancestors on to the next generation. The confessions of God's
people have never been overshadowed by the changes in our world. We talk about
what God has done in ages past; we have songs to sing, symbols to hang, stories
to tell, prayers to pray, and a meal to eat. At the same time, with the other
hand pointing to the future, the people of God have refused to live in a distant
memory or to return to yesterday. We have always been people on a journey
into God's wide-open future. Grounded in what God has done, we anticipate
what God will do. We remember and we move into tomorrow.
(For a full manuscript of this sermon, go to www.preachersmagazine.org.)
Because many in our society today can readily identify with the fears, frustrations,
curiosity, and excitement of rapidly expanding technologies, a brief story
depicting the changes might be given to introduce the subject. From here,
the various responses to change could be described: fear, anger, worry, isolation,
and so on. The move can then be made closer home by asking the question: "How
are the people of God to respond to a rapidly changing world?"
In response to this question, the sermon can proceed to note the two frequent
responses to new challenges: on the one hand, we refuse to move on into God's
future; on the other hand, we close our eyes to yesterday and all of its testimonies
and blindly walk into tomorrow.
It is within this setting that the text speaks to us. The people of God are
challenged to establish a witness that will keep one finger pointing to God's
faithfulness in the past and one finger pointing to the future. With deep
recognition of the testimonies from yesterday, we walk into tomorrow with
the assurance that the God who has been faithful will continue to be faithful.
In response, the congregation might be asked: "What does it mean for
us, today, to pile the stones, to establish the testimony for future generations?"
One possibility, if feasible, would be to have three or four persons from
the congregation give a brief witness to God's activity in the past, perhaps
then laying a stone onto a pile of stones. As the congregation is dismissed,
they are dismissed to faithfully "pile the stones," that is, give
witness to God's faithfulness, in their homes, at their schools, and in their
workplaces. (See September 30, 2001, for another response idea.)
