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EMBODYING OUR IDENTITY:
BETWEEN HERITAGE AND HOPE

Joshua 4:1-9, 19-24

Introduction

If ever the phrase "times are a-changin'" 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 thought. Almost as quickly as a new fad arrives, another comes along 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. The latest invention today is a dinosaur tomorrow.

Just recently I was reminded of how rapidly things change. Only a couple years ago I proudly turned on my new computer. It was so fast, so sharp, and had so many novelties to it. A couple of days ago, a young man was in my office; as he looked down at my computer, he noted, "Man, when are you going to trade that old piece of junk in?" I responded, "Oh, I've only had that for a couple years; it's great." He reached into his satchel, pulled out his computer, and turned it on to demonstrate what his computer could do. When I saw what all his could do, suddenly, my fast computer was slow; my sharp computer was dull; and my novelties were no more than ancient relics. My earlier joy over my new computer turned into a variety of other emotions--joy not being one of them. It dawned on me once more, times are changing.

As times change, we all have our own set of reactions. From some, a great perplexity arises. We ask what seems to be a very legitimate question, "If it has worked well up until now, why change it?" Oftentimes, we find ourselves living in the nostalgia of "the good old days." For others of us, a silent but burning anger erupts. While determined to dig our heels deep into the ground and not move, we watch as the world seems to pass us by. Still others of us face the great fear and anxiety of getting lost in the shuffle of change. We want to look to the future, but the fear often paralyzes us from ever moving into tomorrow.

On the other hand, some of us live in a world of naive acceptance. Whatever newest fad comes along, we accept with great joy--no questions asked. The sheer novelty of the new entices us into its world. Yet others of us face the changing times with a mixed sense of curiosity and skepticism. We want to find out more; however, we are bombarded with serious doubts and questions about the future.

Certainly, we see changes all around us in everything from transportation to communications, education to media. While all around us the world seems to be rapidly changing, the people of God are certainly not exempt from facing a tomorrow that might look very different from today. Perhaps one of the most significant questions the people of God face in the midst of rapidly changing times is, "How are we to face the challenge of a changing world?" Fear. Anger. Worry. Isolation. Naive acceptance. Skepticism. What is our response to changing times? How do we maintain our identity as the people of God and at the same time continue to be a people who while not of this world certainly live in this world? Do we stubbornly refuse to move on into the unknown world of tomorrow? 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?

While these questions are by no means new questions for the people of God, they are most definitely essential questions for us to be asking today, during a period that has often been described as moving into a postmodern, even post-Christian, era. However, this is not the first time that the people of God have faced a new day or confronted new challenges. God has always had a people who march into the uncertain and challenging tomorrow with boldness and confidence. But how is it that the people of God have faced tomorrow?

Move One--The Dilemma of the Text: Facing a New Day

Of the many instances that the people of God have faced the challenge of changing times, certainly the text that stands before us today would have to be among one of the great challenges. Without a doubt, the transition from wilderness life to settled life was more of a challenge than we could ever begin to imagine. Lifestyles were changing--while everyone had become familiar with nomadic shepherding, now they were going to have to settle down on plots of land and make a living on the ground. Culture and language was changing--the people of God were entering into the world where Canaanite language, worldviews, and religion was dominant. No longer would their way of thinking be the only way of thinking. Their worship of the Lord himself would soon be challenged. Technology was even about to change--with the production of iron, wells could be dug to hold water and hills could be cleared away and leveled to plant crops.
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 ended; the generation that had crossed the sea has died. The leadership of Joshua has just begun; the Land of Promise waits to be inhabited by the next generation. The "wilderness generation" now stands on the border of the Land of Promise, ready to possess the promise.

The changes may seem insignificant to us today in light of our many challenges; however, there would be no doubt, times were rapidly changing before their very eyes. On the threshold of a brand-new day, how will the people of God enter? Will they sit on the banks of the Jordan and refuse to move into God's future? Will they simply close their eyes to yesterday and blindly walk into tomorrow?

Move Two--The Answer in the Text: Remembering Yesterday, Moving to Tomorrow

Having come to the banks of the Jordan River, the people of God refuse to return to the Red Sea. No doubt, the memory of the Red Sea remains in the mind of the children of the generation that crossed the sea. But this time, it is not the Red Sea that challenges them; it is the Jordan. To return to the sea would only take the people back to Egypt, not into the Land of Promise. However, the God who parted the sea is now present with this generation to part the Jordan. With the vivid memory of the sea and the bright hope beyond the Jordan, the people put their feet into the water, boldly and confidently, and step into God's tomorrow.

After the people of God cross the Jordan, what they do next is absolutely amazing. Upon first look, what they do would seem to many as ridiculous, as a waste of time. They pile stones. Stones. Why in the world would they pile stones?

Perhaps it is in the piling of the stones that we as the people of God today see one of our greatest tasks as we are faithful to our identity. The stones now stand between yesterday's deliverance at the Jordan and tomorrow's life in the unknown land of Canaan. To pile the stones is to embrace and to celebrate both heritage and hope, both yesterday's victory and tomorrow's promise. To pile the stones is to give testimony to what God has done and witness to what God will do. To pile the stones is to declare to all generations, "God has been with us. God will be with us. And in between, God is even now with us."

This monument of piled stones is not merely a sign for the generation that crosses the Jordan, however. The stones will provide future generations with the opportunity to ask the question, "What do these stones mean?" And in response to that very question of future generations, the people of God will answer, "It was here that God . . ." They will talk about what God has done, not simply for nostalgia's sake, but because they know that the God who made a way through the sea for their parents and the God who made a way for them through the river would be able to make a way for future generations, whether it be through another body of water or through a dry desert (Isaiah 43:18-19). Within this simple story of stone piling we come face-to-face with one of the deepest convictions of the people of God throughout time and space: the faith must be faithfully transmitted to future generations. "Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise" (Deuteronomy 6:7).* One of the great tasks of the people of God has always been 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.

Move Three--The Challenge of the Text: Move On

And so with one hand pointing to the past, the people of God have unashamedly passed the faith on to the next generation. God has called His people to confess clearly and distinctly, verbally and nonverbally, what He has done in the life of His people. The people of God refuse to allow their confessions to be overshadowed by a changing 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. We establish remembrances, testimonies, that will allow the voices of yesterday to point forward to tomorrow.

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 a people on a journey into God's wide-opened future. Grounded in what God has done and anticipating what God will do, the people of God move on boldly and with confidence into tomorrow. We embrace and celebrate the delicate blend of yesterday's heritage and tomorrow's hope.

Conclusion

Perhaps this story's conclusion is not found until we get into the Book of Judges. In Judges 3, we find the most remarkable story about a young man named Ehud. During this time, the Moabites are oppressing the Israelites. On a regular basis, the Israelites must pay tribute to the Moabites. As we come into this story, we find the young Israelite, Ehud, taking the tribute to the Moabite king, Eglon. After he delivers the tribute, he leaves the king's palace. There is then the simple mention that he passed by the stones at Gilgal, and there he turned back around. What follows is Ehud's victory over Eglon and the Israelites' freedom from the Moabites. As we read the story, however, one can only imagine, "What about the stones at Gilgal caused him to turn around?" Could it be that the testimonies of those who piled the stones continued to cry out so clearly, so boldly, so confidently, "The Lord is God," that they served to remind the next generation, the Ehud generation, the God of yesterday walks with us into the unknown tomorrow? And in between yesterday and tomorrow, God is with us.

Who are we as the people of God? What is our identity? We are stone pilers. We are altar builders. We know that the world is changing, but we do not fear; we do not retreat; we do not grow anxious; we do not blindly go into tomorrow. Knowing that the Ehud generation lies ahead, we pile the stones. With one hand, we point to yesterday; with the other, we point to tomorrow. Knowing that the God who was with us at the sea yesterday guides us across the river tomorrow.

So parents, teachers, youth workers, mentors, grandparents, church leaders, choir members, young adults, are we piling the stones? Are we deliberately, purposefully giving witness to God's work? Perhaps in these closing moments, it would be good simply to hear from two or three stone pilers as we confess that God of yesterday is with us today and walks with us into tomorrow.

The prayer of our hearts on this day that we celebrate living between heritage and hope might most appropriately be expressed in these words:

O may all who come behind us find us faithful;
May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe,
And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
O may all who come behind us find us faithful.
(Sing to the Lord, 726)
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*Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.