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"WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE"

JOSHUA 5:13-6:27

[text to read: 5:13--6:5; 15-16; 20]

During the spring and summer of 1999, my understanding of who God is got all turned around. You see, I've always believed (and with very good reason) that God is not a Cubs fan.

But that year I became confused. By the time fall rolled around, the cubs were in second place in the national league central. They were some 10 or 11 games above 500 - that just doesn't happen to the Cubs. One of their team members, Sammy Sosa, was neck and neck with mark McGuire in the chase to break Roger Maris' record single season home run record.

What's happened? Did God suddenly become a Cubs fan? I started thinking that maybe the world was going to end in the year 2000 and God wanted them to win the big one before it was over!

Of course I'm being silly, but the whole question of whose side God is on has always been interesting to me. You see it when athletes are interviewed after a victory. Like Ivander Holyfield, for example, after he has just beaten some poor soul's head in and the TV reporter shoves a microphone in his face and asks, "Ivander, that was a great victory. How'd you do it?"

And the response is: "Well God just gave me the strength, I give all the praise to the Lord." What? Does God really take sides like that? Does God take sides in athletic contests? (if so, I hope he's a chiefs fan).

Does he takes sides in legal disputes? Does he takes sides between nations in conflict? In Steven Spielberg's recent depiction of the events of D-day he has a character who is a rifle marksman, a sniper. And the whole time he's picking off the enemy through his high-powered sight, he's quoting scripture.

"The Lord is my help and my strength" - boom! Be not far from me, O Lord and deliver me from the hands of my enemy" - boom! Does God take sides like that?

Well you know it sure seems that he does when we read the story of Israel marching into the promised land and taking over. In fact, these next chapters are some of the most troubling to modern minds.

It's hard for people to understand how the loving and gracious God of the New Testament could seem to sanction the genocide we see in the Old Testament. Why would God command his people to destroy and kill?

That's a big question that a lot of smart people have spent a lot of time trying to answer. I won't pretend I can answer it in five minutes. Except that, if we just let the scriptures say what they want to say, we might discover something helpful.

We need to understand that the inhabitants of Jericho and of Canaan were not innocent bystanders as a whole, as a people. Back in Genesis 15 God indicates to Abram that he is being very patient with them, but their sins will reach a limit and he will bring judgement on them.

In Genesis 15:16 God says, "In the fourth generation your descendents will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

And there are many other places throughout the first five books of the Bible indicating that God cast out the Canaanites because of their sinfulness. Just one example is Deuteronomy 9:4-5: "After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, 'the Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.' No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you."

"It is not because of your righteousness or integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of their wickedness."

You see the conquest of Canaan is not a bunch of land-hungry marauders wiping out, at the behest of a vicious God, hundreds of innocent, god-fearing folks. In the biblical view, the God of the Bible uses none-too-righteous Israel as the instrument of his judgement on a people who had persistently reveled in their sin.

That's a perspective that Joshua was about to get as they prepared to overtake Jericho. Now Joshua was a good military leader. He's knows what is at stake and he has a sense of what it will take to accomplish the mission.

As he surveys Jericho, he realizes that the price will be high. Verse 1 of chapter six tells us that "Jericho was tightly shut up" in defense against the Israelites. No one came out or went in.

Joshua no doubt surveyed the situation and was making his plans but at the same time hoping against hope that the God who brought them this far would be on their side in this battle and give them victory. That's when he meets up with the mysterious figure of verse 13, chapter five. Look at it again: [read 5:13]

That's the question Joshua wanted answered. But in the answer this warrior gives, Joshua begins to learn something new about the God he serves. Look again at the answer:

"Are you for us or for our enemies?" "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face realizing that he was in the presence of the Lord. He took off his sandals, in recognition that he was on holy ground.

And in the presence of holy God, Joshua's question changes. No longer is it "Whose side are you on" but now the question is "What do you want to show me? What do you want to say to me?"

And do you know what the Lord wanted to say to Joshua? It's in verse 2 of chapter six: "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands." It's already done. It's a done deal because this is what the sovereign Lord has decreed.

Joshua, you are going to have victory but it's not because God likes you best. It's not because God is taking your side against another. It's because this is what God has planned to accomplish his purpose and that's how it will be.

I'll admit this is a subtle point, but I think it's a critical one for us to get. This angel, this warrior doesn't fit into Joshua's military categories. He is not partisan. God is not partisan, he is sovereign.

And we need to understand this just as Joshua needed to understand it. Because in the daily course of our lives, in the challenges that come our way year after year, we sometimes become far more interested in the help than in the Helper.

We just want God to be responsive to our needs. That's so often our first question. God, whose side are you one here? Are you going to come to our aid? Are you going to help us?

And so often our last question is, "God, what do you want here? What is your plan and your desire? What are you seeing that I cannot see?"

This story is not about God coming to the aid of Joshua and the Israelites. It's about the Israelites getting in line with what God is doing in the world. That's why the Lord gives Joshua such a ridiculous military strategy. March around the city thirteen times? Keep silent the first twelve and on the final go around, shout? Then the walls will just fall down? You've got to be kidding.

The citizens of Jericho were at first terrified of the Israelites, but by the third day of watching them just walk around the city, they must have been laughing their heads off. What a ridiculous strategy!

But God consistently uses seemingly ridiculous strategies to accomplish his work: Noah and the ark, Gideon, the cross of Jesus. There's a reason God works that way - to make it abundantly clear that real victory does not come by God blessing our cleverness or goodness.

Real victory is always his doing and our job is to align our lives with what God is doing. This is the difference between false worship and true worship.

False worship is for me to step into the presence of God in an endeavor to manipulate him to do my will. True worship is for me to step into the presence of God and allow him to bring my will into conformity with his will. True worship is to obey him even when I don't understand his will.

During the dark days of the American civil war, one of President Lincoln's officers said to him, "Mr. President, aren't you concerned that God is on our side?" Abraham Lincoln responded, "No sir, I'm far more concerned that we are on God's side."

He got it. And I believe we need to get it. It's a crucial shift in understanding. Our life in Christ is not about trying to get God on our side. It's not about hoping that he will see things our way and come to our rescue.

Our task is to know him. To the point that we would fall on our knees before him and take off our shoes on his holy ground. To the point that our question would change from, "Are you on our side?" To "What do you want to say to me, Lord?"

Let me give you a very real example of what I'm talking about. We are deeply concerned for Judie Hooven. We want God to heal her. We want God to come to hear aid and deliver her from this awful disease.

That's not a bad thing to want, it's a good thing to want. But listen carefully: this is not about trying to do all the right things so that God will do something good for Judie.

It's not about us figuring how to pray right, or fast enough, or believe enough. We're not trying to convince God to be on our side. He already is. This is about aligning ourselves with what God is doing. Our faith is that God is involved and that he is ultimately accomplishing his purpose, even in the midst of evil circumstances.

And so the practice of our faith is finally being able to come to the place where we say with our Lord, "Not my will, but Thine be done."

Coming to that kind of place of faith means we give up our strategy for his strategy. It means we let him take the lead instead of trying to set the course of events ourselves.

We've said it before but it's a basic principle of the Christian life. As individuals, as a church - we will never be successful as long as we are trying to get God to approve and sanction and bless our plans.

We will only be successful when we learn to get our lives aligned with his plan. And that alignment come through the act of surrender. Just like Joshua fell in surrender to the Lord, laying aside all his plans and strategies, so we must surrender to the will and plan of God.

What is your Jericho this morning? What is your insurmountable circumstance? Could you let go of your desire to get God over your side and instead offer up the thing to him in complete surrender? Get over on his side and you will have the ultimate victory.