Dear friends in Christ.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been reading a book entitled The Essential 55. In this book educator, Ron Clark, lists and explains a collection of 55 amazingly effective rules that he has used to become an extraordinary teacher. Though when I first began reading this book I thought it might be something to help me become a better teacher of Bible Studies and confirmation class, as I read, I was amazed at this man’s dedication to his students. Throughout his book, Mr. Clark tells story after story of how his goal in teaching is to care for the children in his classroom, give them a safe environment in which to learn, and help them to grow not only as students but in every aspect of life. He tells stories of how he will do anything he can to get and keep the students attention so that he can be sure that they are learning, and because of his dedication to his students, his students love him and cherish him because of what he has done for them, and because of his dedication to them, they choose to follow his rules because they too are dedicated to him. Well, as Christians, we are, in many ways, the class to which the Lord our God is dedicated. The Lord is the one who has done amazingly incredible things to get and to keep our attention, and today as we study the text before us, we will see his amazing dedication to us. For as we hear Joshua speaking to the Israelites, we will be reminded of all that the Lord has done for us, and as we are reminded of that, we will be moved to choose to serve the Lord with our lives as we seek to dedicate ourselves to the Lord
As our text opens today, this is exactly what Joshua was encouraging the Israelites to do. He was reminding them of all that the Lord had done for them throughout their lives and calling on them to dedicate themselves to the Lord as they entered a new aspect of their lives! For the truth is, the Israelites were at a turning point. They had claimed the Land the Lord had given them, they had divided it into the shares of their inheritance, and they had begun dwelling in the portions of the land they had conquered. Though there were still nations and peoples to be driven out of their territory, the Lord had given them rest from their constant warring and now their lives were about to change, because Joshua’s time as leader was coming to an end. Soon Joshua himself would be gathered to his people and no longer be the strong ruler and example of faith for the Israelites. So Joshua called all the people to himself there at Shechem and as our text tells us: “He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.” (Joshua 24:1)
Now, as all the elders and officials of Israel stood before him, Joshua began to remind them how it was the Lord who took Abraham from a foreign land, settling him in the land of Canaan, making him prosperous, and promising one day to give the land to his children. It was the Lord who brought forth Isaac and Jacob, making Abraham even more prosperous and giving to those sons the same promise he gave to their father. It was the Lord who went with Jacob as he and his family went down to Egypt, and it was the Lord who delivered his people from that land of slavery with a mighty hand and outstretched arm. It was the Lord who provided food and water, clothing and shoes for his people as they traveled through the wilderness for those forty years. It was the Lord who drove out the nations before the Israelites and gave them the land they were living in. And now, because of all the great things the Lord had done for them, Joshua calls on his people to dedicate themselves to the Lord.
Joshua is calling on you and me today to do the same thing. He may not be calling on us to throw away the gods our forefathers worshiped, but he is calling on us to remember what the Lord has done for us as he urges us to dedicate ourselves to the Lord. For the truth is, even we, as Christians, need to be reminded of what the Lord our God has done because even our memories can become fuzzy. Even we, who know just how important it is to gather regularly to feast on the Flesh and Blood of our Savior, can become complacent in our spiritual lives. Even we can become indifferent in our worship lives, simply going through the motions of the liturgy and not really paying attention to what is going on. Even we can begin to feel that we are better than others or simply deserve more from the Lord because we put our time in each week or we pay our money each month. Even we can begin to think that if we simply focus on accomplishing the bare minimum, we should be blessed with the biggest and the best reward. This is This is why Joshua is encouraging us to remember all that the Lord has done for us, so that we might once again dedicate ourselves to the Lord.
If you think about it, what better message could there be for us today! What better message could there be for us than to consider all the ways the Lord has blessed us as we study his Word today! For the truth is, he is the one who has given us this great land in which we are free to worship him in the way that we have chosen. He is the one who has blessed us with this wonderful church where we can gather each week to hear about Jesus our Savior and how he freed us from our sins. Though this congregation started as a basement church, we now use that basement as a place to teach our children the precious truths of God’s Word in Sunday school, as we will once again be starting next Sunday. Literally, on top of that, the Lord has blessed us with a wonderful fellowship hall where we are able to gather each week for Bible Study for the strengthening of our faith as adults, and where enjoy sumptuous meals, potlucks and fellowship with each other. In addition to that it is the Lord who has blessed us with our childcare center, through which many children have heard the word of God and come to faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior!
These are but a few of the reasons that Joshua is calling on us to dedicate ourselves to the Lord today! For it is the Lord who has not only provided for our spiritual needs, it is the Lord who has also provided for our physical needs! Just try to count the times that you went hungry or thirsty because you really had nothing to eat or drink in your house. He is the one who has blessed our town with a grocery store, convenience stores, video store, and a good number of restaurants to choose from. He is the one who has blessed us with the vehicles we have, regardless of the shape they are in, the places we live, and the friends we have. But the best of all the blessings the Lord our God has given us is by far the love he showered upon us by giving us his Son. For when we remember how the Lord showed his great love for us by sending his one and only Son to be our Savior; when we remember how Jesus willingly gave his life to forgive our sins and how he rose again to guarantee eternal life to us; when we remember all those things that the Lord our God has done for us, we cannot help but dedicate our lives to him. When we remember all that the Lord our God has done for us throughout all the days of our lives, we cannot help but choose to serve him with our lives.
It is so true, once we begin to think about and remember all that the Lord has done for us, we cannot help but be moved by his love to dedicate ourselves to him and choose to serve him with our lives. This, in fact, is what happened with the Israelites. For as soon as Joshua had finished reminding them of all that the Lord had done for them, he called on them and said: “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:14-15).
With these words, Joshua was calling on the Israelites to make a choice. He was calling on them to choose the service of the Lord or to choose the service of idols. For Joshua, himself, the choice was obvious. As he had faithfully served the Lord all the days of his life, he planned to continue doing so until his dying day. However, when it came to the Israelites, their history spoke of a different story. Their history told the story of a people who were constantly turning away from the living God so that they might run after gods made of metal and stone. They were constantly ignoring the voice of the true God so that they might listen to the lies of false gods. Yet, even though this was their history, as Joshua stood before them, calling on them to make a choice between dedication and desecration, to their credit the Israelites chose dedication. For our text tells us, they replied: “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God.” (Joshua 24:16-18).
This is the choice Joshua has placed before us today. He has placed before us the choice of dedicating our lives to the Lord’s service or dedicating our lives to any god other than the Lord. It’s not that he is asking us to make a decision for Christ, or even accept Jesus into our hearts. Rather, he is speaking to us as ChristiansChristians who have been called to faith by the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts through the Word of Godand he is encouraging us to dedicate our lives to the Lord’s service. Now, this by no means, means that we have to all run out and become pastors, teachers, or even missionaries in the Lord’s kingdom! But what it does mean is that we spend our lives serving the Lord in the station of life into which he has placed us. In fact, this is the very point Luther made as he included his Table of Duties in the Catechism. He writes, Are you a father or mother? Then bring your children up in the training and admonition of the Lord! Are you a son or daughter? Then show your parents honor and respect. Are you an employer? Then treat your workers fairly out of love for the Lord. Are you an employee? Then work for you boss as if you were working for the Lord. Are you a Christian? Then continue reading and studying the Word of God so that your faith might be built up in him. Continue to pray to the Lord on the regular basis, speaking to him with prayers and praises. This is the Lord’s will for our lives, and this is the road that leads, by faith, to eternal life.
So then let me call on each of you today as Joshua called on the Israelites some 30 centuries ago: “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods of anger, greed, frustration, and malice that you have carried around with you all your lives. Throw away the gods of discontent, gossip, selfishness, and pride that you keep hidden in your heart of hearts, and serve the Lord. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of self and pleasure, or the gods of the Americans, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. I pray that you will heed this call and dedicate yourselves to the Lord, seeking to serve him with every aspect of your lives!
Though dedication to the Lord is not a road that is easy to take, it is the road we as Christians do seek to travel. Though it is filled with troubles, tribulations, hardships, and heart aches. But even though it is filled with all of those, it is the road that leads to the eternal joys and bliss of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Savior. That is the very thing Mr. Ron Clark found out about teaching, and yet, because he has dedicated himself to that field, there are many students who have grown under his care. We too have grown under the dedicated care of our heavenly Father who has blessed us in so many ways. May we always remember what he has done for us and chose to serve him with our lives as we now dedicate ourselves to the Lord our God.
Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN
