November 2, 2014
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
Today, I can imagine my mother in 1947 standing at the edge of the water of the South China Sea ready to board the US Army Benson Transport ship to cross the Pacific to come to America. And after being detained on Angel Island, I can imagine her standing at the edge of the water ready to take a ferry with my brother Richard to meet my father in San Francisco. They took huge steps to immigrate to America in order to start a new life, to move forward.
Today on the church’s calendar is “All Saints Day” to remember those who lived before us and are now with the Lord. We take time to remember so that we won’t forget. We remember our parents and ancestors who had faith that moving forward offers promise that the past or present did not. Later in the service, we remember Christ Jesus who took the bread and the cup and said, “Take and eat and drink. Do this in remembrance of me.” In Christ, we moved forward and now know that we are saved by grace alone.
Joshua
From our lesson today, the people of Israel are standing on the banks of the Jordan River. Like their ancestors on the edge of the Red Sea, they wondered how they were ever going to get across.
The Israelites were involved in a major transition of leadership from one longtime powerful leader to his successor. Moses had died, and Joshua was about to take on the reins of leadership. Moses had been God’s chosen leader of the people of Israel for decades. What would happen to the people of Israel now that Moses was dead and gone? And even though the Lord had publicly selected Moses’ successor, Joshua felt inadequate to assume the new assignment that God was placing on his shoulders. He wondered how the people would receive him.
The Lord promised Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses” (3:17). The Lord said, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you” (1:5b).
The crossing over the Jordan River is the first step. But it also serves as a story the Israelites could teach later generations to remember how God was marvelous with his people when they are at the edge of the water. Joshua said, “Draw near and hear the words of the Lord your God” (3:9). This is what we are doing today. As Joshua said, “By this you shall know that among you is the living God…” (3:10).
There are three things that we can learn from this lesson today.
Listen to God
Begin by listening, says Joshua. Stand still and hear the words of God. Joshua instructs the people to fall into formation behind God, not to march ahead of God. When the people took down their tents and packed them all up, “the priests bearing the ark of the covenant are in front of the people” (v.14). The ark represents the presence and power of “the living God,” moving ahead of the people (v. 10).
We are challenged to do the same today, that is, to listen to the word of God and follow where the living God leads us. God really wants to guide us in the path that is best for us, giving us words designed to lead us to health and happiness. So when Moses says to “remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8), this means that working all the time and neglecting our families and our relationship with God is not going to keep us healthy or happy.
While we can read that there were the “Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amrorites and Jebusites” who were in the land already, the prophet Isaiah says to “seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow” (1:17), this reminds us that our care for vulnerable people around us is at the heart of our faith. And when Jesus says, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matt. 5:44), he’s saying that the destruction of rivals and opponents is unacceptable behavior for his disciples.
You may have a neighbor whom you don’t care about. We might say that the Islamic State or ISIL is our enemies. But when we “draw near and hear the words of the Lord our God,” we are to love our enemies and break the cycle of violence and revenge, love our neighbors to build a loving community, and to keep the Sabbath as a time for us to rest and for renewal.
Standing at the edge of the water of our lives in regards to listening to God’s word, we are to love and move forward to build a beloved community in Christ.
One Step at a Time
Secondly, after listening, we are to move forward one small step at a time. In our instant gratification society when we want something and want it right now, the help that God provides for us come in small acts of healing, protection and peace. We are called to watch and wait for what God will do, both for you and through you.
“When those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan,” says the text, “and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped into the edge of the water, the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap” (vv. 15-16). Notice that the priests just dipped their feet into the edge of the water, instead of plunging into the deepest part of the river. They watched and waited for God to act, which happened moments later when the waters rose up in a heap. Then the “people crossed over opposite Jericho” (v.16).
We dip our feet into the water when we move forward, one step at a time. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase; just take the first step.” My mother didn’t know what America was going to be like. She just took that first step at the edge of the water.
What do you have in your life that you may need to take that small step to move forward? Is there a family member whom you have feelings of tension in your relationship that by you taking that first step, both of you can move forward? How about a co-worker whom you might distrust, would you take that small step to have a cup of coffee with that person to move on? Are there people like the West Africans who are being stereotyped as all having Ebola and now alienated in your neighborhood whom you can befriend by taking a few small steps walking across the street to invite them over to get to know them better?
Dr. King said, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just the first step.” If you take the first step toward healing and peace, God will protect you.
Eyes on the Future
The third point is to keep your eyes on the future, not in the past. Joshua tells us that after the people had crossed Jordan, “the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priest’s feet touched dry ground, then the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before” (4:18).
If the Israelites looked back, they might have seen the rushing river and begun to panic. That might be true for us too. After a traumatic life event, we have a tendency to dwell on the negative and wallow in the misery. We rather like to be at the bottom of the pit to receive people’s pity. God calls us to look to the future, to move forward and to see what God’s promise might be.
If we’re granted a physical healing, it’s not that we don’t expect to never face this illness again, but it’s time to move forward. You have stood at the edge of the water and God has given you dry ground to walk across.
If we received the gift of forgiveness, we can give thanks and move forward. We don’t have to keep on reminding ourselves of the imperfections that we have or allow ourselves to be consumed by regrets because God is inviting us to move forward.
If you have been standing at the edge of the water of life wondering whether to take a new job or having retired not sure about what you would do tomorrow morning, this story about Joshua and the Israelites crossing the Jordan River on dry ground because God has kept the water back is for you. It’s time to move forward. We seize the opportunity to perform well in a new job or to volunteer as a retiree because God is meeting you on the other side of the river.
Moving Forward
God’s gifts of salvation are available for you if you accept them. God is stopping the raging flow of water of life for a moment for you to cross. Once you are safe on the other side, move forward into the land that God promised you.
As typical human beings, we are going to try to cross the river on our own efforts. We’ll try to buy a speedboat. We’ll hire a ferry. We might build a bridge to walk across. We might even try to board a commuter jet to fly over.
But our solution to the barriers of life comes only from the God who walks with us into the future, giving us exactly what we need for each day—no more and no less. Like the people of Israel, we’re challenged to walk by faith into the Promised Land, knowing that we will still face risks. But we would also be surrounded by the presence and the power of the living God.
When the raging waters of life are facing us, God wants us to listen to his word, take one small step at a time, and to keep our eyes on the future. My mother did that and we became an Asian American family enjoying what the promises of this new country can provide.
Today we remember all the saints who stood at the edge of the water and in their trust in God, Moses crossed over the Red Sea onto dry ground and Joshua crossed over the Jordan River onto dry ground and my mother and all of your ancestors and the saints in the church crossed over onto dry ground because the living God was there to protect them and watched over them.
As we stand at the edge of the water, let us cross over to the other side and continue to move forward with our lives and in this church so that we give praise and honor to God who has done marvelous miracles in our lives.
Let us pray.
We confess we stand before the door, O God, and hear your voice and wrestle with whether or not to open the door and let you in. We stand on the riverbank and yearn for the courage to take the first step to cross to the other side. We are besieged with doubts and fears and linger in the safety of the solid ground. Help us, we pray, to breathe in deeply the memories of our past to fortify us for what lies ahead. Keep us mindful of our heritage and those who have gone before us. Let us therefore move forward with hope, borrowing strength of all that has been so that we might give witness to all that is to be. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.