Joshua 14: 6-15
Theme: The Christian Life
THE MOUNTAINS OF PUMPKIN CENTER
[Pumpkin Center is the name of our community]
We are starting a new year in the midst of uncertainty. The news headlines tell it all. This week, the President spoke to soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas and nearly broke into tears. It seems he was preparing them for war sooner rather than later. War is something that has been hanging over us for a long time and we are creeping toward war with Iraq it seems.
Now, North Korea is doing some really dumb things. It is like they are not getting enough of the world’s attention. So, they may have nuclear weapons and they want to make more. By the way, North Korea is a major source for weapons for Iraq.
In the last couple of weeks, we have been alerted that 5 and as many as 15 men have entered the country illegally with bad intentions. This has caused more than a little anxiety in our nation. And folk are finally taking seriously the ethical issues of cloning humans. Who would ever have thought we would arrive at this science fiction moment?
It seems to me that life has always been like this. I can’t think of a time in my memory when life was any less dangerous. And if you study history, our times are a lot better than many in the past. Every generation has mountains to climb and obstacles to overcome. And each generation has to decide how it will live.
We have to decide how we will live in the new year. We will live it haphazardly or will we live by plans and principles? Will we claim it for Jesus or will we live as if God did not care how we live? It is as if the new year was God’s way of laying down the challenge to us.
God’s people are famous for making the wrong choices. After delivering Israel from slavery in Egypt, God instructed them on how to live moral lives. He gave them the Law. And He told them how to build the Tabernacle and how to worship. Now all of these things were important, but their goal was to be God’s people. The law was not their ultimate goal, worship was not their ultimate goal. Being wealthy and comfortable was not their ultimate goal. Their ultimate goal was to be the people of God. All of these other things, though vital, were tools and devices to make the one goal possible.
What happened? They forgot their goal. It was time to enter the promised land. They had sent 12 spies into Canaan. And the spies made their report. It was what God said it was, a land flowing with Milk and Honey. Yet, 10 out of the 12 gave bad reports. "The people who live there are strong and the cities fortified and very large; and moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there." There were giants in the land. They said that they felt like grasshoppers in their presence. Their comfort zones were invaded.
Only two men stood with Moses, Joshua and Caleb. These were the only ones who kept the Vision of God before their eyes. God judged the people for their faithlessness and delayed their entrance by 40 years. All of that generation would die, except Joshua and Caleb.
Forty-five years later, Caleb had not forgotten what he had seen. He gave his testimony. He said that he followed the Lord God fully. And God made him a promise that he might enter the promised land and claim his inheritance. Now at age eighty-five, that vision burned bright as ever. He stood before Joshua with sword in hand. He wanted his mountain.
Caleb noted that "my brethren who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear, but I followed the Lord fully." There are two kinds of leaders in God’s kingdom, those who look through the eyes of faith and those who do not. Those who look through the eyes of faith follow God fully even when the way seems impossible. They know that God will open the door at the right time and his will certainly will be accomplished. Those who have no faith are the ones who discourage the people with the "facts." We can’t do these things because of the economy or because of the atmosphere of uncertainty. Never mind that it is God who is in control. As we face the new year, the congregation has to decide who they will listen to. Men of faith or men of fear?
Caleb would not be deterred. He had waited for 45 years to get a chance to fulfil God’s plan. More than anything else, he was committed to be the people of God. Furthermore, God had promised a particular place, biblical Hebron, to be Caleb’s. The NASB translates it as a hill, the KJV translates it as a mountain. I like mountain because it sounds like a challenge. And even at 85, Caleb was more than ready to meet the challenge. He wanted that mountain. He was committed to doing what God commanded.
We are called to be the People of God. The People of God worship, we educate and train. But we also reach others with the Gospel, we attend the needs of the poor, we become Christ to the world. In order for us to be the people of God in our community, there are several mountains that must be conquered. One of the mountains is small thinking. The 10 spies, who gave the report that caused the people’s heart to melt, were guilty of small thinking. They were thinking only of what they could do, not what God could do. We serve a great God and he wants to do great things with us. But for that to happen, we have to be men and women of faith and simply trust him. His vision must become our mission. And the question is not can we do it, but how are we going to do it.
We have to conquer the mountain of disunity. We can’t be competing with each other over separate agendas. In our congregational polity, we seek God’s will by prayer and then we vote our conscience. It is remarkable that God has lead us this way. It is a supernatural event. And yet, after we have voted, there are some who try to make the people’s heart’s melt by their negative talk and their general lack of faith. If we are to be the people of God then we must be of one mind. The church seeks God and comes to a mutual conclusion what God wants us to do. It is the Body of Christ that must seek out Christ and his will and then do it. We must seek God’s Word and to be filled with his Holy Spirit so that we may be unified. And once we are unified, we can’t let others deter us from doing the will of God.
Another mountain that we must conquer is the mountain of busyness. Our commitment to Christ must be such that we don’t let lesser things distract us. It is nice to have hobbies, but Christian discipline requires us to set limits so that we may not steal God’s time. I am sorry, but good intentions do not get the job done. Good intentions, without the work, leaves the job undone. We are too busy. We need to simplify our lives enough so that God’s work gets done. Sometimes busyness is just another excuse for laziness. Either way, we can dream all we want but if we are not willing to put in the time, money and effort, we will not see God’s kingdom built through our work.
The last mountain that I see, and perhaps it is the biggest, is the mountain of fear. We cannot let fear keep us from serving God. Fear can express itself in the inability to give a verbal witness of our faith. It can cause us to not give out tithes and offerings or to commit to pledge sacrificially when called upon. Fear can keep us from teaching or visiting or entering into new relationships with fellow Christians so that we can build each other up. It was fear that kept a whole generation from enjoying the promised land. Fear can keep us from being what God wants us to be.
It is a fresh, new year. God’s vision for us has not changed. Yes, there are mountains to conquer, they are opportunities for us to express faith in God and watch him work.
This is our fiftieth year as a church. When June comes and we celebrate our anniversary together, I hope we are well on our way to conquering the mountains of Pumpkin Center and building the kingdom of God.