Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

SCRIPTURE

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25

With particular emphasis on verses 14-15

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. ² And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, `Your fathers lived of old beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. ³ Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many…..

"Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. ¹⁵ And if you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." ¹⁶ Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; ¹⁷ for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; ¹⁸ and the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land; therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God." ¹⁹ But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD; for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. ²⁰ If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good." ²¹ And the people said to Joshua, "Nay; but we will serve the LORD." ²² Then Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him." And they said, "We are witnesses." ²³ He said, "Then put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel." ²⁴ And the people said to Joshua, "The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey." ²⁵ So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.

FOCUS and FUNCTION

Focus: Soon after the ancient Israelites took the land that was promised to them, Joshua

gathered them together and told them to choose between following the false gods

of their ancestors or the Lord, the one true God. It was a choice between idolatry

and God. The Israelites, of course, chose to follow the Lord. In this way, the

ancient Israelites re-committed themselves to the Old Covenant. Under the Old

Covenant the relationship between God and humanity was to be re-established

through obedience to the Law. The rest of the Old Testament demonstrates that

they did not successfully follow the Lord by living up to the Law. We should not,

however, be too critical of the ancient Israelites. None of us can live up to God’s

law without empowerment from the Holy Spirit. This empowerment does not

come until the New Covenant is established with the life, death and resurrection of

Jesus Christ.

As Christians, we must still choose between idolatry or God. We must make this

choice everyday. We commit idolatry whenever we depend on something other

than God for our peace, security and happiness. Idols can come in the form of

money, power, prestige, drugs, alcohol, sex, or even family. When we choose to

depend on God for our peace, security and happiness, we commit ourselves to

follow God’s Law, which is summed up by loving God and neighbor. Unlike the

ancient Israelites, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to successfully follow God

by living up to His Law. Now, when we choose to follow God, the Holy Spirit will

enable us to do it successfully.

Function: To exhort the congregation to make the daily choice to follow God and not

commit idolatry.

The Sermon

I. Introduction: A story about my late wife, Jackie.

A. My wife, Jackie, is one of the most Godly, loving person you will ever meet. She was kind to everyone, put others first and always pursued her relationship with God. However…

B. Like most people, she had to go through some rough times in order to become the person God created her to be. One of these rough times was when I went away for a year on active duty

C. My year on active duty

· In November 2001 my Army Reserve unit was called up to active duty

· I spent a year at the National Ground Intelligence Center in Charlottesville, VA (Not the roughest type of duty)

· During this year, Jackie stayed in Jacksonville, FL.

D. Jackie had a hard time dealing with the separation. She didn’t have me around for…

· Comfort

· Companionship

· Fixing things (Actually, I wasn’t much help with this when I was around.)

· Support

· Finances (She took over the check book)

· General help around the house

E. As the year progressed, Jackie realized she depended on me for security rather than God. I was her idol!

· Definition of idolatry: Depending on something other than God for your peace, security and happiness.

· Prior to this year apart, Jackie was depending on me for her peace, security and happiness.

· During this year of separation, Jackie had to make a choice: whether to continue to depend on God for security, peace and happiness or continue to depend on me. Thankfully, she chose to depend on God. (I make an extremely poor substitute for God.)

II. The choice Jackie had to make was the same choice facing the ancient Israelites after

they took the land that was promised to them.

A. Joshua brought the ancient Israelites together and said, “Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. ¹⁵ And if you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:14-15)

B. Joshua presented them with a choice between idolatry (trusting something other than God) and the Lord (Trusting only in the one true God). The ancient Israelites chose to trust in the Lord.

· Trusting in the Lord involves following God’s Law, which is summed up by loving God and neighbor. In this way, the ancient Israelites re-committed themselves to the Old Covenant. .

· The rest of the Old Testament demonstrates that they failed to follow the Lord by obeying the Law. None of us would have succeeded. None of us can live up to God’s Law without empowerment from the Holy Spirit.

· This empowerment does not come until the New Covenant is established with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

III. Like the ancient Israelites, we must make a choice between idolatry and God.

A. It’s a daily choice. Everyday we must choose who we will depend on for our security, peace and happiness.

B. The idols we are tempted to rely on come in many forms:

· Money

· Power

· Prestige

· Sex

· Drugs/alcohol

· Our selves

· Material possessions

· Family

C. Unlike the ancient Israelites, however, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit

· Whenever someone repents and trusts in Jesus, the Holy Spirit enters his/her heart and begins to transform that person.

· The Holy Spirit enables us to break free from idols and trust in God

· Story of friend from seminary

- His idol use to be money

- Friend worked for a bank. Invested money to make more money.

- Became obsessed with making more and more money. Life was all about making money

- Spent less time w/ family and more time at work. Marriage was in severe trouble and relationship with his kids became non-existent.

- Instead of providing security, peace and happiness, his idol (money) was actually destroying his life.

- Then, he met Jesus and turned to God for his peace, security and happiness

- Now he enjoys a great family life with peace, security and happiness. He teaches people how to handle their money, not so they can get rich and live luxuriously but so they can have more of it to help others. Money is now a means to a good end rather than an end in itself.

IV. Conclusion

A. Choosing God rather than an idol begins with repentance and trust in Jesus. If you never repented and trusted in Jesus, you can do so right now. Tell God you no longer want to live a life of sin (repentance) and accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

B. If you are already a Christian but realize you have allowed idolatry to creep in to your life, God allows ‘U’ turns. Renounce the idol and re-commit your trust to God.