Among the many biblical stories about Joshua is one about his arranging to knock down the walls of Jericho in a famous battle.

A Sunday school teacher was talking about that story one morning and asked the class, “Who knows who knocked down the walls of Jericho?” One little boy raised his hand and said, “I don’t know teacher, but I didn’t do it.” The teacher then saw the boy’s mother in the super market a few days later. She told the mother what had happened. I asked the children who knocked down the wall of Jericho and your son said he did not know, but he did not do it. Replied the mother, “If he said he didn’t do it then he didn’t do it.”  

Somewhat in disbelief the teacher happened upon the father of the boy a little later in the week. She recounted to him the story as well. She told him what his son had said and what his wife had said in the grocery store. The father replied, “I don’t know if he did it or not, but just send me the bill and I will pay for the whole thing.” 

Joshua is the next dramatic Old Testament figure to emerge after Moses. The history of Joshua is a bit unclear. He is referred to many times as Joshua the son of Nun. That reference raised a whole lot of curious questions about his parentage. There are also the questions about the age at which Moses commissioned Joshua to be a successor.  

Joshua was pre-selected. He would be the successor to Moses. But at one point the scripture indicates that Joshua was only a youth when he was selected, maybe in his late teens. Would Moses ask someone that young? I was curious this week to see that the Pittsburgh Penguins have 3 starters in their line up who are 18 and 19 years of age. 

If Joshua was that young when Moses named him as successor, he probably did not take Moses too seriously. Yes, Moses was an old man, but he was in good health. He was still vigorous. He had many years yet to live. Nothing was going to happen soon.  

Then Moses dies. The story is not unlike that of Luke Revenstahl, the new mayor of Pittsburgh. He was elected to the City Council in his mid 20’s. Through a series of political maneuvers he was then named President of the City Council. Then all of a sudden former Mayor Bob O’Connor dies and Luke Ravenstahl is unexpectedly thrust into leadership of the city. 

It is possible to read the story of Joshua this way. Is it also possible that a teenager will become the next Sr. Minister of Christ Church?  

In any case, Moses is gone. He has died and he is buried. Joshua is the heir apparent. And he is probably very unsure of himself.  He stands alone. He asks himself, “How will I do this?” 

I remember my first two or three years at Christ Church. I was very unsure. When I arrived I thought that I knew how to do this. I immediately found out how much I did not know. I discovered during those years, what I now teach others – That it takes 3-5 years to “arrive” at a larger membership church. 

I can easily imagine the unsteadiness in the pit of Joshua’s stomach. The Hebrew nation was “under new Management.” The expectations would be high. The more Joshua thinks about it, the more unsteady he becomes. Joshua stands alone, somewhat shaken. 

Until God speaks and God says to Joshua these wonderful words,

“As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you…be strong and courageous…for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” 

I think that word is a powerful word for Joshua. It was a powerful word for Israel. It is a powerful word for the church today. These are enduring words. I like to think that God Gives Joshua some “Rules for the road ahead.” 

FIRST RULE: BE OF GOOD COURAGE 

The first rule is that Joshua should be of good courage. The people of God are to have a courageous, upbeat, positive spirit. Our world needs that kind of outlook today. One of my favorite stories is about two cowboys out on the range herding a group of buffalo. One cowboy says to the other, “These buffalo are the dirtiest, smelliest, creatures on the face of the earth.” Where upon one buffalo turns to the other and says, “I thought out here we were not suppose to hear a discouraging word.” 

Nothing but encouragement should come from the churches in our day. Nothing but encouragement should come from this church. Our world needs encouragement. We have it to give. 

A tourist was walking along the ocean shore one day. He saw a group of people gathered down toward the shore and it sounded like they were taunting someone. He walked over and discovered a man who had made a homemade raft and was about to cross the ocean. He was being taunted by the crowd “You will never make it. You will die of thirst. You will run out of food. Your boat will come apart in the first storm.”  

After listening to all the negativism for a few minutes this man elbowed his way to the front of the crowd and started a different kind of conversation with the would be sailor. He said, “Sir, you are incredible. You can make it. This will be the adventure of a lifetime. Go in safety and God’s great care.” 

The first rule of the road is to spread encouragement and spirit everywhere. That’s what God’s people do. That is what followers of Jesus do. 

SECOND RULE: TURN ON THE POWER 

The second rule for the road is to turn on the power. God says to Joshua, “Gird yourself spiritually for this. Take care of your inner life.” 

My hybrid car has no key and no ignition switch. It has no starter motor. It has a “power” button. To start the car, you just push the power button. The dash lights up like a Christmas tree and pretty soon the light says, “Ready” 

I suggest that in the coming months, we delve into the spiritual resource that we have known over the years. Get in touch with your power source. I need to do this. You need to do this. 

The staff is going to begin reading and reflecting on some spiritual leaders down through the centuries. Maybe you want to get reacquainted with the lection readings in your worship guide each week. Perhaps you want to go back to the red or blue or green book called “A Guide to Prayer”. You may not have used it for awhile, you perhaps laid it aside. Several of you have told me that you have rediscovered John Ballie’s Diary of Private Prayer. You pulled it off a book shelf and blew the dust off and have begun to use it again.  

You and I need power for our own souls. We also need power for compassionate Christian Outreach. These days I am getting a daily piece from Sojourners magazine in Washington DC. It is called “Verse and Voice”. It provides a daily text from scripture plus a voice for justice.  

Turn on the power switch. Reignite the power.  

There is a Biblical word for this we don’t use very much. It sometimes sounds too religious or pietistic. The word is sanctification. Someone has written about “sanctification.” 

Sanctification is a process that puts mind and body

and spirit into harmony with the divine and makes it possible for us to let God’s power surge through our beings.

What can you and I do to let the power surge in the coming months? 

THIRD RULE: STAY ON COURSE 

The third rule for the road is to stay on course. We can easily veer off course in today’s world. 

We have some values here at Christ Church that need to be affirmed and celebrated. One of them is the rhythm between Inreach and Outreach. Both are needed for a healthy church. The letter to the Ephesians says, “That we are to build up the body of Christ (taking care of our inner souls) and also to do the work of ministry (reach out to others), It is a value we have affirmed for all these years. 

We also have a strong value in the ministry of music. We have a fine tradition of music here. Everything from the Saturday Night Folk Choir through the Sunday Night Band. The Chapel Choir who sing so marvelously every Sunday morning at 9:30.

The Chancel Choir whose music thrills the spirit. Children’s choirs that help us remember the faith story. Music in this place is as much faith formation as it is worship accompaniment. 

Another value is our emphasis on Spiritual Gifts. I do not know of any other church that has made this as much of an emphasis over the past years. I see the fruits of this emphasis. Many more of you know today that you do have these gifts. You believe that God has given these gifts to you. Somewhere I read that less than 10% of most people in most churches believe they have any spiritual gifts and less than ½ of those believe they are using them in any significant way at all. I have seen the difference that knowing your spiritual gifts can make in your life and you are going to keep on discovering and keep on training and keep on using those gifts. The next class on Spiritual gifts will begin in about 10 days on October 18 for 4 consecutive Wednesday nights. 

In times of transition, God says to Joshua, “stay on course.” 

FOURTH RULE: TURN ON THE HEADLIGHTS 

The fourth rule for the road is to turn on the headlights. There is a lot of darkness around us. We saw some of that darkness this past week. We saw it in the stories coming out of Washington, DC. And we saw it in the great tragedy in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. Turn on the headlights. Look out ahead. Headlights point forward. They illumine what lies ahead. 

You saw some history of Christ Church a few minutes ago on a video. Out of our history comes a bold future. Turn on the headlights. Some new cars have even brighter headlights than ever before. Not so as to blind people coming toward you, but to illumine the road better ahead for you. They are much needed. 

What do I see down the road for this church? I see some bold steps ahead to strengthen ministry with youth. We have made some courageous and I think very important and necessary steps in that regard already. I see some new ways to nurture families. To nurture traditional and non-traditional and single parent families. I see some need to explore broader worship options. Some of you are asking for this, requesting this even in these weeks. 

I see us making an even bolder and more effective mark in outreach. We will build a Habitat house next weekend. We will have more adult mission trips. We will exercise great local care for the South Hill Interfaith Ministry and will have a deeper level of involvement with the Nydaire United Methodist Mission in Zimbabwe. Mother Teresa once said, “We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.” 

I see us advocating a broader spectrum of something called Christian values. In the church we need to move beyond the polarizing values of abortion and sexuality. We need to affirm the Biblical values about homelessness, poverty, health care and environment. There was an article this week in one of the papers that said, “Many believe the notion that we inherited the earth, but that is not so. We only hold earth as a precious legacy for succeeding generations.” 

Turn on the headlights. Look out ahead. See where God is leading us. There is a wonderful Calvin and Hobbes cartoon where Calving says to Hobbes, “You could step in the road tomorrow and – wham – you get hit by a cement truck. That’s why my motto is ‘Live for the moment.’ What’s your motto?”

Hobbes answers, “My motto is ‘Look down the road’.” 

Turn on the headlights. The future belongs to God. But God works most conspicuously through people who love God and who allow themselves to become instruments for God. 

Too many churches just turn on the dome lights in the car they look around inside. They deal with internal matters. They re-arrange the furniture. They ask, “What’s in it for us? What’s in it for our church?” Sometimes the dome lights make what’s outside even harder to see. We need to turn on the headlights and look ahead.  

Remember the God who says, “I will not fail you or forsake you...be strong and courageous…for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  

So, some rules for the road ahead: 

        Spread encouragement

        Turn on the power

        Stay on course

        Turn on the headlights 

And then remember these words to Joshua as well, “Do not be afraid.” Someone has counted the number of times that this phrase appears in the Bible. I am told it appears 365 times – 1 for each day of the year. The Bible says 365 times in one way or another “Do not have any fear.” 

God says to us through Joshua, “I will be with you in each new situation. I will be with you in times of stress and transition. I will be with you in times of uncertainty and confusion.” God promises maximum support at every turn and in every eventuality. 

God is our help in ages past, and God is our hope for years to come. Thanks be to God. Amen.