SCRIPTURE: Joshua 34:1-3a, 14-25
TEXT: “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” THEME: Trusting in God to live as stewards of God’s blessings. INTRODUCTION When I was growing up, there was a bowl where my Dad would empty his pocket change. On Sundays when we went to Sunday School, we could take a coin and put it in our offering envelope for worship. My family provided everything I needed with even a portion that I could use for worship. I know only a few jokes but it feels like once a year I tell my Charlie Kaneyama joke on Stewardship Sunday…when Charlie was but a wee little lad, his dad gave him a dime for offering and a dime for ice cream after Sunday School. He was so happy. Walking to church like any little boy, coins do not just sit on the bottom of a pocket, so he was playing with them until one of them got away from him, rolled down the sidewalk, and into the storm drain. It was irretrievable. Poor Charlie looked up to heaven and said, “Dear God, I’m so sorry what happened to your dime.” SCRIPTURE The gods of old were used to try and make sense of the world around us. Our limited science yielded few explanations. There was so much that was a mystery, wonder, uncontrolled and powerful. So we made gods of the forces of nature around us and other gods that we could appeal to dad influence these greater forces to help us. Sometimes we gave these uncontrollable forces human like characteristics, Anthropomorphism was a way for us to understand their wild nature. But now with God’s call of Abraham and Sarah, the people of God have a relationship with the Creator of all things. They are given a promise and begin to journey together from land of Ur to Canaan, then their descendants migrate down to Egypt and back again to Canaan where they learn and relearn the dynamics of their God and being the people of God. The last few Sundays completed their 40-year travels in the wilderness with Moses, we had the So, first words of his successor Joshua as they cross the Jordan to recapture the land of Canaan and to today, where we have Joshua’s last words to the People of God as he nears life’s end. Through Joshua, God conquered the Canaanites and settled the Israelites in the land. We read the redacted version of this text, but it could be categorized as their joining the movement of believing in God; Abraham, Sarah and their family -They too. Josh and his family - Me too. The people of God - Us too. Joshua making sure you sure you sure - Them too, and all of us together being sure - We too. In essence of what they wanted from their old gods is all wrapped up into their relationship with God, who calls and reveals God’s self to those who travel with God. Then through their journey together the image and understanding of God is refined and deepen. Don’t go back to the old version of gods, they don’t work. They only are a distraction of our self-centeredness, move on with what God is showing us, with those around us, to move into the community of the people of God. This is the covenant the people of God are making with God and each other. APPLICATION As part of inclining our hearts to God is a weekly reminder of God. The Sabbath and our tithe. This past week an old friend dropped by to listen to clergy who are serving on Maui during this difficult time. He retired from his church and is now devoting himself full tine to the ministry of Hawaiian Islands Ministry and wanted to listen to what the needs are here for clergy, to see if there was something Hawaiian Island Ministries could do to help, us especially in the area of mental health. At the end of his visit with us he gave me a HIM pen and said use it when you journal. Inadvertently what this did, was reminds me of Dan every time I update my calendar. Sneaky Dan. But this is what a tithe does for us. A weekly offering, even if just going through the motions, has us look at our check book balance, see how God has provided, what we need, and then a portion to worship God with this week. Don’t get caught up on the amount. We already have God’s favor and are not trying to pay for it. It is the heart behind the offering and worship that is important. So we provide pledge cards for you to fill out. But we don’t use them to figure out the church budget. They are for you to do your own accounting of your blessings and worship. This is kind of what Joshua is doing here, he is taking in account of all that God has done, from the time of Abraham to the end of Joshua’s life. Looking towards where they are now, making his commitment and seeing if there are others who are committed to do the same into the future. We can’t do the work of God on our own, to do this we need each other. So there is a commitment of self, to each other and to God. The offerings we have contribute to the work we do together, putting our old gods behind and journeying with God into the not yet. CONCLUSION When we are able to see, what we have as a product of how God loves us, then we can also trust God for a portion, out of everything to give as an act of worship. Like a pen, that we journal with that reminds us to pray. Just for fun. These are a few old gods we can put behind us. I have walked in Keopulani Park and have numerous black cats cross my path that have not determined how good or bad my day has gone. Black cats don’t have the power to make a bad day, that is all up to me. Same thing with Fridays, They are my days off so always good so it doesn’t matter when it falls on the 13th day of the month. I haven’t tried this, but I am don’t see what power a banana has that would cause fish not to bite on a particular day. Look at it. The only power it has is potassium. I don’t know what it is about washing my car or doing laundry that brings rain. Pennies don’t bring good luck, all it does is make me a penny richer, which is good. But at my age sometimes I have to consider if it is worth bending down to pick it up. Avoiding cracks makes me walk funny but hasn’t done anything for my mother’s back. It has helped me be aware of floor level changes and find the occasional penny. Our lives are not about avoiding bad luck, but it is about living into the grace and loving ways of God with our neighbors. Putting those old gods behind, there is nothing casual about living as witnesses of God’s liberation and justice. It is a daily commitment, putting aside our confidences of the past for our confidences in God, with a readiness to respond, trusting in the assurances of God, knowing God journeys with us now and in the generations to come.
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