Sermon Tone Analysis

ATTENTION - DVD - THE MOST AMAZING MAN ALIVE - BLUE FISH

While we in our macho moments cheer a video like that, men, we also have to admit that, often, we really feel like fools inevitably doomed to failure.

I mean who can live up to the picture that we all have of what fathers ought to be like.

I distinctly remember walking down the aisle after my wedding feeling this huge weight of responsibility that just seemed to wash over me.

Don’t get me wrong!

I was very happy to be married, but all of a sudden as we walked down that aisleway I realized that I wasn’t just responsible for me anymore.

It was sobering!

NEED

And all of us men handle our responsibilities differently.

I think we all feel the pressure, and we try to deal with it in different ways.

Some of us become arbitrary.

If a decisions have to be made, we become little George Bushes, facing down our questioning wives and declaring, “Why?

Because I said so, and I’m the decider.”

Now that may work where you live, but it’s never gone over very well in my house.

But here’s the deal: We often cover up for our inadequacy and become arbitrary because we know in our hearts that we have no basis for our decision other than our own stubbornness, but we still plant our flags, make decisions, and dare someone to challenge us.

The problem is, we usually end up with egg on our faces, watching our certain decisions flame out.

And the greatest casualty of our decisions is not our embarrassment, the greatest casualty of these missteps is this: We lose the confidence of our family and we lose the effectiveness of our influence.

Because of a few of these notable failures or maybe just because we’re so afraid of them, some men trade being arbitrary for being wishy-washy.

These poor guys can never make a decision.

They think it through and get advice.

They get the facts several times over.

They may even pray about it but they never break the paralysis of analysis.

They live there lives in a tortured prison of lost opportunities and “almost did it” regrets.

But that’s not their greatest casualty.

No, the greatest casualty of their indecisiveness is this: It costs them their influence.

So where’s the balance?

If you aren’t supposed to be arbitrary and you’re not supposed to be wishy-washy, dads, what are you supposed to be?

Well, guys, we’re supposed to be leaders.

“That’s great,” you might say, “but what does that mean?”

What does it mean to be a leader?

What is leadership?

Well, I think that John Maxwell may have the best definition.

He says that leadership is influence.

That really is the answer to our dilemma.

You see, as a father, I do not make decisions for my family and I don’t avoid decisions to humor my family: No, I exert my influence on my family and they make the right decisions for themselves.

Ok I know, I know.

This sounds like one of “those” Father’s Day messages, doesn’t it?

Strong on “ought to” and short on “how to.”

Well, I hope that will not be the case.

You see, today we’re going to take a look at a man who wasn’t just a father, he was a father figure.

Not only did he have his own household to look after, he was also responsible for a whole nation.

As the leader, he knew that the force of his position meant little, but the power of his influence meant everything.

In Joshua chapter 24, the Holy Spirit rolls back the curtain on this great leader and shows us how he influenced, not just his family, but a whole nation.

The bible says in 24:14:

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people . .

Now Joshua goes on to rehearse for the people all that God had done for them: How he had rescued them from Egypt and the Pharoah, helped them to conquer their enemies there in the land of Canaan, and now he stands before them with a challenge: He wants them to recommit themselves to serve the Lord and him alone.

That’s what he says in v. 14

Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt.

Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of 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 So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17 for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed.

18 And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land.

We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”

Wow!

This may be one of the few times in the history of the nation of Israel that they all got on the same page.

With one voice they declare that they will serve the Lord.

I don’t think that their resolve was an accident.

No! I believe that they had some help.

I believe they were led.

I believe they were influenced.

How did Joshua do it?

How did he bring these people to the place that they willingly followed him?

And further more, how can you as a father exert influence on your children.

Well, you must first

DIV 1: CLARIFY THEIR CHOICES

EXPLANATION

Our world specializes in turning black and white to pale shades of gray.

Compromise and relativism dominate the moral landscape.

In a world where there are no absolutes to anchor the soul, clarity is difficult.

This was no less in Joshua’s day.

Joshua stands before his people after they have subdued their enemies in Canaan.

Faced with the many gods of the nations they had conquered, the Jews were left with lots of choices and competing claims.

Against this deafening cacophony, Joshua brings three strong blasts of truth.

The first one is a reminder.

In vv 1-13 of chapter 24, he reminds the Israelites of the great blessings of God.

Speaking to them as if God Himself were talking, Joshua says: “I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’”

In other words, Joshua tells them, “You may live in a land of many false gods, but never forget that the only reason you’re working land you didn’t clear; the only reason you’re living in a city you didn’t build; the only reason you’re drinking wine or eating olives which you didn’t plant is because I, the one true God gave them to you.

You may think you can choose a thousand other gods, but there’s only one choice that makes sense: ME!”

You see, by rehearsing the blessings of God, Joshua clarifies for Israel the one Who really deserves their allegiance.

That’s why after telling them of the blessings, He begins verse 14 with the words, “Now therefore.”

Because of these blessings, there is a logical decision to make.

He tells them that they are to “fear the Lord and serve Him with sincerity and truth.”

And it is this phrase that further clarifies their choice.

In Hebrew it means to serve God with “integrity and truth” The word integrity connotes the idea of wholeness, blamelessness, or even perfection.

Joshua is passionately calling his people to be totally devoted and absolutely blameless in their worship of the one true God.

One commentator wrote of this:

The choice laid out here for Israel was a breathtaking one.

The language about choice is not found elsewhere in the Old Testament.

Normally, God was the one who did the choosing, having chosen Israel from among the nations to be his people (see, e.g., Deut 4:37; 7:6–7; 10:15; 14:2).

But now, Israel was being asked to choose its loyalties, something the pagan nations did not have to do because they could embrace all the gods.

The Israelites were being asked to do what Rahab had done, namely, to embrace this one God and, by doing so, to reject all others (see on 2:9–11).

Joshua laid out for Israel the choice, but he did not threaten them or try to coerce them.

The choice was simple, and he set an example by his own choice.

And he adds one more clarifying element to their choosing.

When the people say in vv 16 and 17 that they will serve the Lord, Joshua warns the people in v. 19 and 20:

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 nor your sins.

20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good

Wow! Joshua wouldn’t have been much of a salesman would he?

He tells the people here not just how God has blessed them, and the clear commitment God requires of them, he goes on to make clear to them exactly what God will do to them if they turn back from following them.