Sounds Familiar
Notes
Transcript
Here we are again....
It’s groundhog day.
And we know what that means...
We read through the Old Testament and we see festivals and rituals that we find foreign, and don’t understand. We’ve been reading about sin offerings, and grain offerings, and on and on, and it seems absolutely foreign to us.
And yet today, the media is gathering a round a rodent, eagerly taking pictures to see what the weather forecast for the next month an a half will be. Even though there is absolutely no scientific basis for any predictions.
One Easter Morning a pastor asked the children gathered around her what it meant that Jesus came out of His tomb. One little girl quickly offered, “I’m not sure, but I think if he saw his shadow there would be six more weeks of winter.”
We laugh at her confusion, but how often do we ourselves mix the superstition of our time with what the Scriptures tell us of the redemptive story God is working in our lives even this very moment?
Promises Made...
Promises Made...
Have you ever made a promise that you weren’t able to keep?
We’ve seen it over and over thus far in the Old Testament. In Joshua, just like in all we’ve been reading so far, we see the people of Israel saying they will obey God’s Law.
In the closing chapter of Joshua we read it once again. Joshua is giving a speech reminding the people of Israel to serve the Lord and to serve him with faithfulness, ridding themselves of their foreign gods.
He goes on and says, “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served…or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. Then he concludes with one of those often quoted verses from the book,
And if it is evil in your eyes 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.”
“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
And we read the peoples response in the following verses, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods!...” and they recall how God had brought them out of Egypt, from a land of slavery and performed great signs before their eyes and led them to the land they now dwell in, driving out the nations who lived in the land before them.
But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.
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.”
And the people of Israel respond...
But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”
Earlier I asked, “have you ever made a promise that you weren’t able to keep?
How are you doing on that New year’s resolution - I’m going to eat right, I’m going to quit smoking, I’m going to exercise, I’m going to read my Bible daily, I’m going to get out of debt, I’m going to … you fill in the blank.
Did you know this is actually a part of gym’s budget plan? They know people make New Year’s resolutions and want to get to the gym. There’s always a flood of new people, but after about 4 weeks, most of those new people aren ‘t there anymore.
Promises Made…Promises Broken
Promises Made…Promises Broken
The Bible shows the human condition so well. We have often have good intentions, but even our righteous acts are as filthy rags to God.
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Holiness seems beyond our grasp.
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
As we come to the end of the book of Judges we see the same thing. The book of Judges is almost the antithesis of the book of Joshua. We see the people justifying themselves and their actions, bending the rules so they appear righteous, but they’re not. And the book ends with
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
We all justify ourselves. We’re really good at convincing ourselves of our own innocence. Think about the internal dialogues we have when we’re cut off on the freeway. More often than not, we’re the righteous one in the story.
Yes, we fall short.
Yes, we fail.
Yes, we are sinners, and it’s really easy to simply blow it off. Everyone is in the same boat. It’s not that big of a deal. God’s about forgiveness, right?
Remember Joshua 24:19?
But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.
How do we reconcile God will not forgive your transgressions or your sins, with our idea of a forgiving God?
In the Old Testament we’ve been reading about sacrifices, the sacrifices that would take away the sin. Sin had a cost. As we’ve read through Leviticus it seems like the book was bleeding all over us with all the sacrifices for this sin or that. The best of the flock, the best that they had was sacrificed because of each persons sin.
We know a sacrifice was made. We know the promise.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We can think of it this way:
I sin, and blood must be spilled. I sin, and a sacrifice must be made. I sin and a spike is driven, I sin and a cross is raised.
In forgiving our sins, it is not that our sins magically disappear. No, the sacrifice is still made.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
Promises Broken…Promise Received
Promises Broken…Promise Received
This is what we celebrate today. Our promises may be broken, but God’s promise has been received. We are in process of being changed. God will restore us to the people we were created to be.
Let’s pray.