Living Stones

Intro

It is hard to believe that 2022 is over and it is officially 2023. Not only is it 2023, but this year we are getting to welcome the new year on a Sunday no less.

New Years is often met with a sense of optimism over what good things await us in the new year.

Many will commit to resolution to do things differently than they did them in the past in the hope of a better future.

For some today is the symbolic end of a difficult season in our lives if the past year hasn’t been an overall good one.

Interestingly enough, this month that we call the first month of the year, January gets its name for Roman god Janus.

The Romans believed that Janus protected gates and doorways. Janus is depicted as having two faces; one looking back and one looking forward.

As we enter into a new year we often are fixated on looking ahead. looking forward to the future that is set before us.

But, what I want to look at this morning is the fact that looking forward will only be effective if we also learn to look back as well.

Far too often we want to forget the past and we ignore what is behind us, even though it is in remembering the past that we can forge a better future for ourselves.

The Bible is full of stories of people who did things as a way to remind those that came after them of God’s faithfulness.

In fact God himself on numerous occasions reminds his followers to remember the past as they look to the future so that each generation would be encouraged to trust in God’s faithfulness.

Power in the Text

This morning I want to look to the book of Joshua for such a story.

It takes place in Joshua 4. This account is one of the defining moments in Joshua’s life and in his position as the leader of the Israelite.

Background

Joshua had big shoes to fill. Remember, Joshua had the intimidating responsibility of taking over for none other than Moses.

Joshua knew that it would be difficult to lead these people the way Moses had. In fact, even for Moses it was a difficult task.

Never the less, the time had come for Joshua to step up and lead the people who had been wandering in the wilderness for the last 40 years into the promised land.

And to get things started, God performs a miracle through Joshua that would cement in the minds of the people that Joshua, like Moses before him was God’s chosen prophet and leader.

That those that trust in Moses could also put their trust in Joshua.

As the Israelites came to the edge of the promised land they had to cross the Jordan River to enter in. The problem as many of you know was that the Jordan River was at flood stage and impassable.

They had to get approximately 2-3 million people not to mention their livestock and other supplies across these raging waters.

So like Moses who parted the Red Sea, God uses Joshua to hold back the water and allow the people to cross on dry ground.

I have mentioned this before, but remember, this would have taken about a month for everyone to cross. This didn’t happen in a few hours or even days.

So the people and all their things get across the Jordan River as a result of the massive miraculous event and look what happens next.

Joshua 4:1-7 NLT When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. 3 Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’ ”

4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. 5 He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”

So the men that had been chosen went and got the 12 stones the Joshua had asked for and everyone crossed the river.

The Bible also tells us that as soon as the last priest who was helping carry the Ark of the Covenant stepped up out of the riverbed onto dry ground the waters returned the river began to flow normal again.

Joshua 4:21-24 NLT 21 Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over. 24 He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever.”

Joshua knew human nature. He knew that despite the fact that these people had just experienced a miraculous event unlike anything many of them had ever seen that over time they would forget.

He knew that like us, life would eventually set in again and the reality of God’s power and faithfulness would be overshadowed by whatever future struggle they might face.

So to prevent this, Joshua builds a memorial. Why? So that in the future, generations who were not present with those that crossed the dry river bed would still learn of God’s faithfulness by looking to the memorial and being reminded again of what happened that day.

Big Idea/Why it Matters

We do this all the time don’t we. We build memorials to remind us of something important that happened in our past, something we would take care to remember.

Washington DC is a place full of such memorials. If I say Vietnam Wall, most everyone in this room will know what I am talking about, even if you have never been there to see it.

I have, and it is something to see.

The WWII memorial is another one that when you are there, present in that space it is sobering.

Not all that far from us is the Flight 93 memorial. Again, a place to be reminded of the sacrifice made by those on that plane that likely stopped an even more catastrophic event from taking place that day.

There are currently talks in DC to build a memorial for my generation’s war, the global war on terrorism.

All of these memorials and more serve as reminders of what was lost, the horrors of war, and the price of peace.

They do this so that those who weren’t necessarily fighting Nazi’s in Europe or the the VC in the jungles of Viet Nam can still appreciate and even learn from those that did by being reminded of what happened.

Joshua knew that his people needed a memorial to look to so that they could look back as they looked forward.

Israel’s struggles were far from over. Crossing the Jordan was only the beginning. They would have to fight the current residents of this land in order to take it.

Though God would use Israel as an instrument of judgment on those nations that were occupying this land for their own wickedness, they would still have to go to battle to take it.

God knew that Israel would struggle in the many years to come under Joshua’s leadership and the memorial they were setting up would serve as a reminder of God’s faithfulness in the past as they faced their future struggles.

That is the heart of it right there. This is what I want you to take away from this morning’s message.

God’s faithfulness in the past reminds us that we can trust him for the challenges of the future.

Application/Closing

Matthew Henry on his commentary of Joshua 4 says this:

“It greatly magnifies later mercies to compare them with former mercies, for, by making the comparison, it appears that God is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Later mercies should bring to remembrance former mercies, and revive our thankfulness for them”

Like Joshua’s memorial stones, as Christians, water baptism and the Lord’s Supper (communion) remind us how God has saved us. we need such signs to remind us of God’s mighty acts of salvation, and though today we cannot look on the stones Joshua set up, God has given us two signs to bring His salvation to mind.

When we celebrate baptism and the Lord’s Supper, we are to remember God’s great acts of salvation in Christ and to proclaim to our children and to others what He has done.

We too need to remember because let’s face it. All of us have had our struggles in last year in some way or another.

On larger scale, whether it is political turmoil, oppression, disease, war. Or on a more personal level, sickness, financial issues, work issues, relationship problems, mental health struggles—the past few years have been challenging for everyone in different ways.

God never said that our lives would be free of pain or sorrow, but he promised to be with us through our trials.

And when we look back at what we’ve been through, if we are honest with ourselves, we can see how God was with us even in difficult circumstances.

When we remember all that God has done for us, it is easier to believe him for the future. It is easier to trust that he will continue to be faithful because that is who he is.

The future may be exciting for some or frightening to others. We can trust in God’s faithfulness and his love for us, whatever difficult challenges we face this year.

As I close out this message I want to read a prayer that Paul writes in his letter to the Colossian Church. This prayer is my prayer for all of you as we step into the new year.

Colossians 1:9-14 NLT 9 … [I] ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

11 [I] also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.