Does Grace Move you?

We are talking this month about this season we are in, and if you are here for the first time I want to say you are joining us at a perfect time. Last we we talked about how Jesus leads us but its up to us to follow him. However I want to talk about the actual movement of following Jesus.

See we can say yeah Jesus great guy, excellent leader. But if we say all that stuff and don’t follow in his footsteps or make a movement that comes out of his calling in our life we are saying one thing but our action tells another story.

We all want that divine sense of calling, to be given that greater purpose and I want to tell you Jesus is that greater purpose and following him leads to a fulfillment of that longing of purpose.

However do we actually feel that God’s grace moves us.

We have received the call, if we were in a sports game the coach told us the play, we are on the field however like any team, how we play out the plan is depending on our relationship with the coach.

In life the way we live out our faith and our calling from God will depend on our relationship with Jesus.

His love and grace is the moving factor, it gets us to our feet that we would follow him.

So the question today is; does grace move you?

Do you trust God?

Do you trust me?

were the famous words that I would give a group of teenagers as we would run with paintball guns loaded right into the heart of the enemy teams base.

Do you trust me?

This story happened more then once actually. I considered myself once really good at paintball, and I would know how to lead teens in a awesome game of paintball, not that they would JUST have fun but they would win every game.

See the strategy was that they needed to move up the field as quickly as possible.

So after I gave them the plan I would ask the group of 15-17 year old boys.

Do you trust me?

If they actually trusted me the game was over in 10 minutes with my winning with over half our team still in play.

If they did not trust me the team usually lost because of fear of the initial plan and then following a lack of strategy.

Trust is a difficult concept because even in the story I told you they would respond with yes I trust you even when they did not.

See trust comes in more then just words. It’s in the expressions the actions and the end goal of the other person.

We know that God has a good end goal and we know that his will be better then ours becuase of his ability to create that outcome.

However it is in the trust that we feel the disconnect.

And that is not uncommon. There was plenty of times in the Old Testament, the times before Jesus Christ where the nation of Israel who are God’s chosen people would have a shaky faith.

I want to jump into Joshua and specifically Joshua 6 on, as Joshua takes on the battle of Jericho in a truly epic battle with.

The story of Joshua so far is that God had promised this land to his people, Israel and they get there and there is other people there.

This is the first test of trust, do you trust God to overcome the obstacles in your way?

However lets read about Jericho and how Joshua has to put all of his trust onto the Lord.

God has already delivered Jericho into the hands of Israel

Joshua 6:1–2 NIV

Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.

Before God tells Joshua what he must do to, He promises Joshua that the whole city, even the king and all the oppositions fighters would be delivered into Joshuas hands.

would you trust God in a statement? becuase if you know the story then or are following around God tells them that they will knock down the walls with trumpets!

Trust is:

In your words

Joshua could have just agreed that God was right in the moment, and that is a level of trust. Very shallow level of trust however it does imply that Joshua does agree that God could do something like that.

However Trust is also:

In your actions

When Joshua organized the army and handed out the trumpets that is where he showed he trusted God.

In the assembling of the masses Joshua proves that he really does beleive God will do what he says he will do.

And why wouldn’t he, Joshua has plenty of encounters where he would have seen Gods faithfulness and he would have grown up knowing God.

However some of us would see this has maybe a strange encounter and we will get there. However we need to talk abit more about these walls.

Trust also shows in the army as they walk around the walls 7 times.

Each time they passed the gates of Jericho until they let loose the shouts that signified the walls tumbling down they had to have the trust that God would deleiver like he said he would.

Trust is:

strengthened in time

Time heals all wounds is mainly a phrased used to repair trust.

We don’t use that phrase to talk about scraps or cuts, we use it as a way to suggest that our hearts begin to repair and restore trust with someone or something.

However time is one of the hardest things to show when it comes to trust.

The problem with my paintball story is that it was usually the first game of paintball with the group of teens that I would ask them do you trust me?

How can you trust someone you hardly know!

We dived into it a bit last week and I would encourage you to listen to that online if you missed it but one way that we can jump in head first to trusting God is because he is with us.

Do you know God is with you?

It is not a send off and accomplish the work. it’s a joint effort.

Joshua knew that he had a big task ahead of him. However God told Joshua that he would be with the army in each rotation around the walls God would be present. Joshua 6:8-11

Joshua 6:8–11 NIV

When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.

God is leading his people around the walls. Never once did they march around those walls without God.

It was never a sending call to go out and take Jericho. God never intended for his people to be conquerers in their power alone. God intend for a joint effort. That all of God’s people and God would be working.

Our God wants us to partner with him

That is why is gave the people that ark of the covenant which was his pressence amoung his people. that is why they greated the tabernacle that is why Jesus came to earth and restored relationship and that is why there is a missional calling to love others and tell them about Jesus. All these things are God showing his hands to us and asking us to join in with what he is doing.

My friends you are not alone! God wants to partner with you, to work with you to equip you.

That is where the trust comes full circle! You are not a commodidty to God you are a partner, you are a friend, you are his loved child.

He wants you to trust him because he is not distant in your circumstance may that be good or bad.

Its like if you go to a groccery store and you see those kid carts, like it’s for 5 yearolds thats how tall the cart is. When you see kids with groccers in those carts that is the partnership we are talking about.

Yes mom or dad can just do it all, but they invite the kid into the process that they might learn and grow.

God can just solve all our problems but where would we begin to learn and grow. A

But here is the thing do we love God when its hard to love God? Joshua trusted God, there is no doubt about this, that when the 7th day came the walls of Jericho came falling to the group and the army marched in.

However Joshua learned how to love God in a hard place right after.

Bring the ark with you around the walls

God’s partnership is show here as the army of Israel carried the Ark of the covenant around the walls. This ark showed how God lead his people, in the same way as a shepherd, that God lead from the back of the herd like a shepherd would lead his sheep.

Do you love God when its hard?

Joshua sending men to Ai but they lose the battle

Partnership can be hard Though and as we keep reading, we will see that this partnership is not without a struggle for Joshua, for God he is in control of the scene but Joshua’s world is shaken.

The end of Jerhico the 7th day where they show for victory and God won Israel the battle without any lost troops from Israel, it was a landslide victory, or pun inteneded a wall slide victory.

However God tells the army don’t take their treasure.

But if you know the book of Joshua, or if you have the background knowledge that Israel never really listens to God the first time he says something. Then you’ll know that this goes wrong.

Joshua the leader goes and sends men to the next town to Ai, and sure of another victory. However the enemy troops ambush Joshua’s men and they lose 36 troops.

Here is Joshuas response to God as they lose this battle:

Joshua 7:6 NIV

Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads.

This is a drastic encounter that Joshua has, where he is utterly defeated and in it speaks to our understanding of hard times with God.

Joshua is beaten and bruise all around. His mind and soul are shattered and I believe he is even anxious to be a leader in this time. He goes and questions God’s whole intentions for Israel, saying things like:

“Why bring us across the jordan”

“Are we going to be wiped of the earth”

“Who will be for God when Israel is gone”

ALl these things are a spiral of emotions for God, Joshua is laying everything wrong in his life and leadership down for God.

But here is the thing:

God can handle our emotions.

He can handle alot more then our emotions actually, but we sometimes withhold ourselves from God instead of being open with him. God can handle the moments where we fall on our face, over even questions God’s plan.

This is not speaking against God, not this is not expressing anger at God and his name, but this is a heartfelt hurt that is happening.

Joshua is not in hate towards God but in grief to God, and here is what God says back:

God still loves you when you don’t love him.

to Joshua “Stand up! why are you down on your face”?

Joshua 7:10 NIV

The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?

God’s love is enough to tell Joshua to stand up, if you know where the narrative goes, then you know someone took treasure from Jericho that lead to the lost battle at Ai. God starts with the person, the individual and invites them to stand instead of remain in grief.

God’s love invites me out of sorrow

God seeks out Joshua in a close relationship before relaying the instructions on to him. He wants to do the same with you. Last week we talked about how God invites us to let him be the leader in our lives.

However God first invites us to love him, and your relationship with God is the priority even before God’s plans come out.

God loves you even when you are in grief, if you are mad about life, if you feel like God’s promise was not handled the way you like or if he did not make his promise happen quick enough. If you have a laundry list of things against God then re-read that verse.

Stand up! what are you doing with your face down? You have been invited into the grace of Jesus Christ, and his grace can and will handle whatever kind of baggage you might have with you.

Just like what happens here for Joshua. He is give the very answer to his hurts. Literally down to the exact person in the whole nation that has sinned against God and took treasure.

God still has blessings in hard times.

God helps Joshua showing him the exact person who caused this curse to come on to Israel.

God tells Joshua that he will choose and show Him the person that messed up and caused the lost battle.

God shows Joshua a man named Achan, and this man stole treasure from Jericho and caused this Curse. Stating this:

Joshua 7:20–21 NIV

Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

Achan shows us his heart was not after God and God’s love, rather he was more intrested in possesions. He takes the treasures because they are beautiful and stashes them in the ground.

He takes something he finds beautiful and puts it in the ground!

It speaks to wisdom more then anything, The wise might acknowledge that the treasure might have been beautiful but they would also see the punishment (that achan got), they would see the deception to hid it, and the pointlessness to hide it.

Achan gets what was coming to him and is punished for not listening to the commands. Then the army returns to Ai and wins the battle. God never left Israel when Achan messed up, rather God partners with Joshua to uncover the sin that Achan has.

God is working in hard times

If you feel pressure from the world,

Work is too much or like everyone feels the econmy is not great, if your our farmer friends the harvest isn’t like you expected or if your here today to escape something else I want you to know that God is working in those hard times.

However just like I said earlier we need to partner with him.

Does God’s grace change you?

Our choice to follow God as Joshua did or to be like Achan and try to find love in other things.

So we have a choice, do we choose to follow God like Joshua, listening and following God in love. Knowing that God is love and givning God that same love back.

Or

Do we follow like achan, knowing there is treasure else where that will only bring hurts.

It’s your choice but if you choose to live that Joshua here is how you move in grace. Show others grace, choose to live a life of grace to other people.

Listen to God

Through reading scripture, listening prayer, attending here at Parkview, living in chirstian community, worship.

Love his way

Joshua could have ignored the call to walk around Jericho with trumpets and fight, He had to give up his understanding of how the war was going to be fought and move forward loving that God’s way would be better

Live his way

This was Achan’s failure, he knew God’s way. Hey he probably loved God’s way but he did not want to live god’s way, thinking that treasure was better for him.

Lean on God

again this is a partnership and so you can lean on God when it’s good or when it bad and you need some help.

This is not just God’s grace, yes show others that God is grace and loves others, but even at basic level show others love when they did not deserve love,

God is inviting us to partner with him in cleaning up our mess.

That’s what the grace is, and every single time when we want to give up becuase following God is hard we must remember that through the grace of Jesus Christ we get to help build his kingdom on earth that it would be better then the mess we are in now.

So does grace move you to partner with God today?