Strong and Courageous

Joshua 1:1-18

חזק ואמץ

Hazaq veAmes

Shopping for Strength

In 2013 I was in agony from back pain.

Shopping for new Crossfit coach. Looking for the best.

Brandon and Courtney Mericle.

Every time I would approach a squat or deadlift, he really set my mind at ease. As soon as the weights got heavy, he took over. He lifted them for me.

So I was in no danger, it was his strength lifting the weights.

God is There – Who Needs Strength?

Is this the way the Christian life works? Last week we talked about the mission assigned to Joshua and Israelites. It was impossible… but it would be possible because God was with them. And we talked about our mission. It is huge, making disciples throughout the world… but it is possible because Christ promised he would always be with us.

But that leaves this question open: what role does that leave for us really? What is our real part to play. If God is just going to do it…. Why even bother?

If Coach Brandon is just going to lift the weights for me, can’t I just stay home and he can do it?

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed a dream.

As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.

Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,

One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,

I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,

especially at the very lowest and saddest times,

there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.

"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,

You'd walk with me all the way.

But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,

there was only one set of footprints.

I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you

Never, ever, during your trials and testings.

When you saw only one set of footprints,

It was then that I carried you."

Now it IS true that God never leaves us. But I think there should be another verse to this poem. Where the guy says “Hey, wait a minute… I remember those saddest and most troublesome times! It sure didn’t SEEM like I was being carried. It didn’t feel like you were doing all the work!”

If he is anything like me, the saddest and most troublesome times probably felt like super sad. And troublesome. Like he had used every bit of strength he had, faced everything he could, came up empty even though he had more yet to go and more yet to do.

If God was carrying him, what was the man doing?

It is a kind of holy passivity: God just does everything

If God is always going to be with me… and it’s not by my strength but by his strength… all those things: what is really left for me to do?

Joshua 1 – The Text

Let’s take that to our text.

Moses has passed on this impossible mission from God.

3 The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said.

…

6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

The mission is possible because God will be with them. But if God is going to do it, what part does that leave for them, really?

We hear these words echoed in the first chapter of Joshua:

Joshua 1:1-9

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.

Already we have set the stage. Moses is dead… and that’s a HUGE problem. Moses has been the miracle leader for 40 years, the voice of God, the faithful one, the Servant of Yahweh, the Prophet, and there won’t be another like him until Jesus.

Now he is dead and it is the ending of an era and it would seem it couldn’t come at a worse time. They are preparing to cross the Jordan and conquer the Promised Land. They are tackling the impossible mission.

So with grief and loss of leadership behind them, and impossible mission before, God says this to Joshua, the new leader.

3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

Again and again, God seems to be affirming that He is going to accomplish these things.

7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

We see a couple phrases repeated again and again, which in Scripture is a giant flashing neon sign that says THIS IS IMPORTANT. God is saying over and over “I will be with you” and that Joshua will be successful because God will be with him.

That all makes it sound very easy. That sounds like Coach Brandon lifting the weights for me.

But there is another phrase that gets repeated over and over. It is repeated so often it kind of gets ridiculous.

Be Strong and Courageous

Twice in the Deuteronomy passage: be strong and courageous.

Here in verse 6: be strong and courageous.

In verse 7: be strong and VERY courageous.

And then in verse 9: be strong and courageous. And lest you miss that, it states in the negative: do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

And if you peek ahead at the end of the chapter, verse 18, we see repeated again, in a slightly different context “be strong and courageous”.

What does it mean?

Be strong

Have the ability to accomplish what is intended, implying an element of resolve is needed as well. Become powerful. Be conquerors, be victorious, be overpowering, be devoted.

And be courageous

Be victorious conquerors, let grow and increase, marshal force, muster strength, strengthen and establish, determine and persist. Focus one’s strength for a great exertion.

Why Strength?

Why would someone say over and over again that you need strength? Command you to be strong?

Why will they need strength?

Because the mission hard. It will require massive effort.

Why Courage?

Why will they need courage?

Because the mission is terrifying.

If someone stopped and told me 6 times before I went in somewhere to “be courageous”… I would start to get a little freaked out. If you have to build me up this much, it must be terrifying!

But he doesn’t say to get strong? Or to develop courage based on that strength. He doesn’t say to train your men and multiply your numbers, recruit additional members of your army so that your strength is sufficient. This is something God commands in Israel and in Joshua in particular now.

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Verse 9 summarizes this beautifully. It is a command of God “Have I not commanded you?”

The positive phrasing is: Be strong and courageous. That is the attitude you are to have. That is the way you are to be.

By contrast, Do NOT be afraid, do not be discouraged. That is the temptation you will face. It will be scary and it will be discouraging. But in the face of that fear and in the face of that discouragement, you will respond with strength and courage.

How? Why?

For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

The basis of strength and courage is the presence of the Lord. God with us. Yahweh with us.

But that presence of God does not invalidate the use of absolutely every resource they have.

Here is what Joshua is going to experience.

The mission will not be successful because of Joshua’s strength and courage. His strength and courage are not sufficient.

But every ounce of his strength will be required. Every scrap of courage he can muster will be required.

God is going to be creative in showing that the mission is only successful because of Him. He teaches Israel that, he teaches that to the Nations. He teaches that in a particularly ridiculous way in Jericho.

But again and again, Joshua is given a real part to play in the mission, such that all of his strength and all of his courage are absolutely required. And it doesn’t feel like God is carrying him in the sand… it feels like he is fighting for his life, fighting with everything he has, fighting with all the strength and courage he has knowing that it isn’t enough… but trusting that God is going to win… and so he is going to win anyway.

God is going to WIN his Kingdom. And he is going to do it through Joshua and Israelites. But they have to be STRONG and COURAGEOUS, and they can be strong and courageous; not afraid; not discouraged; because God is with them.

God’s presence doesn’t make the mission easy. It makes it possible.

You still have to be strong and courageous.

Example of Weightlifting

Coach Brandon never once lifted a squat or a deadlift for me. He taught me how, he corrected my form, he had me start small, and then he added weight.

And I got scared, but he watched my form and he knew I could do this much more. And it looked good. And he spoke strength and courage into me, and I lifted harder because I trusted that he would know and he would stop me before my back exploded.

Why did I need to be strong and courageous? Because it wasn’t about lifting the weight. Lifting stuff up and putting it down is ridiculous. It is a net gain of zero.

Except… except for what it does to me.

God has infinite options available to him in establishing and growing His Kingdom.

God has infinite options available to him in establishing and growing His Kingdom.

God could have just wiped the slate clean in Canaan. He doesn’t need the Israelites. He doesn’t really need them to be strong and courageous. But he is not just about establishing the Promised Land, he is preparing the Promised People.

Ultimately the land is temporary… the people are forever. And what kind of people are they? What kind of people are they becoming? A strong and courageous people, drawing both strength and courage from the presence of the Lord.

Your Ministry, Your Strength, Your Courage

You have stuff going on. You have challenges in your ministry, in your neighborhood and in your families. You have unforgiveness, and bitterness, you have been hurt, you have hurt others, you have crises and problems and when you are in the midst of them they loom up large and terrifying such that it can be hard to hear or think about anything or anyone else!

And you know that you don’t have enough strength. And you know you don’t have enough courage.

God commands you: Be strong. Be Courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. He is with you.

And what does that actually look like? It looks like you fighting for Him with everything you have, but you know that even when you reach the end of yourself, you are going to be victorious anyway because He is victorious and He is with you.

Example of Personal

1 Year ago I announced my separation and divorce.

This has been an incredibly difficult season of life. Do I know that God has been with me? Yes. And yet… it still feels like the tapping of everything I have. Every ounce of strength. Every scrap of courage. To continue doing what He has called me to do.

But I have strength and courage yet… because He is yet with me. And others here have poured strength and courage into me, and I hope and trust that I get to pour His strength and courage into you that you might continue to fight and win the battle for the Kingdom in your family and home and neighborhood and work!

God’s presence doesn’t make the mission easy. It makes it possible.

God’s presence doesn’t make the mission easy. It means we win.

Therefore, you too are commanded to be Strong and Courageous. Is it going to be hard? Yes. Is it going to be terrifying? Yes. Can you do it anyways? Yes, because he is with you you can have the strength and courage necessary to be victorious.

Strength and Courage. This is a command of God to Israel and Joshua, paired with a promise. We can have strength and courage because he is with us… but it is still going to take strength and courage.

Hazaq veAmes.

חֲזַ֖ק וֶאֱמָ֑ץ

Six times, as it appears six times in our Scripture this morning.