In with The New, Out With The Old

In With the New, Out With the Old.
The Children of Israel at the Jordan River
by Pastor Jurgen Rausch
Josh 3:1-5, 14-17

13-12-29

1" Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. After three days the officers went throughout the camp,  giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the levitical Priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it.  Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. …..5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

14 "So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground".




20 Years Ago This Year!


The year was 1994. The occasion was the 40th anniversary of the church that I pastored, at a time when the church had turned a corner and was beginning to see some new momentum. I preached a sermon that I have only preached there and nowhere else until I came across it in preparation for this year-end service.


Here are some of the exact words from that sermon:


The good news is that we are definitely going to cross the Jordan River; the bad news is that we are not quite sure where. For those who have no idea what I am talking about, let me explain: Our church is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this November – it was in Nov. of ’54 when the church began, now has been in existence for 40 years.


Some have likened these 40 years to '40 years spend in the wilderness'.  Although you don’t want to take the analogy too far, because after all, Israel was in the dessert for 40 years because of disobedience, which is certainly not the case here; and with Israel, that entire first generation had to die off which again is not the case with us (if anything, some of our strongest advocates for faith, and moving forward with God, have come from that first generation).


So, not taking the comparison too far, nevertheless, there is some merit in the comparison because our 40 years have not been easy years.


The church has always been rather small and obscure, we’ve had our struggles over the years over language, culture; over ideas and personalities. One pastor had a nervous breakdown, another pastor passed away with cancer – it’s been tough.


God’s been with us and we’ve remained faithful, but it’s been tough and slow going, no doubt about that.


But in the last couple of years things have started to come together for us.  More and more people are being touched by the ministries of this church, attendance is on the rise, we’re seeing new people come, younger people come with lots of children, we’re sensing an increased presence of the Holy Spirit, the worship is more dynamic and we’re seeing God blessing both new and old ministries.


Through all of this has come a sense of momentum and a sense of being on the verge of something extraordinary.  40 years of wilderness seem to be behind us and what lies ahead is the 'Promised Land'.


A large and spacious land, which is ours for the taking!


“I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.  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.” Josh 1:3-4


And then I said this:


'May I be so bold as to suggest, that God wants to increase our borders?

The only reason why we need to increase our borders is because it’s getting a little tight for everyone as it is right now, not to mention trying to add those whom the Lord will add to this church.


We need to lay hold of the land with its increased borders.  As Israel needed to lay hold of its promised land so we need to lay hold of our 'promised land.'


Those words were spoken 20 years ago! At that time we were on the verge of the 'Promised Land'.  We didn’t cross into it that year, but waited at the Jordan River until we were large enough and ready enough to cross.

Did we cross over?  Not sure about that but we certainly were on the verge of it.


 Now looking back, God did indeed bring us to the verge of it, but I don’t think we ever crossed over.  Today that church remains pretty much where it was when I got there.




Today, It’s Us  at the 'Promised Land'.


This morning as we sit on the precipice of a new year and as I think about this idea of 'in with the new and out with the old', I wonder what that means for us, at Scott St., at the eclipse  of 2013?


The idea of  'in with the new and out with the old' came to me months ago, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to talk about the 'Promised Land', or' the Tender Shoot of Jesse'.


I love the image of the tender shoot of Jesse taken from Isaiah 11:


(“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit”).


This idea of Jesus’ birth, in the bareness of a cold winter night, being the first fruits of spiritual life, that would usher in a mighty harvest of spiritual abundance one day.   I love the idea of what that could mean for us, as we consider the beginning of new growth and life in the middle of our winter.

That certainly is a great way to commemorate this idea of “in with the new and out with the old.”


But honestly, I couldn’t get over the 'Promised Land'.  This idea, that we too, have come through 40 years of wilderness, that after having gloriously come out of Egypt, at the Red Sea, we have ended up with 40 years of wandering through the dessert.


And finally, now this faint hope – almost like the fragile shoot from Jesse’s stump – a faint whisper that maybe the corner has been turned and that at long last, we can leave this wretched wilderness behind.  


You almost dare not hope, lest you spook it away, but there is this faint feeling of our days of dessert-like existence, finally coming to an end.

May I humbly suggest that we may indeed be nearing the edge of the Jordan River – that great barrier, that great divide – and that beyond, on the other side lies the 'Promised Land'.  A land – a reality that is ours for the taking, and our inheritance.   


Look up from where you are now.  Turnaround, from seeing only the dessert behind you, of what we call 2013 and the years before. Look up, to see what stretches ahead as far as the eye can see, in what we call 2014 and the years beyond!  And hear the Word of the Lord:


“I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.  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.” Josh 1:3-4


Your territory will be the north- end of St Catharines with borders that will extend from the north- end shoreline of Lake Ontario to the southern borders near the QEW, from the eastern edges of this city near Read Rd. all the way over to Ontario St. and beyond that.  


A land teeming with tens of thousands of people in desperate need of a spiritual life, a welcoming community and a message of hope & forgiveness.

This is our territory, these are our people and this is our mission!   


Our Promised Land, is us being a strong, compelling beacon of light in the north- end of this city.  


It doesn’t matter where you come from, to be here this morning.  Doesn’t matter if you drive in from Vineland, NOTL, the west- or south end.  


All of us are here to be a lighthouse in this much wider community.  Ours is to be a lighthouse.  Ours is to be The Lighthouse Church.


What that will look like, remains to be seen at this point. Some of us have glimpsed the possibilities.  Those who have glimpsed the land with eyes of faith, have said:


 “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.”  Nu. 13:27


Here is the land.  See the potential.  Imagine what can be done here. The hundreds, possibly thousands, who can come to faith in Christ.  This land flows with milk and honey, folks!


This is the 'Tender Shoot of Jesse’s stump'.  This is the glimpse into the 'Promised Land'.   What all that looks like, I don’t know.  Where we will cross and how we will enter the land, is yet unclear.

But on the edge of 2014 look up and see what lies ahead! Consider the lessons learned by those that crossed into their Promised Land a long time ago, namely, the children of Israel.




Lesson 1- The Right Time


There is a definite time to go, but also a time to wait.  Timing is critical when it comes to moving into the Promised Land.  


Israel did not blindly run into the river the moment they arrived at its shore.   They arrived, they assembled, they prepared, they waited for everything to fall into place and then they crossed the river.


I am sure there were those who were very impatient and who thought that river should have been crossed long ago.  


In fact, there was a time, some took matters into their own hands and it ended in disaster.

“We will go up to the place the Lord promised” Nu 14:39, to which Moses replied “This will not succeed” vs. 41


The reason why it would not succeed, is because the divine timetable had just shifted and by going now, they would move ahead of God’s timing, which always ends badly:


“Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord’s covenant moved from the camp.  Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.” Nu. 14:44,45


Wow, what an incredibly important lesson to learn!  Timing has to be righ!




Lesson 2- The right people.


Wait for those who are still arriving or haven’t arrived yet.  

You can imagine a mega group this size, travelling in a herd, means that those who are at the front of the pack, will arrive long before those at the rear,  show up.


It’s real easy for those at the front of the pack to get impatient, with those still arriving, or who haven’t even arrived yet.   Those at the front are ready to cross long before everyone at the rear are still at a distance and had  not even arrived.  


This is a caravan. This will take time. Not everyone moves at the same pace.  It takes some longer to get there, where others are already parked.


So, on the one hand, there needs to be patience and a willingness to bear with those who have not quite arrived yet.  Let them get there, catch their breath and consider the promises stretched out before them, before taking the plunge.


When a People move into their Promised Land,  as many as possible must come along.


There’s always going to be those who will not make the move, no matter what; there’s always going to be some 'naysayers' and no matter what you say or do, it’s going to be 'No'.   I am not suggesting that you wait for them, because then you will wait until the cows come home!


But surely, most will need to cross the Jordan with you, otherwise it will never work! Moving ahead with only half the tribe will not succeed.  


In fact, let me tell you that at least 80% need to cross the Jordan so as to succeed in the struggles and battles to come.


God made it clear that all were to go:

“Now then, you and all the people, get ready to cross the Jordan River” (Josh 1:2)


which is precisely what happened:

“All Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground” (Josh 3:17).


At least 80%, if not even more!


There was a time when it appeared that there were less than 80% ready to make the move and it seemed as though it wasn’t possible to do this.


In the days when they were first talking about crossing the Jordan, the tribes of the Reubinites, Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh did not want to cross over.  

“Do not make us cross the Jordan” (Nu. 32:5)


While 2.5 tribes out of 12 does not seem like a lot, it amounted to 18% of the population.  108,000 people out of a total population of 603,000 were not going to make the crossing.


Moses was so concerned, that in his mind, it might scuttle the entire undertaking.  To him, it reminded him of the spies who came back, with a negative report causing such unbelief; resulting 40 more years of the dessert.  


Notice what he said:


6 Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, “Should your fellow Israelites go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the Israelites from crossing over into the land the Lord has given them? This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land.

14 “And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the Lord even more angry with Israel.  If you turn away from following him, he will again leave all this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.”Nu. 32:6-8, 14-15


It wasn’t until they promised that they would not only, not stand in the way, but they would lend them their resources to help subdue the land, that the tide in Moses' mind shifted.


And this with 20% of the population.  Have you heard of the 80/20 principle? It’s actually known as the Pareto Principle.


The Pareto principle is seen in economics where 80% of the wealth is held by 20% of the people.  In business it has various applications:

• 80% of a company's profits come from 20% of its customers
  
  
• 80% of a company's complaints come from 20% of its customers
  
  
• 80% of a company's sales come from 20% of its products
  
  
• 80% of a company's sales are made by 20% of its sales staff
  
  

And in social settings, 20% will influence the other 80%, which is what you saw with the concerns Moses had.

Actually, in group settings there is a 20, 20, 60 principle at work, where the 20% at either end can move the other 60%.   20% at the top can move the remaining 60% toward the top, as can the 20% at the bottom move that same 60% toward the bottom.  

With most group issues, 20% will see it long before anyone else sees it, while 20% will never see it.  The point is that either 20% can influence the rest to move in either one direction.

It’s almost like the herd of people arriving at the Jordan.  The first 20% to arrive will long have seen the possibility of what lies ahead even as the bulk are only slowly arriving at that same conclusion.

The point is that you cannot cross into the Promised Land with less than 80% of the people moving with you.

So, the right time, the right people and third, the right place.



Lesson 3-  The right place

You don’t cross a river like the Jordan just anywhere unless of course you have a boat.   For them, to get to the Promised Land, they had to cross that river, which was impossible from a human perspective.  

You do not just walk across the Jordan at that time of the year; you don’t wade into its waters since the currents will sweep you away and its depth will drown you.  

This just happened to be when the waters were the highest:

“The Jordan is at flood stage all during the harvest”  (Josh 3:15)

So what do you do?  You either get into a boat, or try to do it yourself, or you don’t move until God stops the water.

A lot of people including some churches simply do it themselves; they get themselves a boat and off they go.   Who needs God to stop the mighty waters when you can build a boat?

There are those who expand their boundaries and cross their Jordan’s because they have the means to do so.   They are big enough, talented enough or rich enough that they can cross it,  with or without God.

But that is not who we are!  The only way for this church to cross its Jordan and reach its Promised Land is by God drying up the river so that we can cross it.   

God will have to make a way for us, to cross that river during flood stage.  Just as he did for the Israelites!

“The water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away….while the water flowing down to the Sea of Arabah was completely cut off” . Josh 3:16

The interesting thing is that this happened at a specific place:

    “and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan” Josh 3:1

That would be the exact location where the river would dry up; not a mile up river, nor a mile down river, but only there! Very specific!  

I suppose you could argue, the river would dry up wherever they set foot, and it just happened to be a Shittim; but I like to think it was the other way around.  It would be at Shittim where God would make the miracle and they better be at that spot, if they wanted to cross.

Somehow, that sounds closer to God’s truth,  then us presuming that rivers dry up wherever we set foot.   

It had to be the right people, had to be the right place and had to be the right time.

So find that place where the river dries up.  Find that place where God wants us to cross over.  Be there at the right time with the right people and lastly, make sure it’s in the right order.

Lesson 4 The Right Order

'Right Order' means the right people in the right order.

Who were the right people again?  Not their parents except for two old warriors from that previous generation named Caleb and Joshua.

So it was those who were there that day.  Therefore, the right people and  in the right order.

What is the right order?  Leaders first!  Leaders, needed to lead.  

There was a strong emphasis on the priests being the first to lead and the people to follow.

“So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them.”  Josh 3:14

Leaders need to lead! Again and again in the Scriptures we find leaders who were called upon to lead a people, be it the Old Testament priests, prophets and kings; or later the New Testament apostles, pastors and elders.

Leaders were to set the trend and lead the people.  Visionaries who would see the potential.  Men and women of great courage who would take a leap.

Lead, they did, starting with Joshua at the helm, not Moses, who died along with that previous generation!  Joshua along with Caleb and the priests, who led the people through the waters of the Jordan,  into the 'Promised Land'.

“The priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them.”

People, let the leaders lead! Don’t rebel, don’t grumble, don’t complain! Leader, you need to lead! You need to be strong and courageous. You need to be the first ones in the water.  You need to make the first move.

So Consecrate Yourself!

But not before one final act that each one had to do:

“Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you”  (3:5)

To consecrate means to prepare, to separate, to devote and to dedicate.

It means saying "Yes" to God, without knowing where God will lead.  I don’t know what the Promised Land looks like but I know, that we cannot go back to where we have come from!

Your territory will be the north end of St Catharines with borders that will extend from the north- end shoreline of Lake Ontario to the southern borders near the QEW, from the eastern edges of this city near Read Rd., all the way over to Ontario St and beyond that.

I see its boundaries, but we are small, weak and many of us are old.  How is this possible?

“Consecrate yourself for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you. “

Preparing yourself to receive from Him, where we invite Him to do great and mighty things among us and through us.

It’s standing before God and saying: “Here am I, please use me!"