Laying the Foundation: Dependence upon God

Pastor Burcham’s Sermon

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

3.97 degrees. That’s not much of an angle, is it? 4 degrees of an angle? What is that, about this much or so? It’s not like 20 degrees, 45 degrees or 90 degrees. That’s quite a steep angle, but 3.97 degrees seems pretty insignificant to me. Tell that to the builders of the Tower of Pisa, though. Or more famously known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Although it’s off by less than 4 degrees, by the time you get to the top of the tower, the implications are pretty severe. For instance, if you wanted to climb to the top on one side, it would only take you 294 steps; on the other side, you’re going to have to give two more, 296.  One side of it is 183 feet tall; the other side is 186 feet tall. They say if it were standing upright and not leaning, it would be a full 12 feet taller than it is right now.

It begs the question, “What happened?” These were educated people who built the tower. Obviously, a lot of time and effort went into it. What went wrong? Well, historians can say that part of it is the soil in which they built the tower but more than anything else, it was a poor foundation. That means a tower that took over 177 years to build, the reason that it’s leaning can be traced all the way back to the beginning, all the way back to when they laid the foundation. If they had laid the foundation correctly, thousands of hours of work, millions of dollars of material that have been used to shore up the tower so it doesn’t fall over, could have been saved. Pisa could have a tower 12 feet taller than it is right now. But it all comes back to the foundation.

It’s that critical. The bigger the project, the more crucial the foundation that has been laid. My friends, I can’t think of anything bigger for a church than what we as a congregation are about to embark upon. We have laid out a strategic plan that is pretty ambitious. We have some plans and some dreams and some visions for our ministry as we seek to reach out to people with the news of Jesus Christ for the first time and a lifetime, the implications of those ministry plans call for some pretty bold moves, not least of which is the moving of our family, the relocation of our congregation. It doesn’t get any bigger than that. It doesn’t get any more major than that, which means it is absolutely crucial, it is critical that we lay down a solid foundation, a foundation laid out by God’s Word, biblical principles upon which we will build ourselves, biblical principles upon which we will come back to time and time again and, if we stick to that foundation, I have no doubt by God’s grace, we will be successful in implementing that plan. But if we think any time that this is something we can do on our own, that this is something we can accomplish, then we’ve already lost.

This morning, we start with really the cornerstone of that foundation, the place that everything else takes its measurements and angles from and that cornerstone is dependence upon God. The only way we’re going to accomplish anything is if we have total and complete dependence upon our God. This has to flow out of our love and devotion for Him, out of our desire to do His will, our desire to reach out with the gospel message to people who don’t yet know Him, our desire to build people up in the relationship with Christ.  It has to flow out of that. It has to be totally dependent upon God and what He’s going to accomplish among us. Dependence upon God means that this is going to be about God’s vision. It’s going to be to God’s glory. But God’s going to accomplish that through His people.

There are various times through history where God has called upon His people to do major things. I don’t think you’d get much larger than what He called upon the people of Israel to do in Joshua’s time, to take them out of the desert and put them into the Promise Land, the land He had promised to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob and now it was time for them to go and occupy that land. That’s a pretty big vision that God has set before them. People need to be dependent upon God.

So this morning, we’re going to use the book of Joshua to help us lay out what does it mean to have God’s vision. What does it mean to have this for God’s glory? And what does it mean that He’s going to accomplish it through God’s people? Certainly, the people of Israel needed to know God’s vision. They came at a time where they had been wandering the desert for 40 years. Joshua, you may recall, was Moses’ right-hand man. The book of Joshua begins by saying, God said, “My servant, Moses, is dead. Now Joshua, you’re the man who’s in charge. You’re going to lead the people and now it’s time. It’s time to leave the desert behind and to go over into the Promise Land.” Certainly, the people needed to know what God’s vision was for that.

If they were to understand God’s vision, there are two things God calls upon them to do. The first one is to be open to God’s leading. They had to be open to where God was leading them. Certainly, they understood the general vision God had set out for them, that is, they’re going to conquest the land across the Jordan River. What He had promised to Abraham and to Isaac and Jacob, now it was time for them to occupy it. They understood that but how is it all going to work out? How are the details going to flow from that? And He called upon the people to depend upon God to put their faith and trust in Him.

Joshua tells the people this: He sends down his officers in the camp. It says, “He took the orders to the people. ‘When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the priests who are Levites carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it, for you will know which way to go since you have never been this way before.’” Since you have never been this way before. The people may have understood that they were going into the Promise Land but they’ve never done this before. They’ve never been this way before. They have a whole generation of people who grew up in the desert. They don’t remember Egypt and they certainly don’t know anything about the Promise Land. They have never gone this way before. Now it’s time for them to move. Now you would think, “Well, wouldn’t they want to do that? Wouldn’t they want to leave the desert behind?” That’s not a real glamorous lifestyle. I can’t imagine that it was real pleasant, living in the desert. Wouldn’t they want to go into this land which was abundant with vegetation, abundant with livestock, a virtual paradise in the Middle East? Wouldn’t they want to go to the best land of the Middle East and leave the desert behind? Well, there’s a funny thing about us human beings. We don’t like change. The desert at least they knew. The desert they understood and they were comfortable with that. Now God is saying, “I’m going to take you out of your comfort zone and take you someplace new. That means they had to trust God. They had to go along with His leading and be open to that, to leave the known behind and to go into the unknown. They hadn’t been this way before.

I suppose it would be an understatement to say of our congregation, “We haven’t gone this way before.” There are a lot of new things that are coming as far as initiatives as we laid out saying, “God has called us to do this ministry and He’s called us to expand this ministry.” We understand our vision. It’s our vision of grace. It has sort of gone through the tests of time. For eight years now, we know we’re supposed to be growing spiritually. We’re going to be relationship-centered, a beacon to our community, courageous in outreach, an equipping center for church leaders. We understand that but now, all of a sudden, it starts to become a little bit more real. And all of a sudden the implications are different that what it was before. It looks exciting. It looks great. But we know what life is like right now. We have to be open to God’s leading. We don’t know all the details and how it’s all going to flow out from that. It means that it’s going to call upon us to leave the known behind and to go into the unknown, to put our total faith and trust in God, to be completely dependent upon Him because that’s what God’s vision is all about. God’s vision always calls upon us to step out in faith, to put all of our hope and all of our trust in Him.

That’s why God does the second thing with the people of Israel. Right after He tells them, “You don’t know where you’re going so follow the ark of the covenant,” follow God’s presence, then Joshua comes back in and Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” He says consecrate yourself, that is, get ready spiritually because tomorrow, God’s going to do amazing things among you. You see, they’re going to make a physical move from one side of the river to the other side of the river but this is much more than a physical move. This is going to be a spiritual journey. More than anything else, it’s going to be a spiritual journey as they go into the Promise Land. As it calls upon them to put their faith and trust in God alone, to go into the unknown. That’s a spiritual journey that they’re on which means they have to consecrate themselves. They have to have a spiritual renewal, a spiritual revival. They have to get in touch with God and strengthen their faith.

My friends, if we’re going to follow God’s lead, if this is going to be about God’s vision for our congregation, this has to be much more than a physical move. It has to be a spiritual journey, a spiritual journey for us. I believe this can be a time when we can grow in our relationship with God, stronger than maybe we have in the past. As God calls upon us to step out in faith and to put ourselves at His disposal and depend upon Him and only Him, that’s a spiritual journey. That means we have to consecrate ourselves. There needs to be a spiritual renewal, a spiritual revival in each one of our hearts. We have to be bathed in prayer, yes, as a congregation but individually, on a daily basis, saying, “God, we haven’t gone this way before. God, I’m not sure about where you’re leading us. But God, help me trust you. Help me depend upon you. Help me know that you will accomplish this spiritual journey when we’re following your vision.”

But when you’re following God’s vision, it’s for God’s glory and only for God’s glory. You see, this has to be about what God is going to do among us. That’s what it means to depend upon God, to know all the credit, all the honor, all the glory is going to Him and God will leave no room for doubt that this was His work, that this is something He accomplished.

Certainly, that is true with the people of Israel.  God left no doubt who was accomplishing the conquest of the land, who was going to give them that land. Right from the beginning, Chapter 1 of Joshua, God is speaking to Joshua and He says this, “Moses, my servant, is dead. Now then you and all the people get ready to cross the Jordan into the land I am about to give to them.” A little bit later on, He says, “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you.” Who is going to give the people of Israel the land? God is. Who will accomplish the vision? God will. And He left no doubt, no doubt that it would be by His power, by His might that they would occupy the land. From the very beginning, even crossing over into the land, He left no doubt. How did they get into the Promise Land? You have the Jordan River at flood stage. God says, “No problem. Let me hold back the water. Okay, go ahead and cross on dry ground.” There’s no doubt who did that.

How about the first major battle, Jericho? They prance around the town a couple of times and the walls fall down. I seriously doubt it’s because the Israelites were overweight and just the sound of the trumping sort of made the walls fall down. God brought down the walls. A little bit later on, the battle’s not done, the sun’s going down. God says, “Sun, hold on.” And He stops the sun. He extends the day. Who won that battle? God did. God left no room for doubt. He is the one who gave the people the land. All credit, all glory, all honor was to Him.

There can be no doubt, my friends, who will accomplish anything in our ministry. God will. It has to be by His power, by His might, by His blessing so all the credit, all the glory, all the honor has to go to Him. Just looking at the ambitiousness of our plan, there is no way you and I can accomplish that and the moment we start talking about what we’re doing and what we’re accomplishing is the moment we start to fail. When we start talking about what God is doing and what God is accomplishing, then we’re on the right track.

Will we see rivers held at bay? Will we see walls fall down? Will we see the day extended? I believe we will. I don’t think he’s going to stop up the Des Moines River and I don’t think the walls are going to fall down but I do believe we’re going to see amazing things so there will be no doubt. I believe we will see obstacles that we cannot see how they will be overcome, all of a sudden, moved out of the way for us. I believe we will see things that defy explanation and we’ll have to say that was a God moment because He accomplished that because we couldn’t figure out any way to do it ourselves. I believe we will see those kind of amazing things as we pursue God’s vision and we give God the glory. He needs all the credit.

But I have to tell you, as sinful human beings, it’s going to be easy for us to get off track. It’s going to be easy for us to change our focus away from God and to what we’re doing, just like it was for the Israelites. That’s why God said to Joshua, “Listen, send 12 of the guys back into the river, pick up the boulders and bring them back out. You’re going to build an altar.” So he built an altar so every time people passed by, they would remember who accomplished this. In Chapter 4, he says this, “Now when they got to Gilgal, Joshua had them set up the stones they had taken out of the Jordan. And he said to the Israelites, ‘In the future, when your descendants asked their fathers what do these stones mean, tell them Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ He did this so all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord is powerful so you might always fear the Lord your God.” So that all the people would know who accomplished the conquest of the land, the powerful hand of the Lord. And every time they passed by that altar, they would be reminded of it. And future generations who weren’t even alive at the time, when they passed by the altar, their fathers and grandfathers would say, “Those stones, they came out of the bed of the Jordan during flood stage to show that it was the hand of the Lord so that we might fear Him, that is, respect Him and honor Him.”

No doubt you’ve noticed the stones that are here this morning to keep our focus on what God will do. Each week, we’ll build on to this foundation as we come up with the four principles from God’s Word. They will stand as a reminder among us. This morning, they remind us it is God’s vision to God’s glory accomplished through God’s people. They will go with us so future generations, when they see them and they point to them and they ask our children and our grandchildren, “What’s with the stones? What’s with all that about God’s vision, glory and people?” we’ll say because of what God did among us, to focus on His accomplishments so there would be no room for doubt. This is to God’s glory.

But it will be accomplished through God’s people. God always accomplishes vision through His people. He did through the Israelites. He accomplished His vision through them. They went into the land. God gave them the land but He used the people that were there. When did the water of the Jordan stop flowing? Did you catch it? Was it before the people stepped into the water? When the priest’s foot touched the water, that’s when it stopped flowing. When they stepped out in faith and became God’s instruments, the water stopped flowing.  He is going to accomplish things through His people.

He accomplished the conquest of the land through His people but what they didn’t know, what they couldn’t see was they were part of something even bigger than that, even bigger than the conquest of the land. They were part of God’s larger plan, God’s plan of salvation for all mankind, for through this nation Israel, through one specific tribe of the nation of Israel, there would come forth a man and a woman, Joseph and Mary, and that marriage, through the incarnation of the Holy Spirit, the Jesus, the Son of God, would be born. They are part of something which is even larger than what they could imagine because they are part of the Savior of the world coming into our world, of Jesus entering into creation, living among us, dying for us and earning salvation for all people. And these people who crossed the Jordan were part of that, a critical part of that. How awesome is that?

God still uses His people today. I have no doubt that God will use us and that God has a plan for our congregation and He will accomplish that plan through His church and we get to be along for the ride. We get to be His instruments. I have no doubt we’ll see amazing things. We’ll see lives changed. We’ll see ministries flourish. We’ll see barriers that are broken down. There will be times when the water is going to be rushing down and we’re going to have to stick our toe in the water and then, all of a sudden, God is going to hold up the water and let us cross on through.

I have no doubt that we’re part of something which is much larger than ourselves. It’s much bigger than any of us, probably larger than we can imagine. To think about in the generations to come, the lives that will be touched, the souls that might well have been lost, gained for heaven. And you and I get to be a part of that. We get to be God’s instruments, as He accomplishes His vision for His glory but through His people. I have no doubt. If we can build upon a solid foundation, by God’s grace, He will grant us success.

But it begins here and we cannot waver on this point. Total complete dependence upon God. It must be God’s vision, for God’s glory accomplished through God’s people. Amen.

Copyright 2008 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church