[This sermon was preached on 30 October 2011 at Folsom Community Church]
Miracles:
God’s Power To Move Us
Joshua 4
Introduction: What Does It Mean? (vs. 20-21)
[Helen's Valentine’s Day Prayer and Unexpected Answer] This ring is a reminder of
the way that God brought Helen and I together. If we sat down and asked each of
the couples in this room how God brought them together, I think we would have a
lot of stories. Stories of how God could bring together two completely
different people, from completely different backgrounds, countries and cultures
in marriage. And many times, over the past 20 years, my mind has wandered back
to those events, reminding me: Yes, this was God’s plan and this is God’s plan.
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| USMC War Memorial, Photo by Catie Drew, Public Domain |
I’ve seen a lot of statues in my time.
Big ones, little ones. When I look at the statues of great men, if I spend all
my time wondering about how it was made, what materials they used, who the
artist was, but I miss the story that the statue is supposed to tell, then I’m
missing the point.
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| Graves at Arlington on Memorial Day, Photo by Remember, Public Domain |
I’ve seen a lot of grave markers
in my time. Do you spend your time oohing and ahhing over the mausoleums? Or do
you remember the life story of the one who it commemorates?
When we come to Joshua, chapter
4, the monument on the bank of the Jordan River was a pile of 12 rocks piled
up. Not very impressive. But let me tell
you, the story is amazing, because it is the story of ordinary people, an
miracle and the God behind the miracle.
The LORD your
God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up
before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the
earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might
always fear the LORD your God.” – Joshua 4:19-24
They grab the 10 commandments
from Mt. Sinai and then march through the desert until they arrive at the
Jordan River. Now God has told them that, on the other side of the Jordan
River, is the land he has promised long ago to Abraham, their ancestor and that
it is a land so rich and fertile, they call it the land of “milk and honey”. So
far, so good right?
So the Israeli nation sends out
twelve spies to take a look at this Promised Land. They bring back a good
news-bad news story. The good news is the land is incredibly rich, tons of
grapes and olives. The bad news is: the Amorites already found it and moved
into the neighborhood. And they are big (I mean really big, Goliath sized),
mean, nasty people.
What do the people of Israel do
when they hear the bad news? They do what we do. They forget the good news.
They forget the promise of God. They whine and compliant and throw a tantrum.
So God says, “Fine, you don’t want my promised land. Then don’t have it.” And
sends them back into the desert and says that everyone over 20 years old will
not see the “promised” land except for two people: Joshua and Caleb.
Fast forward 40 years. Moses just
died after giving the longest sermon in the Bible (the book of Deuteronomy) and
the people are ready to try again. There parents have all died in the desert. So
they line up at the river, which is at flood stage, overflowing its banks. The
priests walk to the edge of the river and step into the water. Except, as their
feet come down, God does a miracle. He not only stops the water but dries up
the ground underneath. The priests stand all day in the middle of what used to
be a river while the people cross. Joshua tells 12 men, one from each of the 12
tribes of Israel, to grab a rock from the middle of the river. Then, after
everyone is across, the priests come out, the river returns its normal floody
self and they pile up the 12 rocks at the place they camp that night.
What Are Miracles For?
Now, let me stop right there and
ask you a question: What are miracles for? [repeat] Does God do them for the
entertainment value? What did they do before television and iPods? Oh, back
then, son, they had miracles. Is that it? So that the Bible wouldn’t be boring?
To show off? Is that what
miracles are for? Hey look at what I can do, a two headed albino alligator.
50,000 galaxies. Who does God show off to? That would be pretty pathetic if God
was showing off, because there’s no one else whom God admires to show off to.
There’s no audience capable of truly appreciating what God can do. I mean, look
at his intended audience, the Israelites. Big river, flood stage, dry ground.
And how did they applaud God? Great job, God, wanna rock?
God does miracles because he
wants to motivate us. And God wants monuments because we tend to forget the
miracles. Look at verse 21:
He said to the
Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their fathers,
‘What do these stones mean?’….’ - Joshua 4:21
When God does a miracle, it is
not a secret. If God does something amazing in your life, don’t keep it to
yourself. Don’t let the story die with you. Instead, find opportunities to
celebrate the miracles and tell the story. Those rocks next to the Jordan River
were designed to be provocative. Those rocks were designed to generate
questions. There was no way that you could stroll down the Gilgal promenade and
miss these rocks.
If God has radically changed your
life, if God has moved in a way that only God can, it should generate some
comment—some questions-- from our friends, our families, our associates.
Because if it doesn’t, it means that either it wasn’t a radical change
or else you are really good at hiding it.
Sometimes you’ve got to pull the
Ferrari out of the garage. You know, God has done amazing miracles around your
life. He has changed you and is changing you. But you only bring the Ferrari
out on Sundays and then you only show it to your Ferrari club friends. Then you
tuck it back into the garage and the rest of the week you drive your lemon to
work and school.
You are the light
of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp
and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to
everyone in the house. – Matthew 5:14-15
God’s miracles are meant to be
shared. They are meant to be remembered. They are meant to move us and
motivate us, in four specific ways mentioned in the next few verses.
Miracles Are God’s Power In Our
Lives (vs. 22-23a)
First, miracles are God’s power in our lives. Look at verses
22 and the first part of verse 23:
Now the Jordan
is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests carried
the priests … 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 ... [and] was completely cut off. – Joshua 3:15, 16a
The priests …
stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel passed by
until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. – Joshua 3:17
A miracle is God’s power for
God’s purpose with God’s people. A miracle, it is God’s motivation
for you to move. A miracle is telling you God’s direction to move. A miracle is
telling you who to move with.
First, miracles are God’s power
in our lives.
Miracles Are God’s Power in Our
Lifetime (vs. 23b)
Second, we move because God is active now. Look at what it
says in the second part of verse 23:
The Lord your God did to the Jordan
just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until
we had cross over. – Joshua 4:23b
What is he talking about? Well, if you remember, this isn’t
the first time that Israel has cross over a big body of water on dry ground.
Back when Moses led them out of Egypt, they came to the edge of the Red Sea,
with Pharaoh’s army charging behind them, and God opened up a passage and the
people escaped. Now, Joshua is leading them out of the desert, they come to the
edge of the Jordan, and now God opens up a passage and the people enter the
promised land. Why a second time? Was
God running out of ideas, like a bad miracle sequel?
No. It was important that the people know that God was with
them, in the same way, with the same power, with the same commitment, as he had
been when they left Egypt. None of them had been adults and many were not even
born back in the big plague-and-miracle days. So they didn’t know personally
the power of God.
This was especially true of Joshua. You see Moses, his
predecessor had been leading Israel for nearly 40 years. But just before they
got to the Jordan River, Moses dies. People wondered, “Does he have what it
takes to be the leader?” “Does he have what it takes for the job?” People
wondered. Joshua wondered. Back in Joshua 1, God has to tell him several times,
“Be strong and courageous.” “Be strong and courageous.” Why did God have to say
that? Because Joshua was shaking in his boots. But by crossing in the same way
as Moses it gave everyone confidence that God was with Joshua just like he was
with Moses. In fact, that’s what it says in chapter 4, verse 14:
The prophet Habakkuk asked the same question:
LORD, I have heard of your fame; I
stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make
them known; - Habakkuk 3:2
I am convinced that God is still in the business of working
miracles in this generation. The miracles of God are not just the miracles of
the Bible—they are the miracles also of this time and this place.
Folsom is not forgotten. Sacramento did
not slip his mind. Natomas is not an afterthought. God has not finished
demonstrating his power right here.
But, when he moves, will you move? First, miracles are God’s
power in our lives. Second, Miracles are God’s power in our lifetime, in our
generation.
Miracles Are God’s Power for
His Plans (vs. 24a)
Third, miracles are God’s power for His plans (not ours!).
God has big plans and wants us to join him. Every wonder what’s on God’s day
planner—on his calendar? “7:02am, cause the sun to rise. 11:00am, go to the
dentist” No, God’s calendar is full of a much bigger plan.
Back in verse 24, we find out that the pile of rocks next to
the Jordan was God’s announcement that He has big plans.
He did this so that all the peoples
of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful… - Joshua 4:24
Did you know that a miracle is not just for you? God is not
just giving you a private showing; he is starting a world tour. Through the
power he is displaying, his target audience is the world. The gospel is the
message. The miracles are the marketing plan. The world is his target audience.
Crossing the Jordan River with a
miracle was not just about keeping your feet dry. It was not just about taking
the Promised Land. Those rocks were a reminder to the people of God: You are a
part ofhte process, but you are not the end of the process.
Miracles are not about you. They
are about God. Do you remember the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer? Do you
remember what you were asking?
Your kingdom come. Your will be
done, on earth, as it is in heaven. – Matthew 6:10
When we pray the Lord ’s Prayer, we are really praying that
God will take over Folsom, California, starting with me. God’s kingdom expands, not by geographical or
political or economic or ethnic boundaries, but in the hearts of men and women
whose hearts are fully devoted to him.
[Folsom Lake College, 9K students, Folsom, 60K people, Sacramento
Area, 2.5M[1], California,
30M people, the World: 7B]
What would it look like if God did a miracle right here?
Marriages restored, the desperate given hope, the poor being fed, relationships
restored, addictions cast off, lives transformed. Starting a church in Folsom
is not starting a Rotary club. Starting a church in Folsom is starting a
revolution. You are not residents, you are revolutionaries.
First, miracles are God’s power in our lives. Second,
miracles are God’s power in our lifetime. Third, miracles are God’s power for
His plans.
Miracles Are God’s Power to
Change Our Heart (vs. 24b)
And finally, when God performs a miracle, one of the reasons
he does that miracle is to change our hearts to that we focus on God, not
ourselves.
Look at the second part of verse 24:
He did this ... so that you might
always fear the Lord your God. – Joshua 4:24b
Sometimes we see that phrase, “fear the Lord” in the Bible,
we can get confused. Why should I be afraid of God? Think about it in terms of
your family. Did you ever do something, and you knew that if your father ever
found out about it, you would be in big trouble. That is a part of the “fear of
the Lord.” How about this, did you ever work really hard on something, because
you knew that your parents would approve? That is a part of the “fear of the
Lord” Did you ever do something that was a little bit risky, it required
courage, but you knew that your parents would like that. That is part of the
“fear of the Lord.”
There is only one opinion that matters. There are lots of
people willing to tell you their opinion. Every piece of junk mail; every ad on
TV; every billboard-they all try to get my attention so that they can tell me
their opinion. My boss, my kids, my
in-laws, my friends, they all have an opinion for me. Buy this. Do this.
Achieve this. Live like this. They all have something to tell me. Twenty
some-odd years after I left home, my Mom lives three-hundred miles away, but I
can still hear her voice in my head. But whose voice overrides all the other
voices: God's.
When God pulls out the miracles and lets us see it, he has wants
to change our opinion about Him. Is He the VIP in our life, or do we try to
maintain ourselves as the most-important person In our world, we think we are
the center of the universe. So one of
the reasons God does miracles is to take our focus off of us and put the
spotlight on God.
What God is doing is the most important activity. What God
thinks about something is the most important opinion. What God cares about
should break our hearts. That’s what it means to fear the Lord. That’s what it
means to “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and
strength.”
If God is going to change the world, he must first move you
by changing your focus.
First, miracles are God’s power in our lives. Second,
miracles are God’s power in our lifetime. Third, miracles are God’s power for
His plans. Fourth, miracles are God’s power to change your heart.
Conclusion
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| Bertelsen Park, El Dorado Hill, Photo by Helen Lewis |
Is that what life is about?
Go back to the River Jordan. It was just a pile of rocks.
There was nothing special about the rocks themselves. If we saw one of those
rocks today, we would not notice anything extraordinary about them. Their shape
is normal. Their chemical composition is normal. Their flaws and coloration is
normal. But their significance, their importance is amazing, because of what
God did with them. They were ordinary, now they are extraordinary, not because
of the “rock-ness” but because of God’s favor. They were just river rubble, but
now they are the symbol of a miracle.
We are like those rocks. We are ordinary people. We are look like ordinary people, we smell
like ordinary people, we are flawed like ordinary people. But our significance
is amazing because of what God did with us. He takes ordinary people and shapes
us and forms us until, one day, we will be completely transformed into the
person he has always wanted us to be.
And I am certain that God, who
began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally
finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. – Philippians 1:6 (NLT)
We have substituted cheap dreams for the dreams of God. What
do I want at the end of my life? A baseball field named after me. Are my
passions so trivial that I am content with green grass and a baseball diamond?
My dream is that when people look back at my life, they will
not see the pile of rocks, but will see the power and glory of God shining
through because of his miracles. My dream is that each life I come into contact
with will be transformed by the power of God. My dream is that Folsom Community
Church is the start of a life-giving, life-changing movement of churches in the
Sacramento area. My dream is that my heart breaks for what breaks his heart and
that my heart celebrates when his heart rejoices.
But I can’t do that. My habits, my attitudes, my heart is too
self-centered. I am too worried about my reputation and what people think about
me. I am too comfortable with the way things are right now. I need a miracle. Am
I the only one who needs a miracle?
Maybe you’re here this morning, and you aren’t too sure
about this whole God thing, or miracles. Maybe it sounds crazy to you. I agree,
it certainly sounds a little bit weird. But what if it was true? What if God is
real and still in the business of changing peoples’ lives? Work with me here.
If God was real and good and powerful, what would it take for you to trust him?
Maybe you need to offer up a prayer like this:
God, I am not sure whether you are
real or not. And I’m not sure that if you are real, whether I would really like
you. But I want to find out the truth, and if find out that you are real and
good, I will follow you as best as I can. I will know if you are real and good
if xxxx.
Maybe God has spoken to you. You are convinced he is real.
But you don’t know what to do next. Here’s a miracle: God sent Jesus, condemned
him for what you did wrong, bought your life with his, and wants to re-launch
your life. The Bible calls this being “made new” It is a miracle, like the
miracle of creating the world. It is a miracle like Jesus coming back to life.
I also pray that you will
understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe
him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead … -
Ephesians 1:19-20a
Many of you already know what I’m talking about. God has
already re-launched your life spiritually. But you wish, just wish to see God
move in a miraculous way during our life. My brothers and sisters, how I long
to see God move like that. Like he did in the Bible. Like he did in the book of
Acts. God doesn’t owe me or you a miracle. But I know the best place to find
one: with the people of God, in his church. What does God do with rocks?
And you are living stones that God
is building into his spiritual temple. - 1 Peter 2:5
He builds them into a holy place, a monument to his glory.We are the miracle that God is using to change our world.
[1]
“Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area Estimated”, July 1, 2009, U.S.
Censur Bureau, http://www.census.gov/popest/metro/tables/2009/CBSA-EST2009-01.csv,
Retrieved October 26, 2011
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