BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS
Joshua 1:1-9
05/05/13 © Rev. Jay Lee
Today is the 1st Sunday in May and this month, college seniors will be saying goodbye to their friends and what was so familiar
to them—namely 16 years of structured educational system where they knew, step by step, year by year, the direction that they were
going in. But now, upon graduation, many of them will be entering into uncharted territories. At many high schools across the
nation, valedictorians will be saying farewell speeches to their classmates and to their fellow teachers, saying something like, “You
can conquer the world—seize the moment—go into the future.”
In fact, as Joe has prayed already this morning, at the 11 AM hour in Elliott Hall there will be High School Senior
Commissioning Service as we send out our High School seniors. It’s a beautiful thing.
But if truth be told, many of them, including us here this morning, would say that we are living with a sense of uncertainty.
Uncertainty about the future, there’s a sense of anxiety about where we are today. Did you know that over 30% of recent college
graduates are having to live with their parents, their moms and dads, upon their graduation because they cannot find meaningful
employment?
Cultural historians have labeled this past decade in United States as a decade of anxiety and a decade of fear. Fear
increasingly defines who we are and how we live out our lives. There’s a sense of fear about both national and local and
international economics. Fear of climate change! Fear of diminishing water supply! Fear of international terrorism! Fear of the rise of
militant Islam! There’s an alarming growth of human trafficking. Even closer to home here, West Nile virus! Broken marriages!
Teacher and students scandals!
Last week I was visiting the SMU campus, my alma mater, and I was entering a public facility, not the restrooms but a public
area student center and I saw 3 signs that I did not notice a couple of years ago. The first two signs are something that we are very
aware of: The first sign simply said, “Students, in case of fire, here’s what you need to do.” The second sign, “In case of tornadoes,
here’s what you need to do.” It’s the 3rd sign that caught me off guard. “In case of lockdown, here’s what you need to do in case
there is gunmen terrorizing your campus.”
Now, I should not be shocked by this because I know that in my own kid’s elementary schools they have lockdown drills. We’re
living in a time when there is heightened awareness, fear and anxiety and the world says, “Be afraid! Be very afraid!”
But as followers of Jesus Christ, we do not need to fear. We worship a mighty God—the God who created the universe, a God
by the sheer breadth of His breath scattered the stars in the galaxies. He knows who we are. He created the mountains before we
were ever formed. The winds and waves obey Him. And this is a God who we trust and this is a God who revealed Himself in the
person of Jesus Christ and gives us courage to live a faithful life.
So what I’m going to do this morning is read a passage from the Old Testament, from the Book of Joshua and see how God
deposits into us godly courage. So if you have your bibles with you, would you turn to Joshua, chapter 1, verses 1 through 9. And
Joshua can be found after Deuteronomy, before Judges. Joshua is the successor to Moses. Let’s see how God gives courage to
Joshua.
Before we read, let us pray. Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You for Your Word this morning. And we pray that by
Your Holy Spirit that Your Spirit will be our guide and our teacher and would point us to truth so that we could see the Living Word,
Your Son, Jesus Christ. It’s in His Name that we pray. Amen.
This is God’s active and living word for us this morning, Joshua 1: 1-9:
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, 2 “Moses my
servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people
of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4 From the
wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the
going down of the sun shall be your territory. 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with
Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit
the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law
that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success
wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you
may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good
success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your
God is with you wherever you go.”
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Joshua had big shoes to fill. This is Moses that we are talking about. He is about to hand over or give the mantle of leadership
to Joshua. Joshua, the granddaddy of all biblical characters. When Moses stood before the Red Sea and raised his arms up, the Red
Sea parted, divided, split in the middle so that the Hebrew people could escape Egypt and go into the Promised Land.
Now where was Joshua at that point? Joshua was just a kid or perhaps a baby and he was able to walk along the dry sea.
Remember the fight between Israel and the Malachites? Whenever Moses had his arms propped up, the Israelites would win the
battle but when his arms would come down, the Israelites would lose. Where was Joshua at that point? Well, most likely, he was
fighting in the battle and he was turning around to make sure his mentor’s arms were up so that they would win the battle. And
miracles after miracles, Joshua saw the greatness of Moses.
But verse 1 in today’s passage says that Moses is no longer here now. He is dead. And God has chosen Joshua to lead the
way. And God says, “Joshua, you’re it. There is no Plan B and you’re the Plan A and you must take the realm and move forward.”
And I’m sure Joshua said, “Me! I’m afraid! I cannot lead these people.” And I believe this is the context in today’s passage when the
Lord commands Joshua 3 times in today’s text, “Be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous.”
Now there’s a difference between being brave and having godly courage! You can go to Six Flags and try one of the scariest
rides and you will be considered a brave person. You can skydive from a plane and be considered a brave person. But being
biblically courageous is different. Almost always bravery points to what you can do with your own willpower and points to the
greatness of yourself but godly courage points to the greatness of God.
In here, the phrase, “Be strong and courageous…” speaks of an expression of ‘standing firm, being rooted and planted,’
because of your conviction of who God is. It’s because you know who God is, you are able to stand strong, unshakeable,
immoveable because you know that God is on your side.
A good image of being firmly planted and rooted because of her conviction happened in 1989. I don’t know if you recall, in
1989, in Tiananmen Square in China, there was a vast huge public demonstration by college students to rally for pro-democracy
against the Communist government. Hundreds of thousands of students were rallying in the public square and tension was thick in
the air. The government brought their military power, rows of tanks, a convoy of tanks were coming to scatter the students. And out
of nowhere, this man, a mere stick figure of a man, stood in front of a convoy of tanks. Do you remember that scene where this man
just stood in front of the tanks with firm conviction, rooted and planted and eventually the tanks went away. That’s the image of what
it means to have courage. Because of that one particular act, what he did, this man did, spoke volumes to the students.
And when we, as believers in Christ, when we demonstrate godly courage, it inspires godly people around us, the saints, the
cloud of witnesses, because it points to the greatness of God.
So how does God give this kind of courage to Joshua? Let me point out a couple of ways in today’s passage. First, God
commands Joshua to meditate on God’s Word. Look at verse 8. God says, “ 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth,
but you shall meditate on it day and night…” The Lord didn’t say, “Joshua, I want you to remember the miracles of Moses.” He didn’t
say that but He said, “ Joshua, I want you to meditate, to remember My words,” God’s words. And to meditate on God’s Word is to
be in conversation with God, with a particular text, with Holy Scriptures. You’re taking a personal ownership, an engagement with
God’s Word. You’re reflecting on it. It’s an intense study of God’s Word or a particular verse and you’re savoring on God’s Word.
You’re truly tasting and seeing that God is good. You’re allowing the Scriptures to come alive and allowing the words of God to be
on the tip of your tongue so that you can recall God’s Word in times of trepidation and fear. For the spirit of God does not give us
fear but God gives us power, love and self-discipline. “My grace is proficient for you for the power is made perfect in your
weakness.” God gives us words for us to meditate on.
Now meditation goes beyond casual reading of the bible. It’s possible that some of us started daily reading through the bible in
January and by now we’re a little shaky on our reading and what I want to encourage you on is that it is okay for you to come back to
reading the Word, even if you’ve fallen behind, it’s okay to restart with just 5 minutes a day and engage in God’s Word and for you to
savor and meditate on who God is and the greatness of God. It is never too late. If your mornings are busy, do your devotionals at
night. I do that. When you wake up, allow the very first words that come out of your mouth be a prayer or a meditation on the Word
that you read the night before and see how God can imbue and fill your life that day.
The second way God deposits courage into Joshua and to us is by His sheer presence in our lives. Both in verse 5 and 9, God
tells Joshua, “Do not be terrified. I will be with you. I will never leave you or forsake you. I am your God. Do not be dismayed!” And
this is a wonderful promise. I find this verse and this promise so comforting. This same God who brought Israel out of Egypt, this
same God who raised Jesus from the dead, this God is with us. The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit is living in us and this God is with
us. And isn’t this what Incarnation is all about—that God from heaven came down to earth to be with us? And what I find so
reassuring about this promise is that you and I have more presence of God than both Moses and Joshua combined.
Let me say that again. That as followers of Jesus Christ, today, now, in New Testament times, you and I have more of the
presence of God than Moses and Joshua combined. The people in the Old Testament, they had to rely on the miracles and animal
sacrifices to experience the presence of God. They had to rely on the burning bush or a pillar of smoke, manna from heaven and
only occasionally they would experience the presence of God but for us, as New Testament believers, we have the entire Scriptures,
the old and the new. We know what happens at the end. We know that God wins at the end. The Messiah is here. He is coming back.
But for Moses and Joshua, it was just a promise. Not only that, the Holy Spirit is living in us. And you and I need to know that Moses
and Joshua would have traded their experience for what we have now as believers in Christ.
Now imagine with me what would happen as HPPC, as people of God, as this community, if we lived with fearless courage. And
let me conclude with this thought.
Several years ago, I read a book written by a pastor in Los Angeles and he uses a metaphor to describe what the church of
Jesus Christ could be like. He said that most animals and insects have unique names or designations when they come together.
With insects, most of us know that bees are called swarms when they come together. Ants are called colonies. Actually, let me try
this on you: Fish are called? Schools! Cattle are called? Herds! Birds are called? Flocks! How about this one! A tribe of lions are
called? Pride! Very educated smart congregation here!
I was surprised to learn that a group of buzzards, waiting around to get at a feast on leftover carnage is called a committee.
Look it up on Google—very true! That explains what’s happening in a lot of churches, not here at HPPC. A group of flamingos are
called flamboyance. My favorite of all is a group designation for rhinos. You see, rhinos can run 30 mph. which is a pretty fast speed
knowing that they are huge animals. Squirrels can run 26 mph. and guess which animal I am going to be moving away from when the
animal is charging at me. But there’s an interesting fact about rhinos. They can only see 30 feet ahead. They don’t know what’s
coming at 31 feet or 32 feet.
Now you would that because they cannot see into the future that they would be immobilized or they would be paralyzed to
move at full steam ahead. But that’s not the case. Even though they don’t know what is coming ahead, they leave and they move
fearlessly which leads us to their designation name when they come together. Rhinos coming together, they’re called, ‘crash.’
Crash! Even when they’re just basking in the sun enjoying, relaxing, they’re called ‘crash’ because of their potential. I think that
could be a great designation for us as people of God, as Christians, when we come together, we’re called a body of Christ, the
church and as church of Jesus Christ, we are to crash into the future even though we don’t know what’s coming ahead of us. We are
called to be strong and courageous, to live a fearless life because we know that God is here with us today.
The future may be uncertain. Your personal lives may be uncertain because of family, brokenness, deep suffering, a sickness
in your family. You may not know what’s coming ahead of you but God does and God is allowing us to move forward; for us to
meditate on God’s Word, to know that He is good, that He will never leave us or forsake us and as Christians there is a future to be
created, people to be liberated and we are to go as people of God. And God has equipped HPPC with so many resources to do great
things for God, so that we can point to the greatness of God.
And we’re to lead with faith so that people around us will be inspired and to know who our God is. Will you join me in prayer?
Mighty God, we are so grateful for Your presence with us and it is by Your Spirit that You remind us who we are and whose we
are. And for all of us here this morning, will You allow us to remember and to meditate on the person of Jesus Christ and because of
Him we have life and salvation? It’s in Christ’s Name, we pray. Amen.