Crossing Over

Sunday, October 30, 2011

What an unsettling time it must have been for the Israelites. An entire generation of God’s people had built their life around the wilderness. Manna, water from rocks, setting up camp, tearing down camp, always traveling. Yet, in spite of the trials they faced in that wilderness, this nomadic tribe managed to arrange marriages, birth children, raise families, and bury their dead. When we see pictures of nomads living in tents in the middle of deserts, that the life looks miserable. But, if you knew nothing other than the nomadic life, then nomadic life would be normal and comfortable.
Now that life was coming to an end. Forty years earlier, the Red Sea stood between the Israelites and their freedom. Now another body of water – the Jordan River - separated them from the promised land. Forty years earlier a man named Moses was at the helm…now God charged another young man to lead them. Now, the entire nation of Israel stood at the waters’ edge –waiting to begin their new life.
Don’t you imagine that a whole lot of questions about their new life would be running through their heads. What would it be like to live on the other side of the Jordan…How would they adjust to living a settled life – would they be happier – would they be able to learn new ways or would they want to return to the old ways - what would the promised land look like – and what kind of a leader would this Joshua fella be?
Ok, God said, everybody gather round – n listen up – here is what I want you to do. Pick one man from each of the 12 tribes. Have them gather round the arc of the covenant and get them to pick it up. Then have them carry the arc of the covenant past all the people n make sure they get up in front of everyone. And finally, and this is most important …have them stand in the water. And the people said…Joshua, you are not Moses – and we are not sure if you’re hearing God correctly…Are you telling us that this is God’s plan? Are you telling us that this is the best God can do?
And I wouldn’t be surprised if – on this note – the Israelites huddled up in little groups – like we do sometimes after a church meeting – and conducted what we call the parking lot meeting. And I wouldn’t be surprised if all throughout the people you could hear them saying to one another: Dumb plan – I’m not God, and I’m not saying I know what God wants us to do right now, but I’m not sure this Joshua fella knows either…personally…I don’t see how a bunch of grown men carrying the arc with their toes in the river has anything at all to do with us getting over there on the other side.
And though the Israelites may have been reluctant to leave the life they knew, the time had come for the Israelites to start walking. And the oddest thing happened, the minute the toes of those twelve priests hit that water – on one side the waters stopped altogether and piled up in a great roaring splashing heap…and on the other side the waters were entirely cut off.
Well, I’ll be--- said the Israelites….God knew what he was doing all along – looks like the plan turned out to be a pretty good one…and then the entire nation of Israel crossed over on dry ground – and every last one of them made it to promised land…every last one of them survived to live a new life.
Can we not see the parallels between our two stories. Because here we are = the church standing at the water’s edge of change – not convinced we like what we think is the promised land of our future…preferring instead to stay safe…right where we are…standing on the ground we have always known because that is more comfortable than looking ahead. And on top of it all, we are not sure our Joshua’s know what they’re talking about. Oh it is an unsettling time for God’s people.
But after reading this passage – we can take heart in knowing that today 2011 is not the first time God’s people have been unsettled. Thousands of years ago and all throughout the history of our faith, God’s people have been unsettled – it happens every time we stand on the edge of something new and unknown. We can take heart knowing that God has a plan – that even though the Israelites were clueless - God was making a way …just like now… God was then…and God is now making a way into our future.
To be sure - just like the Israelites had to get used to a whole lot of new ideas, new ways of looking at things, new ways of doing things…so will we. But let us learn from the Israelites – and consider what they took with them. The treasure hidden in the field…the pearl of great value…
The hidden and valuable thing the Israelites took with them was God. the hidden and valuable thing the Israelites took with them was their community. The hidden and valuable thing the Israelites took with them was their faith and their faith stories – stories about how once upon a time they were nobodies, a bunch of slaves, who were saved and delivered by God. Stories about how they came to know this God, about this God’s miracles, about his mercy and love, about his constant presence. Crossing over into the unknown was not an end…it was a continuation…it was a new chapter. Crossing over the Jordan was the fulfillment of a promise God made to His people very long time ago. When they crossed over to the new and the unknown, God’s people were not alone.
Today 2011 God’s people have arrived at another unsettling time. We are in the process of crossing over into a place we do not know, a place about which we are unsure, unsettled, unfamiliar. As God accompanied the Israelites, let us then trust that God accompanies us.