Why are we Here Today?

November 12, 2023 24th Sunday after Pentecost Joshua 24:1-3,14-25 Why are we here today? Year A Prelude Greeting Call To Worship God is great, and greatly to be praised! We thank you, God, for families and friends. We thank you for the warmth of kitchens, quilts, and good neighbors. God, how great is your name throughout the earth! We thank you, God, for newborn kittens and faithful dogs, for pine trees and sunlight and crisp, clean air. Blessed be God, the rock of our salvation! We thank you, God, for the sound of laughter and the touch of love, for brand new mornings and for dreams held close. Let us come into God’s presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise with songs of praise. Come! Let us worship God. Written by Janice Jean Springer, found in Touch Holiness: Resources for Worship, Updated, eds. Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi (Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2012), 103-104. Invocation Wisdom, your presence illuminates our path. Shine your light into dim spaces so that we do not stray from your teaching. Help us discern what you are calling us, your church, to do and be in this moment in time. Give us urgency to be good news in the world and for our neighbors. Let your glory reign among us and your Spirit lead us into truth, justice, and love. For your name and in your name, we pray. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Cheryl Lindsay) Song My Lord What a Morning UMH 719 Responsive Reading Psalm 78 UMH 799 Children’s Sermon Decisions with middle schoolers (NEED EXAMPLES) Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 Decision Time By Lois Parker Edstrom Object suggested: A wallet. Let’s talk about the decisions we make each day. We decide what to eat, when to go to bed, what clothes to put on, what to read, who will make a good friend. Can you think of more examples? Most of the examples we listed would allow many choices. When you decide what to eat you could choose between a peach or an apple, bread or a cracker, soup or yogurt, or you could choose one of each. Now let me give you an example of having two choices, but you must choose just one thing. Suppose you see a wallet lying in the street. It might have a lot of money in it. You can keep the wallet or you can try to return the wallet to its owner. This is a right or wrong decision. You must choose to do one thing or the other. The Bible tells us the story of Joshua, a leader of a group of people called the Israelites and it is a story about making an important decision. This group of people, the Israelites, had been slaves in Egypt and Joshua was one of the men who led them out to a new land. God had protected and helped the people during this journey, but some chose to worship other gods which, in this story, are called foreign gods. Joshua wanted the Israelites to understand that they must choose to serve God or the foreign gods; they could not worship both. They had two choices and Joshua asked them to make one decision. He told them, “… choose this day whom you will serve…” (24:15). Joshua made this important decision for himself. He said, “… as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh (the Lord)” (24:15). Each one of us is also given this choice. We can choose to serve and worship God or do our own thing without God. It is the most important decision you will ever make. Scripture quotations from the World English Bible Copyright 2012, Richard Niell Donovan Baptism of Chandler Stickel (Call children up to think about baptism first – don’t print this) Scripture Joshua 24:1-3, 14-25 Sermon Why are we here today? Perhaps you have heard about the man who died, then awoke in a splendid city of golden streets and fine homes. He was shown to one of the finest, one with a rolling front yard, lovely flowers, luxuriant shrubs. Wondering how to care for those things, he was told that others would do that for him. So, he climbed into a hammock and spent the day contemplating his happy state. Days passed, then weeks. Finally, bored, he sought to do some yard work, but was told that he might not. He then inquired what kind of work he could do. He was told by the follow in charge that he was not allowed to do anything but rest. Finally, the man complained, he said, I never thought that heaven would be this boring. The man in charge stared at him for a minute, then said, what made you think that you were in heaven? I don’t want to say that you have to work hard in order to get into heaven, but I will say that God expects us to keep busy. Most definitely, we are not expected to get comfortable with boredom. The verb “to serve” is repeated seven times just in these last two verses, verses 14-15. It appears fifteen times in this one chapter. Joshua clearly believes that the purpose of his life, the purpose of everyone’s life, is to serve the Lord with all faithfulness. But before they could wholeheartedly serve their Redeemer God, they had to deal with some garbage in their lives. There was something they needed to throw away. This is a fitting message for the stewardship campaign as we are encouraged to love the lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and spirit. And we are encouraged to support the church with our prayers, presence, gifts, witness and our service. This is also a fitting scripture as we welcome baby Chandler into our church family. Baptism is stewardship in action – we have a chance to remember our commitment to God, but we also make a new promised to pass on our faith to the next generation. God challenges us to build a house big enough for all. God is the center of the house, but the house is big enough to include all of God’s children from the littlest to the oldest. When the multimillionaire, Andrew Carnegie, was building a new home for his family, he instructed the architect to place the following inscription over the living-room fireplace: "This hearth is our family altar - its warmth reminds us of Christ's presence in our home." After the house and fireplace were completed, the architect went to Carnegie and said, "You'll have to choose another motto, that one is too long to fit over the fireplace." "No!" said the millionaire, "I want those words. If you must, then tear down that fireplace and build a bigger one." The architect informed him, "Sir, you cannot build a bigger fireplace without building a bigger room!" "All right," was the reply, "tear out the walls and build a bigger room!" The architect then said, "But a bigger room will throw the entire house out of proportion!" "Then tear the entire house down and start over," the millionaire said, "for we must have that motto as a constant reminder that Christ is in our home!" We could say that Andrew Carnegie built his home around the conviction that Jesus Christ was central in his family. Are you building your home around that same conviction? Does your daily life reflect the truth that you really believe Christ is present in your home? Do you show your family that Christ is central to your praying with them? Or is the Lord's Prayer in worship the only time your family prays together? Sometimes we have to build a bigger house with our spirits. Including God in everything that we do can take a lot of work, a lot of effort, and being willing to make the right choices. • We don’t get to read a lot about Joshua’s leadership. Joshua took over leading the Isrealites after Moses retired. Near the closing verses of Joshua. One of the last things he does alive. Before it closes, they bury the bones of Joseph in the promised land • Promise of Genesis: You will be a great nation in this land. • Genesis closes with a great nation in the wrong land • Exodus closes with the nation on the border of the land. • Joshua is the story of possessing the land. It contains some of the most disturbing parts of the Bible. They are now a great people in the land A side note- I think that one of the reasons that we don’t read a lot of the book of Joshua – is because it is a violent book about how they destroyed a lot of people in order to posess the promiseland. Nevertheless, Joshua reminds the people of how far they have come and how far God has brought them. Joshua reminds them that all of the way – it has been a covenant partnership – God and dedication has fulfilled their destiny. Just Friday, I heard a jewish family saying for the second time this week – that I think sums up the message of Joshua – You are not responsible for building the kingdom all by yourself, but you also are not free to walk away from the work that needs to be done. It is all about service, obedience and commitment. Imagine this story – Joshua is an old man, about to retire. He had led the community for many years, he has watched children grow into productive adults. He has seen babies born, he has seen the community grow and change. What started out as a budding dream has become a full blown reality. And many of the children living in that reality, take it for granted. But just before he retires he calls this complicated society together and gives them some words of wisdom – those words have lasted until today. Father Joshua tells us to put aside the Gods that are constantly vying for our attention, concern and duty – and to choose to serve God. Everyday we have to intentionally choose God, or someone or something else will make that choice for us. We have to choose who is going to be God in your life. He encourages us to think about how God has proven to be faithful than the other Gods in our life. We each have to decide who is going to be God in our life. We have to be willing to make a commitment to that God. And to be an example for someone to make that same choice. Many years ago, near the royal English residence on the Isle of Wight, stood several homes for the poor and aged. A missionary, visiting one of the homes, asked a lady, "Does Queen Victoria ever call on you here?" "Oh, yes," was the answer. "Her Majesty frequently comes here to see us." Then, wondering if the woman was a Christian, the missionary inquired, "Does the King of Kings ever visit here?" The lady immediately gave him a happy smile and said, "No sir, he doesn't visit here. Praise God, He lives here! That's why we are so richly blessed!" Does the King of Kings live in your home? Does it have a spiritual atmosphere? Do the plaques on the wall, the books on the shelves, and the records on your stereo announce to those who visit that Christ is central in your home? If you want to have a strong Christian home, your family life must revolve around the powerful presence of Jesus Christ. What are some ways in your life that you choose God? Joshua chose God by choosing to be an example to us all – he says as for me and my house we will choose God. God is calling the Church and saying.... “Church, I have a project for you –a mission that will repurpose, redesign, remodel, renew, and restore one of my fields. Are you up for it? Can you do it? Will you be my creative, innovative “minds in the field”? How many of you have seen an episode of “This Old House”? How many know what I’m talking about? The show, on television for nearly 40 years (since 1979), now also has a website and a magazine. The innovative show has developed a “buzz” as the “go-to” site for creative hands-on remodeling --for men and women alike! Its premise is simple: how to take an ordinary, drab, old, crumbling, or even condemned house, a “fixer-upper” if you will, and renovate and revision that house into a new, sound, and exquisite piece of art based on the identity and style of the homeowner, still while remaining true to the feel of the neighborhood or context. For many, the proposed renovation of a home becomes more than a hobby or a project. It becomes a mission driven by passion, desire, commitment, confidence, a little bit of risk-taking, and a lot of faith in the finesse of your master designer. Creative designer and imagineer Russell Morash conceived of the idea for “This Old House” as he was designing and renovating his own 19th century home. He wanted to help other people do what he could do. But he also wanted to jumpstart others’ imagination and innovation. He dreamed of encouraging people to draw upon their own creative potential! He wanted to help people learn and discover ways of making the house of their choice into a unique reflection both of owner identity and the style of a certain “place and space.” He didn’t just want to show people the nuts and bolts of renovation. He wanted to, as he puts it, “expand the viewers’ perceptions of what a home can be.”* In fact, Jesus is the ultimate Designer and Blueprint all in one. He’s put down the downpayment on the House, He’s given us the blueprint for Eternal Life. And He’s asked us to join Him on an awesome and challenging mission –to repurpose lives, build bridges of communication, connect people in love, beautify relationships, install windows to the world, restore hearts to God. He’s even pointed us to mission “fields” within His Vineyard that need restoring. The choice of fields is up to us. All we need to do is follow along, learn, and try it all out! Right? Granted, home remodeling takes time, dedication, imagination, and a lot of faith. Life remodeling does too. Just ask Jesus! But He’ll be working right beside us. He is our “go-to” master craftsman who knows how to revision, re-mission, re-beautify life! And the Church! He’s got the grand design. And He’s ready to break ground! So why aren’t we excited? What are some ways that we can work to build a home, with God in the center of everything that we do? We can still welcome the next generation into the family, we are still faced with choices that make a difference, we still have a job to do for the community. Is you’re the world important enough to you to give it an extreme home makeover? Former President George Bush was asked the question, "What is your greatest accomplishment in life?" He could have replied that as a fighter pilot in World War II, he was shot down and survived. He could have mentioned that he was the U.S. Ambassador to China, the Vice President of the United States or the President of the United States. He could have talked about his victory in the first Gulf War or the fact that he had two sons that served as governors and one son who is now President, but he didn't say any of that. When asked what his greatest accomplishment in life was George Bush said, "My children still come home." Children will always want to come home, when that home is always under the extreme home makeover that God alone can give. ________________________________________ [1] Cited by Steve Farrar, Getting' There, p. 150 ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Sermons, by James Merritt It is up to us to be the Joshua people of today – Jesus, Yshua is actually named after Joshua. Jesus calls us to be obedient disciples in service to those around us. We are called to create a home with God as the center, to choose God above everything else and to serve God with everything that we have. We have to be intentional about serving God everyday. I will leave you with this prayer of encouragement. There is a powerful prayer by a man named Joe Seremane that expresses how much we miss out on when we hold back from yielding our hearts to the Lord. Seremane writes, “You asked for my hands that I might use them for your purpose. I gave them for a moment then withdrew them, for the work was hard. “You asked for my mouth to speak out against injustice. I gave you a whisper that I might not be accused. “You asked for my eyes to see the pain of poverty. I closed them, for I did not want to see. “You asked for my life that you might work through me. I gave a small part, that I might not get ‘too involved.’ “Lord, forgive me for my calculated efforts to serve you only when it is convenient for me to do so, only in places where it is safe to do so and only with those who make it easy to do so. My prayer is that we each have to strength to choose God everyday. Amen. Song The Summons TFWS 2130 Pastoral Prayer (Just print the title, not the words) Lord, we are a stubborn and impatient people. We always want to know how things will end. We want to know what the schedule is. We want a "daily planner" from you so that we can be ready. It is interesting that you have already given us a daily planner. The Holy Spirit, who has been given to comfort and guide us, is our daily planner. Daily we are called to come before you in prayer and praise; daily we are challenged by your Holy Spirit to find ways to serve your people in your world. And we do acknowledge this, somewhat. But we still would like to know when we need to have all the "oil for our lamps". Why is it so hard, Lord, for us to be continually ready? Is it because we have placed you to one side in our lives, and when we think you are coming we take our faith down from the shelf and dust it off? Help us to place you at the center of our lives, seeking to daily prepare ourselves for your coming again in glory. As we have brought before you the names of those people who are near and dear to us, we ask your healing love and blessing for them. Their needs are great and our abilities are limited. But we know that with your love, all things are possible. Give us such courage and perseverance that we may faithfully proclaim your love to all creation. Make us ready to receive you, now, in this place and everywhere we are. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment (explain campaign) Offertory Prayer (Print) Loving God, you are our strength. Thank you for your wondrous works. May our praise to you continue from generation to generation. Lord speak to us and teach us new ways to reach new generations, so that they may know the love and care that you have given to us. Use these gifts to develop programs that will draw new people to you. Bless these gifts, Thank you for all that you have given us and for all that we will receive. Let it be used to glorify Your Holy Name. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. Litany [Pentecost 25, Witness, Discipleship, Growth & Change, Commitment, Grace & Mercy, Personal Holiness, Personal Service] L: Ready! Set! Go! P: Wait a minute! Ready for what? L: The Lord is coming to us. We need to be ready P: Just a minute. What is the date? Do you have an arrival time? L: That’s not important. We just need to be ready. P: Listen! That’s not the way the world works. You have to plan these things out. L: But it is the way the Lord works. P: And this "set" business.....what is that all about? L: Taking stock of our lives, healing old wounds, reconciling relationships, forgiveness, service to others, most of all practicing God’s love as Jesus taught us. P: Right now, I have all I can handle. Relationships, old wounds, angers, work for God. I have to see if I can fit it into my schedule. Anyway, won’t God give me a little "grace" period? L: God has always given you a "grace" period. It is your life! P: What do you mean? L: God has offered you blessings and given you gifts. God asks you to be ready to serve, to make a choice. P: Ready to serve God or my schedule? L: Ready to place God first in your life. If you do this, the other things will fall into place. P: I need to reconsider the choices I have made. L: Choose God. Be ready to Go into God’s world to serve. P: Ready: the Lord is Coming. Set: Get your priorities in order, placing God first. Go: serve God. I can do that. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Announcements Closing Prayer for those on Facebook God has called and chosen you to be witnesses to hope and peace in God’s world. Go in peace and this same healing, reconciling love and peace will be with you. Go and serve the Lord your God in all that you do. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Invite congregants to turn and face the closest doorway and/or threshold. As you prepare to cross the threshold from this place out into the world and as you encounter doorways and thresholds throughout your week, repeat this blessing: May gratitude abound as I meet God and neighbor in this place. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, May 2023. Additional Illustrations A family moved to a new city where the father's company had transferred him. This meant that little Sharon would enter the first grade in a brand-new school. On the first day of class, the teacher was asking each student to provide her with some information as she called the roll. After asking for the proper spelling of her name, the teacher asked Sharon for her address. The youngster replied, "Miss Smith, we don't have an address yet!" "Oh," said the teacher, "your family doesn't have a home yet?" Sharon replied, "Yes, ma'am, we have a home; we just haven't found a house to put it in!" A little boy asked his busy mother to help him find something to do. So the mother found a large map of the United States on a page in a magazine. With a pair of scissors, she cut up the map into small pieces like a puzzle. Then she gave the pieces and some tape to her son and challenged him to put it together. The youngster returned in almost no time with the map together. Mother was amazed and said, "Son, how did you get that entire map of the United States together so fast?" The youngster said, "It was easy. On the back of the map was a picture of a family. So I turned it over and started to work. Once I got the family put together, the country turned out just right." How true that is! The strength of our nation depends on the strength of our families. Let us be challenged today to work hard to make our houses into homes,... where positive Christian values are transmitted from one generation to the next;... where friends are welcomed and children are more valuable than furniture;... where undesirable pressures are kept out, and where Jesus Christ is kept centralThat's how you make a house a home! C.S.S. Publishing Company, HOME IS A FOUR-LETTER WORD, by R. E. Lybrand Last week we began a series titled The Joshua Principles. And the first Principle was Joshua People Always Look Forward With Hope. We talked about how Hope is based on Trust and Trust is based on Faith and the implications that has in our daily lives and in the life and future of the Church. Today the Joshua Principle I want to look at is "Joshua People Obey and Serve." I think this falls right in step with where we left off last week. You see Faith in God builds Trust which builds Hope. When we Trust God and are Faithful, then God is Faithful too and that deepens our Hope. When we Trust God and are Faithful, then we will Obey God and follow God's Will. I want us to look at two passages this morning. When that happens, within that family of faith we are supported and strengthened and sometimes even rescued. Some of you may have seen this clip form KruegerNational Park on Youtube. The full length version might be a little scary for the little ones, so I've tried to edit it so it still makes its point. And it does have a great ending. (Water Buffalo Clip) I loved how the entire herd came back to rescue that calf. They knew the power of the claws of the lions but they also knew the greater power of the herd. And those water buffalo who sent the lions running and flying, knew the rest of the herd was behind them. That's the way it should be in every church, every faith community. It's good to have a herd. And when the Herd trusts God and is faithful to God through Obedience there is a strength that can't be destroyed. If you remember the 1984 movie, Ralph Macchio plays a new kid who gets crossways with a group of school in crowd bullies. They make his life miserable. The custodian, Mr. Miyagi played by Pat Morita, is a Japanese man who takes an interest in Daniel and says he will train him in Karate. When Daniel shows up, Mr. Miyagi doesn't give him any Karate instructions, he simple gives Daniel a series of what appear to be useless chores. Feeling a little like slave labor, Daniel confronts Mr. Miyagi. (CLIP) The results, of course, are Daniel's ability to transfer that the muscle memory into the needed defensive moves in karate. Pilot Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, who some are calling "Captain Marvel" is a former Air Force fighter pilot who has flown for US Airways for 29 years. He has over 19,000 hours in the air and runs his own safety consulting firm. After 29 years of flying, after 29 years of pre-flight checks, safety checks and all the minutia of flying, you would think maybe someone might begin to take shortcuts, right? And Captain Vince Lombardi (that's his real name, in an interview on Today said he and his crew devote two hours a month to practicing safety drills, man overboard rescue drills and the like to prepare for events like this which we all hope will never happen. It would be easy to say, "Oh, you know for the last six months all of our drills were perfect, we don't need the practice anymore." Shortcuts seem easy. We all tend to do it. Driving on the highway for example. When we were younger, the fear of getting a ticket kept us from speeding. But then we started driving to work every day and when we did the speed limit we felt like we were getting run over by the traffic. Then we began driving fast enough to keep up with the traffic so we didn't impede the flow. And pretty soon you're screaming and hollering at the idiot in front of you who won't get out of the way, right? These two men, their crews and all of the people involved in this event, were diligent in their obedience to following the proper procedures and drills. My contention is that because that, when it came to a time of testing, they were ready to serve and give everything through that service. They didn't have to stop and think about what was right or wrong, they knew and they did almost instinctually. And that only comes from Faith, Trust and Obedience. Why aren’t we excited to “remodel” the Lord’s house? Or in our scripture for today –both Jesus and Joshua call it the “Lord’s Vineyard.” But whichever name you choose, God is the owner and grand designer. We are the tenants, the ones who live on God’s great earth, in God’s house, on God’s vineyard. We are God’s resident tenants, attendants, and staffers. God invests in us and bequests us with creativity to carry out some renovations on God’s behalf. In our scriptures for today, God tells people (through Joshua) at Shechem that it’s time to design and contract a new house in a new place! Time for renovations. Time to put down roots in a “vineyard” they did not plant, to restore people to life in a town they did not build! Are they up for this new project? Are they game for this new contract? Do they have the passion for it? The strength? The daring? The heart? Another issue just as important as the generation gap has to be brought up before we dive into the story told in Joshua 24. The issue in mind has to do with the relationships we nurture across the years. Some people say that all of us give attention to at least four basic relationships throughout our lives: our relationship with God, our relationship with ourselves, our relationship with others, and our relationship with what’s around us, or in other words, our relationship with things. Each of these relationships takes some of our time and demands a certain portion of our energies. Figuring out which relationship matters most can be tricky. Kathleen Kolar was an experienced hiker, having hiked in several popular west coast locations. When visiting Hawaii, she decided to hike a trail that was a grueling eleven miles long. The trail has stream crossings, lava ridges, lush valleys, and 100-foot drop-offs to rocky beaches below. The trek was everything Kathleen had heard — "difficult but spectacular." On her way back, she found herself a "little off trail." She wasn't concerned, all she would have to do is retrace her steps and she would be fine. She was sure the trail would loop around. She continued for a while before realizing that she was well off the trail — in other words, lost. She climbed a steep wall, which used to be a waterfall, hoping to once again find the trail. "It's just you and me, Lord," she prayed. "You alone can get me out of this mess." Things went from bad to worse. She found herself on a small foot-and-a-half perch. She was horrified. It was then that Kathleen realized that she needed to stop so rescuers could find her. It was getting dark; she would have to spend the night on the perch. "I cried and was angry at myself for being so stupid." The next morning, she felt God show her that this hike was similar to her life. She realized how at times her choices had led her away from God. And how those choices would affect her "further down life's path." "On that tiny ledge, I realized that if I were to truly live for God," she explains, "I would have to get to know him better." It took most of the day before anyone found her because of where she was. Unfortunately, the rescuers could not reach her. She would have to spend a second night on that ledge. "I was tired, thirsty, very sunburned and spent," she recalled. Before she was rescued by a helicopter the next day, she felt God remind her of the two greatest commandments, love of God and love of neighbor. "I'd loved Jesus since I was eleven," she said, "but I hadn't yet surrendered my claim on my life. I was still going my own way. Those nights on the ledge, I determined to make knowing God's heart, thoughts, and purposes my passion in life." Another lesson she learned from her experience was that you cannot continue down a wrong path and remain untouched by the consequences. From now on Kathleen says, "I'm letting God lead — and following his path for my life."2 Joshua challenges us today asking what kind of people will we be and to whom will we commit ourselves? Commitment is one of those words that either makes us feel uncomfortable or something that we can easily dismiss as not all that important. While Jesus calls us to be faithful, the choice remains with us this day. In a sense it is a daily choice, a daily commitment, because there are so many things that deceive us, tempt us, and lead us astray. Choose the Lord. Amen.