To Restart a Relationship with God Requires Our Total Devotion...

This week we have been looking at a man named Joshua's final conversation with those closest to him and with the nation that he led. After affirming, challenging, and reminding his leadership team of their responsibilities, Joshua then turns to have his final conversation with the Jewish people that he had led over the years. So let’s look at this final conversation together, beginning in Joshua 24:1:

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

In this verse, we see the context for where this final conversation was to take place. Joshua called for the entire Jewish nation to meet at a place called Shechem for this final conversation. In our culture today, this would have the feel of a state of the union address. The reason why Joshua chose Shechem to have his final conversation with the Jewish people was because Shechem was the place where Abraham, who was the father of the Jewish people, first received the promise from God that the Jewish people would be given the Promised Land, which is recorded for us in the very first letter in our Bibles, called Genesis 12:6-7.

And it is here, where God first made His promise with the Jewish people, that God would remind the Jewish people of all that He had done for them. In Joshua 24:2-13, we see the Jewish people reminded of God’s activity throughout their history as a people. After recounting all that God had done for the Jewish people, Joshua then makes a statement that is perhaps one of the most memorable statements in the entire Bible. Let’s look at this statement together, beginning in Joshua 24:14:

"Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

Now whether you were raised in church and regularly attend church or if this is the first time you have attended church; whether or not you have read much of the Bible, most people have heard the last part of this statement or seen the last part of this statement on a coffee cup or a plaque in someone’s office- “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. But notice the context for which this memorable verse occurs in the Bible. Joshua, after reminding the Jewish people of God’s activity throughout their history commands them to fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth.

Now when the Bible uses the word fear, it is not referring to the fear that we may experience while watching a horror movie. The word fear here is referring to a reverence for God that involves two specific concepts that inform this words meaning. And those two concepts are the concepts of submission and obedience. To fear the Lord involves recognizing that God is God by coming under His leadership. In addition, to fear the Lord involves faithfully following God’s word as it informs our life. And we see both of these concepts in verse 14.

In light of who God is and what God has done in their lives, Joshua calls the Jewish people to serve the Lord in sincerity and truth. The word sincerity here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means completeness. The word truth here is the same word that is also translated as faithfulness. Joshua is commanded the Jewish people to respond to God’s activity in their lives by serving and following Him completely and faithfully. The reason for this statement is seen in his next command “put away the gods which your father’s served in the past”.

Apparently many of the Jewish people wanted to be a “Jesus plus” people. There were some Jewish people whose faith was like a buffet line where they were choosing what they liked from various faith systems and chose to ignore the parts of the faith systems that they did not like. It wasn’t as though they didn’t like the blessings God was providing them. They just were not serving the Lord with a total and complete faithfulness. They were either “on the fence” when it came to the Lord, or they wanted to be a Jesus plus people.

And because of this reality, Joshua calls for the Jewish people to get off the fence. Either be fully and completely committed to striving to live a life in a relationship with the Lord, or be fully and completely committed to live a life worshipping a false god. And it is in this context that Joshua makes His decision known: “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord”. And it is in this final conversation that we see revealed for us a timeless principle that is necessary when it comes to restarting our lives. And that timeless principle is that to restart a relationship with God requires our total devotion.

Just like the Jewish people in Joshua’s day, it is impossible to be a fence sitter when it comes to a relationship with God. Just like the Jewish people in Joshua’s day, it is impossible to have the relationship with God that you were created for when your faith system can be described as “Jesus plus”. A relationship with God is not a spiritual buffet line where you can pick and choose from various religious systems.

Now you might be thinking “why not? Why Can’t I sit on the fence? There might be many paths that lead to God. I’m not sure I buy this whole, Jesus, Bible thing. I want to hedge my bets. Why can’t I believe in Jesus plus?” If I have described you, I just want to let you know that these are great questions to be asking. And fortunately for us, we find the answers to these questions in what happens next in this story:

The people answered and said, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. "The LORD drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God." Then Joshua said to the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. "If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you."

What is so interesting here is that while the Jewish people respond by acknowledging that it was the Lord who was their creator, provider and deliverer, Joshua did not seem to be satisfied with their answer, did he? As a matter of fact, Joshua goes so far as to say that they would not be able to serve the Lord in their current state. So what did Joshua see that would make him respond with such a strong statement? I believe that Joshua saw some Jewish people who were on the fence and believed in Jesus plus or in a spiritual buffet when it came to a relationship with God.

And here we see Joshua reveal the reason why we cannot be a Jesus plus people; here we see why a relationship with God is not a spiritual buffet. We cannot approach a relationship with God like a spiritual buffet with Jesus as one of many options that we can add or modify to make us feel better because the Lord is holy and jealous. When the Bible refers to God as holy, this word conveys a sense of something being incomparable, sacred, or set apart. In other words, there is nothing that can compare to God; He is set apart and sacred as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.

And it is God’s holiness that leads to the fact that God is jealous. Now by jealous, this means that God is zealous to maintain His glory and honor. This morning, the timeless reality is that God desires, deserves and demands to be worshipped. God will not tolerate any other created being receiving the glory, honor, and devotion that rightfully belongs to Him.

Now you may be here and you may be thinking “well then God seems like an arrogant narcissist”. Here’s the thing; if I stood up here this morning and stated that I desired, demanded and deserved your devotion now that would be arrogant. That would also be heresy. But if you are God, who else are you going to be into? Certainly not me and certainly not you. You see God is into God. God is all about Himself; He is full of Himself. You see, God desires our total devotion not because He is arrogant but because of His incredible love for us.

The most unloving thing that God could do is lead us to be devoted to something less than the best, the most powerful, loving, intelligent, just, and eternal being. For God to desire and demand less that our total devotion would reveal that He does not want or know what’s best, which would mean that He would not be the best, and thus would not be God. It is because God is who He is that leads Him to desire our best, which is our total devotion and worship of Him. And as Joshua concludes his final conversation with the Jewish people, we see his call for their devotion to the Lord repeated, beginning in Joshua 24:21:

The people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the LORD." Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the LORD, to serve Him." And they said, "We are witnesses." "Now therefore, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." The people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and we will obey His voice." So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. Joshua said to all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us; thus it shall be for a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God." Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.

The Jewish people respond to Joshua’s warning by reaffirming their desire to follow God faithfully and completely. Joshua then explains to the Jewish people that God will judge them based on the very words that they had spoken. Their words would be a witness; they would testify as to their desire to lean into God and to turn away from the nations and cultures that had previously lived in the Promised Land. And to remind them of their covenant commitment that they had just made, Joshua wrote their covenant commitment down to be recorded throughout history; we are reading that commitment this morning. In addition, Joshua set up a large stone that would serve as a witness that would remind and testify against the Jewish people if they ever tried to deny the covenant commitment they had made that day.

And shortly after this conversation, Joshua died and went to be with the Lord that he so faithfully served. However, the story of the Jewish people does not end here with “and they lived happily ever after” does it? Just one generation after this letter was written, the Jewish people began to eat at the spiritual buffet of syncretism and idolatry. For the next 1400 years the Jewish people suffered the consequences for failing to be completely and faithfully devoted to the Lord. The consequences of hurt, pain, disappointment and failure.

Instead of wandering in a desert, the Jewish people found themselves living in captivity as a result of their selfish rebellion and sin. And even after being released from captivity, the Jewish people failed to be faithfully and completely devoted to God. And some 1400 years after this letter was written, the Jewish people found themselves as a conquered people under the rule of the Roman Empire. A people who found themselves once again on the fence; a people who found themselves eating at the spiritual buffet of syncretism and arguing about theology and doctrine while failing to be devoted to the Lord.

And it was into this context; it was into this environment that God entered into humanity. It was into this context and environment that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday on a donkey and called people to get off the fence. It was into this environment that Jesus called people to get away from the spiritual buffet table so that they could experience life in the relationship with God and one another that they were created and called to live. And the Jewish people responded to His call to get off the fence and restart their lives by receiving the forgiveness of sin and the relationship with God that they were created for by killing Him.

Yet it was Jesus willingness to enter into humanity and allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life that provides us the opportunity to receive the forgiveness of sin and the relationship with God that we were created for. Because, just as it was in Joshua’s day; just as it was on that Palm Sunday 2000 years ago; just as it is today; to restart a relationship with God requires our total devotion.

So who or what are you devoted to? Are you a Jesus plus person? Do you worship at the spiritual buffet line of syncretism?