2023 11 05 PROPER 26A Pentecost 23A
Joshua 3:7-17
and Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37 • 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 •
Matthew 23:1-12
A common thread in the readings today is the concept
of being, “Exalted” or humbled. In our
first reading, God says that He will exalt Joshua in the site of the Israelites. In our Gospel we find that the Pharisees were
exalting themselves and Jesus teaches His followers that all who exalt
themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be
exalted. Jesus also says that the
greatest among them will be their servant.
Jesus was among them, serving them and He is the greatest. He lived the example for us to follow.
Saint Paul was originally known as Saul, and he was a
man exalted among his peers. He was both
a Roman citizen and a Jew, and he was exalted in both communities as a man with
high intellect and learning, who kept the law – both of God and man. As Saul, this man was proud and passionate,
to the extent that he zealously sought out the Christians to destroy them. He thought he was righteous in his actions.
On the road to Damascus Saul encountered the risen
Lord Jesus and the light of that encounter struck him temporarily blind.
There is a subtle and important difference between receiving
God’s word and receiving God’s word as if from God himself.
If there is anyone who knew that difference between
receiving the word of God, as from God himself, and receiving the word of God,
as from humans, it was Saint Paul. In
Saint Paul’s pre-Christ encountered life, he lived according to the word of God
as if it were an intellectual and lifestyle choice – one which he believed
zealously. After he encountered Christ,
Saint Paul realized that he had encountered the living God and it made all the
difference.
The Pharisees of Jesus time had the same problem as
Saint Paul before his encounter. They
received and taught the word of God, but they didn’t actually follow it all,
because it was more an intellectual, cultural and lifestyle choice. As much as they believed what they taught,
there was a sense that they hadn’t grasped the reality and magnitude of God. Without this … we could say “Fear” of God,
they manipulated the word of God so that it suited themselves. I suspect that most of them didn’t mean to do
anything wrong by God, simply that, without that sense of God’s reality and
presence, they tended to work the interpretation of the commands of God to suit
themselves.
In all of this we need to understand that this Gospel
is written as a warning to it’s readers, us, to not fall into that same
error. Therefore, we need to be
examining how this might look in our own context.
The scriptures and the commandments from God give us
great guidelines for wholesome living.
Many people on the streets will tell you that they agree, the
commandments of God are good, and many will tell you that they live by them,
but a quick look at their lives will tell you that they have a loose and
personal interpretation of those commandments.
When Jesus is asked which is the greatest commandment,
he says; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your mind. ' This is the greatest and first
commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbour as
yourself.”
We tend to give lots of attention to the second
commandment, not really being sure what to do about the first. I’d go so far as to say that we have built a
good society on those commands – those about loving our neighbour. In fact, many Australian laws are drawn from
our Judeo-Christian heritage, as contained in the Bible. The culture that most of us has grown up in,
is one that acknowledged the values of the commandment of God to love your
neighbour as yourself. Not every culture
has this. For example, in places where
the caste system is part of their culture, it is quite acceptable to have no
pity for your neighbour, because that is their Karma. In their belief it is Karma that a person is
suffering. -Meaning, that in the past
life that person had done some evil and so it is only right that they should
suffer now.
It is a fact that the Gospel has had a huge impact on
society – whether it is acknowledged or not, and it must also impact our life…and
not just our intellect and private life.
One of the impacts of the Gospel, needs to be on our
attitude. There is a really important
message in our Gospel. The Pharisees
were allowing themselves to receive honour.
They were called “father” and “teacher”.
Jesus says – don’t do this. But
we do. So, what is going on?
These terms were terms of honour and they were used in
Jesus’ time and they are still used in ours.
It is not the actual terms which are a problem, but that the people in
those positions were desiring the honour rather than desiring to do the will of
God. We all feel good when people treat us
with honour… and it goes hand in hand with respect. Jesus didn’t put down the fact that people
were to treat the pharisees with the honour/respect of being on the “seat of
Moses”. Jesus was simply speaking about the
pharisees out of proportion sense of themselves. Somewhat like a child’s drawing of a person
with a super large head.
Jesus tells them, “The greatest among you will be your
servant. All who exalt themselves will
be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
How do we keep a proper balance so that we stay
properly proportioned? Easy! We seek to do God’s will most of all, and God
will arrange it so that he keeps us balanced.
Joshua was the leader of the Israelites after Moses
died. He was quite a unique character in
that he was a leader in battles, but also the servant of Moses for many years. In our reading today the story begins with
the word of God to Joshua; “The LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will
begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I
will be with you as I was with Moses.”
Why did God exalt Joshua?
Moses had been the people’s leader and they had many
times grumbled against him and criticised him.
Right from the start of Moses’ interactions with the people, God was
performing wonders through which he proved that He was with Moses, and yet we
mostly see those wonders as God’s work for the people and not as a means to
exalt Moses.
It is said that Moses was a most humble man. Numbers 12:23 tells us; “Now Moses was a very
humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.”
Joshua was the epitome of a perfect servant. He was faithful and courageous. He and Caleb were the only ones who brought
back a good report of the lands around them when they and others were sent to
spy on the land. They only difference
being that they trusted in God’s promise to give them the land.
Joshua was humble, but not meek. I think sometimes we get a bit confused with
what humbleness looks like. Joshua had
complete trust in God. This is where his
courage came from and this is also where his humility came from.
Moses and Joshua both experienced the majesty of
God. In fact, so did Saint Paul. The experience of God, changed their lives
and shaped who they became.
I love the story of our first reading. It was Moses who led the Israelites out of
the slavery of Egypt, but it was Joshua who led them into the promised
land. Both of these events involved the
miraculous parting of waters.
A Jewish commentary about the splitting of the waters
explains that there is an implication in these events beyond and deeper than
the incredible miracle. The waters
conceal those things beneath and symbolize a spiritual realm that is
inaccessible. When God parts the waters,
he is inviting the nation of Israel to enter into a spiritual place – a sacred
place.
These events also, symbolize a baptism. In baptism we become one with God. We enter into a spiritual and sacred place
formally unknown.
“Since water conceals everything beneath its waves,
the sea represents the realm of that which is hidden, a spirituality so distant
from ours that it is hidden from us. Splitting the sea and revealing the dry
land on which the Jews could walk expresses the idea that the hidden realms
become in some way revealed and accessible.” https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/246647/jewish/Parting-of-the-Red-Sea.htm
That nation on the banks of the Jordan entered a mass
baptism. Probably the only one ever
where no one got wet…. However, all must have known the symbolism of God taking
them into his sacred, and formally unknown place. God was, in that act, taking them into the
secret place only known by God. God was
taking this nation into His confidence.
The people were not “Storming” heaven… or breaking in. This was God’s doing… God’s invitation and
there could be no doubt about it, or misunderstanding. These people were figuratively passing
through the valley of the shadow of death and fearing no evil because it was
God leading them/ encompassing them.
What impact would an event like this have on the
people? This was a little different from
the Red Sea, where the people were in fear of their life and desperate for
rescue. This was an invitation to enter
into a reality. The reality of the
Kingdom of God.
To enter into the Kingdom of God requires us to say
“Yes” to God’s invitation. To enter into
the Kingdom of God involves stepping out in faith, trusting that God will
protect us. To enter into the Kingdom of
God is to step into the holy place of God and answer God’s call to become the
person, the people, the nation that God originally intended us to be.
We can not be the people that God intends us to be
without stepping into the river. By
this, I mean that those Pharisees were living in a comfort zone where they and
their comfort, and honour from humans was the most important factor. They didn’t step out to help the people,
except to make a show of how great they were.
Joshua wasn’t a showy person. He simply followed the call of God. It is the call of God that matters and God has
called us also.
In all the mess of this world, it feels very much like
a river in flood. The Jorden River was in
flood when the Israelites crossed over.
It must have seemed like an inopportune time to be crossing that
river. Sensibility would have been to
cross when it was in the dry season…. But no… God calls them at this time…. and
right now, God calls to us in to the mess of our world and invites us to step
out. BUT we don’t rush in zealously like
Saul who persecuted the Christians, thinking he was doing the right thing. We can be really great people, honoured by
our community and still get it really wrong.
So, we first must enter that
sacred place where God invites us. It is
a place where we realize the majesty, awesomeness and magnitude of God….. the
place of God’s presence … then, knowing
that we walk in the presence of God, we step into all that chaos and we bring the
love, the light and the reality of God to our world. There will be battles against powers and
principalities in the spiritual realm as we go, but that is why we really need
to know that we are walking in God’s presence.
We step into His sacred place and in this way, as a servant, we enter
the promised land.
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