"Put Away the Foreign Gods"

Notes for a sermon that I preached yesterday at Covenant Reformed Fellowship in Greeley, Colorado:

"Put Away the Foreign Gods"
Text: Joshua 24:14-28

Introduction: The historical situation: the people had come out of Egypt, passed through the wilderness, conquered the land under Joshua, and settled in their territories. Here Joshua gives them a farewell address and renews the covenant between the Lord and the people before his death.

In many ways, you are like the people that Joshua addressed. God has redeemed you from this present evil age and set you apart for Himself as a holy people, just as He ransomed His people from Israel and brought them out to be His own. Just as they were led to conquest and settled triumphantly in a promised land under Joshua, you also have been led to victory and prosperity in a new life under One who also bears Joshua's name--Jesus, "The Lord Is Salvation." So Joshua's message is one that applies to you today, as well. That day Israel heard a message from their commander and captain, but you today are gathered to hear the words of the Commander of the Lord's Army, who is Christ Himself.

Joshua's call to the people: serve the Lord, not the gods your fathers served and not the gods of the pagans in the land where you are living (vv. 14-15). It is hard to serve the Lord, but this is your choice and your duty as the people of God; this is your life!

I. The false gods of the fathers: Proud individualism

The conquest and settlement of America: Strong and hardy individuals, alone or in small groups, pioneers and frontiersmen--John Smith in Jamestown; the Pilgrims; Daniel Boone; Davy Crockett; cf. the myths of Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed. "The American dream"--self-made men rising out of poverty by their own hard work and determination. This is what we honor and seek to imitate. We like to set out on our own, wanting to make a life for ourselves, and thinking that we are right by belonging to our own little subgroup with our own preferences and characteristics, within the great American market of individual preferences.

Even in the Church, we think of the courageous individuals who stand against the current of their time--Abraham setting forth to go to Canaan, Augustine standing against the heretic Pelagius, Martin Luther opposing the evils of the Roman Catholicism of his day, George Whitefield traveling and preaching. We forget that each of them had a household, a group of companions, or a Church body that surrounded them and gave them much of their strength. And we forget those who served God as united groups, which is normally His way—-the children of Israel setting forth in faith from Egypt, six hundred thousand men on foot; the company of the prophets who surrounded Samuel and prophesied together with him; the twelve apostles standing together to preach Christ in the midst of one hundred twenty assembled brothers, and the thousands who soon joined with them; and the churches that gathered together to listen to the preaching of Paul, of Chrysostom, of Ambrose, of John Calvin and the other Reformers. The Lord works through individual people, but He does so not to exalt them in themselves, but to build them together into a united body.

Romans 14:7-8; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 12:4-5

Modern families think nothing of living far apart and having independent lives; husband and wife each make a career for themselves, and children (if there are any) recede into the background; people choose the church that best suits their own needs and preferences, even if they have to drive past ten other churches to get to it.

Families, churches, and social gatherings are seen (wrongly!) as assemblies of individuals, rather than cohesive bodies with diverse but interdependent "members."

II. The false gods of the fathers: Legalism

Part of the basic orientation of the proud, sinful human heart: self-salvation through conformity to clearly marked-out rules. But eternal life is knowing God, not doing some thing or following a list of do's and don'ts. John 17:3; Mark 10:17—-like the Pharisees, this young man who approached Jesus had good deeds on the surface, but a heart that was in rebellion against God underneath.

Galatians 2:16--justification is not by works of law, but by trusting in a Person. The life that God has established is not mechanical, but personal; not a system that runs smoothly when its laws are obeyed, but a family held together by bonds of love and trust.

The rules that are established as if to keep you from the slavery of sin, only bring you into a new slavery while having no power to take away sin: Colossians 2:20-23.

Rules that often appear in churches: Don't drink alcohol, don't smoke, don't dance, don't play cards, women don't wear pants, etc. Or the "new legalisms": do you have an automatic negative reaction to a married woman having a job (even part-time) outside the home? Christian parents sending their children to school rather than home-schooling them? Children living at a distance from their parents? (Of course, there is a certain wisdom involved as you make your own choices about these things, but don't make them a club to beat others with. Don't take ways to life and turn them into a way of death!)

Critically compare the standards you use to evaluate others, against the ones you use for yourself. You won't get away with being too easy on yourself, having a double standard! Matthew 7:1-3.

III. The false gods of the land: American nationalism

The prophets warned the people repeatedly that merely living in Israel, or Judah, guaranteed nothing. It is bad enough when people merely trust their membership in the Church for salvation despite the open rebellion that appears in their life. How much worse when a dim memory of America as a "Christian nation" justifies everything done by American rulers and citizens! Jeremiah 7:1-15. If Judah, the holy people of God, had no guarantee of physical security, how much less does America have any such guarantee!

A sign of secular political idolatry in the U.S.: George W. Bush's second inaugural address, which has been said to give a "messianic" role to American political/military power around the world. Consider these quotes:

"There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom."
“We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right."
"We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom. Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that move events. Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God moves and chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul."

Christ's principle (Luke 20:20-25): Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. A penny has an image of Lincoln, and a dollar bill of Washington: presidents of a secular country, in which we still live. But you bear the image of God. Give to Him what is His.

IV. The false gods of the land: Spontaneity

This idol is nourished and built up by the individualism that we have inherited from our fathers. If what matters is myself and my preferences, then my choices at any moment are valid and I do not need to submit myself to any outside discipline.

Hebrews 5:14—-the need to grow to maturity as Christians, not remain infants spiritually!

Jeremiah 6:16—walk in the old paths. In worship, in family life, in theology, in personal holiness, we need to acknowledge the truth that the eternal God builds up good things through the steady growth of many years. Like Jonah's vine, what springs up overnight often withers overnight. Abraham had to wait twenty-five years to receive Isaac, and by then he was justified and renamed, settled in the land, and ready to obtain the long-awaited promise. But he gave in to the temptation to lose patience and bring about the promised good immediately, the result was Ishmael—a plague and a grief to the people of God from that day until the present.

Don't expect yourself, your family, your church, to reach its full glory in a day or a year. Constantly keep building, patiently, in faith, toward the promised outcome.

Conclusion: Serving the Lord (review of Joshua 24:14-28)

It is not easy to serve the Lord. He permits no compromises, no half-hearted efforts. You cannot remain divided between Him and another master.

You have come here today to gather with His people, to confess your sins to Him and receive His pardon, to hear His Word preached, to eat and drink at His table. You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve Him! And you are witnesses for one another, as well--not to destroy, but to build up, to encourage and to strengthen one another to continue serving the Lord.