"Sanctify Yourselves for Humble Service" November 5, 2017

Joshua 1-17 Matthew 23:1-12 Be STRONG, Be of GOOD COURAGE, HUMBLE in SERVICE, SANCTIFY YOURSELVES all of this refers to instruction to “Experience Life with Authentically.” Tourists for hundreds of miles around, come to the Finger Lakes for Leaf Peeping, to see lakes and witness the Glory of The Finger Prints of God, which we go passed. Different from what I have seen in the Northeast, along the roadside in Midwestern States there were immense Stone Cairns, some with the names of every county in the State, others with identification of every City in the County. As children, our parents would pull the car off the road at these rest-stops and we would finger all the names inscribed into the stones, never understanding why these stone cairns had been established. Year ago hiking the Adirondacks, the trails were marked with similar stone markers, that you depended upon to find your way. When you started out in the morning, due to the fog, you often could not see up ahead, you could see from this marker to the next, and that experience was enough. You did not have to worry about the future or the past, you had to live in the moment, confident you knew who you were and where you were. What Joshua here instructs the tribes to do, is to gather boulders together, to build a stone Cairn, to mark the spot where they “crossed over Jordan” for salvation. Last Sunday, we read of Moses looking over the Promised Land and Moses’ burial. In the first two Chapters of Joshua, over and over Joshua is told to be strong of courage, here he instructs the leaders to tell the people “Sanctify Yourselves”. Literally, everything that had ever been promised to Abraham, to Isaac & Jacob, as well as throughout the 40 years with Moses escaping Egypt, was being fulfilled. What an awesome responsibility, one that was not given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob or Moses, but is given to you, so be Strong, Be of Courage! Sanctify Yourselves in Glory! This is a holy thing, do Not miss it. THE PREDICAMENT OF THE PROSPEROUS, is that faith is wholly reasonable when you are believing in and working at a promise, but different, once you possess everything you need and desire. Faith for Joshua is less about fulfillment “someday”, than about being thankful to have survived, thankful to have God’s blessings. As we approach Veteran’s Day, it is not as other Countries have done displaying our Military Weaponry, but a time of GIVING THANKS for having been brought through! The point of this passage is that entering this land was a moment in world history, to be remembered for all time. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER, was a place none of their generation had been before, so crossing over was no ordinary act. Imagine one of life’s many changes, Senior Year in High School, Graduation from College, Getting Married, having a Child, Retirement, Receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award… we make plans, send invitations, purchase everything we need. BUT do we stop to sanctify ourselves, realizing we are crossing over and will never be the same, that we are going into an alien reality different than we have ever known, AND Not as Conquerors, not Prideful, but Sanctified for Holy Service? Last week, discussing Martin Luther, we described that the Church used to require before you could receive Communion, you had to go to Confession and be absolved of your sins. While we do not need to go into a Confessional Booth, in the Sacrament of Communion we are opening our souls, we are opening ourselves totally and completely to one another, so what ever you thought was hidden, what you were harboring, is now shared with God, and also a burden shared by all of us. For Israel, this Crossing Over calls up memory of crossing the Red Sea, as their ancestors left slavery crossing the De-Militarized zone of the dry Sea-bed into the wilderness. In that first crossing, they were pursued by Pharaoh and his armies. When they reached the other side, their prayer and celebration was that their enemy had been destroyed. But with the Jordan River, crossing over is leaving the wilderness where we were nomads, Entering INTO God’s Promise, into the Sacred. How they did so is unknown, perhaps a miracle of God similar to the Red Sea, perhaps the engineering miracle of a dam, or other means of diverting the river. Symbolically for Israel: Water being Chaos at Creation, if Israel could control the Jordan, Damming up or diverting Water, to bring life to the desert, they could control their destiny. Geographically: What we know is that it was Flood Season, so the waters were broader and deeper than normal, the water colder and faster, coming down from Mt. Hermon’s snowcaps 9000 feet ABOVE sea-level, dropping to the Dead Sea at 1400 ft BELOW sea-level, so one of the fastest rivers of its size dropping OVER 10,000 feet! When you are flying, the Pilot announces when you have reached OVER 10,000 ft, because over 10,000 feet is different, You are physically between HEAVEN & EARTH you have perspective, everything is witnessed and seen in big picture from outside; but when you are living sanctified humbly experiencing, when you are crossing over the river where stone cairns were set up by Joshua and the ancestor of each tribe, life is very much in the here and now. So this passage begins “This is the Day!” The Gospel according to Matthew attempts to do at least two things simultaneously, First to share the Good News of the Life, Death and Resurrection of the Messiah! This is not history of a Rabbi, or President, this is Sacred of God’s love of God’s Son. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus has authority because everything he says comes from Old Testament Scripture, he fulfills everything a Messiah was supposed to do and to be… But this story was written down, in this way, at this time, for a purpose. 36 years after the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, three years after his Baptism at Jordan, so about the year 70AD the Temple at Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman Empire through the Roman Legion. That act, that Crossing Over, ended Worship as it had been practiced since the time of Abraham, ritually since Moses. There no longer were Sacrifices. There no longer were Priests. There no longer was a Temple to go to for Worship. There was a level of Spiritual Chaos, as everyone struggled with what is FAKE and what is REAL, searched for what is “Authoritative,” who speaks with Authority. For decades, scholars dismissed Matthew as clumsy and jumbled. Jesus challenges Chief Priests, the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Saducees… Is everybody the enemy? Instead, I think what Matthew was trying to do was to compare Jesus to each of the other authorities: Jesus compared to the Chief Priests. Jesus compared to the Phariees, Jesus compared to the Saducees, Jesus compared to the Sanhedrin, to King Herod, to Pontius Pilate and Caesar? and he is More Authentic, Undercutting as more to be Trusted than any other. Although they may have POWER over life and death, death could not prevent his love, which is for everlasting life. Power does strange things to us. 3 psychologists Keltner, Gruenfeld and Anderson shared the results of what has become a famous study. In this experiment, they worked with clusters of three people, all of the same sex, having a conversation. They designated one of the three, as being the Judge, who could assign points as they saw fit to the other two. They then had a discussion of political issues and business policies, what is fake and real, with the Judge assigning points to each. After 30 minutes, the researchers brought in a plate of 5 cookies. Now the problem is somebody is not going to get two. Everytime, the judge awarded themself at least two cookies, and often, ate with their mouth open! Power in one arena, leads to demonstrations of power in other arenas. One of the best stories of humility I have ever heard, took place in Chicago in 1953, as a Train pulled into the Railroad station. All the Dignitaries, Officials, Reporters and Crowds were there to see the person who had been named the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Suddenly a tall slender man, with bushy white hair and mustache stepped off the platform. He said “excuse me”, and discretely made his way through the crowd to walk up beside an elderly Black woman struggling with two immense cases. He offered to help her, and carried her bags to the bus she was going to ride. Then Albert Schweitzer turned back to the crowd and apologized for having kept them all waiting. Someone described that they had never seen a Sermon Lived Out. Years ago in another congregation, a man who had left the area decades before returned for his wife’s burial. He then contacted the Church because he wanted to make a Gift of Upholstered Cushions for the Pews, which were solid Oak. Not simply new cushions, these oak benches had never been padded. For 9 months the Session debated whether to receive the gift or not, ultimately deciding to do so, saying: “We have been uncertain if we should be this comfortable in the worship of God, but we are certain that the Preacher ought never to get comfortable.” So they did not upholster the Preacher’s bench.