LIGHT AND WARMTH FOR THE JOURNEY

A sermon by Dr. David Burhans
Interim Preacher, First Baptist Church, Richmond, Virginia
Sunday, April 27, 2008

Joshua 1:1-9 and John 14:15-21 

          Wishing to encourage her young son’s progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert.  After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her.  Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked “NO ADMITTANCE.’  When the houselights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing.  Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage.

          In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”  At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy’s ear, “Don’t quit.  Keep playing.”  Then leaning over Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part.  Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obligato.  Together, the old master and young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience.  And the audience was mesmerized. 

          However challenging, however uncertain the future, whatever big questions yet to be answered, God is whispering deep within us, “Don’t quit.  Keep playing.  You are not alone.” We would do well, therefore, to embrace this promise from Holy Scripture, “Eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has the heart of man or woman conceived the things God has prepared for them who love him” (I Corinthians 2:9).

          This is a time in all of our lives, in the life of First Baptist Church, not unlike that which Joshua experienced 3000 years ago when God commissioned him to lead the Hebrew people into the Promised Land.  Moses had just died and Joshua was tapped by God to be Moses’ successor.  Perhaps Joshua felt something of what any one of us feels when we face new experiences, new possibilities for personal growth—a sense of wonder and excitement, but also some discomfort, uncertainty, perhaps even anxiety over what lies out there before us.  Joshua surely petitioned God for strength, courage, guidance and wisdom, a request similar to our prayers on many occasions.  These words from a century ago have been a source of courage and inspiration for me:  “I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he said to me: ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God, for that shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way’” (Minnie Louise Harkins, quoted by King George V in 1939).  That wise counsel is confirmed here in Holy Scripture, the first chapter of Joshua.

          In God’s commission of the prophet, Joshua, I am struck by the fact that God repeats one specific admonition to Joshua four times in only four verses.  It is as if God is not sure Joshua hears Him.  But repetition is an excellent teaching method.  “Be strong and of good courage,”(v.6) Joshua!  Joshua, are you listening?  Once more, “Be strong and of good courage,”(v.7) Joshua!  Do you understand how important your inner strength is, your will to lead is?  Do you realize you will have to set the example of confidence and trust and obedience if my people are to stay the course and remain faithful in possessing this land?”  A third time:  “Be strong and of good courage,”(v.9) Joshua!  And finally, the fourth time God says it just a little differently, “Do not be frightened, do not be dismayed!”(v.9). 

          God’s expectation of Joshua was clearly and forcefully spelled out. He needed to be strong, courageous, fearless, no hint of despair along this journey.  How is that for high expectations!  There is no secret, however, how Joshua was to stay strong and courageous.  You see, God never calls us to journey, to discipleship, to personal faith that God does not provide the energy and the resources for success.  For Joshua two resources for his journey into the unknown stand out clearly in this text:  KNOWLEDGE OF GOD’S LAW and FAITHFUL COMPANIONSHIP. Joshua would be given Light and Warmth, knowledge and companionship in order to grow his strength and courage, to make this journey successfully.

          The late John Claypool (a prophetic voice in the pulpit for four decades) once spoke of the master poet, novelist, dramatist, philosopher and scientist, Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Goethe had been described, Claypool said, as “the last truly universal man”.  It is recorded that when this man of genius lay dying in 1832, his last words were: “Light, light!  More light!”  Almost a century later the Spanish philosopher, Migual Unamuno reacted to this death-bed plea suggesting that Goethe should have cried, “Warmth, warmth!  More warmth. More persons die of coldness,” observed Unamuno, “than die of darkness.  It is frost, not night that kills.” 

          Here are two of the worlds great thinkers reflecting on the meaning of this human journey, one suggesting the critical element to be light, knowledge, insight; the other defining life’s greatest necessity as warmth, affirmation, acceptance.  The greater truth, it seems, is that either of these alone is inadequate, but together LIGHT and WARMTH become the vital human qualities for the journey into the unknown. 

Remember, God does not call us to the journey, to discipleship without providing the energy and resources for achievement.  I suggest this morning that in God’s commission of Joshua, LIGHT and WARMTH were the two essential gifts Joshua needed to be an effective leader of the Hebrew people.  Light and warmth are also critical resources for each of us, for First Baptist Church on the threshold of a new day.

         1) The LIGHT which God revealed to Joshua is recorded in verses 7 and 8.  God says, “Be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the Law Moses commanded you.  Do not turn from it, so that you may be successful wherever you go.”  In verse 8, a second time God says, “This book of the law you shall meditate on day and night so that you may be careful to act in accordance with it.  Then you shall make your way prosperous and you shall be successful.”  Light, knowledge, understanding of God’s laws, God’s ways of living and relating were critical for growing Joshua’s strength and courage.

          Meditate on God’s laws day and night and act in accordance with them.  The best summary of God’s laws are the words of our Lord when he responded to a lawyer of the Pharisees who was testing him, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets, Jesus said:  ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  And a second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matt. 22:37-40).  God’s instruction to Joshua and relevant challenge to us is this, “pay attention to God, and love what God loves” (Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity).

A professor at an Ivy League school told about a conversation he overheard at a cocktail party.  The head of the Astronomy Department was chatting with the Dean of the Divinity School.  The Astronomy professor said, “Now let’s face it.  In religion, what it all boils down to very simply is that you should “do to others as you would have them do to you.”  It’s the Golden Rule, right?”  “Yes, I suppose that is true,” replied the Dean of the Divinity School, “just as in astronomy it all boils down to one thing, “Twinkle, twinkle, little star.”

Neither the Golden Rule nor “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” plumbs the depth of the Christian faith or scientific inquiry.  To love God with every fiber of our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves require serious intentionality, strength of will, high-holy moments of thanksgiving, the discipline of retreat, meditation and reflection, confession of sin and acknowledgement of one’s own brokenness, and to see, hear and respond to the cries of the poor, the broken, the lonely, the despairing souls around us.  This is the essence of what it means to journey in the light, to focus on God’s laws and to act in accordance with them, in other words, “to pay attention to God and to love what God loves.”

          2) The second quality God promised Joshua was COMPANIONSHIP, God’s power and presence for the journey.  Verse 5:  “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.   Verse 9:  “I command you, be strong and of good courage…for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  The old Latin proverb is correct:  “One person is no person at all.”  You see, we are creatures of relatedness.  We cannot make this journey alone.  We come into this world as social beings -- we are born, live and grow interdependently with those around us.  Here is an appropriate metaphor: A stick that falls out of a campfire soon becomes a charred, blackened piece of wood.  But place that stick back in close association with other burning sticks, and it begins to glow again, producing heat and light.  You see, fire springs from fellowship!  This is God’s great promise to Joshua, “I am with you wherever you go.” And it is the promise of the Risen Christ to the Christian Church: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” (John 14:27).

For 20 centuries since the birth of Christ, there have been varieties of people, countless in number, who have been filled with his spirit, captured by his way of life, healed and transformed in relationship with him. God’s gift of Jesus Christ and his sojourn among us demonstrate that no experience nurtures strength and courage and helps us resist despair like the warmth of personal relationships, relationship with the Lord Christ and relationships with each other.

I ran across a delightful prayer by a 17^th Century Nun given us by Ellen’s Godmother, Lois May, perhaps 40 years ago. This warm, honest conversation with God reminded me how best to nurture relationships and to embrace Jesus’ command that we love one another as he has loved us. Here is a portion of the Nun’s prayer:

Lord, keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion. Release me from craving to straighten out everybody’s affairs. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all, but Thou knowest Lord that I want a few friends at the end.

I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility and a lessening cocksureness when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.

And give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places, and talents in unexpected people. And give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them so. Amen. (author unknown)

A prayer of light and warmth, of knowledge and wisdom!

In two short weeks, Jim Somerville will step into the role of Senior Minister, Pastor of this beloved Church fellowship. Together you and pastor will embark on a journey of ministry that has incredible potential for advancing God’s reign of love and peace and justice in this city, the state of Virginia and far beyond this continent. PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER!

This venture for Christ will be a creative, exciting and rewarding experience commensurate with the investment you and your family are willing to make in this church, on this journey. What God did for Joshua 3,000 years ago, the Risen Christ is doing for his followers today. “Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid. Neither be dismayed for the Lord you God is with you wherever you go.” And as you go, remember, “Eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has the heart of man or woman conceived the things God has prepared for them who love him.” Follow the Light and hold tightly the warm, strong hand of God.  For what has been, Lord, THANKS! For what shall be, YES! In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.