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We are responsible for each other. We must help each other to replace…

1. Desire with truth

• Perhaps “replace” is bit too strong a word, rather “temper.” Desire in and of itself is not good or bad, it’s the object and action of desire that determines that. Uninformed desire is dangerous, informed desire is much better.
• While the Reubenites, Gadites and the half tribe of Manassah desired land for cattle, they never asked, “What God does desire?” Moses’ decision to let these tribes dwell in the land was done largely without God – if at all (Numbers 32, similar to Lot’s choice in Genesis 13:10-11).
• Moses certainly wanted to maintain peace, but at what cost. We need to make wise decisions. James 3:17, “Wisdom is first pure then peaceable.”
• The problem is that too many of our choices are focused on us. (James 4:1-3)
• We need each other to provide insight and balance. (Proverbs 5:18)

2. Suspicion with transparency

• This happens a lot, especially when we hear a sermon that convicts us. If the sermon is on money and we feel convicted to give – the first thing we say is, “All that guy wants is money.” If the sermon is on sin and we feel convicted – the first thing we say is, “That’s just hellfire and brimstone, the church is so judgmental.”
  • Or we’ll attack the messenger, “That preacher is a hypocrite.” Never mind the fact that the message is what’s important not the messenger.
  • We get more concerned with the church’s minutiae than real problems facing us.
• We need to be transparent with each other – this is not to say that you are transparent with everyone, but someone. We must live approachable and transparent lives.
• Transparency is a two sided problem; we need to do all we can to reveal our true selves to each other. What are we to do when we think someone may need to be transparent? 1 Thessalonians 3:5-6, Paul was suspected the Thessalonian church had fallen away so he investigated.

3. Isolation with community

• The means of isolation are limitless, TV, cellphone, internet, text messaging, etc. Quote came from: James Hillman and Michael Ventura, We’ve Had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy – And the World’s Getting Worse (San Francisco: Harper, 1992), 40-41.
• We isolate for many different reasons, guilt “I’m worse than you,” pride “I’m better than you,” suspicion is usually a manifestation of either. We are suspicious of people better than us afraid they will replace us, we’re suspicious of people “worse” than us afraid they will attack us and our value.
• To live in community however puts those aside and assumes no hidden agenda. It says, “You matter to me, and I matter to you.” It puts aside the comparison and replaces it with cooperation.
• Notice the cost of community, the Israelites we’re willing to sacrifice of their own promise, their own inheritance to make sure that their brothers and sisters were included in community. Joshua 22:19
• What are we willing to sacrifice? One night a week in a small group? One additional hour on Sunday morning? Your lunch break to visit somebody in your life who might be high-maintenance but definitely in need.

Note: A very helpful resource in this Joshua sermon and the entire Joshua series has been, Warren Wiersbe’s commentary, Be Strong (Victor Books: Wheaton, 1993).

We all need a little push, as I write this I’m sitting outside with my two children on a crisp fall morning. This post will be short so I can get back to important work – pushing my son around in his car. My son needs the push, it’s too difficult for him to navigate his car around the grass in the backyard. As I think about tomorrow morning’s sermon I realize we’ll simply be talking about getting a spiritual push from each other. Joshua 22 is our passage and in it we see the 9 1/2 tribes of Israel rallying to push the 2 1/2 trans-Jordanic tribes into holiness. The community realized it was their responsibility to push each other into the place God had for them.

As you prepare for tomorrow, pray and ask God to reveal any area of your life where you need a push. Maybe you are stuck in something and you really need God to help you make progress in overcoming. Ask God to show you who can give a push. We know few people, we trust less and we listen to fewer. It’s the few we listen to that can push us. I’m afraid that as we mature in our faith we become hesitant to ask for help and hesitant to listen – after all we should have this down by now. So, we become suspicious of those who would push us out of our familiar ruts and into the promises God has for us. We suspect their motives and move to a place of isolation in our spirituality. Tomorrow the challenge is to move from isolation, into community and into the promise God has for us. See you then!

In the Original Testament if you killed someone the family of the slain would designate an “avenger of blood” from among them. This avenger of blood would have the responsibility of finding the murderer and killing them – sometimes without a trial. This was the way the law worked. It was important to that family that you succeed and kill the slayer – if you didn’t shame, weakness and dishonor would be on your family.

In Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua – God provided inside of the Israelite legal system a place where people who committed manslaughter without malice could find safety. These places were called cities of refuge; they belonged to the priests of Israel and were completely safe for those guilty of accidental manslaughter. They were to be close to everyone, Moses commanded the distance be measured so that no one in Israel would live too far from being able to run to refuge. In Joshua they become a reality as Joshua designates six cities of refuge. (Joshua 20:1-9; Numbers 35:9-28; Deuteronomy 19:1-13)

“Our church should be a city of refuge…”

1. A place where anyone is welcome

a. On our doors we have the slogan, “A place where you belong…” is that really the case. I believe that Billy Graham was right and Martin Luther King Jr. was right when they both stated that 11am on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America. While the church has made strides toward repairing this – we’re still not past it.

b. It’s not just race, it’s social standing, economic class, education, anything that we use to separate an “us” from a “them” cannot have a place in the church.

c. God has always dreamed of his people being united, Abraham was blessed to be a blessing to the nations.

d. Even the dream and dedication of the temple realized that in part it was for the foreigner – 1 Kings 8:41-43. Solomon’s prayer says this, “Run here for refuge.”

e. Paul talks about this in Ephesians 2:17-19. What he’s really saying, is “Run here for refuge.”

2. A place where anyone is protected

a. The protection was taken serious by the Israelites. Verse five states, “And if the avenger of blood is in pursuit, they shall not give up the slayer, because the neighbor was killed by mistake.” Why? Because “the neighbor was killed by mistake!”They didn’t mean to, it was an accident, they did not know what they were doing!

b. That’s the main difference between the church and the city of refuge. For we are all guilty – Romans 3:9-10. We are all guilty of sin!

c. Christ is the one whom we murdered by our sin – and whom we run to for refuge. Luke 23:34, Christ prays, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” He’s saying, “I was killed by mistake, they didn’t mean to, it was an accident , they didn’t know what they were doing.” And in this prayer you can almost hear Christ whispering, “Run to me for refuge.”

d. And we see this is the case in Hebrews 6:18-19. We flee to Christ for refuge.

3. A place where anyone can receive grace.

a. Cities of refuge were pretty accepting places – only priests and the guilty lived there.

b. The priests in the city of refuge would hold the accused until the death of the high priest.

c. Why? The high priest’s death was the blood that covered over the offense of murder. See Exodus 28:38 for the priest absorbing guilt.

d. We know from Hebrews that we have a high priest who has destroyed our guilt. Christ has absorbed our guilt – giving us grace. Christ our victim, our forgiveness, our refuge, our high priest whose death has covered our sin.

We’ve been glued to the TV this week watching the stocks decline and the pundits speculate on how far the DOW can drop. I know it’s left many wondering, “Is anything for sure?” That coupled with the two recent incidents involving local law officers in domestic violence and murder is enough to shake anyone’s sense of security. There is no sure bet and no sure security.

Unfortunately for us Jesus’ words don’t offer a lot of hope as far as security.  In Matthew 8:20 Jesus said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” While Christ makes no promise for wealth gain, physical security or even safety Hebrews 6:18-19 does promise that our souls will not be lost in any temporal storm. The author states, “We who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain.”  This spiritual security, anchored in Christ, can weather any storm.

This Sunday we’ll be looking at the cities of refuge Joshua established (Joshua 20) and how they are a prototype of the church.  We’ll look at where true hope and refuge can be found.  We’ll discover that in this uncertain time there is security.  It’s not the type we expected or wanted – but it’s exactly what we needed.  See you Sunday!