Wilderness Wanderings

Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged" (Deuteronomy 31:7-8).

Many of you will have heard the words of our text in one form or another before. In several variations, they are repeated throughout the end of Deuteronomy and recur in Joshua 1. They act as a book end here, because in the early chapters God tells Moses to encourage and strengthen Joshua.

This is the first transition of leadership that Israel is experiencing. They have spent 40 years in the desert under Moses' leadership, they are on the brink of entering the promised land, but Moses is not going with them. One can imagine that many of the Israelites wondered if Joshua was up to the task, and we know that Joshua was no where near sure that he was. And who would blame him?

As such, these words have often been used in the Christian church to commission new leaders. I have used them as a text for installation services for new elders and deacons. They are fitting for such occasions and should continue to be used to encourage all who are taking on leadership roles within the Christian community. Also, it is good to refer to them whenever Christians are going through strenuous days, such as during a pandemic.

The key words in the commissioning are "be strong and courageous" (7). They are not meant merely for a psychological boost. They are based on two great truths. First, the existence of Israel and now the church proves the faithfulness of God. God promised to give them this land. God has invested His reputation in the future of this people and so ultimately, responsibility for them rests on Him. Recall that Moses used this fact to effectively intercede for Israel when God threatened to abandon them (cf. 9:26-29).

Jesus launched the church on this foundation. To Peter he said, "I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). This is the first time the word church is found in the English translations of the Bible. Every participant in the church needs to remember this promise. The very fact that the church exists 2000 years later demonstrates Jesus keeping his word.

Secondly, Christian leaders can count on the unfailing presence of God. "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you" (8). According to Matthew Jesus finished his earthly ministry with these words, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (28:20). In John 20, Jesus disciples are afraid. Three times Jesus shows up and says, "Peace be with you" (19,21,26).

With these words at the end of his ministry, Jesus is inviting his disciples to remember the transition between Moses and Joshua. Like Joshua took over from Moses, and Elisha from Elijah, they are to take over from him. But there is one big difference, Moses died, Elijah went off to heaven, and Jesus is going there too, but he will be coming back through the Holy Spirit. He will be with them to the very end. He has kept his word from then to now. We can be sure he will keep it till he returns.

So Christian, even if you do not have a leadership role in the church, "Be strong and courageous". Jesus calls you to be his disciple in the classroom, in the kitchen and laundry room, in the office, on the job site, and on the playground. Be strong and courageous, he is with you.

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. (Hebrews 3:12-14)

Last week Friday, we talked about the choice between life and death that Moses set before the people. A life of obedience or death in disobedience. The writer of Hebrews reflects on Israel's history, recognizing that many chose the path of disobedience. Today, we can make a different choice.

Our choice though is not quite as stark as the one set before the Israelites. Why not? Because God now assumes our disobedience and so meets us in our sin with the mercy, grace, and forgiveness in Christ necessary to enable a new life of obedience in us.

This is a work of God in Christ through the Spirit from beginning to end.

Even so, we still have a part to play as we seek to get in on it and walk out our following of Jesus in a life obediently submitted to his ways.

The choice comes to us daily. Every day that is called "today" is a new, fresh opportunity to choose to respond to Christ in obedience. Every "today" is a new and fresh opportunity to daily take up our cross and follow him.

Perhaps you haven't chosen to walk out any sort of obedient faithfulness in the last days, weeks, or even months. Or, maybe your obedience has been characterized by a series of fits and starts. Doesn't matter. Because God's grace does not meet you in the past. So there's no need to wallow in guilt. Nor does God's grace meet you in the future. To put off the decision is just procrastination.

No: God's grace meets you TODAY. Now. In the present. The only moment that you have in which you can ever respond to God in faithfulness is this one. Right here. Right now. Today.

No matter how many days of unfaithfulness have piled up behind you: only one day matters. Today.

So, today, choose life. Choose to follow Jesus. And when tomorrow becomes today: choose it again. Do it on the next today too. And even if you miss a day, don't worry: a new today is coming with fresh mercies new every morning. Any and every fresh new day that we call today is an opportunity for a new and fresh decision to follow Jesus.

Encourage one another therefore, on every today as long as it is called today. Because today is the day to follow Jesus.

This podcast contains the scripture and sermon from our worship service at Immanuel.

Before that a special presentation by Raul & Adrianna Herrera from Nicaragua. Our congregation supports them in their work with Resonate Global Missions.

You can find a link to the whole service on our website (Immanuelministries.ca).

No Dive In Questions Today

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. (Deuteronomy 30:15-16.

The whole book of Deuteronomy has been heading towards these verses. There is nothing new here. But Moses draws all the themes of the book into this critical choice which Israel must make. Will she choose life or death? Will it be prosperity or destruction? Today, we must make that same choice.

Understand that the choice comes in the context of God's grace and promises. It is set before Israel with the assurance that God's redemptive purposes on this earth will be accomplished. In the first part of the chapter, Moses speaks about what will happen after judgement. If Israel disobeys and she is banished to the furthest places of the earth, God will still follow his people there, win them back and circumcise their hearts so that they will love him totally with heart and soul, and live (6). With that background he sets the choice before them. Each generation must choose whether they will participate in that great work. Will it be life or death?

For Israel, the choice is about her continuing prosperity in the land God is giving her. Yet the choice is expressed in the singular, thus presenting the whole matter as an intensely personal choice—a choice that matters more than any other in life. Its about Israel as a nation, but each member of the nation is called to choose. Life or death?

Let us flesh out this choice a little more. It is believing that God will give Israel the land and cause her to flourish in the land, it is trusting that obedience to God's commands brings life and freedom, it is believing that through Israel God will bless all the nations of the world and redeem the entire earth.

It is vital that we Christians have this Old Testament context when we invite others to believe in Jesus. So often, we speak about conversion as a purely spiritual thing, such as getting forgiven for our sins. This is, of course, very much part of it. But there is so much more. Recall that Matthew ends his gospel with these words of Jesus, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (28:28-20).

An invitation to follow Jesus includes all of this. It is being immersed in the love of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit so that we are set free to finally obey him in the here and now. Jesus did not come to remove us from this earth, but rather, to settle us in it as his people. As he himself said, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5). Meek, that his how Moses is described in Numbers 12:3. To be meek is to quietly and consistently follow Jesus; to do Jesus things the way Jesus does them. He has authority over heaven, yes, but also over the earth. And his promise is to be with us to the very end. Blessed are the meek. Wherever the meek go, blessing goes with them.

What will you choose, life or death? Life is loving God, walking in his ways and keeping his commands. But life, in the end, is not found in the law itself, but in the God who gave it; for ultimately, the LORD is your life (19). Following Jesus is life. What will you choose?

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

We are chosen by God the King to be his priests. That's not just a calling for your pastors: it's yours too. I think that's part of what our devotion yesterday was getting at. Israel was set as a city on a hill to be visible to the nations. And not just visible, but to be a nation of priests among the nations that constantly pointed to their God. And, as the statements on judgement that we heard from Deuteronomy suggested: even when Israel was unfaithful, their plight in exile would still stand as a testament to the Lord.

Today in the Christian church, we still stand as a priests among the nations when we are faithful to that calling. But even when we are unfaithful, we still testify to the Lord. How? Well, not primarily by facing judgement anymore, but rather by receiving God's mercy in Christ.

It was mentioned yesterday, but many are disillusioned with the church these days. It's hard to find good stories in the news or on social media. Not because they aren't there, mind you, but because that's not what tends to go viral. All the same, it colours our impression.

But what causes us to be disillusioned, I think, is less about the brokenness of the church and more about our expectations of what the church should be. We expect it should be an approximation of Jesus Himself and His Kingdom come. But, rarely does the church measure up to those high ideals of perfection. Nor can it, actually, on this side of eternity.

The reason is that the church is a gathering of recovering sinners who can gather, not because they've mended all their ways, but because they have received mercy. And the sure promise of the Bible is that we will continue to sin and find ourselves in need of mercy until Christ comes again. Amen: Come Lord Jesus, Come.

But we have received mercy. We do receive it. Every time. Christ forgives us again, and again. That the church should continue to be loved by God anyway when the whole society calls out "Crucify" or "Cancel," well that too is a testament to the overwhelming unconditional love and compassion of our God.

And, having received mercy: the church does respond. We don't do it perfectly, but we do minister as priests to one another when we have compassion on, pray for, or forgive one another. We do minister as priests to our neighbours when we give them the grace of borrowing our tools or help them with a project. We do minister as priests when we seek God's glory in our work through good governance, sound accounting, excellent care, wise interventions, well-built and wired buildings, and faithful service.

Through God's grace and mercy to us in Christ, the church is not in the end a bad news story about sin. It is a story about a people who have received mercy and have been transformed by it to become those priests who transform the communities in which they live and the places where the work, volunteer, and study. So you priests: you are seen, known, loved, and forgiven—let the light of Christ's transforming mercy shine through you today!

All the nations will ask: "Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?" And they will hear the answer, "It's because the people living there have broken the covenant of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 29:24-25).

"A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." God established Israel as a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. This principle runs from the Old Testament into the New. Like Israel, the church is a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.

In Deuteronomy 4, Moses shows Israel's publicity in a positive light. Israel, obeying the laws and commands of God, will cause the nations to say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people" (6). In Psalm 67, this publicity becomes a prayer for God's blessing upon Israel. It is not a selfish prayer. His people desire that the nations will sing God's praise and He will rule the nations with justice and shalom. As Jesus taught us to pray, "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).

This is the positive side of God's people being on display. There is also a negative possibility. That is where are text lands. Israel, and the church, can become "an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations" because of the judgments that befall them (us) in their (our) disobedience. It was easy for the nations to see this because Israel was a nation. In the end, her disobedience caused her to be banished from the land of promise and exiled in Babylon.

Because the church lives as scattered communities, God's judgement may not be as easy to discern. Yet, I wonder if Paul was thinking about texts such as ours when he wrote, "Whoever eats and drinks must recognize the body of Christ. If they don't, judgment will come upon them. That is why many of you are weak and sick. That is why a number of you have fallen asleep. We should think more carefully about what we are doing. Then we would not be found guilty for this. When the Lord judges us in this way, he corrects us" (1 Corinthians 11:29-32).

Deuteronomy is structured around this framework of Israel's publicity. It was her mission, as it is now the church's mission; we are God's priesthood among the nations. The very name of God is invested in our fulfillment of that mission. Success will make God's name known as a matter of admiration; failure will drag his name to the depths of profanity.

Ezekiel saw and felt this keenly, standing amidst the smoldering wreckage after the judgment had fallen. But Ezekiel also sees the seeds of hope, for God will always act for the vindication of his own name (Ezek. 36:16-36); Israel will be rebuilt. This is our hope. After judgement will come restoration. God's name will be vindicated.

Many Christians are discouraged by the church. Lots have left because so many churchgoers act in ungodly ways. We have seen the public disgrace of many church leaders. We may wonder if there is any hope for the church.

If you wonder, remember that God's judgement is not primarily destructive but redemptive, purifying. When the prophets of Israel warned of God's coming judgement, there was always that seed of hope. God would preserve a remnant. Jesus, who took our disobedience onto himself, also said, "I will build my church." That is our hope. Let's hang on to it as the Spirit leads us in the way of obedience.

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:12-13)

These verses come at the end of Paul's great chapter on love in 1 Corinthians 13, which means that we hardly read it seriously. We pass it on to our children to memorize or read it at weddings because it talks about love a lot. Because love is mushy and subjective. It makes us uncomfortable. When we want to get down to brass tacks, we crack open Romans or Ephesians. We don't go to the love part.

And, fair enough. Sometimes the word "love" is used rather simplistically, like a slogan. "Choose love, not hate," we say. Which—in this abstract form—means precisely nothing. The people who chant and shout love act a lot like the folks who are supposedly perpetrating the hate. Just as much anger, slander, fear, exclusion, and even violence. Love as an abstract concept gets us nowhere.

But that's not how 1 Corinthians 13 comes to us. It comes to us embedded in a context and among a group of people: the climactic center of the worship wars in Corinth where the church was deeply divided. How do you live out the reconciliation you already have in Christ in worship, around the Lord's Supper Table, and when you're fighting about gifts, abilities, and who controls the direction of the church? You love each other, that's how.

I find these words at the end of 1 Corinthians 13 to be one of the best descriptions of heaven and of our Christian longing. To see Jesus, face to face. To know Him fully even as we are fully known by Him. And to see and know each other in the same way: fully and face to face. What a surprising joy! That we can be seen and known fully for everything we are and aren't: and still be loved fully all the same! But that is the promise: this place of deep belonging and fellowship that lies at the fulfillment of our hopes and at the end of our faith; that deep and lasting place of loving, embodied, relationship in its truest and purest form. Beyond faith and hope: love remains.

For now, we only see a dim reflection, as through a mirror, or a glass in the older translations. I think of the screens of our devices that tell us all the terrible things going on in the world and church and bring us the disembodied fellowship of text on screens or voice alone in Discord or heads in boxes across Zoom and Facetime. What a poor reflection.

Embodied fellowship is what we were created for. It's what we long for. The world of face to face. Of knowing fully even as we are fully known. Sure, we can't get to that depth of fullness on this side of eternity even when we do come together, but it is the direction our entire, embodied-resurrection faith leans. That's why we're called to gather as Christians. Not because the church is great, but because we need the practice.

Learning how to see and know another and love them all the same. Jesus did it for us. Will you come together to love one another in just that same way? It is, to quote Paul, "the most excellent way" through our present difficulties and divisions.

"If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God…" (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).

Since I made the rules for our journey through Deuteronomy, I also get to break them. We are staying with the same text as my last edition of Wilderness Wanderings. More specifically, these words, "the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth."

Moses does not define what this looks like. It's a safe assumption that part of the deal is that other nations would look up to Israel; that she would shine in such a way that people will be drawn to her, to her values and to her God.

It seems to me that when Jesus said to his disciples, "You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world", he was echoing our text. And like Moses, he is telling us that our capacity to be the light of the world is directly connected to our faithfulness to God.

Paul unpacks this further when he says, "Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, "children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation." Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life" (Philippians 2:14-16).

In these devotions and in our preaching, both Pastor Anthony and I have lamented the current state of the church. There appears to be more darkness that light. It's a fair conclusion if we only read the headlines, whether they be secular or Christian.

But then I went on tour with Renita, visiting several of our church members in their workplaces. We heard stories of what it looks like to live as a Christian in the marketplace, how Christ's kindness and love leak out of us in the most unexpected ways. I saw "the church" being the church outside of the church building. It was good.

Then I remembered that in our long history, the church often initiated schools and hospitals. In Canada today, for every grocery store there are four organizations providing food for the hungry, many of them connected to a church. The light shines.

Soon after Jesus tells his disciples that we are the light of the world, he tells us three times not to show off our piety in front of others (Matthew 6:1-17). God will reveal our good deeds when the time is right. The nature of godly work is to do it quietly where it go unnoticed. Maybe that is why the writer of Hebrews gives us this encouragement, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (10:24-25).

It is difficult to stay the course that is narrow and challenging when we go it alone. We need companions and encouragers along the way. Do we need to put more emphasis on that in our church life?

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Revelation 15 from the New International Version of the Bible. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection!

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (Ephesians 2:15b-16)

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17b-19)

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3)

Our devotion yesterday mentioned the letter of Ephesians, grace, and the gift of already being a part of God's people. A gift we have only to receive and live congruently out of to find ourselves in touch with God's blessing. Well: I feel like I have been living in this gift and these texts this past week, and even though it might mean a slightly longer devotion today, I would love to share the story with you so that you too can be encouraged.

Wednesday afternoon, a group of Calvin Seminary students gathered in Hamilton to see what "CRC ministry" looks like here. I was able to serve as one of the organizers and tour guides for their time. And, rather than show them around a church building to see the Sanctuary, Fellowship Hall, and GEMS closet, we took them on a tour of TrueCity to see the gift that it is to be a part of the reconciled family of God.

We started at 541 where they got their food, bought their buttons, and listened in to a young Anglican in roughly the same spot in the ordination track as they are. "What keeps a place like 541 running?" it was asked. "It couldn't happen without the support, community, and patronage of folks and churches in the TrueCity network" came the reply. This place wouldn't be here without the churches working together for the good of the city.

Next we came to New Hope Bikes, a ministry that has expanded and generated a deep and broad community and hub of activity. Tammy greeted us there, talked about how this ministry grew from the prayerful presence of the church and Asset Based Community Development principles incubated at Diaconal Ministries Canada. "Is there a TrueCity thread running through this place?" "Most of our board members, supporters, and funding partners are people from the TrueCity network" was the reply.

Then we visited Indwell at the Perkins Centre where New Hope meets. Again, CRC incubation (by Immanuelites especially early on) of a ministry that's now deeply supported, staffed, and integrated in Hamilton within the TrueCity Network. An example of which is the three or four TrueCity churches that have Indwell projects integrated into their buildings or will soon.

Then we visited GOHOP, the new monastic prayer movement in Hamilton where not a few of our Young Adults and Redeemer Students have done internships or taken shifts with the prayer teams and where I myself get spiritual direction. They were the ones who began praying for the churches and pastors in Hamilton a few years before TrueCity sprang up, and they have been the prayerful anchor for the movement ever since. Never does a TrueCity Conference happen without the churches coming together in GOHOP facilitated 24/7 prayer stretching for a week or two after.

I had to leave before Katie shared about Open Homes Hamilton and all the newcomer support that happens here, also through places like the Micah House, but that too is a TrueCity network story through and through. A thing that may never have existed if the churches weren't together for the good of the city.

The hostility between our churches and denominations has been put to death in the cross of Christ here in Hamilton as we live together in this one new humanity of the church. And together with all these TrueCity saints, I have begun to grasp a little more fully how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. I think by the end of our tour, our visiting seminarians did too.

When the church lives in the "unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" that was forged between us through the cross of Christ—a whole city can be transformed. Structurally, physically, relationally.

It's happened, friends. It is happening. And whether you knew it or not: you're already a part of it! In these ways and so many more.