Moses calls Joshua and in front of everyone passes the torch
of leadership with the admonition most well-known from the first chapter of the
book of Joshua, "Be strong and courageous." When I was ordained into ministry I was given
a Bible that had Joshua 1.9 written in it and that charge was given me by my
bishop. As an assistant I was like
Joshua, always ready to take the risk and charge ahead. I learned what Joshua certainly had to learn,
it is always easier to be bold and courageous when your boldness and courage
don't have such a steep price. As a
leader you have to count the cost and take into consideration what could happen
if things went really badly. I have
certainly been there and done that in my career in ministry and it will cause
you to be a bit gun-shy regarding risk. Moses
is a bit more cynical regarding the ability of the people to be faithful and
not rebellious, he has no hope for the future of the nation with respect to the
Law. He has seen too much. Finally, he extols the Lord who is faithful
and who has done more than anyone could have asked or expected. He has faith that no matter what the people
do, the Lord will remain faithful to His Word.
Jesus is preparing the disciples, and us, for life without His
bodily presence. The world is in chaos
even if we have a sense that it is not. The
strife over and in Jerusalem has been incredibly common down the centuries
since it was established as the city of God.
The temple has been overthrown numerous times and now it is a shrine to
a false god, the god of Islam. There has
been not peace but détente at one level or another there since Jesus'
death. He also, however, speaks of signs
in the heavens that will accompany His coming again, along with false prophets
and false claimants to the Messianic throne.
We are to watch for these signs but not as a preoccupation. Over and again through the Gospels Jesus
tells the disciples in parables that so long as we live we are to be about the
work of extending and tending the Master's kingdom. We are to be found, not watching for signs,
but doing the work we have been given to do.
This passage should give us comfort that if we are doing so we won't be
misled and we won't miss the coming of the kingdom.
When Paul says that if you confess with your mouth that
Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you
will be saved does he intend that to mean that we pray the sinners prayer and
keep the matter private? Clearly Paul
could never mean something so quiet and private by this statement. The man was imprisoned and ultimately died
because He confessed that truth with his lips and believed it in his
heart. Those truths are meant to
completely re-orient our lives. The Israelites
could have said to one another that God was Lord there in Egypt but the problem
was that the Lord sent Moses to request that Pharaoh give them leave to go out
for three days to worship Him. They could
have, likewise, believed in their hearts that He was able to deliver them, but
they had to take action on their beliefs.
We are to do the same regarding the Gospel. It is meant to be our life not just a fond
hope for the afterlife.
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