5th and Final in the Series on Joshua
SERMON PREACHED AT
STOUFFVILLE UNITED CHURCH
REV. CAPT. JOHN NILES
MUSIC BY DANIEL MEHDIZADEH AND CHOIR
World Wide Communion Sunday and Commissioning of Church Council
Scripture:
Joshua 4:1-24
Suggested Video:
A few years ago, a radio station ran a contest. Disc jockeys invited their listeners to tune in their clock radios. “Just for fun,” they said, “when you wake up to the sound of FM-106, call and tell us the first words you spoke when you rolled out of bed. If you are the third caller, you will win $106.”
It did not take long for the contest to grow in enthusiasm. The first morning, a buoyant disc jockey said, “Caller number three, what did you say when you rolled out of bed this morning?” A groggy voice said, “Do I smell coffee burning?” Another day, a sleepy clerical worker said, “Oh no, I’m late for work.” Somebody else said her first words were, “Honey, did I put out the dog last night?” A muffled curse was immediately heard in the background, and then a man was heard to say, “No, you didn’t.” It was a funny contest and drew a considerable audience.
One morning, however, the third caller said something unusual. The station phone rang. “Good morning, this is FM-106. You are on the air. What did you say when you rolled out of bed this morning?”
A voice with a Jewish accent replied, “You want to know my first words in the morning?” The bubbly DJ said, “Yes, sir! Tell us what you said.”
The Bronx voice responded, “Shema, Israel … Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” There was a moment of embarrassed silence. Then the radio announcer said, “Sorry, wrong number,” and cut to a commercial.
Try to remember. What did you say when you rolled out of bed today? Chances are that those words set the tone for the rest of the day. Memory and remembrance – for that Jewish believer who spoke those ancient words on the radio station FM-106; it was not just something that happened in the past but was important to the present. Memories are important because, as J.J. Barrie said, “God gave them to us so that we would have roses in winter”. Memories are roses in winter. The fragrance of which reminds us, not only of the beauty of the past but that there is yet something more beautiful yet to be discovered in the present and future.
I
As it has often been said, “Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. Joshua did not want his people to ever again forget and be doomed to wander in the desert, as Moses’ generation did, because they failed to learn and live in the promises of God. He wanted a memorial that would be seen by all and when seen, would cause the people to pause and remember – the goodness of God. Though we did not have a plague or pestilence to deal with as Moses did, we did have a decision that had to be made to change from a full-time to a part-time ministry and pandemic, financial crisis, and yet, three years is not a long time, it was time enough to come through the initial financial crisis, establish a part time ministry, move through the pandemic, reestablish the church and accomplish this chancel change that we dedicated last week to remain as a memorial to what faith and determination can accomplish.
II
Joshua used memories to instruct the uninformed and secondly, memories can encourage the discouraged. “Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” 7
In life everyone at times needs encouragement. A man said: One morning I opened the door to get the newspaper and was surprised to see a strange little dog with our paper in his mouth. Delighted with this unexpected “delivery service,” I fed him some treats. The following morning, I was horrified to see the same dog sitting in front of our door, wagging his tail, surrounded by eight newspapers. I spent the rest of that morning returning the papers to their owners. Encouragement works. Joshua knew that people sometimes forget how blessed they have been and how God has done great things in the past and wanted his people to remember and be encouraged, especially during the low points that come.
At a nursing home a group of seniors were sitting around talking about all their ailments:
“My arms have gotten so weak I can hardly lift this cup of coffee”, said one. “Yes, I know,” said another. “My cataracts are so bad I can’t even see my coffee.” “I couldn’t even mark an “X” at election time, my hands are so crippled”, volunteered a third. “What? Speak up! What? I can’t hear you! I can’t turn my head because of the arthritis in my neck,” said a fourth, to which several nodded weakly in agreement. “My blood pressure pills make me so dizzy!” exclaimed another. “I forget where I am, and where I’m going,” said another. “I guess that’s the price we pay for getting old”, winced an old man as he slowly shook his head. The others nodded in agreement “Well, count your blessings,” said one woman cheerfully. “Thank God we can all still drive.”
Near Geneva, Switzerland, there is a lake and in that lake, there is a large stone and inscribed on that stone is an interesting message. It says, “If you can read this, weep.” Why? Because it indicates that the water is low, that the land is dry, that there’s drought, that the water supply is threatened, that irrigation is not an issue right now, that things are tough in a drought. With Joshua, it is different. In the human memorial it says we have to weep; the water is so low. With Joshua, when the water gets low, we see the memorial as a sign that reminds us of God’s faithfulness, and we gain encouragement and strength from it. “See these stones? -this channel- Remember. If you can read this, smile! God was here. His ark was here. His Presence was here. His power was here, and because of it, and we are still here.”
God did something, and that rock pile in the middle was a reminder. Someday, the river will be low. Someday in our lives, things are going to get tough. And Joshua wants us to all be able to have a memorial place that we can say to ourselves and our children and grandchildren. ‘It is going to be ok. For I remember what God did on this day and at this moment to show me His love, forgiveness, refuge, strength, or healing and faithfulness. And I have come to trust Him”
III
Joshua used memories to instruct the uniformed, encourage the discouraged, and inspire the living. , “In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea [b] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over…” 
The word inspire comes from two words “en” and “spiritus”. This means to be in spirit. To be inspired is to be in God or to have the spirit of God in you. Joshua wanted to inspire the people to live their lives to the full never forgetting who they are and Whose they are and live their lives accordingly. 
At a family reunion a man said that he and his wife overheard some young twin sisters talking about their newborn baby brother. One asked, “But how did God breathe life into our baby brother?” The other pointed at his belly button and said, “I think he used the biblical Cord.”
It has been my great joy and privilege for the last three years to use the biblical cord to try as best as I could, to breathe inspiration into your lives and the life of this church. And as I draw my service here to a close, I wish to thank Nikki, Jean, Jasmine and Taylor for your tech skills that allowed the messages to go out, and Lisa for joining me in Sunday worship leadership which allowed worship to be done with such joy, and Daniel for your willingness to offer your expertise and gift to bless the worship with inspiration compositions, praise and worship and to our choir who welcomed me to join you in singing a joyfulness unto the Lord, and the council of Stouffville for your trust and for all of you in the congregation and online for your faithfulness.
And now for the last time. You think about that. Amen.