John 1:1-2 - In The First

In the beginning…  This is just two words in the Greek.

Last time we saw, THIS book of John is a book unlike any other.  And his book is not primarily about an event.  It’s not just a compilation of historical happenings.  John was given a front row seat to show us a Person, and THIS Person is a Being unlike any other.  And as we will see, He is the God•send.  Unequaled.  Unsurpassed.  Unparalleled.  Unprecedented.

Notice how John begins: [In the beginning]… There’s another book in the Bible - one other book - which begins the exact same way, with these same three words, in the beginning.  [Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.]  Both the Hebrew and the Greek literally mean the same thing: In the first.  In the first.  And this is not a coincidence - John uses this phrase twice here in these first two verses: in the first, in the beginning.  He clearly wants to begin by focusing us all the way back to the very beginning.

“InTheFirst” IS a matter of sequence.  This was the first happening in history.  The first of many.  THE first cause that caused everything else.  It all began here.  In the first.  But “InTheFirst” is also a matter of priority.  In first place.  God is telling us through Moses AND thru John that this is our all-important starting point.  [InTheBeginning]  Your life and mine today points back to this point, THE origin.  Our origin story.  How we got here.  How we got to this.  Who we are, who we were always meant to be - all points back to this.  In the first.  This is the vital key to understanding our direction in life.  Our True North.  In the first is our anchor-point, without which we are truly lost.  Tossed here and there by wind and waves of culture and feelings.  Adrift on the seas of life.  That’s where the world is today.  Cut loose from the Anchor.  Adrift.  Lost.  So many divine image-bearers, desperate to remove the Divine Origin-ator from their life.  From their origin story.  And the most popular theory posits that there WAS no beginning.  No Begin-or.  No First Cause.  Everything always just was, and what is today is only the result of billions of years of random mutations.  A long series of hopeful accidents.  You and I are an accident.  There’s NO good reason for us to be here.  We just are.  And someday soon, we won’t.  End of story.  This is what so many “UNbelievers” choose to believe.  This unproven theory.  It cannot be proven, full of gaps, yet it prevails in so many places, throughout institutions of learning and halls of power. [where talking about a Begin-or is forbidden!]

What can we say about The Accident?  When I tell you, “it was an accident”, what am I saying (besides the fact that something went fundamentally wrong)?  Even if I caused it, if I say it was an accident, I’m saying, it’s not my fault.  Don’t blame me.  I.e. No blame.  Do not hold me accountable.  This is why the theory of the accident is so attractive to so many.  The world is so desperate to reject the concept of a First Cause because it is so desperate to remove the prospect of accountability.  No accountability.  No blame.  We’d all like to be blameless, wouldn’t we?  We’re wired this way.  We shift blame, try to avoid accountability.  No consequences.  Don’t blame me.  And what kind of world do I get if I remove accountability?  If I’m NOT accountable, then basically I’m in charge.  I’ve made myself out to be... god.  Cuz now I think I can do whatever I want, with no consequences.  With IMPUNITY. Rejecting the First Cause/Cause-ator.

What else do we get with the accident?  This idea that everything always just was, that there was no first cause, is what is called an infinite regress.  Which is logical nonsense [i.e. “This sentence is false”].  So, we get [no sense].  Now some suppose that the theory of what is called the Big Bang is a pseudo-beginning, where at one point all the matter in the universe was somehow contained in a massive ball of sorts, and somehow it all exploded into these tiny little bits with a really big bang and flung out all matter throughout the universe, some of which has now reformed into planets and living people and such.  But even if all of that could happen, it still leaves us with the question, what caused the Big Bang?  And where did the BIG ball come from?  You still go back and back and never arrive at a first cause, at a sensible explanation.  Even if you convince yourself that there’s solid footing on this shifting sand of no sense, you’re still left with the accident.  We’re all just a bunch of accidents. 

What else do we get with the accident?  So-and-so had an accident.  What does that usually entail?  Accidents & mutations do not produce order - much less beauty.  Not better.  Not usually.  Pretty much you get something worse.  Disorder.  And what else do we get?  “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to do it".  In other words, there’s [no meaning].  It was unintended.  A fluke.  IF we are accidents that means there is NO meaning to our existence.  Just do the best you can, cuz tomorrow you die and that’s all she wrote.  Aka "Survival of the fittest".  A need to be ruthless [see Gould below].  Look out for number one.  Do what you want.  Is it any wonder then that there’s so much selfishness today?  And so much confusion about life, obsession with death?  With sex?  It’s. No. Accident.  It’s the natural reasonable by-product of The Accident, what you get if there is no beginning.  No First Cause.  With The Accident, without a beginning, we get non sense, not better, and no meaning.

To which John says, In the beginning...  He says it twice!  In the beginning, in the first.  There WAS a beginning.  That’s the message of the whole Bible, from beginning to end - there was a beginning.  Which is intuitively obvious to the open minded person - everything in this sphere has a beginning.  Every effect has a cause.  This is how the known universe works.  And so we trace back all things, all these effects, to either this infinite regress (the non-sensical meaningless accident), or better, to a First Cause, an uncaused First Cause.  The Origin.  The Origin-ator (more on that next time).  THAT is what John is saying.

He says, [in The beginning WAS] (the Word).  The Word already was.  This is the imperfect tense.  It’s the [present tense, an ongoing line, but shifted into the past].  So, this is a line in the past with no explicit beginning or endpoint.  This Word simply was, and always had been, ongoing, eternally existent.  This is THE Uncaused First Cause.  This Word WAS, in the beginning.  Back then.  Always was.  Always had been.  Always will be.  A Being unbounded, not bound by time - out of time.  In the beginning WAS.  Something was.  What was?

We’ll get into this next time.  John is about to introduce us to this SomeOne Who is far beyond our finite ability to truly comprehend.  A Being of Perfect Perfection, Timeless and Outside of Time.  In the beginning was.  Barely describable, mostly inconceivable, wholly inexplicable.  Words fall short.  We cannot fully understand or conceive of such a Being because our finite brains are inescapably bound to this mortal plane, limited by time and space - and the only way that John is able to even begin to show us this One-Who-Was is that there was this Divine Intersect.  This One Who Was, in the first, stepped out of eternity and He revealed Himself.  John met Him and journeyed with Him in His immediate presence for three years.  Front row seat.

John’s encounter with this One-Who-Was changed the course of his life, cuz he found his anchor.  Transformed him from the Son of Thunder into the Disciple Who Jesus Loved.  From the son of a fisherman into a child of God.  We know this One-Who-Was as Jesus, Emmanuel - God with us - and for John, meeting Jesus was the beginning of the rest of his life, eternal life, life as it was always meant to be. [see Piper below]   Have you met Jesus yet?  [HINT: He's standing at the door of your heart right now...]

“Only one causal force produces evolutionary change in Darwin’s world: the unconscious struggle among individual organisms to promote their own personal reproductive success…” -Stephen Gould

If we are cut loose from the anchor of God's Word, we will not be free. We will be slaves of personal passions and popular trends.

John Piper

(i.e. When we cut ourselves loose from the anchor of the One-Who-Was, the uncaused First Cause, we are not free.  We become slaves of personal passions and popular trends...)

John (Part 2) - Front row seats?

There is so much in this book of John [there’s much more that John did NOT include in this book - 21.25].  But again, my hope is that as we study through John together, that we will get a much clearer picture of Jesus.  Get to know Him better together.  Because when it comes to seeing Jesus, John had a front row seat.  So my thought for today is, first let’s take a closer look at the guy who wrote this book.

John.  Brother of James, son of Zebedee.  A fisherman.  Jesus called him a “Son of Thunder” (who with his older? brother wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans, Lk 9.54 [skadoosh]).  One of “the three” who Jesus included on multiple occasions when the others were not (Raising the synagogue official’s daughter, Transfiguration, Gethsemane).  His brother and he famously asked Jesus to give them [VIP front-row seats] in His kingdom.  I’m thinking that was James idea.  Cuz John clearly does not enjoy the spotlight.  He never mentions himself in his book.  Not once, not by name.  He names most of the other disciples (7/11), but never himself.  John apparently prefers the place of anonymity - even tho he is front and center from the very beginning.  We see him show up repeatedly as “the other disciple”, and “the disciple who Jesus loved”.  

The first time we spot John he is a disciple of John the Witness [1.35-37,40].  Turns out John is one of the first two to follow Jesus.  So his book is a first-rate first-hand account.  Everything we read in John’s book is eyewitness testimony.  He was there, he does have a front row seat.  [1.41] Interestingly, Andrew, the other first disciple, goes and gets his brother, Simon BarJonas (son of John), but there’s no mention of John going to get his (older?) brother, James.

But as best we can tell, from the moment he begins to follow Jesus, John is by Jesus’ side as much if not more than any other.  Literally.  The next time we clearly see him in his book is three years later, at the Last Supper, lying back on Jesus’ chest [13.23].  John’s affection for Jesus runs deep [Jesus is approachable, clearly fond of people - John gets this side of Jesus].  Later that same evening, when Jesus is arrested, all the disciples flee [Mt 26.56] - except two: Peter, who we know all about - and how that went for him; and this other disciple [18.15-17].  First-hand account.  Peter is accused, and denies Jesus, and John just stays in the background, keeps his mouth shut.  

But let’s not assume that John is fearful.  John looks like he’s the only apostle who stays by Jesus all thru His arrest and execution - without denying Him.  John IS the only apostle we see at the Crucifixion [19.26-27].  First-hand account.  And as it turns out, hanging there dying, Jesus entrusts the care of His earthly mother not to her other sons, as would be the normal custom, but to John, this disciple who He so loved.  Front row seat.  First-hand account.

On the third day, Mary brings word of the empty tomb to Peter and the “other disciple” [20.1-8].  John then runs ahead of Peter to see the empty tomb (even tho he doesn't enter right away - Peter does that).  First-hand account.  Then later some of the disciples go fishing [21.1-3].  The now-resurrected Jesus shows up on the shore, tells them specifically to try the right side of the boat [21.4-6] and who recognizes Him first?  John, but he doesn’t dive in the water after Him [21.7].  Who does dive right in?  Peter.  Still later, when Jesus is exhorting Peter to follow Me and tend My sheep, who is there, following behind (at some distance)[21.20]? John.  Front row seat.  Devoted follower.  And first-hand account after first-hand account.

John definitely does not enjoy the limelight, he hangs back a bit sometimes - altho clearly not for lack of speed.  He rarely says anything.  John’s only recorded spoken words in his entire book are the one line to Jesus [Last Supper] and the one to Peter [fishing].  John does show up with Peter a lot.  Unlike Peter, John thinks before he leaps.  Stays out of the limelight.  After his brother, James, is martyred in Acts 8 we never see John again - until (decades later) he writes his 3 letters and this book, this first-hand account, and then Revelation.  Think about this: John calls himself the “disciple who Jesus loved” (13.23).  He never calls himself the disciple who loves Jesus.  That’s not his idiom.  But I think his self-titled persona - [The disciple who Jesus loved] - is a reflection of HIS extreme love for his Lord.  John knew Jesus so loved him.  He watched Jesus wash his feet - he’s the only one who records the footwashing [ch 13].  Check out what John records as the intro to that occasion [13.1].  Peter on that occasion of course famously sticks his unwashed foot in his mouth.  But John’s just soaking it all in.  John knows that Jesus loves him.  Beloved witness.  First-hand account.

So John, this one-time disciple of John the Witness, and first one to follow the One Who was the true Lamb of God, Messiah, the only begotten Son of God, now he is writing as a witness of all these things that Jesus said and did [21.24].  And he’s not even coming close to covering them all!  There's SO much more John could tell us about Jesus.  But make no mistake - John is a witness.  He is THE first-hand witness.  Front row seat for all of it!  And we know (the royal we - John includes himself), we ALL know that what this witness is saying - is true.

And why is John writing this book?  Most believing commentators have this book being written towards the end of John’s life.  Which was near the end of the first century AD.  Some 40-60 years after Jesus ascended back to heaven.  By this time, the church has been planted in many places.  But John is the sole survivor.  His brother was the first martyr.  All the other apostles have been executed for their faith in Jesus.  Most have been dead for years?  John is the sole surviving apostolic witness of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  And John tells us explicitly why he is taking the time after all these years to write down all these things that Jesus did [20.30-31]: so that, in order that, you all, all of us, will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.  You, my readers, none of you saw any of these things.  But I had a front-row seat for all of it… And you need to know - so that you can believe too…

In this respect those of us who fall into this category of “did-not-see” have the opportunity for a special blessing [20.27-29].  Happy are those who believe even tho they didn’t see, who believe with Thomas and John that Jesus is Lord and God.  THAT is why John is writing this book - his purpose - and it’s a powerful purpose: so that, in order that you should believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.  The verb tense there is aorist subjunctive.  “So that you should believe”.  But the aorist subjunctive is very close to the future indicative, or future fact.  The language of future certainty.  There’s more certainty here than the English translation suggests.  "So that you WILL believe".  John is fairly certain that the one who reads his book, his first-hand account, with an open mind WILL believe.  AND will have life, with Jesus, forever.  He/she/you and I will join the happy assembly of those who have been persuaded and have trusted that Jesus really is Who He says He is.  That His Words are true.  That He is really out-of-this-world amazing.  That He really does love us.  He really does love you.  And He really did do all these signs, all these things that prove Who He claims to be.  And He wants us to be with Him forever.

Starting next week, we’ll begin digging deeper into all that John lays before us in his book, this first-hand account of the life of Jesus.

John - "The Good Part"

 John 0 Part 1 - The Good Part (Lk 10.38-42) 

John is truly an amazing book.  Written by the apostle John, the "disciple who Jesus loved".  A passage John gives us towards the end perfectly summarizes what John is trying to do with this book he is writing:

John 20:30-31   Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

Frequencies (word counts) in John:

Know - 116x (most)   Life - 47x (most)

See - 82x (2nd) Eternal - 17x (most)

Believe - 98x (most) Love - 57x (most)

Sign - 17x (most)         World - 78x (most)

Witness - 48x (most) Beginning - 10x (most)

Send - 61x (3rd)          Light - 23x (4th)

Truth - 26x (2nd)         Truly - 54x (most)

Word -32x (6th) “Truly truly” (or, amen amen) 25x!

Gospel - 0x

And to start us off, we need to look at a passage from Luke:

Luke 10:38-42  Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.  She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

I’m an early morning guy.  I’m also an “early evening” guy - I love coming home to my family, to get to be with them, hear about their day.  Coming home is the 2nd best part of my day.  But the best part is early morning.  Early morning.  Well, I don’t know what you would consider “early”.  For me it’s sometime before six, usually.  For some of us, that’s not all that early.  For others of us of course, waking up before 6am is cruel and [inhuman].  Nevertheless.  What I love about that time is that there are no distractions.  It’s fairly dark, and it’s totally quiet.  No phones, no lights, no motor cars.  No tv.  No text messages.  There’s nothing coming at me to bombard my senses.  Nobody else’s noise, none of these external stimuli.  Not yet.  It’s my “Mary time”.  Time to sit and, like Mary, face myself toward the Lord, and listen to Him.  At least, that’s the idea.

Cuz once the sun comes up, once the family gets up, it’s game time.  The day comes crashing in, like a tsunami.  All these distractions.  All these things clamoring for my attention, the things I have to do.  Lots of good things, a few tedious things - but ALL these things come rushing in and make it really hard to be Mary.  Much harder to hear the Lord.  Note the order: having been seated towards the Lord, Mary was hearing Him.  Towards is a word of direction.  It’s a choice.  My choice is to beat the “rush”, and find a quiet space for some quiet time with the Lord.  IF I get to bed early enough (also a choice), then getting up before everyone and everything else is no problem.  Don’t even need an alarm.  No distractions.  And I like to get there before [rush hour], i.e. before what I call the mental rush hour.  If I can get to that quiet place right away, I can beat the mental onslaught - when my mind gets cranked up and the worries and the cares of the day come crowding in.  Cuz once that horse gets out of the barn, it’s really hard to rein it back in.  At least that’s the idea.

This is the Good Part.  Mary time.  “Quiet time”.  Unfortunately, what can happen in that early morning quiet space, even with minimizing all the externals, is sometimes I can still find myself bombarded not by the noise out there but by the noise in here.  In my head.

Like the other morning, as I got down into my “quite space” for my “quiet time”, my head was just filled with all this noise.  All these things, already crashing around through my head, like the proverbial bull in a china shop.  It was just so hard to look away.  Like the switch in our living room that had melted and took out all the outlets - THAT was still needing to be fixed.  Or this Men’s retreat we have coming up, questions of is anyone is even going to go.  And all the serving roles needing to be filled at the church.  Then there’s our son Joshko off in North Carolina, out of sight but NOT out of mind.  How is he doing?  And our other two kids had a bunch of math that needed to be corrected.  And there was this nagging knot in my shoulder that was back in all its furious glory.  And then I had this random song in my head, stuck on repeat.  Hotel California.  I have no idea where that even came from - couldn’t tell you the last time I even heard that song.  But all this stuff, flying around in my head.  A literal cacophony [= an unpleasant mixture of harsh/unwelcome sounds]!

Then on top of all that, to make matters more cacophonous, flying around not IN my head but around my head, in the sacred space of what is supposed to be the sanctum sanctorum of my quiet place, there was this little bloodsucking [mosquito], buzzing around my ears.  Oh man - I can’t tell you how much I do not like mosquitoes.  Anyhow - I took care of that intruder.  But there I was, in this otherwise completely quiet space, and it was like I couldn’t hear a thing.  NOT Mary.  I was channeling my inner Martha.

[40] And I felt just like Martha.  Martha, Martha.  Her heart is totally in the right place.  She’s serving.  She’s welcoming Jesus.  Into her home.  She’s serving Him.  But the Greek says she was literally being drawn around. Turned around and around with all the things she was trying to take care of.  Spinning so many plates [Guinness World Record for #plates spinning =108, btw].

[41] Jesus says she is being worried and she is being disturbed.  The root word for worried refers to things that pull on us.  Pull us in a certain direction.  The more things that pull on us, the more directions we have to navigate.  And Martha has SO many things pulling on her, she is being pulled in circles.  Going round and round.  Going nowhere.  These are the things we believe we can control.  I’ve got this.  I can keep this plate, all these plates spinning.  And the more plates we have spinning, the more they begin to spin us…

Martha is also disturbed.  The root word refers to an uproar. A [riot].  These are the things that are out of our control.  So many things that we can’t control.  Martha can’t control her sister.  She can’t control things breaking down.  She can’t keep accidents from happening.  It IS disturbing.  Being out of control.

But are we ever really in control of anything? [illusion of control]  [Mt 6.27] Jesus asks, “Who of you by being worried (same word) can add even one hour to your life?”  All these things we worry about.  Pulling us in all these different directions.  Things we think we’re in control of.  Jesus says, Your Father knows what you need.  He knows everything that you need.  Jesus says really, only one thing is needed.  It’s about direction.  The passage says that Mariam/Mary only has one direction.  She is seated “towards the feet of the Lord”.  Instead of being pulled in all these different direction, she has one direction (not the boy band).  Again, this is a directional word - towards the Lord.  My eyes, my attention - my trust - is in Him.  Directed towards Jesus.  [and note: there's no autopilot in the Christian life…].  We maintain/reset that direction every day, throughout the day.  Seek first, what?  His kingdom, and His righteousness.  This is a daily choice.  [Fixing our eyes on Jesus…] And what happens?  We get closer to Jesus and become more like Jesus as we fix our eyes on Him.  Gal. 4:19 My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.  Our goal should be to let nothing keep us from fixing our eyes on Jesus.

We’re coming into a very important season here.  A season when we talk about seeing Jesus.  Advent - isn’t that what Advent is all about?  Preparing to see Jesus.  Behold!  Let every heart prepare Him room.  As a church, we put on the Journey.  Glimpses of Jesus.  And it so happens that we are beginning a study of the book of John.  And what is this book?  Glimpses of Jesus - by a first-hand eyewitness [an eyewitness talks about the things they’ve seen, that are important].  May the Lord give us eyes to glimpse some of the things that John shows us in his book - the good part!  

Joshua 24 - Remembering the (God Who) Promises Pt 2

Ch24 (Joshua speaks to everyone)(in Shechem)

-Joshua says, remember ALL that God has done [2ff].  From the very beginning, way back, starting with Abraham.  And ALL that He’s done since.  Remember all that God has done for you.  Remember.  Don’t forget that.  And the people answer [16-18], we know what the Lord has done for us.  We got it.  We’re good.  We got this.  And right off the bat, we see a potential problem.  Cuz vision leaks.  We forget.  And yesterday’s following, yesterday’s devotion, doesn’t carry over.  My need to trust Christ, my need to depend on His promises is just as great and fresh today.  Obedience means beginning again today as if nothing yet has been done for Christ.  Yes, we remember, we celebrate, we thank the Lord for what He HAS done in us, and thru us.  Remembering what God did yesterday DOES give us hope, assurance today.  But remembering should remind us that TODAY we still need the Lord.  TODAY we still need to remember.

-[14-15] Joshua says, IF you know this - then fear the LORD.  Fear Him, stand in AWE of Him.  Cuz this is not some penny ante deity from beyond the River.  Remember Who we’re dealing with.  This is Elohim.  Jehovah.  Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe.  It truly is a terrifying thing to fall into His hands.  He is not safe (but He IS good and we can trust Him - strong healthy respect).  Where the nations go away in their hearts is that there is NO fear of God in their hearts [Psa. 36:1  Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.].  So fear Him, remember Him, Who He is, What He has done, …AND serve Him [eved, mentioned 13x in vv14-22]

-This Hebrew word for serve = slave/bondage —> whose slave am I?  Remember, we saw that Moses was called the “eved” of the Lord.  Slave. (Joshua never - he is the servant/attendant of Moses. Only at the end of his life does he get called the eved of the Lord).  But the question is: Will we surrender to the Lord?  Be His slave?  We all [surrender] to something.  Most of us surrender to self.  To my feelings.  To my desires.  Maybe we surrender to the world, to what it wants.  But Who knows us best?  Who knows better what is best for us, than our Maker?  This is why the Bible says those who are not surrendered to the Lord are lost.  Because unsurrendered to Him we wind up living a life we were never designed to live.  Empty.  Hopeless.  Wallowing in a pigsty instead celebrating with our Father and His family.  [13] And Joshua says, the motivation for surrendering to the Lord is not strictly out of fear, but more in response to all He has done, to [His mercies], to the extreme everlasting love of God.  Which is precisely what we need to remember.  God demonstrates His love for us how?  In that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.  While we were His enemies, God sent His Son to pay our death penalty, AND to woo us back to Him.  So, [24] Surrender says, "Lord, I will shama."  I will hear Your voice.  Unlike how my [dog] rolls, we will listen and respond.  (So, fear the Lord, hear Him, serve Him, and…)

-Put away foreign gods [14,23].  Foreign gods - they’re everywhere.  Things that do not belong on the throne of my heart.  They’re foreign.  They [don’t fit].  The God-shaped hole in my heart is not designed to hold any other thing.  Nothing else fits there.  Much as we try [2].  Only the Lord.  Serve Him, seek Him first.  Not these other things.  And Joshua adds, incline your heart, stretch out your heart to the LORD daily.  Every day we ask Him, what do You want, Lord?  Not what I want, but what do You want?  (Take the time to) Listen for the answer.  

Does it start to feel a bit like a broken record at this point?  Joshua (God) repeating Himself?  What we see in play in this book of Joshua is not a battle for land, but an (ongoing) battle for the hearts of His people.  The people He loves, who He would bless for a lifetime.  For all eternity.  Who He would have spend eternity with Him, in a land flowing with the sweet promise of His presence.

-[20] Sadly, what we see playing out, and what is true for each of us, is that we forsake the LORD.  That fateful promise of forgetfulness.  What will I put in His rightful place in my heart?  What DO I want, more than the Lord?  My academics - those come first.  My career - that comes first.  My kids - they come first.  This relationship - I want that more.  This hobby, this food, this piece of tech, this ministry, this thing I’m into - I want this more.  But no matter what it is, it will never fit.

-We forsake the Lord, AND we deny Him [27].   Maybe, like Peter, we flat out deny Him with our words.  But we can also deny Him with our actions.  All the things we try to fit in His place.  Sometimes they even seem like they fit, for a season.  It feels good.  It feels right.  And there is a way that feels right to a man, but its way ends in death.  All these things are nothing more than [shifting sand].  [Cotton candy]. 

-So Joshua throws down this stellar example for us to follow [15].   Choose for yourselves who you will serve.  [Each of us needs to make a choice].  And the Lord heartily agrees.  Serve Me or don’t.  Be all in, be hot for the Lord.  Or be cold, be clearly out.  But being in the middle is no-man’s land.  Lukewarm doesn’t help anyone - in fact Jesus says it does more harm than good.  There are a lot of people running around who name the name of Jesus but don’t really have Him IN their heart.  And His heart doesn’t come out.  Even the world recognizes this.  It’s a problem.  But the problem is not with the Lord, it’s with me.  Us.  His fickle followers.  So choose, Joshua says. 

-[22,26-27] There are always witnesses.  People are [watching].  But re stones having [ears] - do they?  There IS a stone which has a “mouth”, and it contains your -EPITAPH… (meaning “upon - tomb”).  Many things set humans apart from all other living things - words, images, and graves.  No other creatures create these.  [Images], the grandeur of human art, are a way we express our imagination, our appreciation of beauty, our memories.  [Graves] also preserve memories, honoring those we love.  Graves press us to remember our mortality, to consider the meaning of life.  Your epitaph is what people remember about you.  What they say about you, and what your life said about the meaning of life.  And at this point we do need to look at someone who was with Joshua back at the very beginning, when they spied out the land, but he has been noticeably absent for most of this book.  Who’s been missing?  Caleb [14.6-8, 11-12] - Caleb also was “fully after the Lord”.  Fully surrendered.  That is HIS epitaph - if he HAD a tomb, that’s what the tomb would say.  (Of course, it IS written of him…)

-[29] And Joshua has an epitaph too! He gets called, the eved of the LORD.  Joshua served the Lord.  And that’s what he's urging Israel to do.  To their credit, Israel eveds the LORD all the days of Joshua [31].  And while they have leaders who “KNOW” all the deeds of the LORD.  

Sadly, the story doesn’t end well.  Things go well for a while - but the sad story of God’s chosen people is that they do NOT choose the Lord as we would hope.  They serve the Lord, they remember - Who He is, what He has done, what He has said.  Until… less than two chapters later:  Judg. 2:10-12a All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.  Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals, and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers.  They did not remember…

What does my life and yours say about the meaning of life?  Why are we here?  And Who are we serving?  Our answer to this will determine our epitaph… 

A couple of notable epitaphs... 

[David Livingstone - who before his death after witnessing atrocities in the interior of Africa said, "All I can add in my solitude is, May Heaven's rich blessing come down… On every one, American, English or Turkwho will help to heal, This open sore of the world."  On his tombstone, after witnessing Muslims massacre the men in the Congolese village where he was staying), they wrote

(“Missionary/Traveller/Philanthropist”) - A philos-anthropos, i.e. he loved people

—> what would it be like to be epitaphed as a Theophilist (God-lover), Christophilist (Christ-lover), Adelphilist (Brother lover)?

Or how about Brother Andrew (Bible smuggler)

“Whenever, wherever, however You want me, I’ll go. And I’ll begin this very minute. Lord, as I stand up from this place, and as I take my first step forward, will You consider this is a step toward complete obedience to You? I’ll call it the step of yes.” ― Bible smuggler Brother Andrew (1928-2022).

The Netherlands: “God’s Smuggler” Dies, Leaving a Spiritual Legacy Andrew Van der Bijl, known around the world as Brother Andrew, died on Tuesday, September 28 at the age of 94. He left this world much as he’d lived his life, with little fuss or fanfare. He died peacefully at his home in the Netherlands, according to a family spokesperson. Although gone, his faithful life and legacy have impacted millions, and will continue to impact millions to come, through Open Doors, the ministry for persecuted Christians he founded. He was “everyone’s brother,” who With complete dependence on Jesus, he risked his life crossing the borders of closed countries, illegally transporting thousands of Bibles to believers who had never seen the Word of God. He made hundreds of these dangerous trips, facing military checkpoints and car searches—earning the nickname “God’s Smuggler” for his daring Bible deliveries. Not once was he caught.