Be Strong and Courageous Leaders

Joshua 1:1-9 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: ² "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them-- to the Israelites. ³ I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates-- all the Hittite country-- to the Great Sea on the west. ⁵ No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. ⁷ Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸ Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

During the American Revolution, a group of exhausted soldiers were struggling to repair a wall of stone and dirt to protect them from enemy bullets. One soldier was shouting instructions, but made no move to help the others. An officer in plain clothing happened to ride by and asked the soldier why he wasn’t helping. “Sir,” he replied, “I am a corporal.”

The officer apologized, got down from his horse, and helped the soldiers himself. When the work was done, he turned to the corporal and said, “Corporal, the next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you again.”

The corporal had not recognized General George Washington.

One of the things I learned from the soldiers to whom I ministered at Ft. Knox was how much they appreciated leaders who got down in the trenches to help their men carry out their orders, getting filthy and bloody, doing the hard work of changing tank tracks or leading the soldiers into battle.

That was the kind of leader, General Washington was, and his men respected him for it. That was the kind of leader, General Joshua was, and the Israelites knew it. Joshua had received leadership training, serving as Moses’ aide – even going up Mt. Sinai with Moses when God gave His laws to His people.

Joshua had served as Moses’ hand-picked general to lead the Israelites into battle and victory against Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land (Deuteronomy 31:4). Joshua was also one of the twelve spies who had gone into the land of Canaan to check out the Promised Land. He and Caleb had come back with the same report as the other ten, “It’s a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord has always said.” But ten of his fellow spies also reported, “But ain’t no way we’re ever going to take over this land. The people are giants! We’re like grasshoppers next to them; and grasshoppers, as a rule, don’t defeat giants!” Joshua and Caleb offered a minority report, “Yes, they’re huge. But the Lord fights for us, and who can stand against Him?”

The people chose to believe the majority report, grumbling against Moses and failing to enter Canaan. So God disciplined with 40 years of wandering in the desert until all the grumblers had died off. After seeing the Promised Land, Moses also died at the age of 120, after 40 years of faithfully leading God’s people.

How many of you can tell me the President after George Washington (John Adams) or the coach after Vince Lombardi (Phil Bengston)? They were replacing someone who was irreplaceable. I’m sure Joshua felt the pressure of following in the footsteps of a leader like Moses.

Moses had led the people to the gates of the Promised Land, but it would be Joshua who would lead them through. He was leading God’s people into their long-promised homeland, conquering the heathen nations scattered throughout the land and dividing it up among the twelve tribes. He found himself in charge of a nation of over two million people. No pressure there!

The Lord said to Joshua, “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them.” Joshua may well have wondered how in the world he could ever accomplish such an incredible task. He knew it was too much for one man to pull off, no matter how talented or energetic or enthusiastic. Joshua might well have asked, “If Moses couldn’t do it, how can I?” The Lord’s answer? “You can’t, but that’s OK. I can. The same Lord who appeared to Moses as the angel of the Lord in the burning bush, who defeated the Egyptians with plagues and parted the Red Sea, is the same Lord who will appear to you as the angel of the Lord dressed for battle, who will part the waters of the flooding Jordan River and defeat the Canaanites when the walls of Jericho come tumbling down. I’ll do the heavy lifting. Where I lead, you follow, so that when you lead, the people will follow.”

Three times the Lord tells Joshua, “Be strong and courageous.” This would be a challenging time for Joshua, but he didn’t need to be afraid. God assured him that He would be with him. He said, “I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” With the Lord’s promise, blessing and presence, with the Lord providing strength and courage, Joshua could be the leader he would never be on his own.

Today God is calling on you to be leaders in His kingdom. God is calling you to be a leader in your home, within your family, in the community, in your workplace or in our congregation. Perhaps you are reluctant to lead. Maybe you think, “I don’t have the gifts to lead anybody. I don’t have any organizational skills or ability to follow through with plans.” Maybe you think, “I can’t be a leader at work because people around me are impossible to please. They either accuse me of overstepping my bounds or not taking enough initiative. I can’t win.”

Or maybe you think, “I have some definite ideas on how to do things at church, but it’s too hard to get volunteers, to organize everything and delegate responsibilities.” Many times when we are asked to lead, we are tempted to reply, “I’d rather not participate because it can only lead to frustration. Thanks, but no thanks.”

Understand that the Lord has not called all of us to be leaders in everything. You can’t have too many generals or presidents or leaders. You still need followers, workers and soldiers. But God has called each of us to be leaders in various small or large areas of His kingdom.

When we say “no” to leadership responsibilities, where we fail as leaders, where we look to ourselves and arrogantly say, “I can’t” or “I won’t,” Jesus comes along and saves us from ourselves. Though Jesus could have offered many reasons to say “no,” He said, “yes.” He said “yes” to taking our place under the law and obeying it on our behalf. He said “yes” to suffering the punishment we deserved for our sin. He said “yes” to the indignity of the God/Man’s body being placed in a tomb. But He didn’t stay in the tomb! He rose from the dead in order to lead all of us into the Promised Land of His heavenly kingdom.

Where we have failed as leaders, either by arrogance or laziness, Jesus has forgiven, redeemed and made us righteous in God’s sight. He has restored us to being His brothers and sisters, God’s children and His blood-bought saints.

When we either feel alone as leaders or try to go it alone as leaders, Jesus, who is right now seated at God the Father’s right hand, promises to be with us always, even to the very end of the age. He says, “I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Like His disciples, Jesus has chosen you for the position He has placed you in right now. And where Jesus is, that is where He blesses. He will bless you with the strength and courage to do whatever He places before you to do. With the Lord’s promise, blessing and presence, with the Lord providing strength and courage, you can be the leader you would never be on your own.

Being a leader isn’t easy. All you have to do is look at the Apostle Paul’s qualifications for godly leaders in 1 Timothy 3 to see how difficult the noble task of leadership can be. As a leader, you are always following the ultimate Leader and constantly praying, “Christ be my leader by night as by day” (CW:367 v1). As a leader, when in the church, the workplace or your home, you are consistently humbling yourself so others may be lifted up. When a mother takes her role seriously by teaching her children to sing God’s praises, even in a simple song like, “Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so,” the world may see this as cute or even insignificant; but the Lord blesses that mom and all the little hearts that simple song touches.

When a student takes her servant-leader role seriously and helps her classmates with her homework, and encourages her classmate to stick with it, the Lord blesses all those involved. When a pastor takes his role as leader seriously, the members are appreciative – appreciative not because he may be humorous or empathetic or interesting, but because he is God’s chosen servant-leader to administer God’s Word and Sacraments to His people.

A good leader has a vision and sticks with it. Joshua saw what the Promised Land would look like, devoid of all the heathen cultures and filled with God’s people. As one of God’s chosen leaders, you see what needs to be done, you “get down in the trenches” and do the work, motivating people to follow your vision and make it their own. A good leader is always one step ahead of the people. As soon as he gets two steps ahead, then he is no longer a leader. Then he becomes a target.

A godly leader is also one who is able to motivate people to live God-pleasing lives. Joshua had the monumental task of keeping God’s people focused on the God of heaven and earth while they were in the midst of all the Baals, Asherahs, Dagons and other false gods. As servant-leaders in the church or the home, on the athletic field or in the boardroom, we, too, have the monumental task of leading our flock and family away from the devil’s snares and the world’s temptations that surround us. We lead people to God’s Word so they do not “turn from it to the right or to the left, that they may be successful wherever they go.” “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Sometimes I wonder what reality television is doing to our society. I’ll admit, I really haven’t watched a lot of “Survivor,” or any other reality TV shows. But, from what I’ve seen, I do wonder about the impact they have on our world. For many of these shows, you have to check your ethics and morals at the door. Lying is seen as a virtue – something you have to do to get ahead. The underlying message in most of these shows is that people will do – and perhaps should do – pretty much anything for money.

On these reality TV shows, you can lie, and that’s a good thing. You can cheat, and that’s OK. You can step on others to get ahead, and that’s encouraged. It seems like the one thing no one wants you to be on most of these shows … is a leader. Anyone who exercises leadership is seen as a threat, and contestants do their best to get rid of them as soon as possible. That’s probably pretty common in society, too, because most people aren’t really interested in leadership anyway. They think that being a leader only puts a target on your back, and they’d rather be less visible and out of danger.

But, today we see that God is calling you to be leaders like Joshua. Whether you are a leader or not, God speaks the same promises to you that He spoke to Joshua generations ago. Whatever you may be facing, whatever you may be struggling with, be strong and courageous. Don’t give up! Don’t be afraid! Don’t get discouraged! Trust in God’s promises, His presence and His blessing! If you are a leader, lead with courage. If you are not, then follow with conviction. And through it all, know that the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go, so that you may be His strong and courageous leaders. Amen.

Christ’s Love, Our Calling: Different Gifts, Same Grace at Epiphany on October 16, 2011