“Jesus can help you achieve your dreams.”
“He’ll go ninety-nine yards if you just go one.”
“Do a little and He’ll do a lot.”
“God helps those who help themselves.”
“Desert Pete” is an old song about a man crawling through the desert, dying of thirst, who comes upon a decrepit old water pump. Next to the pump he finds a bottle of water. There’s a note. The note next to the bottle says that he has to use the water to prime the pump before he can drink any.
That sounds like a lot of preaching these days. “Do for God and then He’ll do for you”, “Do your best and then God will do the rest.”
Remember Joshua? You remember this story, don’t you?
Joshua 6: 1-7 “Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.”
The people of Jericho built huge walls around their city because they wanted to protect themselves from this “God” they had heard so much about—a God who split the Red Sea in half for his people. God’s big plan was to have Joshua’s army walk around the city for six days and then on the seventh day, walk around the city seven times concluding with a huge shout from God’s people. When the walls of Jericho “come tumbling down, it “seems” as though Joshua’s faithfulness is being rewarded.
We read the story (and hear the sermons) and make this whole account about Joshua and how he bravely fought the battle of Jericho and how as a result of his great faith, the walls came tumbling down. And then we turn it into nothing more than a moral lesson: “If we, like Joshua, have great faith and bravely fight the battles in our lives, we will see our personal walls of sin come tumbling down and enter into the Promised Land of spiritual maturity.”
We’d better not start marching just yet because when we read the story of Joshua this way, we demonstrate that we’ve completely missed the purpose of the story.
Joshua 6:2 “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.”
The key point is that God hands Jericho over to Joshua BEFORE Joshua does what God wants! We expect God to say something more like, “If you do this crazy thing—if you prove your faith to me—I’ll reward your faithfulness by being faithful in return.” But in God’s economy, his promise ALWAYS precedes our faith! In fact, his promise CAUSES our faith. So, as it turns out, this story completely breaks down all “works” based religion. It’s like a wrecking ball. God’s economy is…you get before you give!
God’s word is creative (his words “let there be light” actually create light): when he calls someone “faithful” they become so. When He declares someone “righteous,” THEY ARE RIGHTEOUS. God makes His pronouncements at the BEGINNING, before any improvement or qualification occurs—before any conditions are met. God decided the outcome of Joshua’s battle before anyone strapped on a shield or picked up a sword. And He not only decides to deliver unconditionally; He does so without our help! No one lifts a finger to dismantle the wall—the promised victory is RECEIVED, not ACHIEVED!
Joshua did NOT fight the Battle of Jericho. God did. Joshua and the Israelites simply received the victory that God secured.
Now, if you are able to comprehend all of that…check this out!
This Jericho battle points us to another battle that God unconditionally and singlehandedly fought for us. It points us to another victory that God achieves and that we receive. We are the ones trapped inside the fortified walls of sin and death—of fear and anxiety and insecurity and self-salvation—and Jesus’ “It is finished” shout from the cross alone causes the walls of our self-induced slavery to come tumbling down.
Real freedom, in other words, comes as a result of His performance, not ours; His accomplishment, not ours; His strength, not ours; His victory, not ours.
