Joshua 3:7-17

Georgetown Presbyterian Church

Rev. Stephen H. Wilkins

October 30, 2005

Most of you know that I am a fan of the Texas Longhorns. You may also know that the archrivals of the Longhorns are the Aggies of Texas A&M. Well, there was a Longhorn standing on the banks of a rapidly-moving river. He noticed an Aggie on the other side. The Longhorn yelled out to the Aggie, "How do I get to the other side of the river?" The Aggie looks to his left as far as his eye could see, then he looked to his right as far as his eye could see, then he looked across at the Longhorn and he answered, "You already are on the other side of the river!"

[You can thank (or blame) Tom Gillespie for that joke—I heard him tell it the other day.]

The question is a valid one, isn’t it? How do you get to the other side? I’m sure the Israelites were asking that question as they arrived on the banks of the Jordan River. There they were, after 40 years in the wilderness, on the brink of entering into the Promised Land, and all that lies between them and the Promised Land is the Jordan River. Only the river is swift, and the river is deep, and the river is wide, and it is the rainy season and the river is flooding, its waters threatening to breach its banks. And so I, along with you, can just hear the Israelites asking Joshua, "How do we get to the other side?"

Do you ever find yourself wondering the same thing? Do you ever find yourself at a point in your life where you wonder how you are going to get to the other side of whatever it is that lies between you and your goals?

You see, more than just a historical event, the story in the book of Joshua also describes for us an experience that is so common in our lives that there can hardly be an exception. I’m talking about the Jordan River moments that you and I face all through our lives. I’m talking about those times in our lives when we look ahead and we see promise, but there is something between us and the fulfillment of that promise. I’m talking about those times when we decide to leave one stage of our life behind in order to embrace the next stage, and as we stand on the precipice, we realize that there is always the possibility that life will sweep us away with its swift and turbulent currents. I’m talking about those momentous decisions we all have to make, decisions to pursue opportunity, yet there is always uncertainty that lies between the present and the fulfillment of those opportunities.

We all face Jordan River moments in our lives. It’s part of what it means to be human. A teenager faces a Jordan River moment when he or she decides to leave home and go off to college. A young person faces a Jordan River moment when considering accepting a job offer. A man and a woman face a Jordan River moment when they ponder the possibility of marriage. A husband and a wife face a Jordan River moment when they choose to bring a child into this world. Every time you move to a new place, you find yourself in a Jordan River moment. As you get older and you consider retirement, you face a Jordan River moment. And at death each of us will face the ultimate Jordan River moment.

We all face Jordan River moments in our lives. It’s part of what it means to be human. I really wonder how many Jordan River moments there are in this room today…

It’s not a question of whether or not we will encounter the Jordan River moments in our lives, because all of us will encounter them. The question, then, is, "How will we deal with the Jordan River moments when we find ourselves at the edge of life’s river?" What do you do when you come to those Jordan River moments in your life? Because you see, it’s really not an option to go back, nor is it possible to go around. You have to find a way to get through the river.

I think that if we consider carefully the choices that were before Israel in their Jordan River moment, then we’ll find some helpful and sage advice that will direct us in our own Jordan River moments.

As Israel stood on the edge of the Jordan, I can’t help but think that they remembered that this wasn’t the first time they were on the verge of entering the Promised Land. You see, God was prepared to lead them into the Promised Land forty years earlier, only Israel had refused to enter because they were afraid of the people who occupied the land. And now, after forty years of wandering in the wilderness, they face the same decision: will they cross over and take possession of the land inhabited by the Canaanites, the Hittities, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites? Or is their God not big enough to go ahead of them and drive out those people? The same people who had inhabited the land forty years earlier were still there; how would the Israelites respond this time?

But I also can’t help but think that as the Israelites gathered here at the Jordan River, they brought to mind yet another remembrance, a remembrance of another time when they found themselves confronted by an impassible body of water, and turning back wasn’t an option. I can’t help but think that the occasion in our text from the book of Joshua brought to mind the remembrance of that time when the Red Sea was in front of them and the rapidly-approaching army of the Egyptian Pharaoh was chasing them from behind. I can’t help but think that as the Israelites faced a difficult entry into the Promised Land, the Song of Moses came to their mind:

I will sing to the Lord,

for he is highly exalted.

The horse and its rider

he has hurled into the sea.

The Lord is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation.

He is my God, and I will praise him,

my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

The Lord is a warrior,

the Lord is his name…

I can also imagine that as the Israelites were on the verge of entering the Promised Land, they would recall that God was with them all those forty years in the wilderness. God had given them their manna, their daily bread, and had provided everything they needed. God had protected them against natural and human enemies. The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle and dwelt among them every time they made camp, and God led them with a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. Every step of the way during their time in the wilderness, God was with them. And so surely they were now more willing to believe Joshua when he said, "By this you shall know that among you is the living God who without fail will drive out from before you the [people of the land]…"

When you come to the Jordan River moments of your life, what thoughts come to your mind? Do you focus on the uncertainties and the fears, or do you focus on the God who is greater than the sum of all your uncertainties and fears? Are you paralyzed at the thought that you might encounter something you can’t handle, or are you excited because you know that the God who can handle anything will lead you through as you make your way across? Are you so overwhelmed with "what if" questions that you doubt the likelihood of safely crossing through your Jordan River moments, or are you so confident in God’s protection and provision that you can transform those "what ifs" to "even thoughs" – even though such and such might happen, I trust in God to get me through. When you come to the Jordan River moments of your life, what thoughts come to your mind? What thoughts will influence the decision you make, the decision of whether or not to step out in faith despite the depth and current of whatever your Jordan River is?

Louis Zbinden was the pastor of my growing up years. He was fond of saying that faith is believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse. Faith is believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse. That’s what the Israelites did. They looked at the Jordan River, swollen with the spring rains, and they did what most right-thinking people would never have done--they stepped out into the river. And as they did so, the waters were held back. The God who was with them was greater than the swirling floodwaters. Their faith wasn’t in their own ability to get across; their faith was in God, that he would get them through.

Faith is believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.

And so when you come to those Jordan River moments in your life, when the way between where you are and where you want to be seems filled with swift currents and turbulent times, it is faith that enables you to step into the river and begin to make your way across. It is faith that writes upon your heart that God is the one who calls out to you and says, as he did in the book of Isaiah, "This is what the Lord says, the one who created you,… the one who formed you… ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you…’"

On Friday I was privileged to attend the dedication of the new Eleanor S. Armstrong School of Nursing and Medical Sciences at Horry-Georgetown Technical College. It is named after our own Ellie Armstrong, in acknowledgement to the contribution she has made to the nursing profession and to the hospital community in Georgetown County. Ellie’s husband was the first surgeon in Georgetown, and he was instrumental in getting Georgetown Memorial Hospital off the ground, and Ellie was a long-time nurse anesthetist at the hospital.

Back in 1950, they came upon a Jordan River moment, during which they were faced with the decision of whether or not to move to Georgetown. Actually, it would probably be more accurate to call it a Waccamaw River moment, or a Black River moment, or a Sampit River moment. Regardless of what you call the river they faced, they chose to cross the river and stepped out in faith. Because they chose to move to Georgetown despite the uncertainties that they would face, this community would be forever changed. If someone would’ve told them back in 1950 that there would be a world-class hospital system, and a state-of-the-art nursing school because of their influence in the community, the Armstrongs probably would’ve laughed at such a thought. The fact of the matter is, Georgetown County would not be where it is today had they not decided to step out in faith. They came upon their Jordan River moment, and they crossed to the other side.

In just a moment we will sing our closing hymn, Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah. The final verse says this: "When I tread the verge of Jordan, bid my anxious fears subside; Death of death, and hell’s destruction, land me safe on Canaan’s side; Songs of praises, songs of praises, I will ever give to thee, I will ever give to thee."

The truth is, there are people in this room today who have come upon Jordan River moments in their lives that require great faith. There are people in this room today who have passed through their Jordan River moments when the river was at high flood stage. What is required is not so much a certainty about what lies on the other side of the river. What is required is the knowledge that God will be with you.

It requires believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.

Do you know God well enough to have that kind of faith?