Children:
I hate cold water, especially in the pool.
What’s the first thing you do to check the temperature of the water?
Stick your toe in. Then comes the hard
part—do you step in slowly or dive in right away?
That’s what the priests did. They couldn’t cross until
they took that first step into the promise…
There it
was, just across the river—the Promise…a land flowing with milk and
honey…the land promised to the people of God if they but followed God
there. They had waited a long time since God delivered
them from slavery in
Egypt
to come to this place.
They were on their way right here then. They did not
know how to get here but God guided them by a pillar of cloud by day and a
pillar of fire by night. They would have gotten here a
long time ago, had it not been for that terrible day,
the day they were so worried and frightened;
the day Moses was on top of the mountain so long;
the day they just could not wait patiently on God any
longer
and took the gold rings from the ears of their wives, sons, and daughters
and melted them all down to fashion a golden calf to worship.
For their impatience, for their idolatry, they wandered in the
wilderness, taking a circuitous route for 40 years—because impatient and
idolatrous people are just not ready for the Promise.
But
finally, there it was, just across the river—the Promise.
They could see it…a land flowing with milk and honey…the place God
promised all along. All they had to do was cross the
Jordan River
and receive it.
Jesus talks about such
a place in the Gospel Lesson this morning. A Promised
Land—a place that welcomes the poor, the meek, those who mourn, the hungry
and thirsty—a place where the merciful, the pure in heart, and the
peacemakers feel right at home. A place where life is
again just the way God made it in the very beginning—the kingdom of
heaven. When Jesus came he said, you remember, “The
kingdom of heaven is at hand! It is very near!”
Finally, there it is,
the Promise. Jesus says you can see it…all you have to
do is cross over and receive it.
The people
of God finally got there, there it was, just on the other side of the
river. But how are they going to cross? And
once they do cross how are they going to know where to go?
What about the church? What about you?
When you stand at the very threshold of the Promise of God, how do
you cross over it? How do you know where to go?
That’s the question the Scripture would raise for you and for me
today.
Now I don’t need to
tell you that crossing over to the Promise of God is a difficult thing to
do. The Scripture says, they arrived at the
Jordan
at harvest time just when the rains of the
previous spring and the runoff from the melting snow makes the river not
exactly a raging torrent but at the very least not very passable.
The Promise was just on the other side, but the only way to get
there is through the river. How did they do it?
God spoke to Joshua, their new spiritual leader after the death of
Moses. Joshua had just led the people in the defeat of
Jericho
when all the walls came tumbling down.
God told Joshua to instruct the people to chose one among each of
the 12 tribes to carry the ark of the covenant—the sacred box that held
the tablets of the ten commandments. God told these 12
priests to carry the ark of the Lord before the people to the very edge of
the overflowing banks. Then what did God tell them to
do? God told them to step into the river and start
walking! That’s the only way you’re going to get to
there—you have to step into the water; you have to get your feet wet.
They had to step into the Promise.
So when those who bore the ark
had come to the Jordan, and the
feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the
water, the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a
single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan,
while those flowing toward the seas of Arabah, the Dead Sea, were
wholly cut off. Then the people crossed over
opposite
Jericho
.
While all
Israel
were crossing over on dry ground, the
priests who
bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the
middle of the
Jordan
, until the entire nation finished
crossing
over.
Joshua 3:15b-17
That’s how they did it.
Even though the waters overflowed the riverbanks they nevertheless
trusted their whole lives to God. They believed in the
Promise. They wanted to receive it.
And they were willing to risk everything to have it.
That’s how
you do it. That’s what it takes, doesn’t it?
When by the waters of Holy Baptism you are claimed as God’s own
child and God’s Promise is for you, that’s how you cross over to the
Promise. You have to trust God with everything else
that would distract you—the rush of the water, the uncertain future, the
perils that may lie ahead—and keep your eye on the ark; keep the entire
focus of your life on God. That’s how you cross over
to the Promise. That’s how you know where to go each
and every day.
“All
Saints” is a day we remember those who cross over.
Those who have gone before us faced the rushing water, took that first
step, and found the way to eternity beckoning and clear.
In the end they entrusted themselves to One who restores life, in
whom life goes on forever.
The
Promise is truly for those who have gone before us whom we remember in our
hearts today. But I do not believe the saints would
have us linger too long in our memories today, lest we be tempted to
believe that the hope of the Promised Land is only found in the hereafter.
The witness of All Saints boldly declares that the promise is not
just for those who have gone before, it is for you and for me today.
The promise of life restored is not reserved for those whose course
of earthly life has concluded. By the power and
presence of the resurrection life is restored right now.
By God’s grace we are transformed every day, if we ever take that
first step.
