Joshua 24:15; Acts 16:32-34 It Takes a Family

 

The story of Joshua is too often overlooked in favour of other great men and women in the Bible. Noah, Moses, Samson, David, Solomon, Peter and others seem to capture our attention the most while Joshua remains in the background. The others seem to have lived much more exciting lives! I believe part of it is his unshakeable faithfulness in his commitment to following God. For Joshua, as we are reminded in this verse, a verse often found on plaques in many Christian homes, faith is a family affair, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua is near the end of his life, and what a life it was! He was born in Egypt, saw God save his people from Egypt’s slavery, saw God part the waters of the Red Sea, and then destroy Pharaoh's army so Israel could feel truly safe and unafraid because God is on their side. Joshua and Caleb were the only two spies sent into the Promised Land to scout it out that trusted God to help them win the land, and Joshua wandered with the Israelites for 40 years before being chosen to lead Israel after Moses’ death, leading Israel into the promised Land and helping them to settle in the land and conquer the peoples living there.

Now Joshua gathers the leaders in Israel; the elders, leaders, judges, and officials, and reminds them of who God is and who they are as God’s people, calling them to stay true to the Lord. Joshua now challenges them to choose: are they going to follow the idol gods of the nations they’ve just defeated or are they going to follow Yahweh who has chosen them as his people? Joshua clearly states where he and his family stand, “But as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.” Joshua’s decision is for himself and his entire household, it’s a family affair. Family is more than just parents and kids, it’s the entire family: aunts and uncles, grandparents, cousins and those who have become part of the family even if they aren’t blood related. 

Fathers and mothers, are you declaring publicly with words and actions that you and your family are serving the Lord only, that you’re putting aside your other gods? God chooses us, we need to choose him. As a family, is Jesus central to the choices and decisions you make, is Jesus central to your life and how you live? Aunts and uncles, how are you modeling Jesus in your life, how are you investing in the faith of your nieces and nephews and showing them how to live a Jesus centered life? Older brothers and sisters, how are you helping your younger brothers and sister choose to serve Jesus first? If you have no family here in Bethel, if you’re a single person here, how are you investing in your church family, helping others to choose Jesus first, investing in the children, youth, families, or seniors here to grow in their faith? church, how are you enfolding our singles into your families? 

Just as Joshua declares that he and his household will serve the Lord, we see something similar happening in the story of the Philippian jailor. Unlike Joshua, the jailor didn’t have the opportunity to see God at work in mighty ways, defeating powerful kingdoms, providing for the needs of his people for 40 years. Instead the jailor sees the faithfulness and grace of Paul and Silas in not escaping from the jail when their chains were loosened and the prison doors opened. Paul and Silas saved his life in not escaping when they had the opportunity, and in their actions, the jailor knows there’s something missing in his life and so he cries out to Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved?” The answer? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

There’s something going on here, can someone who doesn’t believe be saved just because they belong to the right family? Is that what Paul and Silas is saying? In the jailor’s time, when the father converted, the entire family would convert. The household knew the importance of faith together. They knew the importance of parental leadership for the entire family; we’ll get more into that next week. Our children need to be taught how to make wise decisions, but the choice to follow Jesus begins as a family decision by the parents, sometimes it begins with one parent deciding for the family to follow Jesus. It all starts with faith in Jesus Christ. It’s about taking Jesus seriously, after-all he took us seriously, going to the cross and the grave for us and rising up from the dead so we can have new life. Jesus takes us seriously, getting us to carry on the work he begun to bring the gospel into the world, going so far to tell his disciples, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

What makes faith a family affair? It’s the support, encouragement, and family wisdom that makes faith a family affair. It’s grandparents helping out their children to pass the faith on to the grandchildren. It’s the uncles and aunts coming alongside their sibling to help teach the faith to their nephews and nieces and show how faith works in real life, how Jesus’ forgiveness and grace brings new life and the challenge to dedicate ourselves completely to Jesus. It’s how the extended family and close friends who are like family, are there to encourage, teach, and model commitment to Jesus through the wisdom gained through living life; holding each other accountable to their faith commitment to Jesus, sharing their stories of failures and victories in following Jesus and how their faith carried them after messing up and how Jesus gave them the strength to confess and then change. In Galatians 6, Paul says, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” There is that connection we have to each other, no matter what our bloodline is, Jesus’ blood trumps everyone else’s.

One of the positives I see coming out of these times is how families are worshipping together as families, all sitting together and worshipping together as a family rather then scattering throughout the sanctuary or building. With slower schedules, more families are taking the time for family devotions again. When we were in Ontario for our nephew’s wedding a few weeks back, one of the great things was gathering together as a broader family to eat and pray together. As families together, we learn and model how to pray and listen to God and the working of the Holy Spirit. We model together as a church family for the children and youth of our church how to spend time in prayer; talking and listening to God and responding to God. We have this commitment to each other through Jesus, as Paul reminds us in Romans 12, “so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

Following Jesus as families and households helps us to understand and practice forgiveness and grace. There is no family that has no opportunities to practice forgiveness. In practicing forgiveness, we help each other to understand God’s forgiveness; when we suffer the consequences of how we sometimes treat each other, we understand better the cross as the consequence of what we’ve done. Because it’s Jesus on the cross instead of us, we learn what grace looks like. When we live this out in the context of the church family, we become a powerful witness for what new life in Jesus can look like to others.

Within the household of faith, we’re better able to live out a joy-filled faith that’s rooted in Jesus, trusting in God, and listening to the Holy Spirit; a relationship based on commitment and trust in God and in each other. We never need to walk alone. Even when we cannot be with each other in person, we know that we’re not forgotten because the household of faith keeps reaching out to make sure no one feels forgotten or alone in times such as these; we remind each other that Jesus promises that he is with us always. Today encouragement might come through the phone, messenger, Zoom, Facebook live, Instagram, or even through TikTok. Some of us need to learn how to use these tools better so we can also use them to help each other continue to grow in our faith, in our relationship with Jesus, and with each other as families joined together as a church family rooted in Jesus.