Courage (Sermon at FFMC 23/6/19)

Courage

3 The Lord your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the Lord has spoken. 4 And the Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. 5 And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you (Dt. 31:3-6)

A month back, I spoke of perseverance. “Perseverance” speaks of enduring effort. It means steadfastly continuing in a fixed purpose despite opposition. “Courage” is often found together with perseverance, but it emphasizes inner victory against our fears. The same Greek word is sometimes translated ‘boldness’, which emphasizes the willingness to take risks. The phrases “be strong and courageous”, “be strong and of good courage” “be of good courage” occur 15 times in the Bible, often to individuals, sometimes to God’s people as a whole. God encourages Joshua (Dt 31:7, 23; Jos 1:6, 7, 9, 18). King David also tells his son Solomon to do the same in 1 Ch 22:13 and 28:20. An angel encourages Daniel (Da 10:19). It’s quite that God is in the business of encouraging His people, and we can conclude from this that both courage and encouragement are necessary in our walk of discipleship.

When we think of courage we think of valour in war when soldiers risk their lives for their comrades. Someone like Desmond Doss comes to mind. During WW2, When the Americans invaded Okinawa in 1945 one of the main strategic objectives was the Maeda Escarpment. a place so fortified and deadly that it was called “Hacksaw Ridge” – remembered in an award-winning film by Mel Gibson. In this terrible conflict men were being cut in half by machine gun fire and blown to bits by artillery fire. When Doss’ battalion climbed the ridge and attacked they were forced to retreat with heavy casualties. Doss did not retreat. In the course of 12 hours, in the midst of continual shelling and fire Doss carried men and lowered them down one by one down the ridge to safety. He kept praying, “Lord, please help me get one more” He thought he saved 50 men. Those manning the aid station below thought he saved 100. In the following weeks her fearlessly saved many more men, was wounded in a grenade blast, and when found by litter bearers, got off the litter when encountering a more seriously injured man. His arm was shattered by a sniper while waiting for the litter bearers’ return. Despite his injuries he crawled 500m to the aid station. This part of the story was omitted in the movie because Gibson felt it was too unbelievable for audiences.  Now that’s courage! But this example is also largely irrelevant to us. We will almost never get the chance to do what Doss did.

Do we really need courage in our daily lives?  There are really 2 things that we need in order to have courage: one is a mission to accomplish, and the other is fear (“Do not fear or be in dread”). The Israelites were given the command to conquer the Promised Land. That was their mission from God. The main way the promise of Dt 31:6 is relevant to all of us – young and old alike – is that we must know our mission from God and face our fears when we contemplate it. The general mission of every disciple is to know/discern God’s will (Rom 12:2) and do it (Mat 7:21). So the promises do not mainly apply to specific situations like public speaking or stage fright, or getting an injection from the doctor, or facing cockroaches. Christian courage is seen when we think and speak and act boldly as Christian disciples despite our fears

When we consider the fears we might have we begin to become aware of our need for courage. These are not momentary fears, but fears that control us and determine the course of our lives:

• Failure - to pass an exam, to gain a relationship, get a job, to succeed in a task at work. There can be a fear of making honest mistakes and of being unable to fulfil our responsibilities to people who depend on us. This is linked to fear of the unknown- which we would not have if we know we would be to overcome future challenges and obstacles.
• People: we are afraid of the disapproval of others. We care greatly about their opinions and fear to put a foot wrong in case they are displeased. We fear to be ashamed before them – this can be of social awkwardness or inferiority because of looks, or academic achievement, sometimes of guilt.   Then there are enemies - those over us at work who blame us for their mistakes, those mean-spirited people who bully us (online or in real life) and make our lives miserable and laugh at our faith, who slander us (fake news) and oppose us at every opportunity.
• Pain, suffering, death – for some of us death is not a problem, but the dying. Cancer, old age. There is psychological as well as physical suffering: loneliness – singles and aging, anyone who goes to school and has no friends, or rejected from social circles, elderly when friends die off.
• We fear the sharing of the gospel, the full surrender of our lives to Christ. Including full-time service.
• Losing out – grasping and selfish attitude, avoidance of blame. Extreme measures to achieve desired success. There are feelings of insecurity. Applies from education to shopping

In Dt 31 Moses gives 3 powerful reasons why God’s people should have courage against these fears. These are realities. These are the firm promises of God. Let them sink into our soul and become a rock-solid foundation for courage:

1.       God is fully in control

7 times Moses says “God/He will” or “you shall”. God knows the future. He is in charge. There is certainty of success. This is only possible because God is all-powerful. He cannot be thwarted. He does whatever He pleases (Ps 115:3). “I make known the end from the beginning,    from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand,    and I will do all that I please.”(Is 46:10) When we act according to the will of God, we cannot fail. This does not mean that we have an easy time, just as it does not mean that the Israelites would stroll into the Promised Land. For the Israelites and for us, there is fighting and struggle, but victory is sure at the end.

a)      There are no accidents. God makes no mistakes. Through the worst of times – loss of loved ones, disappointments, illness - He is working out good. Our efforts and our life will never be futile. “I am immortal until God's work for me to do is done. The Lord reigns”. (Henry Martyn).

b)      Knowing us intimately, He never tests us more than what we can bear (1 Cor 10:13). The challenges do not have to break us. Satan will tempt us to destroy our faith, but God in that same event intends to increase our faith – to help us learn to trust in Him more. I have shared before that tests are like knives. You can use the handle or you can get cut by the blade. It all depends on your approach to the knife

c)       The presence of God is not so that we can be led away from trials. He leads us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake, but those paths lead through valleys of shadow of death. He says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;  I have called you by name, you are mine.² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,    and the flame shall not consume you. “(Is 43:1b2) So we know in pain and suffering and death that trials are not a mark of his displeasure, but of His closeness. If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Rom 8:32). We will be kept by God  ¹⁶ You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers^[c] and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. ¹⁷ You will be hated by all for my name's sake. ¹⁸ But not a hair of your head will perish.(Lk 21:18)

2.       God is totally on our side.

It would be a terrible thing if God were in charge but was against us. Moses says, “it is the Lord your God who goes with you” (v.6). 14 times in the Bible we see this phrase “it is the Lord “. In a comparable passage in Dt 20:4 Moses says,” ⁴ For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory”. This means that there is no lesser force accompanying us. There is no weaker power acting on our behalf. It is the Lord Himself who goes with us in the challenges of our lives. Way back in the book of Exodus chapter 33, God had told Moses that He would not be going with the Israelites to Canaan, and Moses had pleaded with God to go with them, “¹⁵If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶ For how shall it be known that I have found favour in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” (v.15-16) and God had promised “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (v. 14).

a)      We must not put our ultimate trust trust lesser powers. We cannot trust earthly resources. Our bank account, our friends or teammates, our doctors, our lawyers, our alliances, our own intelligence and abilities can never assure success in Christian life. Only God can be the source of our courage.

b)      God really loves to help us please Him (Heb 13:21). He is not angry with us. He goes with us as a Friend, our Good Shepherd, not as a prison guard.  Sometimes we get the idea that God is a harsh taskmaster who is never happy with our efforts. No! His “name is great and his heart is kind”. “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.(Zeph 3:17)

c)       God’s presence with us gives us identity. We are “distinct from every other people on the face of the earth”. We carry His family name with us – His character is seen in us, His children. The way we deal with life’s challenges marks us out as belonging to our Heavenly Father.

3. God is faithful forever

It would also be a terrible thing if God were on our side but could change sides any moment. By ‘faithful’ I mean that His loyalty to His children does not waver. Some people can be with you for the moment, but when things get tough they will abandon you. Or others are with you only because it suits their own agenda of the moment. Others are on your side until your money runs out! Not our God. He will not disappoint by failing to keep His promises. He will not shift His allegiance halfway down the road. He is constant in His affections. Even if things seem bleak and hopeless, He has not changed course. He is still for you, not against you. That’s why the writer to the Hebrews says, “⁵ Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ⁶ So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper;  I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Heb 13:5-6). When we see this, we are freed from fear of financial insecurity, free from fear of losing out and free from the fear of what people can do to us.

Conclusion

1. Live obediently before the Lord

God is not mainly calling us to do things that earn medals. But He is calling us to a life marked by consistent courageous action on his behalf. What counts is how boldly we deal with our many fears of life in a way that honours and pleases God. Courage is needed from God to accomplish missions for God. If you want courage, then you must discern and align yourself with the revealed will of God in His Word. If you persist in sin and you go your own way, the protection and favour of God will never be yours. Take heed: Proverbs 28:1 says, "The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion." Turn back and turn to God!

But you set your heart to do everything written in God’s Word, no matter how difficult, as Joshua was asked to do (Josh 1:7), then God will certainly be with you. Your heart will be filled with holy courage to do what lies before you. If you go your own way, with your own resources, you have no right to God’s presence and blessing

2. Get a vision from the Lord

Perhaps there may be an apology, a confession, or a promise to make. Perhaps a commitment to a ministry or to a spiritual discipline. Perhaps there is a hard thing we have to say to someone that is not nice or easy. Perhaps there is a call to finally invite someone to church or to share your faith. For some of us, perhaps this is the time to commit yourself to full-time service. I’m not saying we say ‘yes’ to everything headed our way, but there must be the willingness to say ‘yes’ when the right thing to do is clear.

So God helps us with day to day situations or specific fears. He will be there when you call out to Him, but I want us to lift up our eyes to consider the scope of your life - is there no vision before us that challenges us? Is our life so routine that there is no need for courageous action? Let us be like Caleb, who though old, could tell his comrade Joshua, “¹² So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.” (Jo 14:12). Caleb looked for mountains to fight for in the Lord. Make your life count – be someone who just doesn’t sit around waiting for others to take action.

3. Encourage one another in the Lord

We will likely not save people physically like Doss. But do you know you can be the reason others are saved to the end? ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.(Heb 3:12-13). “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up (1 Th 5:11). We each have a part to play in church so that we are saved to the end. So we should purposefully aim to strengthen one another to do the right thing, to affirm the good and to guard against the wrong. We all need ‘encouragement’. This means more than empty words and soothing noises. It means to take the effort to give courage to one another do act and think and speak boldly a Christian. It means to lovingly correct and rebuke if we see someone going the wrong way. Parents have a special role to encourage their children: “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.”(Col 3:21)  So commit yourself to encourage people around you in the Lord.

4. Point others to the Lord

Desmond Doss was special because he was the first person to with a Medal of Honor, the highest decoration for valour in the US - without firing a shot. You see, he was a devout Seventh Day Adventist who refused to bear arms because of his faith. In almost two years of training  he was made fun of and physically abused by his peers. He was almost discharged on grounds of mental instability and nearly court-martialled for his stance. His platoon mates and commanding officer despised him and tried to get him transferred out of their battalion. No one wanted to befriend him because he was perceived as a liability who wouldn’t support them in in battle. Doss was viewed as the “weakest link in the chain.” After Hacksaw Ridge the same soldiers who had shamed him now praised him. "He was one of the bravest persons alive," his captain said. “To have him end up saving my life was the irony of the whole thing." His citation for the Medal of Honor says that “his name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty”. One of the men at Hacksaw Ridge said of Doss, "It's as if God had his hand on his shoulder. It's the only explanation I can give."

Doss showed consistent courage in the face of tremendous persecution – perhaps of greater worth in God’s sight than what earned him a Medal of Honor. In this, we can certainly be like Doss. But the point is - when we live lives of courage for God, we show that God is real and God is great. Faith-filled boldness points to God’s goodness and provision for His people. The ability to overcome our fears shows that we can look beyond ourselves to our good and loving God. Our witness is severely weakened if we are cowards.

So, brothers and sisters - be strong and courageous! And you will receive a reward greater than a Medal of Honor, from Someone far greater than a President!

Audio here