From a communion I hosted at church a while ago.
Who are you?
While you think about what I mean by that question, let me read from Numbers 13 and 14.
Numbers 13:25-14:9
13:25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.
26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”
30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”
31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.”
32; So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.
33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
14:1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.
2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.
6 p And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.
8 If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.
9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”
The others were so terrified of the giants in the land that they wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb!
The result of this lack of faith was for the Israelites to spend the next 40 years wandering the desert before they took possession of the holy land.
The thing to note here though is the faith of Caleb and Joshua. God said he would give them the land and they fully expected Him to deliver on that promise. God never said “I might” or “I could”. It is always “I have” or “I will”. Caleb and Joshua understood that so it did not matter to them who was inhabiting the land; they knew God would deliver on His promise.
So again, who are you?
Are you Joshua and Caleb who believed in the promise or the other 10 who thought their problems were bigger than God?
Me? I want to be Joshua and Caleb with an unshakable faith in God’s promise. A promise He was so committed to keeping He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins.
It is a covenant sealed by the body of Christ on the cross and the blood He shed for us.
That’s what we do here today. The elements (the bread and the wine) are a symbol of the covenant God made with us through His Son Jesus Christ. A promise that He would be with us forever and strengthen us in all we do for His kingdom. As it says in Philipians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
As the elements are handed out think about that covenant, how He has promised to be with us always and with Him to strengthen us we can do all things. Strive to be more like Joshua and Caleb.
Heavenly Father, as we take the bread let us ever remember that it is a symbol that we are part of the body of Christ, and may we trust in His covenant forever. Amen
Hand out bread
Plese hold your drinks and we will drink together as a family.
Hand out drink
Heavenly Father, as the bread symbolises our place in the body of Christ, the drink symbolises the blood of Christ that was shed for us that seals the covenant with Him. May we strive to be more like Joshua and Caleb in everything we do, trusting in your amazing steadfast love. Amen