Readings: Joshua 3:1-4:11, 14-24; Acts 10:37-38; Matthew 3:13-17

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

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. (Lutheran Service Book 918:3)

The Israelites were on the verge. They were about to cross over the Jordan into Canaan. They were about to die to landless wilderness wandering Israel, and rise to land flowing with milk and honey Israel. They were about to be blessed with a good, abundant land, an Eden-like land. And who led them? The Lord. His ark. Carried by His priests. When their feet touched the water, when the Lord went into the water, something happened. The waters piled up like a heap. They stopped. The Israelites had a clear shot to the land of the Lord’s promise.

Readings: Joshua 1:1-11, 16-18; 2:1-24; Hebrews 13:5-8; Matthew 1:21

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Moses dies. Joshua is raised up to replace Moses. He is given the same authority as Moses, but a specific mission: “Go in, take the land. For by you, Joshua, I will fulfill My promise to Abraham to give the land to His family. And Joshua is given great ad mighty promises. “I will not leave you or forsake you. I will go with you wherever you go. So be strong and courageous. You are My man, to give My people My gifts.” Of course, Joshua is the Lord’s man. His name, which is the Lord’s name (Joshua and Jesus are the same name, and come from the same Hebrew word Jehoshua), means, “the Lord is salvation”. He is the Lord’s man to give salvation. To make good on the Lord’s promises. For the Lord. Is. Salvation. The Lord uses Joshua now to deliver His saving purposes, but one day the Lord Himself would take on flesh, to make good on that name, becoming the salvation of all mankind.

Readings: Numbers 22:1, 4b-6, 12-38; 24:10-13, 25; Jude 1:3-5, 10-11, 19-21; Luke 6:20, 26

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Towards the end of the 40 years in the wilderness Israel meets Balaam. He is a prophet of the Lord from Mesopotamia. (Deut. 23:4) They meet him when their distant relatives—the Moabites, descended of Lot (Gen. 19:36-37), Abraham’s nephew—do not meet them with bread and water (Neh. 13:2), but instead hire a prophet (or diviner, Josh. 13:22) to curse them. (Num. 22:5-6; Deut. 23:3-4) Balaam seems to be an actual prophet of Lord. He has a reputation for being able to actually accomplish things: to bless and curse in the name of the Lord. (Num. 22:6, 8, 18) It is not surprising that there would be prophets of the Lord outside of Israel as some in Moab and elsewhere may have continued to believe in the Lord over the years. Moabites were descended of righteous Lot—righteous (2 Pet. 2:7) not by works but because he believed God and the Lord credited to him as righteousness. (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:24) He believed the Lord would bless all the families on earth through Abraham’s family by taking on flesh through Abraham’s line (Gen. 12:3), so that He might be crushed for sin (Gen. 3:15), taking the power of sin away, utterly crushing Satan. For the Serpent cannot kill the Son of God. Death has no dominion over Him. (Rom. 6:9) Balaam seems to know this. He is a prophet of the Lord. He even seeks out the Lord, though his ways are bit beyond the pale. (Num. 24:1; 23:1, 14-15, 29-30) But as with so many who start out preaching God’s righteousness in Christ (Acts 20:29-30)—so that some might believe and by the gift of faith have life in His name, through Lord’s graciously crediting you with His righteousness—he had corrupted his ways. (2 Pet. 2:15) He was a prophet for hire. He took money to bless and curse. The Lord promised to bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who cursed him. (Gen. 12:3) The Lord blesses for the sake of Abraham’s family by which all families will be blessed when He became part of the human family, taking on our flesh in the womb of Mary, the virgin daughter of this family.

Readings: Numbers 16:3; 17:1-13; 21:4-9; 1 Corinthians 10:6-11; John 3:3-5, 9-18

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Sin makes us stupid. Stupid so that we think doing sin makes us happy. But as soon as we’ve done it, though it may have brought momentary pleasure, a rush or a thrill, or distraction from your pain, it immediately springs a trap on you of guilt, self-loathing, shame, and regret. You’ve been through it before. You’ll go through it again. Because sin makes you stupid. As Baptized Christians we all live in this cycle of sin, repentance, and faith. When we get particularly stuck in the sin part of the cycle sometimes the Lord uses the events of life to snap us out of our sin. He uses the consequences of life in this sin-filled, broken world to turn us back to Himself. To repent us. Sometimes His Holy Spirit works quickly, and as soon as you’ve sinned you repent. And then He grants His grace and mercy to refresh you and give you joy. And if you doubt it, where do you go? To Christ’s called and ordained ministers: for Holy Absolution, the declaration from God’s mouth to your ears that you are forgiven in Jesus’ name; for the Lord’s Supper which puts Jesus’ own living body and life blood in your mouth, giving you life to the full. (John 10:10)

Readings: Numbers 13:1-3, 17-33; 14:1-24, 31-34; 2 Corinthians 5:7; John 20:28-31

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Christians walk by faith and not by sight. (2 Cor. 5:7) The world says seeing is believing. But it’s not. Seeing is a way of knowing, and “knowing” is not believing. Our eyes and our five senses show us all sorts of things. In the kingdom of the Left Hand (of God), which is ruled by law, by government (Rom. 13:1-7), we ought to trust our eyes. We need to see the facts on the ground. We need to make sensible choices. But in the kingdom of the Right Hand—God’s kingdom ruled by the Man who sits on His right hand, Jesus Christ our ascended saviour—we walk by faith and not by sight. For faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Heb. 11:1) How can you have assurance about what you can’t see? Well, faith comes by hearing, hearing the word about Christ. (Rom. 10:17) So faith does come from the eyes, by seeing. But from the ear, by hearing. Which is why St. Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel—that good news I’ve heard about Jesus—for it is the power of God unto salvation.” (Rom. 1:16) Remember that Paul before believing in Jesus persecuted believers in Jesus. He forcibly entered their homes. He threw them in prison. (Acts 8:3; 9:1-2) He stood by smiling after inciting a mob to stone to death Stephen (Acts 7:58-8:1), one of the first seven pastors of the Church. (Acts 6:1-6) And then Paul was converted by what He heard. (Acts 9:4-6, 17-18) He couldn’t even see it. (Acts 9:8) But the Holy Spirit called him by the Gospel (Acts 9:15-16), enlightened with His gifts (Acts 9:16-17), sanctified and kept him in the true faith. When this happened Paul was literally blind. It was hearing the Gospel that converted him. That opened his eyes. (Acts 9:17-18)