God hands out shoes, not medals

Pastor Devon Ortiz read all of Joshua 3 and then asked how many of us have prayed, "Lord, I just need a victory." Many of us pray that, he said, and God does answer, but He does not hand out medals. He hands out shoes. If you are going to run the race and win it, God gives you what you need to run, not the reward in advance. Continuing the series on getting out of your rut, he titled the message "Get your feet wet."

Forty years of circling

Israel had spent forty years circling the same area, eating the same food, doing the same things over and over. They did it because they refused the path God gave them. Now Moses was gone and Joshua was leading them somewhere they had never been, which is scary. But being scary is no reason not to go. Many Christians settle into their old habits and their laziness because that is easier than stepping out, and nobody gets a medal for sitting on the sidelines. He pictured Paul in 2 Timothy saying, "I was there as others fought the fight and finished the course," and noted that it does not have the same impact as "I have fought a good fight."

Follow the presence of God into new ground

Israel had camped three days along the Jordan, the furthest they had ever been as a people, long enough to stare at the water holding them back. Joshua told them the priests would carry the ark of the covenant, the place where God's presence stayed in that time, about 2,000 cubits ahead, a little over half a mile. The order is a picture of the Christian life: the presence of God goes first, then our spiritual leadership, then us following. Parents especially need to know where the presence of God is so they can follow it and lead their families there. Joshua 3:4 gives the reason for the distance: "for ye have not passed this way heretofore."

Stop circling the same mountains. If you have not been here before, you cannot keep walking the same loop. Pastor Ortiz listed the loops: the same arguments in a marriage, the same financial mess and the same spending habits, the same character flaws, the same complaints about people, the same bad habits that people keep telling us to change. We look at Israel and call forty years inside an eleven-mile radius crazy, he said, yet we do the same. Some of us still circle unforgiveness, holding on to bitterness because we think it gives us a leg up, when it only hurts us. Some circle spiritual dryness, sitting in the same spot, doing what we have always done, closing our eyes for a while, and going home feeling good because we went to church. Some circle excuses for why we cannot serve, such as "I am not good enough," and some circle fear of what people think. The fear of man is a snare, he said, and a snare leaves you maimed or dead. To the young people he said to stop worrying about what others think and get involved: some who thought he was a nerd years ago now come to him for counsel. Then he turned the same words on Christianity: we have been around it long enough, and the question is when we will go all in, with all our chips on the table. It is scary because you have never been here before, he said, but "come in, the water's nice."

Prepare, then step in

Sanctify yourselves. In verse 5 Joshua tells the people to prepare because "tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you." If you have never been here, you need your heart right first. In verse 7 God says, "This day will I begin to magnify thee." God was preparing Joshua to lead. You do not lead simply because you now teach a class. God magnifies you first, and then He uses you.

The promise comes in the work. In verse 10 Joshua says, "Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you." You will know God is with you when you take the steps that are necessary, not by watching from the sidelines, because He is in the work. If you are not in the work, he asked, why would you need the blessing?

Stop waiting for the river to go down. Verse 15 says Jordan "overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest." This was a dangerous moment to put a foot in the water, and "this is not the right time" is the language of fear. The favorite excuse of people in a rut is that they will do it when things settle down. Things do not settle down, he said. If you cannot do it where you are now, do not expect to do it five years from now. When the kids get older, you will be driving them to games and events. When work slows, it does not. When finances are in order, they may never be. After the holidays is the season for putting things off, including with God. When my spouse gets on board is another one: he said not to use a spouse as the reason you cannot serve God, because you will stand before God for yourself, and to lead the way and let them see you receive the blessing. If I knew more Bible is another, but 2 Timothy 2:15 says to study to show yourself approved, and your lack of Bible knowledge is your responsibility. "Once this season passes" fails too, because we do not know we have tomorrow. Ecclesiastes 11:4 says, "He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap."

He told of a youth group trip where he tried to jump across rocks in a shallow stream, maybe half an inch deep. The current swept his foot out from under him, and he came away with a goose egg on his head. The water is dangerous, he said, and that is the point: if you are so afraid of the danger that you never take the step, you never get anywhere in your faith.

The step comes before the sign. Verse 16 says the waters "stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam," miles upstream. The priests could not see it. They knew only that they were to obey what God told Joshua, and nothing changed until their feet touched the water.

The medal comes after the race. Pastor Ortiz said he used to pray that God would help him with a test, and God never took one for him. What God did was give him the ability to recall what he had studied, and if he had not studied, he had nothing to recall. Some of us ask God to bless what we are doing while we have sown nothing, and He answers that we reap what we sow.

What God supplies and what we supply

God supplies three things. The first is strength. Isaiah 40:29 says he "giveth power to the faint," and Jesus invites all who are weak and heavy laden to come and rest. The second is His presence. Joshua 3:10 says the living God is among you, and in Joshua 1:9 God told Joshua to be strong and of good courage, "for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." The third is the path. Follow the ark; they are far enough ahead that you know exactly where to go. Proverbs 3:6 says, "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." God provides the strength, the presence, and the path, and we provide the step. The step shows our faith.

Where do you need to step in?

Pastor Ortiz said he is worried about the church because too few take the step of obedience. It will never be the right time and we will never have enough people. Jesus said the fields are white and told us to pray that the Lord of the harvest send laborers, but praying does not mean we stop laboring. We need people who will say, "Though no one joins me, still I will follow." Hebrews 11:29 says that by faith they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. The same premise applies here.

He named some of the steps. Some have never accepted Jesus Christ as personal Savior and have only been around the things of Christ. Some need to be baptized, and a baptism service is coming soon. Some need to start serving. If you wish the church had more of your kind of people, whether teenagers, ladies, or men, get involved and others will come. He said the men especially have circled the same issues for too long and need to step up. We cannot keep living on this side of the Jordan and hoping for the other side. God will not give you the medal or the results if you do not take the step.

He ended with the hymn "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus," then asked anyone who would not know for sure they would spend eternity with Jesus if they died that day to raise a hand, and invited anyone who knew they were circling the same mountain to come and pray. In his closing prayer he asked God to call men to lead, to give young people a wholehearted faith instead of one half in and half out, and to help the seniors sharpen and encourage others. What a shame, he said, to have all the support you need and leave it sitting on the sidelines.