A Dose of Courage
Joshua 1: 1-9; Ephesians 6: 1-4
One of the highlights…or greatest misfortunes of my childhood, depending on how you see it, was the annual family vacation to Gatlinburg and Dollywood. The grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins…everybody came on this trip, and we all stayed together in one large chalet in the mountains. It was like a National Lampoons movie on a good day. I would not say, “A good time was had by all.”
One year, the house we were all staying at was particularly far up in the mountains on winding, narrow roads with very little signage. There was no GPS in 1992, so we were hunting for our best. It was a true test of my father’s leadership and navigational capabilities, and we definitely found what is NOT in his skillset. With GPS, it would have been about 3.5 miles and 15 minutes. Without, we wandered all over the Smoky Mountains for 15 miles and well over an hour trying to find this place. Had it not been for my mother, I don’t think we would have made it out of the Smoky Mountains.
Leadership in our society is often vested in the males. Most societies on earth tend to be patriarchal where the male is viewed as the leader. Some societies, such as African ones, will see women as the societal matriarch as she is where life is born. Today we celebrate the gifts of leadership found in men, as it is Father’s Day. Woman also have many gifts, but we look at that in May. Today is for those with a Fathering spirit. There are three qualities of leadership we see today: be strong and courageous, listen and study, and be worthy of respect.
First leadership is strong and courageous. The Israelites in our Hebrew lesson had only ever known the leadership of Moses outside of the cruelty of slavery. They had no idea what it was like to be led by anyone other than Moses. And now they have the fearfulness from Moses being dead. God addresses the fear clearly and with finality. “Moses, my servant, is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you [Joshua] to lead these people.” But Joshua didn’t go alone. God’s promises were not just tied to Moses. God’s promises are never ending and without fail.
Courage and confidence come from trusting in an outcome. In faith, we trust in the outcome of God’s promises and God’s plan. The journey ahead proved that the Israelites would face hardship and trial. But in every struggle, they had God’s promises with them. The same is true of father-figures, leaders, and decision makers in our time. God’s promises never fail, and neither should our courage to step out in faith.
A few years ago I was sitting on a meeting for the Regional Office. When asked why things were handled in a certain manner, I answered before I could stop myself. I blurted out, “Well, we’ve always done it this way.” That is the death knell of courage, of risk, and of faith. If we never break our patterns of doing and patiently try new ways of being followers of Jesus, we won’t need faith. If nothing challenges or changes, why do you need faith to follow, faith to trust?
God calls on us to be strong and courageous followers, willing to try and experience new things, willing to journey to new ideas and new places. At one time, all that Jesus taught was a new and risky idea. But every challenge is an opportunity to have the courage found in faith in God. Be strong and courageous. Do not be discouraged.
As leaders, father-figures, and people of faith, we must listen and study. God says to Joshua, as a new leader, “Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them…Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.” Good leaders study and know what they are doing and talking about. When I was working in Macon, we had a judge who would read every single thing on every single case. She would say, “I may not be able to be the smartest in the room, but I can be the best prepared.”
I couldn’t stand here unless I read and prepared for this sermon. A music leader cannot sing unless they’ve looked over the music. God calls us as leaders to be studied and prepared. In and of himself, Joshua did not know how to lead the Hebrew people. But he had God’s promises, and he had words of wisdom and instruction to follow. Joshua became a good leader because he listened to God, and he was well prepared. The scripture is filled with examples of leaders who did not do this, and it tells how their time of leadership ranged from a struggle to catastrophic.
Leadership and fathering are hard because there is an expectation in our society of knowing every answer, making all the right decisions, and having strength beyond what is often humanly possible. Part of listening and study is being vulnerable to listen to different viewpoints, different ideas. History is too full of father-figures, leaders, and let’s be honest, men, who are unwilling to be humbled enough to listen and understand when they need to. God told Joshua to listen, to read, to understand the instructions and follow them. We are called to the same.
Lastly, father figures who are leaders are called to be worthy of respect. As a child in a Christian school, We were ALWAYS taught the first part of this Ephesians chapter—Children obey your parents for that is what is right. Remember to honor your father and mother. I almost never remember hearing us read the second part of this instruction, “Father’s do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them.” The two go hand in hand.
It is impossible to honor a father figure, a leader, if they live in a way that is unworthy of respect and honor. I have a friend whose father was a strict disciplinarian. He ran the house with precision, toughness, and sometimes cruelty and terror. He believed his sole job was to discipline his children into obedience and submission. He ended up alienating them all because there was no warmth, no love, no kindness in his relationship with them. He wasn’t exactly abusive. He was just generally mean and unkind.
If we think of God as a father figure, promises are kept, comfort and grace are offered, redemption is part and parcel. God can be tough on us, but it is always tempered by kindness, love, and support. That is exactly how the leadership of a father should be—clarity, boundaries, and an overwhelming love.
In many ways, Moses ended up being like a father to the Israelites. He was all they had known because of the desert wanderings while waiting to come to the promised land. Moses had led them out of slavery in Egypt. Moses had parted the sea in front of them. Moses gave them instruction from God. Moses led them all the way to the very entrance of their new home. He cared for them, disciplined them, and stayed with them all the way home.
In our society, fathers tend to be seen as the leaders. We live in a generally patriarchic society, which is simply a fact, not a commentary. This leadership must be strong and courageous, must be based on study and willing ears and hearts to learn, and must be worthy of respect. Not everything will be smooth or perfect. It can be a hard learning curve sometimes. But the same God who gives us the calling as leaders and as fathers gives us the strength and wisdom to know how to live and act. So be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. For God is with you. And that’s a promise.
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