CELEBRATING HERITAGE (12 OF 52)
Scripture: Joshua 4:1-11
This content is part of a series.
Celebrating Heritage (12 of 52)
Series: Discipleship Part Three
Christopher B. Harbin
Joshua 4:1-11
Dealing with history, tradition, heritage, and grief can be tough. Saying good-bye to institutions and places that have held deep meaning for us may be a difficult task. It can be very disconcerting to leave behind what we know. Our traditions, institutions, and patterns of living give our lives structure that we can confuse with meaning and purpose. When we must move beyond systems and forms we have held dear, how do we let go and move successfully into the unknown? How do we celebrate the past without trying to hang onto what will never be again?
The Hebrews had struggled repeatedly with wanting something new and yearning for the known and its false sense of security. They had lived in desperation back in Egypt. Pharaoh had ordered the death of their male children. Pharaoh had pressed them into slave labor under very harsh conditions. When they had cried out for help and relief, their burdens had been made all the more difficult. Leaving Egypt had looked like a pipe dream and a marvelous vision of release. They had yearned for redemption and a new lease on life. They had never expected the realities of Pharaoh pursuing them with an army of chariots. They had not questioned how they would find food in the uncultivated lands of the wilderness environs beyond the Sea of Reeds. They had not worked out what it would mean to find water for all their number. Life beyond bondage was very different from the gauzy dreams of freedom.
When they were first offered a chance to enter the land Yahweh had promised Abraham, they balked. They were no warrior people. They felt unsettled at the prospects of confronting the peoples who inhabited the land before them. They had wanted to cash in their chips and take their chances by returning to Egypt. Years later, Yahweh led them once again to the edge of the Promised Land. Now they were ready-as ready as they ever would be ...
Series: Discipleship Part Three
Christopher B. Harbin
Joshua 4:1-11
Dealing with history, tradition, heritage, and grief can be tough. Saying good-bye to institutions and places that have held deep meaning for us may be a difficult task. It can be very disconcerting to leave behind what we know. Our traditions, institutions, and patterns of living give our lives structure that we can confuse with meaning and purpose. When we must move beyond systems and forms we have held dear, how do we let go and move successfully into the unknown? How do we celebrate the past without trying to hang onto what will never be again?
The Hebrews had struggled repeatedly with wanting something new and yearning for the known and its false sense of security. They had lived in desperation back in Egypt. Pharaoh had ordered the death of their male children. Pharaoh had pressed them into slave labor under very harsh conditions. When they had cried out for help and relief, their burdens had been made all the more difficult. Leaving Egypt had looked like a pipe dream and a marvelous vision of release. They had yearned for redemption and a new lease on life. They had never expected the realities of Pharaoh pursuing them with an army of chariots. They had not questioned how they would find food in the uncultivated lands of the wilderness environs beyond the Sea of Reeds. They had not worked out what it would mean to find water for all their number. Life beyond bondage was very different from the gauzy dreams of freedom.
When they were first offered a chance to enter the land Yahweh had promised Abraham, they balked. They were no warrior people. They felt unsettled at the prospects of confronting the peoples who inhabited the land before them. They had wanted to cash in their chips and take their chances by returning to Egypt. Years later, Yahweh led them once again to the edge of the Promised Land. Now they were ready-as ready as they ever would be ...
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