9/11/60

Scripture: Numbers 13: 35 - 14: 8.

Text: Galatians 5: 1; "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

Next Tuesday, the citizens of the USA have opportunity and responsibility to vote. This is a privilege that goes with freedom. It is denied to hosts of people who hunger for liberty. It was bought at great sacrifice and tremendous price by our forebears in the spirit. Let none hold it lightly, for free people have a solemn responsibility to exercise the prerogatives that maintain their liberty. Indeed, let us look forward with eagerness to the ways we can help our nation to grow through exercise of these expressions of liberty.

The Scripture lesson of this morning reviews a critical incident in the history of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. At the command of the Lord, Moses chose a man from each of the twelve tribes of Israel to go into the promised land and spy it out. They were camped within 50 miles of this land which was the object of their hopes and dreams. Their 12 spies were to report on 3 things: (1) the fertility of the land -- whether it was good or bad, fat or lean; (2) the people of the land -- whether they were strong or weak, few or many; (3) the cities -- whether they were fragile camps or fortified strongholds.

After 40 days, the 12 spies returned to the Israelite Camp at Kadesh-Barnea. They made 2 reports, a majority report and a minority. Ten of the men made what is referred to as "an evil report" of the land. They readily admitted that the land was good. It fairly flowed with mild and honey. But they were dismayed, downright frightened, by the size and numbers of the Canaanitish warriors and the strength of their cities. So they concluded, "We are not able to go up against these people; for they are stronger than we."

The 2 spies who brought in the minority report, Caleb and Joshua, felt differently. They were optimistic. They were well aware of the difficulties. But they were men of great vision and confidence and courage. They had faith that Jehovah would help Israel so that they could defeat the enemy and possess the land. So they said, "Let us go up at once, and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it."

But the Israelite people were weary of body and tired of mind, and were in no mood for another brisk challenge. It seemed that their life in the wilderness had been one great crisis after another ever since the day that they had fled from Egypt. Their hardships had diluted their optimism and worn thin their courage. So, as they listened to the reports of the 12 spies, they were far more impressed by the obstacles than by the opportunities. They lost heart; and their emotions literally "fell apart at the seams." They said to one another, "Let us choose a captain and go back to Egypt." Well, that is an ancient story. And it took more years of wilderness discipline to make them strong enough in mind to go into that Promised Land.

But what happened there, at their camp in Kadesh-Bornea, happens all the time. The temptation to turn back, or to sit tight, plagues us all. So when adventure beckons, we shrink back, lacking the courage to go on to what is new and better. We do this in personal matters and in social situations. We prefer the certainties of what we know, and are familiar with, to the possibilities of the unknown. The very thought of change intimidates us.

A. Here, for instance, is a man who wants very much to change his business connection. He is on the promotional staff of a large newspaper. He has always thought that he would like to run his own newspaper. But he has not developed the courage to make the break for it. In fact he has not even gone to the pains of making a realistic effort to calculate the financial cost of getting his own newspaper started. He is afraid of the facts, blames his family for his confined situation and takes solace in being, at least, an expert vacation fisherman. Better hang onto the job he has with such security as it offers, than to strike out toward the promised land that beckons, or even to spying it out! After all, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Would it not be better to go back to, or to stay in, his Egypt? And so, this he does for years, until, in this particular case, with the wisdom and encouragement of a counselor, he finally does launch out not with a small, independent newspaper of his own, but with a fine new department of the newspaper where he has been employed.

Of course, life is full of risks. One need not be so foolish as to plunge blindly, or stupidly, into all of them. But one must calculate, and accept, some of them in order to overcome obstacles. What worthy soul would want it otherwise? How stale and flat and unprofitable life would be without risks! Someone has remarked that the trouble with a dead certainty is that it is dead! Life is so full of risks that no man can escape all of them. As a matter of fact, risks are present in "Egypt" as well as in the "wilderness" and in "Canaan," the Promised Land.

One must walk by faith. One must venture. Nothing dared, nothing gained. There can be progress, personal or social, only with men and women of venturesome, pioneering faith, who, "fed up" with their Egypts, accept the risks and move on into better things. It was true of the Pilgrims who settled in New England. It was eventually true of the Israelites who resettled in Palestine. It is true of all sorts of folk who recognize that the way ahead is never certain; but that God is; and that God walks beside people of faith. As Caleb said to those people at Kadesh-Barnea: "The Lord is with us, fear them not."

So part of the trouble with those Israelites was that they lacked the courage to venture into the unknown, even though they knew in their hearts that it was right, and that they could count on Jehovah’s leading and help. Another trouble with those Hebrews was that they were not sufficiently committed. They had not, finally and irrevocably, deserted Egypt. That is one major reason why they did not proceed. That is why, having started out, they did not follow through, but wandered indecisively in the wilderness of Paron for 40 long and tragic years.

Complete and wholehearted commitment is necessary for success in any of life’s great adventures. It is as true in our national expression now as it was at Bunker Hill.

B. It is true in our homes. When marriages fail, it is often due to the fact that the parties to the marriage contract have not really committed themselves finally and irrevocably for the duration of their lives! They may even think they have become committed. But subconsciously, if not consciously, they are thinking that they can turn back if they want to. In days of comparatively easy divorce or cheap separation, many couples appear to think that, if things do not work out as they each hope, they can always get a divorce and try it again with someone else!

The folk of this mind never tackle the problems which arise in their marriage with any firm resolution, simply because they do not think they have to. They start out with rosy, romantic fervor and good intentions. But one day they take a good look at some great, but difficult Canaan with its complexities; and, with dogged firmness, one or the other begins, or both begin, to ask themselves: "Would it not be better to go back to Egypt?" They toy with the idea that, if adjustments get too difficult, and things become too tangled, they can escape through the divorce court. This frame of mind is actually a handicap. It is difficult to overcome in the achievement of a happy home.

People usually find a way if they think they must. They work out their solutions, with intelligence and determination, when they are themselves convinced that they have to, that divorce is not even to be considered, that they simply must, and will, succeed. Young people, when you marry: do so after a careful, open-eyed, thoughtful and sufficient courtship; but then commit yourselves completely. When you marry you have entered into covenant with each other and with God, that you will be faithful to each other in joy and in sorrow, in plenty and in want, "for richer or for poorer," "in sickness and in health," so long as you both shall live. Therefore set your mind on the life long success of your marriage. Never for one moment entertain the thought of turning back. Keep saying to yourselves, "If we fulfill the conditions of a successful marriage, we can have it."

A seasoned counselor in marriage has written: "It is my reasoned conviction, carried out by my experience, that any two people who have loved each other enough to marry can make a go of their marriage, if they set their minds and hearts upon accomplishing it."

Not long ago, I heard a fellow, now approaching his middle years, say: "I suppose that there is a good deal of the devil in me. I do not think that, temperamentally, I am strictly monogamous. I could easily be a bounder with quite a number of women. But, years ago, I entered into covenant with Joan, and she with me. And, under the terms of that marriage agreement which we both assumed voluntarily, I make it my purpose to belong to her alone so long as we both shall live, so help me God."

Well, there is not much doubt that he and his wife intend to continue the building of their home together, secure in their trust of each other and in God, because they are completely committed, without reservation, to the success and permanence of their marriage.

C. We see the importance of a complete, out-and-out commitment in another realm, the realm of Christian discipleship. Here too, people fail simply because their engagement to Christ as Lord is superficial and half-hearted. There are many who, making a promising start with God, never possess the land of spiritual power and peace in the midst of their storms. If they fail to come to any real maturity in Christian faith and experience, the reason is that they are not fully and finally committed. Their intentions were good when they asked to be baptized, or confirmed; or when they returned from the inspiration of a Christian conference; or when they thought they had dedicated themselves in some great sorrow or anxiety or at some great moment of thanksgiving. But when the rigorous demands of their Christian discipline became apparent; when the crosses appeared on a hill; when they saw giants in Canaan, they muse, "Perhaps it would be better to go back to Egypt." The trouble with the Christians of this frame of mind is that they never really renounced Egypt. In the particular church where I first came into membership, one of the questions asked of each candidate for membership was: "Do you renounce the devil and all his works?" And a whole congregation waited to hear your answer, "I do." But if it is still in one’s mind to go back to Egypt if the going gets tough; if one consents to return to the old ruts of moral defeat and partial living; there is not a real commitment to the great venture of faith.

Our Lord met the problem with his disciples in the days of his flesh. People wanted to follow him, but with reservations. And he once said, "No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." [Luke 9:62]

Paul encountered the same problem in Galatia. Some new converts in that region were finding the new life exacting and hazardous; and so they were about to turn back to the old slavery of Jewish formalism and legalism. And the apostle Paul wrote these people a letter in which he made this earnest plea: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." The Revised Standard version of the Bible translates it thus: "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

Probably the greatest need within the Christian church today, is for members with deep, unequivocal commitment to our Christian discipleship; for members who spend no time looking back to the meager security of their Egypts, but who look steadily forward to the excitement, the hazard and the promise of new ground.

Here in this church of Christ we need to be a committed membership who will look forward steadily and courageously. If we are going to maintain a home for our Christian discipleship, we must be prepared to revise it and keep bringing it up to date. A temporary improvement has been made by devoted members who, after tearing out 4 walls between class rooms, have pitched in to the painting and cleaning and rearranging that will give several church school classes a little more of the room they need for work and study. This has been an excellent project of those who have seen the need and worked at it.

But much more is needed. An architects’ study of our church building needs, authorized at the last annual meeting, has been completed and is now ready for our study in groups and boards. If we are to stay in this location it is vital that we have the space needed for parking, for future building, for possible expansion, for landscaping. Our trustees are ready with a proposal to purchase property vitally needed for the future, and urgently needed for the present, more or less temporary kind of expansion in church school, church office, and youth activity accommodation. We will hear and act upon their proposal two weeks from today.

We will be challenged this year for our decision on the proposed constitution for the United Church of Christ, which is a bold forward step in Christian cooperation. It calls for an act of faith not lightly considered, for it has been carefully studied, debated and advanced over a period of something like 15 years. We are constrained to invite others whom we know, or can meet, into the fellowship of Christian commitment.

Let there be no turning back to Egypt, but only pressing forward, with eyes wide open, and with faithful courage, and with final commitment to the "Promised Land."

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Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids, September 11, 1960