This week, as we continue our message series “Liars, Cheaters, Cowards & Other Bible Heroes,” we are going to be looking at Joshua.  If you want to read about Joshua in the Bible, all you need to do is look for the Book of Joshua, the sixth book in the Old Testament.  Actually, we first meet Joshua in the Book of Exodus, and he is also mentioned in Deuteronomy and Numbers.

Joshua was Moses’ apprentice.  We are not told how he was selected to be Moses’ apprentice, but we know that ever since he was a youth, he would assist Moses.  He waited for Moses at the foot of Mt. Sinai when Moses goes up to talk with God and God gives him the 10 Commandments. Moses commissions Joshua to assemble an army to fight off some enemies of the Israelites as they are wandering in the desert, and Joshua is one of the spies that Moses sends into the Promised Land on a recognizance mission, and he is one of only two of those spies who thinks that they can conquer the land.

Moses was not the only one who recognized Joshua’s leadership potential.  It was actually God who saw it. He tells Moses, “Commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for it is he who will cross at the head of this people and he who will give them possession of the land you are to see” (Deut 3:28). [Remember, God had told Moses that he would not be able to enter into the Promised Land because he had disobeyed God.] Because Joshua is loyal and faithful, God sees him as the person to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land.

Joshua demonstrates that God and Moses are right in putting their faith in him, because he is loyal and faithful to God, even when faced with incredibly difficult situations.  To start with, in order to get into the Promised Land, Joshua had to lead the Israelites across the Jordan River. The Jordan was not some little stream nor a gentle river like the Delaware.  It was a raging river, and at the time of year that they were crossing it was roaring, overflowing river from the Spring rains. And it was not just a couple of people who he had to get across; it was like a million people.  Now, I have led some bus trips with like 40-50 people, and it was a headache making sure we all got where we were going without losing anyone. I can’t imagine leading a million people, but Joshua did it.

It did not get any easier from there, for the Promised Land was already occupied, so Joshua had to lead the people in conquering the land, and it all started with the Battle of Jericho, one of the best fortified cities in that part of the world.  Joshua did not have some great war machine to breach the city’s walls: no catapults, no war elephants. What he had was God, and he had faith that God had a plan that would work, and it did. The victory at Jericho was just the beginning. In the Book of Joshua we are told that Joshua led the Israelites to victory over 31 kings, and by the time he was old, the Israelites were settled in the Promised Land and they had rest from all their enemies.

Joshua was certainly a Bible hero; he was loyal and faithful, and he succeeded in all that God asked him to do.  So why is he on our list of “Liars, Cheaters, Cowards & Other Bible Heroes”? The next book in the Bible, the Book of Judges, gives us a clue:  “Joshua, son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten, . . . . When the rest of that generation were also gathered to their ancestors, and a later generation arose that did not know the Lord or the work he had done for Israel, the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (Judges 2:8-11).

Joshua had all kind of success, however he failed to develop a succession plan.  So even though the Israelites are in the Promised Land, and they have conquered all these kings, things start to fall apart because the tribes start to quarrel.  The key problem was that the next generation did not know God. How could that be? Surely they heard the stories of how God freed them from slavery in Egypt, led them for 40 years in the desert, and then allowed them to take possession of the Promised Land.  The problem was that the next generation inherited a tradition about God, but no one had told them what God was doing in their lives so that they could learn to develop their own personal relationship with God.

So here is the question for all of us:  Are you sharing what God is doing in your life?  Maybe you don’t think that God is doing anything in your life; you don’t hear Him speaking to you, you don’t see miraculous signs, or anything like that.  If that is the case then you need to spend more quiet time with God in prayer, reflecting on what God is doing in our life. A good place to start is to literally count your blessings, and be specific; don’t just say “my family.”  Specifically, what about your family is a blessing?

Another reason that many of us don’t share what God is doing in our lives with others is because we have been told, “Faith is personal, and it needs to be private.  You believe what you believe, and I will believe what I believe, and we will be good.” This is a half-truth. While faith is personal because it deals with a personal, authentic, intimate relationship with God, no way is it supposed to be private.  Jesus tells us -- commands us really -- “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations….”

Jesus said, “God out there.”  He didn’t say, “Go to church on Sunday or Saturday evening, forget about me the rest of the week, and then I’ll see you next week.”  No, He said, “Go out into the world, share what I’m doing in your lives, and introduce people to me. Go out there, share your story.”  This does not me that we all have to become Bible-thumpers standing on a street corner. It simply means sharing what God is doing in your life with the people around you, paying a special attention to the next generation.  The more you share what God is doing in your life, those great things will become even better.

There are generations upon generations growing up at risk of not knowing God.  If they don’t know God, what are they going to do when they need peace in their life?  Where are they going to go when they need comfort, encouragement, or wisdom? Where are they going to go when they need love?

Parents, this is a most important task for you, since you are the primary teachers of the faith to your children.  So, how can you do this? Certainly taking them to church each week, reading the Bible to them, and having them go through sacramental prep are important.  But the most powerful thing to do is to share with them what God is doing in your life. Maybe you can organize time where you sit around the dinner table once a week and just share what God has being doing in your life that week.  Don’t ask your kids what God is doing in their lives yet, just share with them what God is doing in your life -- the good, the bad, the challenges, what you know, and what you don’t know.

Yeah, they are probably going to give you a strange look at first.  They might tease you, push back against you, reject you, and ignore you.  Yet you will leave an impression which is going to be huge because one day in their life, they are going to need to reconnect with God.  And they are going to need someone in their life who is going to help them reconnect with God.

The next generation is thirsty for a story filled with hope, for a story offering something more than what the world is offering them.  So share your story so that you can go and grow deeper. Share your stories so that you can inspire others. Share your story, share the story that God has given you, because it leads to greatness.