Tuesday, September 29 — Remember Who Brought You Here

Every family has that one elder who stands up at the reunion and tells the story of where we came from. Nobody rolls their eyes for long, because the story explains everything.

Joshua 24:1-13 — KJV

1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. 3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. 4 And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. 6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea. 7 And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season. 8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: 10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand. 11 And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand. 12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. 13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

Joshua 24:1-13 — WEB

1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor. They served other gods. 3 I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his offspring, and gave him Isaac. 4 I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 5 “‘I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. 6 I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 When they cried out to Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness many days. 8 “‘I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, 10 but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 “‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand. 12 I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’

Explanation

Joshua gathers all the tribes one last time, and the location matters. Shechem is where Abraham built his first altar after arriving in Canaan. It is where Jacob once buried his household's idols under an oak. Joshua brings the nation back to the place where the family story in this land began, and he leads them through a covenant renewal. Ancient agreements between a great king and his people often opened this way: first a history of what the king had already done, then the terms. Before God asks anything of Israel, He reminds them who He has been.

Read the passage again and count the verbs. "I took." "I gave." "I sent." "I brought." "I delivered." Joshua speaks in God's own voice, and God is the actor in almost every sentence. The story does not begin with Israel's goodness, either. It begins with an uncomfortable fact: "your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood" — beyond the Euphrates — "and they served other gods." Abraham's family were idol worshipers when God called him. From there the story runs through Isaac and Jacob, through Egypt and the sea, through the wilderness, through Balaam — hired to curse Israel and made to bless them instead — through Jericho, and to the hornet that drove enemies out "not with thy sword, nor with thy bow."

Then verse 13 lands like a quiet punch: a land you did not labor for, cities you did not build, vineyards and olive groves you did not plant. Everything they are sitting on is a gift.

This matters for Sunday. Tomorrow's readings will talk about obedience, and Sunday Joshua will ask the people to choose. But first he makes them remember. Real commitment grows out of gratitude, not guilt. People who have forgotten what God did for them will eventually decide they did it themselves — and people who believe they did it themselves see no reason not to live like everyone else.

The Black church has always understood this. We tell the story. Our own denomination began in 1796, when Black Methodists in New York decided they would worship God with dignity rather than from the back of someone else's church. Many of us worship in buildings our grandparents paid for one dinner plate and one pledge card at a time. We dwell in cities we did not build.

So try this at your kitchen table tonight. Write your own version of Joshua 24. "I brought you through that layoff. I gave you that child. I sent that friend when you were at the bottom. I kept you when the doctor's report came back." Put God as the subject of every sentence. Then read it out loud. It is very hard to drift away from a God you remember clearly.

Thought for the Day

Before you choose tomorrow, remember who carried you here.

Reflection Question

If you wrote your own "I brought you out" list, what would be the first three lines?

Prayer

Father, before You ever asked anything of us, You gave. You carried our families through seas and wildernesses we can barely imagine. Forgive us for the days we act like we built our lives on our own. Help us remember clearly, so that our "yes" to You comes from a grateful heart. Amen.

This week we walk toward Sunday's lesson: Radical Commitment to God's Way.