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As the Hebrews on their wilderness journey approach the land of Canaan, the Lord tells Moses to appoint twelve men to set out on a reconnaissance expedition to scout out the land. They head up through the south and into the lush hill country. Forty days later they return. They report that it is a beautiful land. They bring back grapes, pomegranates, and figs. It is all they could have hoped for, all that God has promised. But they bring back other news. The land is filled with fierce peoples and fortified cities. They saw ferocious tribes – the Amalekites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites. And, worst of all they encountered the Anak, descendants of the Nephilim, legendary giants of old. But Caleb, one of the twelve scouts, doesn’t concur with this report. He says, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it." And they said, "There we saw the Nephilim…and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them."

And then all the people raised a loud cry and wept all night. And the scripture says in Chapter 14:

And the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become booty; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?" So they said to one another, "Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt."

Moses and Aaron fall on their faces, abject and discouraged. But at once, Joshua, himself one of the twelve scouts, speaks to the whole congregation.

"The land that we went through as spies is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord: and do not fear the people of the land, for they are no more than bread for us (today we would say, "They’re toast!"); their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them." But the people of the entire congregation threatened to stone them.

You have heard me often say that the entire Bible can be summed up in one phrase, and that is, God says, "Fear not, I will be with you." That’s it. And, of course, this is precisely what Joshua is saying to everyone. He is telling them that the only thing they should be concerned about is not rebelling against God. And underlying every fear of the future is rebellion against God.

The Word of God speaks to us, over the ages, when we are able to make a dynamic analogy between what God was saying to the people in biblical times in their unique situations, and what God is saying to us now, in our unique situations.

What about our situation at Christ Congregational Church now? Our wilderness journey will shortly come to an end and we will return to our old building. But, in fact, it won’t be the old building at all. It will be a very new building in many ways. Are we like the Hebrews nearing the end of their journey?

As they approached the Promised Land their sense of expectancy started rising. Heretofore, their thoughts about the Promised Land had been abstract – a kind of dreaming vision of a wonderful place. Now it is at hand, and now a band of people have actually seen it. They report that it is as wonderful as they had imagined. But, but! They see big problems ahead. They see giants. They see insurmountable problems. You see, the closer they got to the dream becoming a reality, the more they started worrying about the problems this new wonderful reality would create. Since their preoccupation was no longer one of surviving in the wilderness, they forgot that it was God who had sustained them in the wilderness. Their new preoccupation was surviving in the Promised Land, facing the giants ahead, and they went right back to square one. Instead of saying, "Fear not, God is with us," they said, "We are nothing but grasshoppers in the face of these problems, and we are going to get squashed!"

I sense some nervous energy at CCC as we approach our return. A lot of people are working hard on a lot of details. It does seem overwhelming. Well, actually it is overwhelming. A certain amount of jitters is to be expected. But I also sense a little bit of fear in there, worry about what is coming in the short term (just getting back in) and the long term (actually being there).

Let’s think about this. If I were to take newsprint and ask us to brainstorm together about all the things that could possibly go wrong between now and reentry, and then during the first year of our return, I bet, if we really put our minds to it – we would have a list long enough to fill enough sheets to paper this sanctuary – wall and ceiling. What if? You fill in the blank. What if other people drop the ball on something important? What if you drop the ball on something important?

Worry, real worry I am talking about (not the jitters), real worry always makes assumptions about the future. Worry assumes that the bad scenarios out there will come true. Worry assumes that if those bad scenarios do come true, we will be unable to cope with them. Worry assumes nobody else can be trusted. And worry assumes that God’s presence will somehow be withdrawn, that is, God can’t be trusted either. Worry is not crazy, exactly, in that we all know that bad things can and do happen. All the time. But worry twists our perceptions of reality, ourselves, and others. The Israelites immediately assumed that in a short time that they would be utterly defeated, and their children and wives would be in bondage. And they had yet to even leave the wilderness. Reality, whatever it brings, never has the power to spiritually destroy. It is our fear of the future that can destroy. It is our fear that we will have to face challenges without God that kills the Spirit.

As we get accustomed to our new life together in that new space, it is guaranteed that there will be problems. It’s not like we will return and then we will all kick back and relax. There will be problems we can’t even begin to foresee. Count on it. Someone close to the building program said to me recently, "I just know that after we get back, there will be a whole string of complaints about problems with the building. And we will have to deal with that!" And I thought, that’s true. As each task is accomplished new problems come up. But what should our attitude be toward these problems? Will we see them as giants? Giants waiting to step on us and crunch us like grasshoppers? Or will we say, "We need God back home every bit as much as we did in the wilderness." Without God we indeed are grasshoppers – and overreaching, arrogant grasshoppers at that.

I’d like to have us close by doing a little spiritual exercise with me. I’d like everyone just to relax and close your eyes and find a comfortable position. Quiet your mind and thoughts for a moment. And then imagine a newsprint easel before you. Take a moment in silence and imagine yourself writing up there a couple of problems you see looming. Could be about the building. Could be about events surrounding our reentry. Or maybe you are facing problems totally unrelated to any of this – personal, family, professional problems – whatever. Put them up there….Now pick one of them, the biggest and most troubling one to you. Meditate on the problem a bit.

Take a deep breath. Listen for the voice of God. What is God saying to you? All will be well. It is going to be fine. Whatever happens, God is with you. God loves you. God’s mind has not changed about you or about this congregation. You are with God now. You will be with God no matter what. God will give you everything you need, everything single thing you need to deal with whatever comes. And whatever happens, God will be with you to love you. Trust. Fear not. All will be well. AMEN.

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