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The first thing the Israelites did, having crossed the River Jordan, was celebrate the Passover. They engaged in an act of praise and worship. And then they faced their first major challenge: the fortified city of Jericho. How the Israelites took the city and what that meant is my subject this morning. But first I want to say something about Jericho and the conquest of the Promised Land.

First of all, archeologists tell us that the Battle of Jericho probably never happened. In the thirteenth century B.C.E. Jericho was a just a sleepy little bronze age crossroads. No fortified walls, no fierce defenders, nor throngs of Hebrews. Maybe only a waterhole. In ways similar to the quest for the historical Jesus, scholars have been trying to tease out historical truth from legend. Just as scholars universally agree that there was a historical Jesus, and that he was put to death by the Romans around the year 30, so scholars agree that there probably was an Exodus, wilderness wandering, and entry into the land of Canaan. But where the Bible records over 500,000 Israelites were miraculously delivered from the chariots of Pharaoh through the parting of the Red Sea waters, scholars suggest that a quite smaller group, even as few as several hundred, got out through the marshes of the Sea of Reeds, which naturally would have clogged any chariot’s wheels.

Furthermore, what the Bible describes as a kind of blitzkrieg conquest of Canaan, with Hebrew tribes wiping out the hapless native inhabitants, never happened that way. There is no archeological evidence for that at all. Anyway, that would have been impossible for a handful of nomads wandering into a sedentary agricultural society. The earliest historical record of the Hebrews describes a situation in Canaan in which Israel is one of many small nations fighting for supremacy. By the time of Saul and David (I Samuel and II Samuel) we have clearly entered the bloodstained realm of recorded history. That conquest was real and it wasn’t pretty. But it was characteristic of the age. What is fascinating to me, however, is the question of what made the Israelites different? What did that small band of Exodus Hebrews bring with them that distinguished them from the people they encountered? I think they brought a memory, a story about a God, one God, who had a relationship with a people that was unlike any other god in history, and unlike the people and gods they encountered in Canaan. This was a God who sided with the oppressed against the oppressor. This was a God who proclaimed justice. The Hebrews came into a settled land where wealth was pouring into fortified cities (like Jericho?) and the rural peasants were being drained of their land and their freedom. Perhaps what the Israelites really brought to Canaan was a story of liberation that Canaanite peasants could listen to and be inspired by. They were presented with a new faith they could sign on to. Interesting.

Anyway, back to Jericho. Let’s not worry about whether it happened or not. Let’s look instead at what the story says and teaches. And it is a wonderful narrative. There is Joshua and the people camped out around this city in their path. The land of Milk and Honey is not going to be a cakewalk. It will prove to be one test after another. And each new challenge is a faith challenge. Now God says, "I have given you this city." In God’s mind it has already happened. It’s done. And what God says is amazing. God in effect says, "I don’t want you to lay siege to the city. I don’t want you to storm the city. What I want you to do is march around the city, led by the ark of the covenant with trumpets blaring for six days and then on the seventh day I want you to shout, and the walls will come tumbling down and you can walk right into the city." This is amazing. God is saying that their act of praise and worship will have power to overcome this obstacle. Praise, joy and worship have power. And ultimately this power is greater than the power of the sword. And, as God has said so often before, when faced with obstacles, put your trust in me.

We at CCC have benefited, I believe, by looking to the story of the wilderness wanderings of the Hebrews and their entry into the Promised Land, as a story resonant with our own during the last couple of years. On June 9^th our worship service will not be a rededication of our building, but it will instead be a service of covenant renewal, a service whose inspiration is the covenant renewal ceremony for the tribes of Israel led by Joshua and recorded in Joshua 24. This marked the end of that wandering phase of Israel’s life.

So what does the Jericho story have to say to us at CCC now as we approach the close of this journey? Many things. As I said last Sunday, it shows that God has been with us, God has fed us, and God has overcome obstacles. And today the story shows that as challenges are overcome, new challenges are waiting for us. And like all such challenges of the past, they must be met, first and foremost, with faith. They must be met with confident worship, praise, and joy.

Now, what specific challenge am I referring to? Whether one calls this the last challenge of our wilderness transition, or the first challenge of our life back home in our new home – I am referring to our need to enter the coming fiscal year with a fully funded unified budget that provides for solid program, mission and pastoral care. And, as we all know, it is in this budget that we begin to deal with paying off the mortgage.

Now, think a moment with me, over what has been demonstrated in the last couple of years in terms of this congregation’s capacity to give generously. We have exceeded a building program pledge goal of $2 million. In February we met the challenge of a pledge goal of $74,000 for an organ upgrade. And those pledges came in in one week. One week. And now we are receiving pledges for our annual stewardship campaign, pledges that will, it now appears, represent the most successful stewardship campaign in the history of CCC. And that accomplishment during a year in which most of us are still paying down our Keystones pledges. Think about that. I remember two years ago when Mable Elliott stood at the lectern and told us that it would take a miracle for us to accomplish this building program, and we had better start praying to God for just that. She was right. And we prayed. Remember we even had folks signed up on a seven days a week prayer schedule. And if you don’t think those prayers were answered, just look around. If you want proof of God’s grace, look what we have done.

Right now we need to bridge the gap between the largest pledge amount CCC has ever raised and the biggest budget we have ever presented. Right now that gap is less than $60,000. What would it mean to reach that goal without having to cut into program, pastoral care, mission, and worship? It would mean this. It would mean that the last part of this miracle, phase one, has been achieved. It will be complete. When that happens, we can look back and say, by the grace of God, we have done it. God has done it. That’s what it will mean. It will also mean that now we can have some fun. Now we can be a church that is really being a church – a church about program and mission and pastoral care and worship. We can be a church that is now living its vision. We can be a church that is both praising God for what God has done, and praising God for what is to come. Which feels wonderful to me.

I want that sense of closure and satisfaction and excitement. What I don’t want is for us to say, after all we have accomplished, now we are going to drag ourselves forward, wondering if this burden of debt will sink us. Who wants to live like that? Not me. What about you?

So what should we do? I believe we can and we will make up that difference. It’s like God said to Joshua: in a spiritual sense, in the mind of God, it has already been shown to be possible, already nearly happened. It’s that close. We should just do it. How do we do it? First of all, there are some folks who pledged last year that we haven’t heard from yet. I sure hope you folks will return those pledges. What about the rest of us? Lois and I talked about this. Like many of you, we raised our pledge from last year. In fact, of the current 185 pledges received, 99 raised their pledges, 47 stayed the same, and only 14 decreased. That’s phenomenal. And we, like most of you, are paying down our Keystones pledge, one that has stretched us. And, you know, we are doing fine, better than ever. We calculate that for CCC to bridge the gap between the most successful stewardship campaign CCC has ever done and the largest budget we have ever been challenged with, if most folks raised their pledge 15% at this time, CCC would be in excellent shape. So, speaking for ourselves this is what Lois and I are going to do right now. I am writing on this slip of paper "Raise our unified budget pledge 15%. Signed, Jim and Lois Todhunter." And I am putting it right in the offering plate this morning. Think about this for yourself. If not this morning, discuss it at home. After all, the Hebrews marched seven days around Jericho before their triumph came. You can call that into the office. You can email Dave Main. You can put it in the offering plate next Sunday. We will happily do the math.

This is our Jericho. And as with every challenge, we start with prayer and praise. And I’d like us to close with prayer. Let us pray together.

God of abundance and hope. Promise keeping God of life, be with us at CCC as we strive to complete the miracle. We pray that even as you stretched to reach down into this world to be with us, setting the Hebrews free, and sending Jesus to walk among us, that you may empower us to stretch just a little more to come to closure on a unified budget that will be our first powerful step into the future of our new church. Help us each to reflect prayerfully, listen for your Word in our own unique situations, and to act on that Word. For your Word is life for us, and that Word can be trusted to lead us into life in abundance. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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