Joshua 3:1-8       How to Prepare to Cross the River      Jan 21, 2007

     One of my best friends was a naval pilot for some years serving on board an aircraft carrier.  He always told me that you could always tell the marines from the sailors on an aircraft carrier?   He said the marines are the ones throwing bread to the helicopters.  Rob, with all you have to do before you deploy, I do not know how you tell everyone apart, but I know you are well prepared for the mission ahead of you.   This morning, all around the State of SC, men and women are preparing themselves for a departure to serve in the military overseas.  As part of that preparation, we have committed this service as a time of Sending Forth, a time for prayers, a time for blessings.  Preparation is vital.  The army certainly knows that.  How many of you here today spent any time in a boot camp, learning g the basics of military life?   Boot camp is all about preparation.  Boot camp is about changing self-centered boys and girls into strong adult men and women ready to serve on a team and ready to give of themselves for higher goals.  Boot camp is about being changed.

    We are continuing a series from the Book of Joshua about crossing new rivers in our lives.  Today we will see that before we can cross the river into the Promised Land of new life, we need to make some changes.  We need a spiritual boot camp to break us away from old habits and form us into new people. 

   Joshua 3:1 says “they set out from the Acacia Grove and came to the Jordon River.”  What is this Acacia Grove?  Well, it was an oasis in the wilderness, a place to rest.  But symbolically, it means more.  Acacia wood was named for its durability, toughness, and purity.  The Hebrew word “acacia” means nondecaying, incorruptible, pure.   In the book of Exodus, this is the wood used to make everything in the Tabernacle and for the Ark of the Covenant.   This wood is a symbol for purity and holiness.  And before the people of Israel can cross the Jordon River, they need an experience of the Acacia Grove.

   What is this?  The Acacia Grove experience is a fresh and life-changing encounter with the holiness of God.  I have heard so many stories from military men and women who tell of one particular drill sergeant who re-made their life.  When asked what the sergeant taught them, they cannot put it into words.  It was nothing said or taught by words.  It was simply being with this instructor, his bravery, his strength, his confidence.  Being in the presence of some people gives us a new sense of who we might become.  Spending time in the Acacia Grove with God can re-make us into people of holiness.

   How important is this?  Well, how important is boot camp to the army?  Those six weeks form the foundation of all other training.  Without those six weeks, you are not really a soldier.  And we absolutely must have the Acacia Grove experience before we can move forward, cross the river, and find new life in the Promised Land.  God calls us to a holy life.  Listen.  Too many Christian people have tried to ignore, detour around, or simply avoid the Acacia Grove.  Some find such talk of holiness to be distasteful.  But when we ignore, detour around, or run from the experience of God’s holiness, then the renewal of our lives and the revival of our churches will always be a mixture of the flesh and the spirit.  It will be shallow and short-lived.  In a military boot camp, soldiers begin to be trained to have new instincts, new reactions, and new habits.  And listen, when the gun shots go off, it will be those new reactions, quick and immediate, that will save their lives.  In our spiritual lives, the long term, fulfilling, life changing crossing of the river only happens when we have first spent time in the Acacia Grove becoming cleansed of our old lives and becoming new people of holiness.

 Is such a life of holiness really important?  The word Holy occurs over 600 times in the Bible.  What does holiness mean?  It means to be separate.  The Hebrew word means to cut away.  In our modern language, we might say “to be a cut above.”  God calls us to be different from the mainstream culture.  We are to live our lives on a higher plane.  We are to take the road less traveled.  All those who give of themselves in service to God and neighbor are following this higher road.  This week, many men and women will ship out to serve their nation, putting aside their normal lives for a while, to reach for higher worldwide goals.  Yet, wherever you are in life, whether in a far away country or right in your own kitchen, you can serve God by living your life on the higher road.  The Holy road.

  So what is holding you back from crossing the river into a higher life?  This week, I would ask you to pray on a few matters.  1. I know you will be in prayer for Rob as he is sent forth next week.  Rob is taking a different road for this time in his life and we pray God’s blessings on him.  2.  And for yourself, what different road will you take?  On a scale of 1-10, how important is the higher road to you?  Do you desire to walk the road less traveled?   3.  Can you make a list of your besetting, habitual sins?  Now burn that list and ask God to bring something good out of the ashes.  This week, spend some time in the Acacia Grove.  Spend some time with God in prayer and reflect on the holy life to which you are called.  Spend some time in Boot Camp being prepared to cross the River.  Amen.