Joshua 1:1-10

First shared at First Baptist Church, Newton, NJ on 26 July 2022

What does it mean to be mission ready? Why should we even care, especially if we find ourselves in the third 3rd? Why not just kick back? I hope to answer some of these Qs today. 1st: I’ll share a bit about myself, and how God has given me a life mission; 2nd: we’ll look at how Joshua was mission ready; 3rd: I want to give all of a charge and a challenge.

PART 1

For those of you who don’t know me my name is Tom Argersinger. I am 63 years old, husband of Alison for 40 years this summer, and fortunate father of four adult kids and two grandkids so far. In so many ways a blessed life. Yes, like all of you, life has also one with some real struggles.

—Story of Dad’s death 1974 growing up too fast (BRET connection)

—Often debilitating stress-related illness for over 2 decades (1997+)

—Death of my mom to cancer and Alison’s cancer diagnosis (2006) & 6 surgeries to follow

—Loss of both brothers within two weeks (2014)

—My own cancer surgery (2019)

—Deep betrayal at work & total disruption of my sector in COVID (working at a school in NYC when it erupted in Match of 2020).

—Difficulty breaking in to this county as an outsider (2020+)

And now, I’m going on 64, working 50+ hours per week amid tremendous ongoing challenges at work with lots of financial pressures & there is no retirement in sight. Worst of all, there’s been way too much self-pity, resulting in some difficult marital struggles along the way. My wife is indeed a saint. The point is not that my suffering is more or less than yours. Everyone suffers. Its how we process the suffering that matters - and its a big factor in being mission ready.

And that’s what God is calling me to today - and I believe He’s calling you as well. God is not done with me, or with you. I’ve been on the table for a long surgery. Some of you have too. To whom much is given much is expected and required. He has plans for us. He’s waiting. He wants to make us mission ready.

And last Jan 6 2021 I finally began to listen more closely,

I embarked on on of the hardest journeys, and lost 50 pounds. I’ve struggled with weight all my life and it still can be a struggle today but God had mercy on me and opened the pathway for me to begin to work through some of my addiction to food. He also revealed with more clarity lately that my end game is missions, whatever that looks like from God’s perspective. In 2021 He also called me begin building a company, Be Mission Ready to help other people discover their mission and answer their own call - to be prepared to answer that call whenever it comes, wherever it leads and whatever it costs.

And for me at least, this is ultimately a call to full surrender - and I’m still very much on that journey. Just like some of you. Just like Joshua was.

Let’s dive into Joshua 1.

PART 2

Unpacking Joshua 1

V. 1 Let’s face it - Moses was a hard leader to follow. The whole 10 commandments and shiny face thing, etc.

I submit to you that Joshua was living his life mission-ready, and so he was good to go when the call came to recon the promised land, give an accurate report in the minority, and then take charge of what by any estimation a stupid-hard mission (remember the Israelites?).

But he knew God, and trusted Him. He was well-mentored. Joshua was indeed mission ready. Are you? Am I? As we go through these next few verses, we will look at some keys to being mission ready

V.2 NET translation = “get ready!”

Joshua was positioned to hear God, because he was already in the habit of doing so. Hear and accept the call of God…whenever it comes, wherever it leads and whatever it costs. No matter how difficult or even impossible it sounds.

KEY #1: learn to recognize God’s voice, listen well and commit to obey.

V. 3-4 God give a clear promise of success to Joshua
And to us. The Great Commission (Matt. 28)

KEY#2: accept the mission God gives you, even if you’d rather have a different one.

V.5 God’s assurance of Joshua’s ability to execute the mission and achieve true success

V. 5b here we see God playing the trump card - Joshua is ready, but even then he will only succeed because God is actually, literally with him, from beginning to end- not just of this mission, but his whole life. God is confident in His servant.
Joshua receive the “yoke” of companionship. God says, I will be with you to support and help you stay in the game…”

KEY#3: Lock in with God, yoke up, walk with Him hip to hip so when. He turns, you turn.

V. 6 God promises Himself to Joshua
Be prepared to step out in faith, trusting God beside/in you to provide whatever you need to stay on mission.

KEY #4: Make a decision to trust God and obey what He says, no matter what.

V7. God commands Joshua to be VERY courageous, firm and confident.

The suffering will often be greater than you predicted. Be aware of and responsive to the Spirit, but beware of overspiritualizing.Walk in strict obedience to what you are learning from God’s word and activity. M. Theresa: read the Bible for one hour/day and do what it says.
Don’t automatically believe the stories you have to tell yourself.

KEY #5: Listen for a sharpening of the call/the mission, and accept the part you have been called to play. Avoid trying to play all the parts.

V.8: This is mandatory to see true success. Beware of underspiritualizing.

KEY#6: Immerse yourself in meditation on God’s word.

V. 9 Resist fear, despair, temptation, being broken down.

Scene from Black Hawk Down. Use Biblical and common sense. Rehearse truth. Get it done, by God’s grace. This is the essence of Being Mission Ready.

KEY#7: Don’t quit. Keep showing up. Do not shrink back. This is a command. But it may be much harder than you think.

V.10 Lead.
Leadership is taking the initiative to influence and inspire others toward true success. How is that working for you?

You cannot be truly mission ready without full surrender. And that means to begin to undertake the intense training that is part of learning to be mission ready at all times. What do you have to surrender?

Key #8 Take the initiative to lead and inspire others whenever you can.

CHARGE & CHALLENGE

This is no less than a call for reformation, a call to full surrender, a call to re-examine old paradigms and old habits and old rituals and routines. This is a call to be everything that God wants you to be, even as you recognize you just like me you’re gonna fail over and over and over again. We’re not earning the love of God in this – we’re embarking on this journey because we already have the love of God and we don’t have to waste any energy and time and resources trying to find that love in places where it was never intended that we find it.

Operating out of the love and acceptance and identity of Jesus Christ allows us to operate in freedom, I said the free freedom, to explore uncharted territory deep in our souls.

To fast and to pray like we’ve never done before in persevering intercessory prayer. To become as physically fit as we are capable of becoming at this age and stage, training for an adventure. To press into our marriages and relationships and allow them to be rebuilt from the inside out beginning with confession on our part, and a full commitment to work towards wholeness in our own psychology, our own headspace, our own emotional self.

This is tough and it’s different for everyone, everyone in the world in certain ways, but then in some ways it’s the same, if we’re a follower, a bind-servant of Jesus: the call is to become like him to our inner man, to be formed and shaped to be exactly like him and that means we have to stop trying to be like something else. We have to realize that we are loved by God so we can love ourselves and since we love ourselves and we are loved by God we can love others sacrificially.

I am not there - I am not even close. But you know that that is not an excuse to be lame, and just sit back and do nothing. And only you and God know what that means for you.

I am issuing you a direct challenge this morning, to get up off of your couches to take a hard look at any complacency in your lives, any place where you are settling for less than God‘s best and have given up, where you have checked out and begun to coast when God really wants to call you to man up and accept the next mission.

What is it for you? What are you putting off - what imbalance is present in your life that you know needs to be corrected.? Where have you heard from the Lord and have been disobedient?

I am deeply aware that right this minute I’m not preaching at you - I’m really talking mostly to myself and you just happen to be listening in.

And there’s grace, because we will fall. There is mercy, more than we could ever dream and so we can move forward on the way to answer the call whenever it comes wherever it leads whatever it costs, because He has us. He loves us and He has a mission that only we can complete.

And the gospel is the beginning of being mission ready. Let’s face it, in some way we are all just longing for our real home, and we have a job to do on the road there, we have a mission to accomplish - every single one of us has a mission. Everyone one of us is a leader, even if we only lead ourselves.

So I challenge myself today, and you my friends, to boldly explore what it really means to be mission ready.

If there’s someway I can help you with that, let me know.