May 5, 2019 – “Heroes of the Faith: Caleb Does Not Fear” by Rev. Cody Sandahl
Lay Reader = Numbers 13:26-28, 30, 14:1-9
26And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28Yet the people who live in the land are strong, and the towns are fortified and very large; and besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 30But Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”
14Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2And all 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! 3Why 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?” 4So they said to one another, “Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt.”
5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the Israelites. 6And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7and said to all the congregation of the Israelites, “The land that we went through as spies is an exceedingly good land. 8If 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. 9Only, do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are no more than bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”
Introduction
We are continuing our series looking at the heroes of the faith – the men and women in the Bible who had a character trait or did something that is worth copying today. On Easter we heard how we can actually copy Jesus as we live for others. Last week Jory shared how we, like Esther, may be in the right place and the right time for God to use us.
This week we are looking at Caleb. And you know I had to pick my youngest son’s namesake for one of the heroes, right? This encounter takes place after Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. They are getting ready to enter the Promised Land, and Moses first sends spies across the whole land to gather some intel. Each tribe sends one of their best leaders, and Moses gives them forty days to accomplish their mission.
Now, the whole nation of Israel is about as big as the state of New Jersey, so it’s not like they have to walk across Texas, right? Forty days allows them to scout out all the major fortified cities and get back in time to make their report. Among the twelve spies, there’s broad agreement that the land is really good. There’s broad agreement that there are some major challenges ahead of them. But there isn’t agreement on what they should do about those challenges.
Numbers 13:26-28, 30, 14:1-9
26And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28Yet the people who live in the land are strong, and the towns are fortified and very large; and besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 30But Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”
14Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2And all 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! 3Why 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?” 4So they said to one another, “Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt.”
5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the Israelites. 6And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7and said to all the congregation of the Israelites, “The land that we went through as spies is an exceedingly good land. 8If 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. 9Only, do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are no more than bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”
In Over Your Head
As I’ve shared before, skiing is about my favorite thing to do. And a few weeks ago, I shared how I decided not to do back country skiing due to avalanches. But after months of watching for good deals I finally got my equipment for regular, downhill skiing, and our snowy winter kept Loveland open long enough for me to go try out my new duds.
Now, I’m not a technical skier. I’m more of a, “point the skis downhill and see how fast I can go” skier. And so I found some used skis that are longer and heavier than normal. Good for going fast. Really bad for moguls. Which is OK, because I tend to avoid moguls like the plague. Shouldn’t matter.
So this is my first time skiing at Loveland, and I took the new lift up the mountain, and just decided to pick a random direction. I went left. I’m really excited to finally use my new skis, to see how fast I can go, to avoid moguls at all cost…And that’s when I realized my mistake. By going left, I was faced with one and only one option down the mountain. It was very steep. It was a bit icy. And guess what it had all the way down? Moguls. Noooooooo! Did I mention I don’t like moguls?
Looking at my only path down the mountain, several things were going through my mind. Some of those things are not repeatable at church. But my main thought was, “I’m in over my head.” Do I need to take off my skis and just walk down? Or maybe take off my skis and walk up the mountain to another non-mogul path? If I ski down this, am I going to die, or just break my ankles? I’m in over my head.
Have you ever thought that? Have you ever felt like you were in over head?
That’s how the Jewish spies felt after scouting the cities they were supposed to take over. And they had some reason to be afraid. Many of the cities were well-established, fortified with thick walls of stone. Before cannons were invented, there weren’t many options for taking over fortified cities. Usually you had to surround the city and starve them out. That can take months. Or years. The longest siege in history took 22 YEARS. And while you’re laying siege to one city, you’re vulnerable to attack from their allies from other cities. So the spies knew that the Jewish people would be sitting ducks, trying to slowly siege city after city. It’s a bad plan. They were in over their heads.
But two of the spies have a different take on it. Joshua and Caleb don’t deny the facts. They don’t pretend that those fortified cities are suddenly going to be easy. They acknowledge all the challenges, but Caleb quieted the murmuring, fearful people, and said, “ Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” The challenges are still there, but we can overcome them.
Discretion or Valor?
And thus begins the great debate that we can still have today. On the one hand, history favors the bold, right? But sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. Which one’s better?.
If you feel like you’re in over your head, or your debating something bold and risky, should you choose discretion or valor? Well, I don’t know. But if we look at Caleb, I think we can learn a few lessons for those times of danger or immense change in our lives.
Caleb’s Lessons
First, as I mentioned before, he didn’t ignore the danger. He faced the facts – those walls really are thick. Those cities really are well-defended. Face reality.
But on the other hand, Caleb didn’t succumb to an overactive imagination like his counterparts. The other spies say that the people in the land are giants. Elsewhere they say that there were Nephilim – fallen angels ready to defend the land. Those fears weren’t real. They were contrived.
When Charlie was going from preschool to kindergarten, we had a meeting with his special education team. And we thought Charlie needed a particular accommodation, and we thought the school would resist it because it would cost them more money. So I had a long list of arguments ready to go – armed for battle. And then we gave our fateful request…and they said sure! No battle needed. Sometimes the enemies in our mind are stronger than reality.
Caleb also knows that he needs to ask for help – from the rest of the nation and from God. He and Joshua can’t conquer those cities themselves. Obviously I did make it down the mountain after my mogul debacle – it wasn’t pretty, and it was very slow, but I made it. But the next time I went I got a few tips from a friend, and I was able to handle the moguls better. I’ve asked one of our college students at the church to go up with me next season and help me get better, too. I’m asking for help rather than just avoiding the problem. Caleb knew to ask for help.
And finally, Caleb knew how to align himself with God’s plan. There’s a big difference between plans we make and plans God makes. If we’re following our own heart instead of God’s, that crazy plan is probably just plain crazy. But if we’re following God’s heart, sometimes God’s ways are foolishness to the wise. God does things in strange ways. Align yourself with God’s plan and God’s heart.
And notice that Caleb didn’t know how God was going to do it. If you keep reading, God did help the Israelites overcome those fortified walls – after making them wait 40 years for not trusting God. Caleb never could have guessed how God would help them overcome the walls of Jericho, for instance. If he had told everyone, “I think God’s going to have us march around the walls seven times and then shout and blow trumpets and miraculously the walls will fall down” – I don’t think they would have believed him. But that’s what God did. If you are aligned with God’s plan and God’s heart, you’re probably not going to know how God is going to make it happen.
Summary
Sisters and brothers, sometimes we can feel like we’re in over our heads. Maybe some of our seniors feel like the next phase of life is overwhelming. In those times, we can learn from Caleb. Face the facts. Don’t let your imagination make the problem bigger than it is. Ask for help. Align yourself with God. And you never know how God is going to show up. What is God calling you to do that requires you to trust him? Will you trust like Caleb, or try to run back to slavery in Egypt? Amen.
