“So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the fighting force with him, all the mighty warriors. The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have handed them over to you; not one of them shall stand before you.” So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. And the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who inflicted a great slaughter on them at Gibeon, chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. As they fled before Israel, while they were going down the slope of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down huge stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died because of the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword. On the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord; and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in midheaven, and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded a human voice; for the Lord fought for Israel.”  Joshua 10:7-14

“Scene: A break room. Coworker #1 pulls out a bottle of vitamins.

Coworker #2: What’s that? Coworker #1: Vitamin D. Coworker #2: Why do you take that? Coworker #1: Because we live in Ohio, and we never see the sun. Coworker #2: Wait a minute … they make a vitamin that gives you a tan?” (Sally Churley, Cortland, Ohio)

“Frederick Buechner is remembering his Lawrenceville school years:

Mr. Martin, was the first to give me a feeling for what words are, and can do, in themselves. Through him I started to sense that words not only convey something, but are something; that words have color, depth, texture of their own, and the power to evoke vastly more than they mean; that words can be used not merely to make things clear, make things vivid, make things interesting and whatever else, but to make things happen inside the one who reads them or hears them.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

The sun stood still. Did you know there are historical documents that speak evidence to this extraordinary event? Read on:

“It is reported by historians that records of the Chinese during the reign of Emperor Yeo, who lived at the same time as Joshua, report ‘a long day.’ Also, Heroditus, a Greek historian, wrote that an account of ‘a long day’ appears in records of Egyptian priests. Others cite records of Mexicans of the sun standing still for an entire day in a year denoted as ‘Seven Rabits,’ which is the same year in which Joshua defeated the Philistines and conquered Palestine.” (Bible-Science Newsletter, Daily Reading Magazine, Supplement, Vol. VIII, No. 5, May 1978, Caldwell, Idaho.)

So, why is this important? Because as Frederick Buechner notes in his short devotion, words are important. Words have the power to “make things happen inside the one who reads them…” In a world where there is the continual effort to find historical proof for biblical stories, to know that other cultures report something that corroborates the account of Joshua 10 does not confirm my faith – in fact it proves nothing to me. My faith does not need any proof, for if my faith needed proof, then it would not be faith, Amen? No, the story of Joshua and the reports from Heroditus and the account known as “Seven Rabits” just puts a smile on my face. Why? Because G-d is amazing – and G-d’s word has power — period – end of story.

Pastor Dave

“The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” John 1:43-51

“Come and see.“

Think, for a moment, about the effect of those words might have on you were you to hear them in an everyday context. Would they generate a certain sense of excitement about whatever it might be you were being invited to witness? Perhaps curiosity? Or maybe gratitude that someone thought to include you?

Come and see.

The words are both simple and warm, issuing an invitation not only to see something, but also to join a community. To come along and be part of something.

Come and see.

“These words, this invitation, form the heart not simply of this opening scene but much of John’s Gospel. John’s story is structured around encounters with Jesus. Again and again, from these early disciples, to the Pharisee named Nicodemus, to the Samaritan women at the well, to the man born blind, to Peter and Pilate and eventually Thomas, characters throughout John’s Gospel are encountered by Jesus. John structures his story this way, I think, to offer us a variety of possibilities, both in terms of the kind of people to whom Jesus reaches out and the kinds of responses they offer…and we might offer as well. And so across the pages of John’s Gospel there are women and men, Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, powerful and vulnerable, people of all shapes and sizes and varieties that Jesus meets. And to each one, in one way or another, he says the same thing: come and see. Come and see God do a new thing. Come and see as your future opens up in front of you. Come and see the grace of God made manifest and accessible and available to all.” (David Lose, Come and See, January 12, 2015, davidlose.net)

Upon hearing the call from Jesus, Philip runs like the wind to his friend Nathanael – who seems to have feet of clay.  Now it seems to me that Philip seems compelled to tell someone about this man Jesus whom he has met, and the one he tells does not share in his enthusiasm.  Philip and Nathanael were friends, so Philip should have had some idea that Nathanael might not share his enthusiasm about Jesus.  Is there something about this Jesus that would compel him – would compel many of his followers to do things that might go against their nature?  We see it time and time again.  One by one the followers of Jesus meet him, become entranced by him, drop whatever they were doing and then run out and tell others including their family and their closest friends.  It was the history of the early church – it is the reason that the church grew – and grew so quickly in the first 100 years.  It was a story told and shared face to face – one on one.  How beautiful are the feet of those compelled to tell others to “come and see”.

You know, we worry so much about how to grow the church – how to get new members – how to increase our numbers. Maybe we should add a service. Maybe we should change the service. Maybe we should try a new Evangelism program. There are things that we can do that fall under Evangelism – try to be more accommodating; try to be more loving, more welcoming, more inviting; try new worship styles – try to provide more opportunities for people to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ. But the best evangelism program that ever existed, existed at the very beginning of the church: one person, having been impacted by Jesus in such a way that it reaches deep into their heart, that it changes their life, one person turning to their neighbor, or relative, or friend, or even the lady at the grocery store who bakes their bread, and inviting them to “come and see.”

Pastor Dave