Joshua Chosen

Num 27:7-19         12/21/2017

God spoke to Moses to let him know that it was his time to die, just as He had done when it was Aaron’s time to die. Ever thinking about the Israelite community, Moses asked God to set a new leader over the tribes. God named Joshua to the post.

So what does it feel like to be Joshua and hear that God has chosen you to lead the nation of Israel?

I remember when John Paul I was elected pope. My father, who was not Catholic, explained how overwhelming it would be – to be named Pope. He said that many times newly elected popes wept at the pronouncement of the conclave. The burden and the commitment were gifts that often elicited a reluctant embrace.

As I remember, the newly elected pope lived only a month longer.

Jesus knew this experience. He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me…”

Here’s the thing.

I like to say that I have been born for a purpose; that God has a plan for my life. And that’s great, it bestows a sense of significance and invests my life with a certain kind of meaning.

But it also means that I must meet this purpose. Come what may, I must embrace the call of Christ and whatever that might mean for my life.

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God [that is] with me.” 1 Cor 15:10