Milestone Moments

Lent 4

Year C

30 March 2025

Joshua 5:9-12

Psalm 32

2 Corinthains 5:16-21

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Merciful Lord,

you know our struggle to serve you:

when sin spoils our lives and overshadows our hearts,

come to our aid and turn us back to you again;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.   Amen.

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How do we mark the milestones in our journeys of faith? Our life’s journeys?

Looking at today’s passage from Joshua tells us of the Hebrew people’s arrival in the Promised Land at long last. They’ve achieved a milestone that has been promised for many generations.

I don’t mean their crossing the Jordan and physically entering the land that they’ve been seeking for 40 years. Rather this is when they start living off the produce of the land, when they’ve actually arrived in their new home.

Joshua tells us of the growth that has taken place in the lives and minds of the people. The early books of the bible are able to tell us how they’ve transitioned and what that means in the fulfillment of God’s promise, today.

And this is also a milestone.

“9 The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.’ And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.” (Jos 5:9)

At the same time, its not change that has happened quickly, rather it’s taken generations for God’s promise to Abram to become realized.

It took generations for the descendants of Abraham to become a vast family. It took generations for this family to become the Hebrew people, and to become a threat to Egypt.

It took generations of living in slavery, in Egypt, for God to find Moses, and through him to seek the freedom of the people from Pharaoh, and it took generations for them to learn how to live as the reconciling people of God, as well.

The book of Exodus shows us the journey of the people from slavery to freedom, and to becoming the people of God.

And once more, this is a journey that took generations as they accepted the law of God, established the tabernacle and learned the patterns of sacrifice and service that became the centre of life for this fledging nation under God, in the wilderness.

But along the way, it wasn’t always a burden to embrace these changes over the generations. Rather there were milestones to be marked as well, and today we with them mark the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham so many generations before.

Throughout this pilgrimage God has walked with the people as he walks with each of us, still today, and as God guided Moses, and then Joshua’s leadership.

Joshua tells us: “After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, 2‘My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. 3Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses.” (Jos 1:1-3)

And today we see the people arrive in the place God promised, and it’s not with flashes of power or monumental gestures. Rather this arrival is marked with the availability of the produce of the land.

“11The day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.” (Jos 5:11-12)

And this is a great day in their lives, while at the same time it’s able to remind us of all the great milestones we’ve achieved in our lives, and in our lives of faith, as well.

I remember when I started in my first call, and I let a friend who had studied at a different seminary know of that particular milestone in my journey of faith. His reply was a package containing a half gallon of maple syrup with a note that said: “Welcome to the land of Milk and Honey!”

And in the fourth century, when someone became a baptized Christian, at their first communion, there would be not just the bread and the wine, but a separate chalice with milk and honey for the newly confirmed.

Every step of our lives of faith, of our growth in becoming the people of God is marked in a similar way, from the early days of the church, following the ascension of Christ, through to and including finding ourselves gathered together as a worshipping community, today.

In our own lives, we celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, baptisms, and marriages, we celebrate life’s milestones.

At every step of our lives, both in the church and in the world, God walks at our side, the teachings and compassion of Jesus inform our decisions, and the Holy Spirit encourages us along the way.

Sure, it’s not been easy, or straightforward. There have been switchbacks and mistakes, and we return time and again through the rite of confession and forgiveness, through the act of reconciliation with God, and we receive God’s grace and love in return.

There have been and continue to be times when human egos have stepped in and pushed aside the will of God in the world, in our lives. But at each step, as we seek the will of God, we grow in our achievements and our roles as the Christan body in the world.

We turn time and again to the pages of the bible, to the lessons learned there, and to the paths that always encourage and support our return to God.

Todays psalm tells us: “8 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;   I will counsel you with my eye upon you.10 Many are the torments of the wicked,   but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,   and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.” (Ps 32:8, 10-11)

The great thing is that God looks upon us and loves us, and we know this because if it were not so then we, the people of God would not be supported, guided, taught, and saved by God, as we’ve seen since God created the world.

So, this is a great hope to each one of us, today.

It’s a great thing for our hearts to know that God continues to be an active participant not only in the world, but in each of our lives, giving us support, guidance, and a way to seek and receive forgiveness when we fall away so that we are able to continue on our journeys to live into God’s love.

And when we look back at each of our lives we’re able to see where God has led us and how God continues to guide each one of us into the paths of God’s love and grace.

Paul tells us, today: “16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.” (2 Cor 5:16-19)

And the passage from Joshua, today, that they’re now in the land of milk and honey.

They’ve grown into a nation who seeks God’s guidance at every step and encourages God’s participation within the daily decisions of their lives and they are our ongoing encouragement to trust God in every aspect of our lives, as well.

And we’re able to see this happening, not only in the pages of the bible, but in the words from Paul to the Corinthians, as well as within our own lives.

“17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor 5:17-20)

Paul brings us back to the basics, reminding us of the role of reconciliation within our lives of faith and our trust in God.

And in this we are able to turn to the baptismal rites. The Presentation of Baptism echoes Paul as it tells us: “In baptism or gracious heavenly Father frees us from sin and death by joining us to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. … by water and the Holy Spirit we are reborn children of God and made members of the church, the body of Christ. Living with Christ and in the communion of saints, we grow in faith, love, and obedience to the will of God.” (EvLW pg 227)

And like the generations in the wilderness, we are likewise children of God, as we grow in faith, love and obedience to the will of the Father.

As we mark the milestones of our lives, I will encourage us to recall the promises of the baptismal rite.

Every day, we are encouraged, and we mark such encouragement as milestones in our lives, and in our lives of faith.

“17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!  20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor 5:17, 20)

As Paul reminds us, we are a new creation, every day. And every day that we live in God’s love and grace God continues to support us and we mark the milestones in our lives and in our lives of faith because that how we’ve found ourselves in the land of milk and honey, and it is beautiful.

Amen.