Introduction

Last week I watched a video of John Akwari's marathon run in 1968. Being a long-distance runner myself (at least during College days), I found his story to be a very moving story. Marthons are 42.195 kilometers, or 26.2 miles. So it's a long run. Anyway, three quarters of the way into the race he stumbled and fell and ended up bloodied and with a dislocated knee cap. And I can't imagine running for very long on a dislocated knee cap. But he did; he didn't quit. Even though everyone else had already finished the race and gone home, this runner from Tanzania kept at it. Finally, at 7 pm, he hobbled into the near-empty stadium. There were still about 7,000 people on hand to witness his finish, and all 7,000 stood, giving him a standing ovation as he finished his last lap. Apparently they knew why he was delayed, and they stuck around. And when somebody asked him, "Why didn't you quit?" he responded, "My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me here to finish." Because he so exemplified the Olympic ideals, the Olympic committee has honored him to this day. In the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, he was the one who presented the men's marathon medals. In the 2008 Olympics in Beijing he was a goodwill ambassador. And the Olympics committee even made a brief video of him - which was the video I watched.

Now, not all of us have equal talents, but God has called all of us to finish the race that He has given to us. Sadly, a majority of the leaders in the Old Testament lacked the character qualities of Joshua and Eleazar, and they did not finish well. In fact, if the study done by Dr. J. Robert Clinton is correct, then only 30% of the leaders in the Old Testament finished well. That's a stunning statistic. It's a scary statistic.

Over the past several years, one of the petitions I repeatedly offer up to God is that Kathy and I would not end poorly like some of the kings of Israel did. In our breakfast devotions on Monday Kathy and I were reading 2 Corinthians 5, where Paul says, "Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him." That was his aim in everything that he did - to be well-pleasing to God. And that's what today's sermon is about - honoring leaders who finish well and then living out their legacy ourselves. And we will just go phrase by phrase through this concluding paragraph of Joshua.

Honoring leaders who finish well (vv. 29-30)

Honor those who sacrificially serve the most (v. 29a)

Verse 29 begins "Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD..." I want to stop there and just focus on those words, "the servant of the Lord." What a tribute! He was a servant of the Lord. What made Joshua so great was not that he was an incredibly skilled soldier, the highest in command, a national hero, an incredible galvanizer, wealthy, or anything else. His greatness came through his humble service.

We tend to honor the winners, the talented, the gifted, the influential, and the famous. Now, it is true that Joshua was all of those things too, but God honored him because he was a faithful servant. I think of Christ's parable in Matthew 25 that says two times, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord" (vv. 21,25).

You may have a hard time identifying with Joshua since his talent far exceeds your own. You feel sort of like John Akwari because you tend to come in last in a number of areas. That really doesn't matter. At the end of your life you want the honor that Jesus gives in Matthew 25 to be given to you: "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord."

And that should affect how we treat our children. Do we praise one child simply because of how talented, gorgeous, smart, and gifted she is, while overlooking the qualities of the less talented child? We shouldn't do that. God calls us to imitate Him by honoring those who sacrificially serve the most. Facing imminent death, Paul reflected on his life, stating, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” May each of us be able to say that.

Recognize that they will die (v. 29b)

And speaking of death, none of us is indispensable in God's kingdom and all of us will die. Verse 29 goes on to say that Joshua "died, being one hundred and ten years old." He had a long life, but he still died. And certainly the death of Joshua was a huge loss to that generation, but the reason new leaders need to be raised up is that we will all die. Parents need to pass on leadership skills to their kids because the parents will pass on. As Gary and I are both at about the 70-year-old mark, we are reflecting on this a lot. And we are preparing to pass the torch to another generation of leaders. Now, let me clarify that we won't quit. We hope to be like John Akwari, but we are busy training the next generation of leaders.

But you parents are going to eventually die, and you need to consider what kind of testimony and legacy you will have with your children and your grandchildren. What kind of leadership will they remember? Will they look back and be able to honor your leadership?

Honor them respectfully in death (v. 30)

In verse 30 we see that they honored their leader by treating him respectfully in death. Verse 30 says,

And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Serah, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.

Why is burial so important to the Christian worldview? Some Christians don't consider burial to be that important; they go for cremation. If that's you, I want you to at least consider what I am going to be saying here. Burial is super important for a number of reasons. Let me just give you seven.

1. First, burial is seen as a symbolic act that this body will not be discarded by God. It's a part of who we really are, and it will be resurrected on the final day of history. And so we express our value for the body by burying it, not cremating it.
2. Second, John Frame and other Reformed theologians¹ have shown how orthodox theologians going back to the early church fathers have always held that it is not simply our spirits that are made in the image of God. It is the whole man (including our bodies) that was made to be an image or corporeal representation of God's dominion, holiness, and other attributes. Richard Phillips points out that even the Hebrew word for image in Genesis 1:27 means carved out or cut out.² It hints at the physical dimension of our being right in its definition. Somehow the body itself is created (or formed) in the image of God even though God does not have a body. It is a corporeal image of God's incorporeal being. Even man's physical strength was supposed to reflect in some small way God's dominion over the earth by taking dominion with our labors. And this doctrine deals a death-blow to Gnosticism, which tries to escape the physical and considers the physical to be bad. Gnostics could care less what happened to their bodies. As far as they were concerned, the body just needed to be ignored and eventually discarded. That's not a Christian worldview.
3. Third, burial imitates Jesus, who was a model and pattern for us to follow in everything. He was buried. Let's imitate Him.
4. Fourth, the Bible speaks of the body sleeping - a metaphor anticipating a time when it will awake in the resurrection. Our soul does not sleep when we die; not at all. The moment we die, our soul is very much alive and enjoying the glories of heaven. But our body is metaphorically spoken of as being asleep in order to to symbolize the temporary nature of death - a death that Jesus conquered. It's a statement of faith.
5. Fifth, burial was seen by the ancient church as a way of honoring the dead. We honor the previous generation by burying them.
6. Sixth, when people gather for a burial, there is a communal testimony to their belief in God's redemptive plan. And many people who witness Christian funerals get converted. Out in Ethiopia my parents witnessed conversions frequently at funerals. Funerals need to be a communal testimony of faith.
7. And seventh, it stands as a strong contrast with the pagan rituals of those days where pagans burned the body.

Why do I bring this up? Obviously God can resurrect a body even if it is burned and the ashes scattered to the winds, so why bother with the expense of a funeral? Cremations are much cheaper. Just economics alone might make you want to cremate the body. But the Bible considers burial to be very important. And it is for those seven reasons that I would urge all of you to prefer burial over cremation as a way of honoring your loved ones.

Honor them tangibly in life (v. 30a)

But I don't want you to miss the fact that Joshua was also honored in life. He was paid well, but verse 30 also shows that he was given an inheritance of land. We aren't told a lot about it, but I've just drawn the conclusion that leaders like Joshua were honored in tangible ways while they lived, not just after they died. And Paul admonishes people to honor their leaders by not neglecting to bless them with finances and in other tangible ways. And I think this congregation has exemplified that very well.

Applications

What kind of legacy will you leave behind?

But let me quickly make a few additional applications from verses 29-30. First, what kind of legacy will you leave behind when you die? Even if you are young, you want your faithfulness to God to be something that will be honored even after your death. So now is the time to be thinking about that. My parents and grandparents weren't perfect in everything they did, but they left behind a legacy of devotion and sacrifice to God. I can definitely say about my parents that they were faithful servants of the Lord.

Do you see yourself first and foremost as a servant?

And that brings up the second application. Do you see yourself first and foremost as a servant? We are called sons and daughters, and that is a glorious truth. I love that truth. But the most frequent description of us - even in the book of Revelation, is that we servants of God. Do you even see the idea of being a servant of God as being an honor? It is. Now, granted, it takes humility to have a servant heart. Servants aren't about their own comfort, their own plans, and their own agendas. People with servants hearts don't get bent out of shape when they are treated like servants. That's not to say that we should treat leaders or other fellow-believers like servants; we should not. But while those under Joshua honored him (in other words, they didn’t treat him like a servant), he had the humility to consider himself to be a servant.

Do you understand the importance of finishing well?

The next application is "Do you understand the importance of finishing well?" Do you give up quickly, or do you diligently engage in your responsibilities even if it costs a lot of time, effort, energy, and convenience? Think of John Akwari, the Olympic runner from Tanzania. Teach your children to finish their responsibilities. If they want to grow up to be leaders who have God's "Well done," they need to learn how to finish well, even when it is uncomfortable to do so.

How we treat the body reflects our belief in the resurrection

The last application under this first section is that how you treat your body either reflects poorly or reflects well your belief that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and that God so values the body that He will one day resurrect it. It's part of God's image. When you abuse your body with drugs, poor eating habits, gluttony, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, realize that your body belongs to God and He expects you to treat your body as a stewardship trust. We focused on burial as a way to honor the body, but we should be honoring our bodies even now while we are alive. You honor the Giver of this gift of a body by taking care of it. God is the ultimate leader that we should honor, and we honor Him by taking care of the incredible gift of the body He has given to us.

Honor your leaders by finishing well (v. 31)

Well, let's move on to verse 31. It says, "Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the LORD which He had done for Israel."

A great honor is to imitate them in service (v. 31a)

Now, I will be fairly brief on this because we have commented on these ideas in previous sermons. But it should be a great honor for us to imitate our leaders in their service. Leaders don't serve so that you don't have to serve. That’s backwards thinking. Leaders are supposed to inspire others to imitate them in service. Right?

A great honor is to imitate them in covenant succession (v. 31a)

Second, it should be a great honor for us to imitate our leaders in covenant succession. We looked at what things rob us of covenant succession two weeks ago, and what things can make it possible to have covenant succession. I won't repeat what I said then. But here it is clear that Joshua had covenant succession in leadership (at least two generations worth), and verse 31 says that his followers were faithful like he was.

A great honor is by experiencing God's works like they did (v. 31b)

And finally, your leaders are honored when you experience God's work in your life like they have. Good leaders want to see the reality of God's work and God's grace transferred into the lives of their followers. It’s not a matter of Phil Kayser or Gary Duff being transferred into your life. It’s more a matter of God’s grace and power being transferred into your lives. The last part of verse 31 says that the next generation also knew the works of the Lord that He had done for Israel. They wanted to have a living testimony that God was really at work in them. They wanted to experience the reality of God's power at work in their lives. That’s a sign of successful leadership.

Applications

How do you ensure that covenant faithfulness will endure beyond your generation?

Three quick applications. Are you ensuring that covenant succession will endure beyond your generation? It doesn't happen automatically. Do you even remember what we said about ensuring covenant succession in your children from two weeks ago? Make a plan for covenant succession.

The importance of both personal testimony and community history

Second, this speaks to the importance of both personal testimony and community testimony. It's not enough for the parents to be faithful servants. How do we ensure that our whole family has the same testimony?

Faithfulness can easily fade when we don't personally experience God working in our lives

The third application is that faithfulness can easily fade when we don't personally experience God working in our lives. The next two generations experienced God's works, but the book of Judges begins by saying that a generation arose that did not. And we should ask God to help us experience the reality of His working in us too.

Honor your leaders by keeping your promises (vv. 32-33)

We will end with verses 32-33 where we see the next generation honoring their leaders by keeping the promises that they had made to them. This deals with keeping promises made to Joseph and to Eleazar the high priest. David Dykstra pointed out to me that the outline says "Jacob" instead of “Joseph.” Oops. It should say "Joseph." Both gave promises and both gave commands, but the verses listed in your outline are about Joseph. Anyway, let's read verses 32-33.

The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph. And Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in a hill belonging to Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim.

The promise to Joseph (v. 32a; cf. Gen. 50:24-25)

How far back did this promise to Joseph go? It actually went back hundreds of years. There are different chronologies - some saying over 400 years and some saying over 250 years. Either way , it’s a lot of years. In Genesis 50 Joseph had made his descendants promise to bury his bones in the plot that Jacob had purchased from Hamor in the land of Canaan. And he gave this command to test their faith in his prophetic promise. Let me read that.

"And Joseph said to his brethren, 'I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.' Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying,'God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.'”

That was at least 250 years before this burial (and actually a bit more)! And Israel took care of those bones for all of those years. That was a testimony that they really did believe that they would eventually inherit the land of Canaan. That's incredible - that a promise made several generations back was being honored now - and be honored by a generation that had not even made that promise. They kept a promise made by their ancestors. His body had been embalmed and they had been carrying it with them ever since, ready to bury his bones when the time was right. Talk about future orientation! That was a long-term vision.

Well, let's think about that for ourselves. Many Christians have a hard time believing the many Postmillennial promises that Christianity will take over planet earth, and that the meek will inherit the earth, and that the world will eventually be filled with righteousness. How do you honor leaders like Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and others who gave similar promises for planet earth? You do it by believing their promises that Jesus has been and will continue to extend His kingdom, and to obey the commands that they gave to do all that we can to extend that kingdom - even when it takes multiple generations. I believe Postmillennialism is the one eschatology that honors such leaders by taking seriously their promises and their commands concerning the inheritance of the world.

Graves can be a testament to God's faithfulness across generations (v. 32); but they can also be a testament to the faithfulness of those who bury the bones

Next, this grave into which Joseph's bones were placed represented the completion of the Exodus journey. But it also represented God's faithfulness across generations to fulfill His promises. And it also showcased the faithfulness of later generations to keep their promises. There is a lot packed into those verses, but we have covered those things in previous sermons.

The priestly legacy honored by Phinehas (v. 33)

And finally, in verse 33 the priestly legacy of Eleazar was honored by Phinehas, his son. "And Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in a hill belonging to Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim." In this case, it was Eleazar's son who honored his father.

Applications

God's work can continue even after heroes die

What are some applications that can be made from these last two verses? First, God's work can continue even after the heroes of the past have died. We are not dependent on those heroes. The next generation doesn't have to have the same talents, abilities, fame, or gifts that the previous generation of leaders did, but God can still be at work in our lives.

Be intentional about discipling the next generation

The second thing that is implied is that for these three burials to have taken place, there had to be intentional discipleship of the next generation. We need to pass on the important principles that we hold dear to our children, and they to their children. You men who are being trained in leadership know that there is a lot involved in such training.

Make sure your legacy points to God, not to yourself

But the final application is that we must make sure that our legacy points to God and not to ourselves. If we are servants of the Lord, it doesn't matter what others might think about us. Now, it might hurt our pride, but our pride needs to be crucified anyway, right? Our burden should be what others think of God. The best leaders are those who point to God and give the glory to God.

Now, this has been a pretty short sermon. But I would like to give you some homework. And if you run into trouble in doing it, I can give you templates that could help get you started. But I would like for you to try to capture God's call upon your life as His servant, and to do so by developing a purpose statement for your life, and a vision statement, a mission statement, a central theme that God is impressing on your heart, a key caution concerning your weaknesses that you can remind yourself about, and a key encouragement to keep on keeping on. Doing this will help you to be much more future-oriented and to be driven by the future that God has for you and for planet earth. And may the Lord bless you as you do this.

Amen.

"The human body was made to bridge two realms: the invisible, eternal realm of God and the visible, temporal realm of his creation. Created as they were in God’s image, all human bodies were meant to be holy even as God is holy. Thus, human bodies do not just belong to this world, but also to the eternal world of God. They are meant to reflect the triune God bodily in their life and behavior, all in keeping with their own unique characteristics and according to their unique calling. Each person has been made to represent him partially in their bodily life on earth. None of them represents God fully except Jesus; he is not just a man made in God’s image, but he is God’s image, the visible likeness of the invisible God (2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:14)."

He goes on to talk about how sin impacted both spirit and body, and then says,

"But through God’s Son, who took on a human body to reclaim us bodily for fellowship with God the Father, our bodies once again become what they were meant to be. By our faith in Jesus and union with him, our bodies share in his holiness by being filled with the Holy Spirit. They become temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). As shrines where God resides, they share in his hidden glory and display it by word and deed to the world. So, through our bodily union with Jesus, we are filled with all the fullness of God (Eph 3:19). We glorify God and honor him with our bodies (1 Cor 6:20). Through him our bodies once again become what they were meant to be: agents of God and instruments by which he shows himself and gives of himself to other people on earth." https://blog.lexhampress.com/2021/09/02/why-our-physical-bodies-matter-to-god/?t