The Lord Goes Before You

Deuteronomy 31:1–8 · Douglas L. Rutt

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Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Israel stood on the edge of enormous change. Moses was 120 years old. The time to enter the land promised to the Israelites was drawing near. And so he could no longer continue as the leader of the people of Israel. It wasn’t really because of his age—when he died, he was still strong, it says that when he died “his eyes were not weak, nor was his strength gone.”

The reason Moses would not lead the people into the promised land was because of his sin of not trusting in the Lord at Meribah, when, out of frustration, he struck the stone with his staff. And so God told him he would not be allowed to lead the people. So now was the time, when Moses had to turn things over to Joshua, who would lead. The people would cross the Jordan into a land they had never seen, facing enemies they could not control and a future they could not predict.

And at precisely that moment, Moses says: “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them (talking about all the enemies they would face in Palestine), for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

That word is fitting for a seminary community during graduation week.

Some here have received your first calls into pastoral ministry. Some have received deaconess assignments. Some will soon begin vicarages, internships or further studies. The faculty members are preparing to send students they have taught and prayed for. Spouses and families are preparing for transitions they did not fully choose, but willingly embrace in love and faithfulness. Congregations and ministry settings wait for servants they have not yet met.

And underneath all the excitement and celebration, there is often something else: fear.

Fear of inadequacy. Fear of failure. Fear of loneliness. Fear of conflict. Fear of not being enough. Fear for children and spouses. Fear of the unknown.

Fear of carrying responsibilities that seem larger than our strength. Because for those going out, your theological education is not over. I’d say, now your theological education can begin. If you don’t know what I mean, you will soon enough.

And so, underneath all the excitement and celebration, there is plenty of room for fear to lurk beneath it all. And Scripture does not treat those fears lightly. Moses does not pretend Israel’s future will be easy. The enemies are real. The dangers are real. The burdens are real.

And notice something important in this text. Moses first speaks these words to all Israel: “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread.” The promise belongs to the whole people of God. This includes those to whom you are going who probably have their own fears about their new pastor or their new vicar or their new deaconess, besides all the other fears that are a part of human existence.

So Moses first says this to all the people, but then he turns and repeats the promise specifically to Joshua: “Be strong and courageous, Joshua.” Moses addresses those words in public, for all to hear, but he singles out Joshua, to speak specifically to Joshua, who would now be thrust into this position of a heavy responsibility. Why, after assuring everyone, does he now single out Joshua, to hear basically the same thing? Be strong and courageous. Do not fear. The Lord will go before you”?

Because those given particular responsibilities in the Lord’s work are not somehow beyond fear. In many ways, they feel it more intensely. As Luther would be quick to point out, for those who take up the Word of God, the holy cross will soon follow. The Apostle Paul felt the burden of his ministry so intensely that said he even felt the sentence of death. That was not a literal sentence, but how he felt because of the responsibility that had been thrust upon him. Joshua is not merely crossing into the land as one Israelite among many. He is being entrusted with leadership that will expose his weakness, his inadequacy, and his dependence upon the Lord. And so the promise is spoken two times, the second time directly to him. “Be strong and courageous, for the Lord is going before you.”

So also this morning. This Word belongs to the whole Church gathered here: faculty and staff, students and families, graduates and guests, those rejoicing and those burdened, those certain of the future and those quietly fearful of it.

But this Word is also spoken particularly to those now entering new forms of service in Christ’s Church.

To future pastors. To deaconesses. To missionaries. To church workers. To those whose spouses and children will carry these transitions with them.

“Be strong and courageous.”

Not because you are naturally fearless. Not because you are sufficient in yourselves. But because “the LORD your God goes with you.”

The Gospel is always spoken to the whole Church, but also personally to particular sinners: “for you.” You see, Joshua needed not merely a general truth about God’s faithfulness. He needed the promise spoken directly to him because of the fear he already felt, taking over the tremendous responsibility that Moses shouldered for 40 years, and the fear that surely would besiege him in the future. He no doubt felt inadequate, and he also was afraid of the unknown, of what they would face, trying to conquer the land across the Jordon, even if the Lord had promised it to them. Those fears were real. They were not imaginary.

And neither are yours imaginary. Those entering ministry soon discover that the Church is not served in abstraction (like in this irreality we call the seminary classroom, where we specialize in easy answers to easy questions). Rather, the church is served in the middle of grief, conflict, suffering, exhaustion, broken families, wounded consciences, illnesses, disappointments, and spiritual warfare. The people you will serve will bring real pain with them. And you yourselves will bring your own weaknesses and sins. So this message is so important: “Take courage, do not be anxious, do not fear. The Lord is with you.”

But the Word of God this morning also presses deeper than simple reassurance. This is not about therapeutic deism. Our fears are not always innocent. Often, beneath our anxiety lies a heart that wants something God has not promised. We want certainty. We want visible success. We want ministries that are manageable. We want protection from suffering. We want assurance that if we are faithful enough, things will go smoothly. And when we cannot secure those things, fear exposes how slow we are to trust the promises of God. You see, that while fear and anxiety is real—and let us not minimize it—it also can expose our own lack of trust in the Lord. You see, our worries, our anxiety, or fears, are not merely an emotional struggle. They are also a call to repentance.

Israel standing at the Jordan had seen the Lord’s faithfulness for forty years. Yet still they feared. And if we were to read the rest of Deuteronomy, indeed, the words right after our text, where Moses delivers this message of assurance to the people of Israel, we will see that Moses also is a realist, and he knows that in spite of God’s deliverance and provision, the people would soon lapse into fear again, and they would soon fall away again.

And we, who have received even more—the fullness of God’s revelation in Christ—also tremble as though the future finally depended upon us. But notice where Moses directs Israel. He does not direct them inward. He does not tell them to “trust in themselves,” to “believe in themselves,” as much of modern psychotherapy would instruct us. Moses does not encourage self-confidence. He does not direct them toward their own courage. The center of the text is this: “The LORD your God goes with you.”

Their confidence rests not in Israel’s strength, nor in Joshua’s leadership, nor in Moses’ legacy.

Their confidence rests in the Lord who goes before them. And this is the great comfort for Christ’s Church still. Those leaving this place for new places of service are not being sent out alone. Christ himself goes with his people. The same Lord who called Moses, remained faithful after Moses’ ministry ended. The same Lord who strengthened Joshua remained faithful when Joshua trembled in fear at his own inadequacies. The same Lord who preserved Israel through wilderness and warfare has not abandoned his Church now.

And dear brothers and sisters, what a tremendous blessing to know that the Church does not finally depend upon me, or you. That is humbling. And it is freeing. You are not the savior of the Church. Christ is. The Church existed before you arrived. And by God’s grace it will continue after your work is done. You are—we are—servants of the One who alone carries the future of his people. And the promise given in Deuteronomy reaches its fullness in Jesus Christ.

For Jesus himself crossed into our fearful and fallen world. He faced not merely earthly enemies but sin, death, and Satan. And where Israel failed in fear and unbelief, Christ remained faithful and obedient. At the cross, he entered the deepest forsakenness so that you would never be forsaken.

And because he is risen from the dead, his promise now stands forever: “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” That promise is not sentimental: It is concrete. Objective. Certain. Christ remains with his Church through his Word. Through absolution. Through Baptism. Through his body and blood. Through the Gospel entrusted to weak servants for the strengthening of weak sinners.

Some of you sitting here this morning are eager for what comes next. In reality, it is like that for all of us at times, right? Some are anxious. Some are exhausted. Some are quietly overwhelmed.

And perhaps some are wondering whether they are truly capable of what lies ahead.

In truth, you and I are not sufficient for these things. Neither was Moses. Neither was Joshua. Neither are any of us. The ministry of Christ has never depended upon the sufficiency of the servant. It depends upon the faithfulness of the Lord who sends them.

So while we can turn to God’s promises during times of fear, so also repentance is called for. repentance for our fear, a fear that refuses to trust God’s promises, repentance for the illusion that we can secure the future ourselves, repentance for confidence placed in our own abilities. Repentance for all those times when we don’t trust in the Lord, who has promised that he will work all things together for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. The root of fear, too many times, can boil down to a lack of faith.

I’m retired. I’m not thinking too much about what I might have to face in my future ministry. About a decade ago I gave up on my plans to change the world, to win the world for Christ. But fears and anxiety can still plague me, just like everyone else. I, too, need to repent of my lack of faith in God. You know, I gotta quit checking the balance in my 401K every day. God has that, and so much more, including my eternal salvation, taken care of in my risen Savior Jesus Christ. So I, too, need to repent when I become fearful and anxious and overwhelmed with worry. Like the father, whose son was possessed by a demon, said to Jesus: “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” And the first step toward overcoming that unbelief is repentance. The first step to overcoming fear is repentance.

And this is where the Lutheran—Biblical—understanding of what repentance is, is so important. It includes two parts, contrition, sorrow for sin, and faith, which comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ:

So when we confess our sin of not trusting God, we can also hear the words: “He will not leave you or forsake you.” Not because you are strong enough. Not because your faith is perfect. Not because your ministry will always succeed visibly. But because Christ is faithful.

Dear friends in Christ, some of you will soon leave this campus and drive toward places you never expected to live, among people you do not yet know, carrying responsibilities you cannot yet fully imagine. You are going to see things, and hear things, that you cannot imagine. And you will discover quickly that you are not enough for this calling. But that discovery is not the destruction of faith. It is the beginning of learning where the Church’s confidence truly rests.

“The LORD your God goes with you.”

Therefore, do not fear. Do not be dismayed. Christ goes before his Church. And he will not forsake his people.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.