Sun. April 6, 2008 (Dave McCue)

Dave McCue spoke to us in a very conversational way about the importance of the suffering servant of Isaiah based on texts from Joshua 9. Dave began with the people of Gibeon, who, differently from the peoples around them, went to the Jews and begged to join or confederate with them, but in a sly and sneaky way. God, knowing their secrets, desired their obedience more than punishing their morality. Dave uses this story to show how the faithful of Israel demonstrate God’s call to obedience, leading to the inclusion of the alien in the assembly of God. This is not usually how we look at Joshua , where we usually focus on the genocidal aspects, with considerable discomfort. Dave insists that in Joshua, God does not set up ethnic lines, only to destroy them in the New Testament, but rather this is a witness to God’s welcoming presence Further, the stories told of Israelites that are unfaithful, such as Akin in Joshua 7, are followed by God’s witness of exclusion from the assembly. This story continues through the Torah, over and over again, faithfulness leads to inclusion, and disobedience leads to exclusion, regardless of ethnicity. This reaches its summit in Isaiah 53, often referred to as God’s court case against his people, where the numbers of the faithful shrink more and more until at last, the vision is of one single suffering servant, foretold long before, reaching its acme in Jesus Christ, who then provides the way for a tremendous opening, a welcoming, a continual call to obedience. With many stories and a vivid conversation after the message, Dave’s inclusive message of Christ’s plea to join him struck home with many people. [AP] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday April 6th using your browser's preferred media player.