Will the Real Joshua Please Stand Up? Worshiping in the Void

My six year old son’s name is Joshua. However if you ask him he will be quick to point out that he is not the Joshua of the Bible. Yes, they share the same name, but do not be confused. When you read of the walls tumbling down in Jericho, or the midnight encounter with the Commander of the Army of the LORD, you are reading about a different Joshua. So he is not the biblical Joshua, and yet I think I might be! Allow me to explain.

In Exodus 33, we are introduced to the tent of meeting. Israel, under the leadership of Moses and escaped from Egypt are in the wilderness. To be more precise they are at Sinai in the process of receiving the law from God himself. And at this time we are told that outside the Israelite camp is the tent of meeting where Moses would meet with God…literally. God, the Creator of the universe descends like a pillar of cloud and he and Moses talk face to face like friends! Furthermore we are told that Moses does not spend twenty-four hours a day in this tent (naturally). He travels back and forth. He spends some of his time talking to God face to face and some of his time…well, doing other stuff. So far so good. But then we are given this nugget; “But his young assistant, Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the tent" (Exodus 33:11b). My guy. I get this; this makes perfect sense to me. If God habitually visited a specific location in my hometown, that’s where I would want to be, and I wouldn’t want to leave it, even if God had.

Now right off the bat, let me say that I do not believe that Joshua was more spiritual than the rest of Israel for spending all his time in this tent, and I don’t at all feel more spiritual myself for wanting to be like him, because worship takes many forms. I’m sure for some of you the questions are flooding in at this point. Didn’t Joshua get lonely? Who was caring for the young and the old and the sick in Joshua’s absence? Who was doing the cooking, the cleaning, the governing? These are valid questions and if you’re asking them that’s a good thing because each of them needs an answer. And that’s just the point. Each of these activities is an act of worship. And each individual who fulfills these roles has the opportunity to worship in doing them, but we can’t all fulfill the same role and expect the community (the church, the family, etc.) to run smoothly. Each member has to do their part and each member is called to live out the God-given individuality that they have been gifted with. (This is beginning to sound painfully like a “be your best you" blog and I hope you know that’s not what I mean at all!) Rather it is good and right that we recognize that each of us is geared differently. Each of us will connect to God in different ways. (For example I never feel closer to God than when I am reading about the Trinity. For my wife, her closest communion takes place while gardening. One is not better than the other. There isn’t a right and a wrong.)

We live in a day and age where the word “worship" in the church is most strongly tied with signing songs. And while singing songs is and can be worship it is certainly not the only form worship takes. When we pray we are worshipping. As we listen to God’s word and seek to apply it to our lives, we are worshipping. Guess what tithing is? You guessed it, worship! And the possibilities only increase when we step outside the doors of the building we call church. Suddenly worship takes on infinite possibilities.

So, (this is the take-away – can you sense it?) if anyone tells you in the coming weeks that we can’t worship now please kindly tell them, “Baloney!" We can worship! In so many different ways! We can literally worship God with everything we do, every moment of every day. (Colossians 3:23 has something to say about this). For some of us this will mean sitting in the stillness and quiet with God. For others this will be caring for others, finding suddenly that you are a full-time caretaker, teacher, administrator or perhaps all of the above. For some of us this will continue to mean making music…is it different when we can’t be together, sure but dance like everybody is watching! Because when we dance to the Lord, we are worshipping. You and I are called to worship, and guess what friends, that will never change!