“Hey, what does this mean?”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Joshua 3:14 – 4:7 (Forward, p. 67) CEV p. 211

Today there is a furious debate over the meaning and place of memorials and statues and place names that harken back to a previous era of history. Sadly, for many people, some of these reflect a horrific and nasty episode in our nation’s history and so these people would legitimately and logically like to see these painful memorials removed and the place names changed. However, in this mad rush to ‘change history’, I would pose two questions. Firstly, how do we ensure that we do not forget this painful episode and learn from it in order to refrain from repeating it? And secondly, what can we learn from its original context that will help us understand the cultural and political factors that underlay and led up to these actions? My suspicion is that many of these factors are still present today and still at work, and so could rather easily lead to actions of a similar nature. For instance, is not a disrespect for people of a certain region of Canada or a particular age group or other culturally or religiously defined groups still very much at work in Canada? I suspect so.

So, what our account from Joshua is about concerns ‘meaningful’ remembrance, helpful remembrance. It concerns a remembrance that is rooted in history but still applicable and helpful to us today. There are three important things that it said:

a) First and foremost, it was meant as a reminder of God’s presence, protection, power and provision. It was to be a reminder that all of this was not just a past phenomenon, but also something that continued on into the present. As God had dried up the Red (Reed) Sea and allowed His people to cross unimpaired, so too He has dried up the Jordan River. “He wants everyone on earth to know how powerful he is. And he wants us to worship only him” (verse 24).

The fact that these stones came from the very streambed of the Jordan when it was in the midst of its annual springtime floods all the most moving and powerful.

b) Secondly, by engaging a representative of each of the twelve tribes it reinforced the idea that this salvation, this gracious provision from God, was for all of them, regardless of tribal affiliation. In later times when tribal affiliations tended to take center place and crowd out any sense of a corporate unity this lesson sadly far too often became lost.

c) And thirdly, by fixing this memorial at the very site of later divisions and rivalries (after all, the Jordan River was a very natural dividing line, both then and now), God was dismissing the ties of place and geography as being meaningful or important for God’s people. We all belong to Him, regardless of where we ‘happen’ to live or where we ‘happen’ to come from.

I happen to think that these lessons are equally important for us today. God continues to be with us and at work among us, regardless of who we are, what our affiliation happens to be and where we come from. God in general, but particularly in Christ Jesus, has broken down all barriers and is there for all of us, no matter who we are. And, as He has accepted us without reservation, so too we should accept each other. Amen.

Forward notes: “When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever (verse 6b-7).

“In this passage, we see the power of intergenerational wisdom unfold. Joshua follows God’s instructions to select twelve men to carry twelve stones across the river Jordan. These stones symbolize not only strength and endurance but also continuity from generation to generation. The twelve stones represent the legacy of an entire nation crossing the river Jordan. This story of crossing was passed down through multiple generations, a sign of the promise of God.

“So it is with our immigrant brothers and sisters, who cross borders with unwavering faith to find a better life. Their stories carry on intergenerationally. These stories carry enough that the land remembers.

“What legacy are we leaving for our children and children’s children? How are we marking the land to carry our stories?”

MOVING FORWARD: “What story does your land tell? What is its future story?”

A concluding note: our author mentions our immigrant brothers and sisters, but should not this idea of remembrance and telling our story apply to everyone of faith, our more recent immigrants, our ‘settle communities’ and our First Nations peoples? Do they not all have a story to tell, stories of faith and endurance and perseverance in spite of difficulty and terrible odds?