Dr. Eugene C. Blake 1956-01-29, Drift, Drag Or Temptation

it's been if that seemed doable to you to serve the larger shows you in this day who are you will serve all of the guards which your father's served that were on the other side of the river or go right into his land he do well but as for me and my house we will serve the lord it was a time of crisis what time is not you say yet this was a time of special crisis in that the bowels of the conquest were passed and the children of the stroller now firmly lodged at least in the higher levels of the hill country throughout the

length and breadth of palestine joshua successor to moses had led them to victory in the promised land yet deployed in their forces mastermind at their campaign and let them in the battle that one the permanent footholds in the land which a thousand years before their father abraham had come when he had migrated westward with his flocks and family from cowley an ancient seat of the civilization of mesopotamia and i say it was a time of special prize is now one might think that the more critical days were passed since

the battles have been won but it's always really critical times whether after those tiny tribal fighting's of joshua's ancient day or after great world wars in our century or there is always a letdown after after the strangely at heart and the enthusiasm has a great campaign we're in this kind of period now the idea was that love a dozen years ago as the end but will switch we're cherished are now well blasted even for those who cherish them so it was one night joshua spoke to the people

the challenge which you heard read in the lesson of the morning the chief difference between then and now was not in those days religion was at the very center of civil and political life now our great numbers of people don't suppose that religion rarely has very much to do with economics or politics or the real questions of living joshua however retiring general neal well that the key to that piece to come there and essentially on whether they would continue to follow the lord as he had been interpreted to them by moses there deliverance from egypt or whether they would dress drafted into and he's your faith

religion of the latin which i had actually conquer or whether they might even revert to their own more primitive pray abrahamic religion of calcium or whether they might be and tights tempted into the development of a new color religion suggested by the faith of the egyptians rose president pat was the strongest of their world joshua knew that a people is never really irreligious the real question is always about whether religion but rather what kind of religion java or the bales of the animal rights to all of their

larger or the ancient moons lot of error of the celt here there are your or the strong poll of the egyptians the people standing before joshua we're surely going to serve and worship something someone and this is true the day its usual the site at the choices between religion and secularism secularism being thought well as a way of life without religion but menotti incurable a religious so that if they do not serve the guard mr christian heritage they will chose some other god whether it is by birth or

primitive drag or dedication joshua in the best tradition of retiring generals made a farewell speech to those only had been leading in their woe it was i think one of the great speeches of all time a courageous forty put into words for these people the choices that they were already making subconsciously a baby and dared them to go on in the way they were going but concluded as for me and my house we will serve the lord there's one another's look at those alternatives have faith in the large which just joined the speech suggested but they were thinking about following first teaser

if it's a medieval duel to serve the large jars as they will do you will serve possibly the gods of that our rights and those landed well who are these gods were called males are largely unaware of the agricultural deities worshipped in various crude ways on the hilltops it in the sacred brawls over the land of canaan the bros this or lights were already now in the process of cultural change from having been the desert shepherds becoming too hours of the slopes at least of the highbrow is where they were now settled down no longer wondering they were in a new

environment where i said they're not then in wisdom take wrongly sold an agricultural religion of their new environment this new culture this new type of life better to worship the bales of four delegate of rain and of sunshine that this was a possible choices well prove by their subsequent history it was five hundred years before they finally turn their backs for never upon the goddess of them are rights this was by all odds the easiest religion for them to flow naturally they would drift into it unless unless consciously they would turn from at forty it was a natural religion of their new environment

it was a success or religion of their day now down the bales and julie happy your fields will flourish well tom delay bales annually many children to comfort you in your own age bow down bales annually happy and peaceful so i suggest to you today that we will drift into the easy religion of our environment unless definitely clearly and brave way we chose to worship and to serve their god and father of our lord jesus christ for that he's a drift religion of our day is found both within and without the christian churches just as then the gods of

them writes were infiltrating into the religious practices of the mortgage over or less successful way for five hundred years now there's been much discussion about americans' access religion i attack nor in america call attention to its contrasts with christian faith it is a religion of the comfortable it is a religion of prosperity it's a religion of fertility it's a religion of peace it's special cults are many and guard by many names but all of them out one that simple gospel follow our religion and you will be happy you will be prosperous you will be

healthy joshua m i texted suggests by implication at least that such religion leads in the long run not a success but the failure is not a strength but they're weightless not do with islam but futility joshua said will you worship the gods of the animal rights these interesting words in those latin due tomorrow have these gobs of the mri tests were so strong would bring their devotees prosperity how did it happen that the israelites and so far conquer them the false promises of success religion in our time will likely meet the same end to for our way of life

our democracy will certainly sitcom kill hardier religion of communist or someone else if we let our christian faith regenerate into the man benediction of our tvs and prosperity but there is another choice joshua suggested that perhaps they might choose to serve the gods in your father's served on the other side of a flub meaning them promptly might repudiate and not only moses but even their father abraham and revert back to the superstitions of el dia once they had fled a thousand years before not only was there a danger then of

a breath into an easy religion of their new environment but there was also the danger of them primitive drag a reversion to the superstitions of a much earlier day but not easy from the records to describe the religion of power of the colonies precisely this place once a grammar started on his physical and spiritual pilgrimage a thousand years before we know that she's gotten there at the interesting name of sin and was adjourned generally identified with the moon it was a sky a religion the mon constantly in constant now flow now but also more is slimmer in the evening

sky and now invisible for a part of each month waxing and waning ghostly galleons sailing through clouds sometimes hidden by them yet out shining all the stars on a clear night it's easy to see how the moon was an adequate symbol of much of the primitive religious impulses of mankind now i'm joshua bluntly suggested the people that if they're unwilling longer to be loyal to the lower their guard perhaps they might decide then to worship the gods and their fathers that worshiped on the other side of the river he was suggesting a second alternative to the high religion of the lord god this was the most ancient and primitive religious superstitions on which a brown that turned his back a millennium

before the list too it is always a live possibility it's a joyous joyous day we tend to think that with all our modern education and the scientific spirit which is in us that precluded the possibility of all are reverting to ancient superstitious if you are one who also thinks look up sometimes the records of those sales of astrology magazines and books in our country we can't say that it's only the poor and uneducated none cultured who are taken in by astrological charlatans one of a day of her career many great names in business and

professional and political world who were occasional or steady customers trying to find out how to make their important decisions by astrology palmistry would tapping reading tea leaves these indicate how very little under the surface are the discredited pseudo religious superstitions of the ancient world what this means is that man is salt incurable a religious many asks always the religious questions that he will say those answers with all his education where he thinks he may find them a blatant secular us who looks down his nose at all religion and christianity

in particular is the show's fall guy for every new recruit restless of ancient superstition for secularism is never a stable human position you're apt to become a religious one way or another woody was a positive that supports the raft of indian your bees in california but also fought for a time that they could break their ties with the old church back east and retire from the church and religion and enjoy the sunshine of that new line there is a primitive drag that will call anyone down and the superstition if he does not shows some hyphenate some better job too sir

so far we've considered to ancient and modern alternatives to christianity suggested by joshua speech to the people but there's still a third unless we chose to live according to the high faith of our christian heritage in our time we may as we have seen a drift into that he's a success religion of our own environment or we may by drag of a primitive revert to ancient superstition or the third place we may decide to take over some apparently successful power religion of some of their heritage in the same speech in which my text was found joshua in another place warned against the religion of egypt to the religion of the people who threatened just

going to roll the whole world the mission which until fifty years before that had held as you know in bondage having them as slaves bill there pyramids on the banks of the nile living for years as they had slaves in egypt it was about natural that the religion of egypt would influence them so when moses first let them out into the desert away from slavery there had been an a hole at the first give our goal is we're ready to go back into bondage rather than to go on into the hard desert of freedom and my mother's came down from the mountain after his communion with lard be founded on brother aaron and his sister

miriam and gauging the people and burning through the worst job of a golden age of this a good ole path of egypt jim let's remember was the most powerful the most cultured empire of the world the slave mentality of former slaves easily could fall into the idea that after all the religion of their former masters must be true because it was the most powerful than just been lucky to escape for a time we asked exactly what was the religion of age of the target was simple answer it's certainly not a pathological windsor and with that it was highly nationalistic tied up with the pharaoh land is temporal victories in the world and it was essentially fascists was up our religion

and had nothing to do with justice this then is always to one of their live alternatives to christianity there's always a pressure on the church to become simply the american or the british or the russian church and not be a worldwide communion when war comes of course this pressure is intense but it's in the critical time after wars when men make decisions as to whether they're faith will in the farm of a narrow nationalism or take the form of a service of the universe this is the alternative that weighed two and this land face this

morning this top we've heard of the american century has its effect on religious thinking through let us ride replace religious ritual let the constitution of united states replace all out war and grades of the church let us ride a wave of the future whether it seems right or wrong or a constant temptation do you use religion it's hard for other and as the megachurch the handmaidens of the state the choice you say is to worship and to serve the god of the state rather than the godfather of jesus christ who created the whole world and watches empires rise and fall it is good that our nation is more religious than

ever before if that religion inspires and judges america our political aims our practices if the judges them in the light of eternal truth and justice but it will be evil in our nation is more religious than ever before we have our religion is reduced by its popularity into the us i have occasionally and all they or the blessing of evil and injustice questioned patriotism will lead men to make america good so that it may be strong and christian patriotism will try to use god to make america strong whether it is good or not these men are the alternatives alive alternative if you will

live alternative if you're on living longer oh my god progress and become the product of our environment looking for success and happiness is dragged back into superstitions which we thought were long since last or to be tempted did a prostitute religion in the part of ryan's of the mass nation and state yes but you're positively as the christian way i have been a moment left to describe it but i need not so sweet bye week this is what you'll hear described in a bowl put it like

this christianity is the worshipper in the service of a god who made the world and all men well we're in those character and burglars are best prevail in jesus christ andrew lauber mr nabors of all colors of skin and of all citizenship and of all nations that's the challenge of the christian church in the michael in these days of that challenge of that gen of long ago if it's a medieval do you all to serve a larger shows you this daylong yay well sir whether the god your father served on the other side of the flood or in egypt or the gods of the hammer i'd sonos landed well like in the day of joshua there is no promise that the christian way that is offered here

will bring prosperity or will bring health it may bring suffering it may bring hardship freely accepted no promise that this faith is a faith of a of a future age which will belong to us but we can if we will make our choice against all drift and drying and temptation and resolve with josh your house for me and my house we will serve the lord let us pray gracious god father of our lord

jesus christ who has called us to myself through him we asked my blessing upon this company of my people but a chair may know the they respond to my love with love and that by thy strength we may re dedicate ourselves whatever the costs through jesus christ our lord oh the pope for ed lee