Victory in Surrender | Worship before Warfare

Hermon is standing poised to move to Henderson. Hermon’s leaders are well aware of the challenges ahead. Already many battles have been met and fought when acquiring the place and when preparing to move there. Some are small battles, some are big ones. So far, God has seen us through.

Not only leaders, Hermon’s members also have their battles and struggles. Over the years, many have given to Dev Fund, some sacrificially. They have asked themselves the question, to go or to stay? If they go, what adjustments will they have to face? If they stay, what will it be like to adjust to another church community?

Then there are battles to be faced over there in Henderson. Unlike here in CCK, we meet in a church building, with a housing estate around us. There in Henderson, we will meet in an industrial building with hardly anyone around during the weekends. Unlike in CCK, we won’t have the MRT station and bus stops nearby. How will we reach out to the neighbourhood, farther afield in Redhill, Bukit Ho Swee, Telok Blangah and Tiong Bahru?

We are definitely moving out of our comfort zone. No doubt there will be challenges to face and battles to fight. Henderson is our Jericho. Like Joshua, we may want to go as near as possible to the place and ponder, to imagine what it is like to eventually occupy the land.

May we meet the Lord there, a stranger wielding a sword. He will tell us how to fight and how to win. Ironically, victory will be won through surrender to the Lord Jesus. “I am not coming alongside to fight for you. I am coming to take over command.”

How comforting and reassuring it must have been for Joshua! He is now second in command. So it will be for us when we go to Henderson. We will relinquish command to Jesus the Commander-in-Chief. We surrender to him.

When we wet our feet in crossing the Jordan, we have to do something. But Joshua learned that while he had to do something, he did not have to do everything. We read:

“And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my Lord say to his servant?”

Falling on his face to the earth is an act of surrender. He submitted himself to his Commander and awaited his command. We then read:

And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.” Joshua‬ ‭5:14-15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The first command is not get ready to fight. But prepare to worship. Taking sandals off your feet is an act of worship. This brings us to the second lesson. First, victory begins with surrender. Second, warfare begins with worship.

Warfare begins with Worship

The vertical relationship must take priority over all horizontal engagements. True, Hermon must move into Henderson and build a community of believers, united in heart and mind. Hermon must move into Henderson and reach out to others and bring them in. But the most important priority is to move in as a worshipping community.

God has given Hermon a beautiful chapel or sanctuary at Henderson. We are not sure when we can physically occupy it and worship there. But the place is not as important as our hearts. Do we have a heart of worship, with a sense of awe at God’s holiness and majesty? There is concern that two years of watching live-streamed services in the comfort of our homes might have led to loss of awe in worship. If so, we need to ask God for forgiveness and make it back to in-person worship whenever available.

Standing bare feet before God, we worship him in the holiness of his presence. That’s the message of bare feet: surrender and worship. Surrender before victory, worship before warfare.

Next week, we will be looking at another kind of feet, marching feet. That is warfare, when Joshua will lead the people against Jericho to conquer it. But let’s not forget that first come the wet feet (stepping out in faith and obedience) and bare feet (falling down in surrender and worship).

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, we stand poised for our move from CCK to Henderson. We also stand ready for one year to end and another to begin.

The COVID pandemic with Omicron variant and other variants will continue to challenge us. For Hermon, we face the challenges of a major move and change. Please be with us as we face the future, made uncertain by the COVID virus and effects of climate change. There will be battles to be faced and fought.

Remind us that victory is found in surrender to Jesus, and battles are fought and won through the worship of our Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient God. So help us bare our feet before you, stand in awe of your mighty power and promises.

So in confidence we cross into the New Year and a new chapter for Mount Hermon. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Summing Up

Victory in Surrender
Worship before Warfare

1. Why was Joshua not given the answer he expected? What is significance of the answer “No” or “Neither”?

2. Why was Joshua asked to remove his sandals? What is the significance of bare feet?

3. What do we need most when facing our Jericho? How will we face the challenge of Hermon@Henderson?