Judges 7:1-26

The entire story as related in Judges chapter 7 is important to read for it reveals well another idol of our age. Remember that idols begin with ideas. Last week we were confronted with the idol of subjectivism and I would remind you again how sneaky that idol can be. Even now you may be tempted to obey it in the manner you judge the people you have spoken with this morning or your likes and dislikes about the worship service itself. The idol revealed in the story of Achan and his sin is individualism. Individualism is a belief in the primary importance of the individual. It is necessary to start off by saying that individualism is not always negative for it underscores personal responsibility. What I mean by that is that all of us will stand before the judgment throne of God as individuals. We are responsible for our own actions. Unfortunately, there are more negatives than positives when it comes to individualism. Individualism is wrapped up in personal pride. An example of personal pride is self-reliance. Self-reliance insists that I do not need anyone but myself. I recall a time when I had my first car. It was a 1979 cherry red turbo mustang. Although my father was quite good with cars I never had an interest to know how they worked. I knew they needed oil and gas to run and that was all I knew. I never even bothered to learn how to put oil in the car. I was told by my father that it was good to check the oil every so often and so when I did the first time I could figure out where the dip stick was but I did not know where to poor the oil. I settled on a place that looked like it had oil residue. After pouring a bit I second-guessed myself. I tried to start the engine and it only sputtered. I sought help from a neighbor who discovered that I had poured oil in the carburetor. After a lot of white smoke left the exhaust he got the engine running again. I almost ruined the engine of my new car because I was too self reliant to seek initial help.

The idol of individualism is found in more places than self-reliance. It could be said that individualism as an ideal is involved in every sin we commit because every sin we commit is the result of us thinking of ourselves first and foremost.

As we examine the sin of Achan it is described to us how selfish and deliberate his sin is against the commands of God. God had given specific instruction that when Israel was successful to overcome Jericho they were not to touch "devoted things" or riches of idol worship. This was told to all of Israel and so Achan who heard this instruction thought only of himself when took what the Lord had forbidden.

Individualism encourages such behavior. It makes us believe we are our own islands. It has us believe we are a law unto ourselves. Individualism convinces us that we answer to no one, but such is a lie from the pit of hell. Whether declared or not, anytime a man sins he has made himself the lawgiver. Achan is not a law unto himself as he will soon find out.

Like all who bow to the idol of individualism, Achan believed that his actions, his sin, affected him and him alone. God, however, perceives it differently and in vs. 1 we are told that the Israelites acted unfaithfully. This is a summary statement describing the sin of Achan. How can this be? How can the sin of one man be summarized by describing a whole nation as acting unfaithfully? From this description we learn much about how God regards his people. He regards us as an organic body. Together we are living and one. Organic describes us as living. As a people we grow, we feel, we rejoice and we hurt. The descriptive word "one" means we are united by a common bond that is the blood of Christ. Such unity means that when one person in the body is sanctified we all are sanctified. When someone is victorious we all are victorious and when someone sins, we all sin. The reality of our organic union with one another is the reason why we are called to bear up one another’s burdens. When someone is hurting in the body of Christ whether physically, emotionally or spiritually we are to care for him as we would have others care for us. When we aid a brother or sister we aid the body of Christ and thus Christ himself.

The reality of our organic union with one another is also the reason why we are called by Christ to confront a brother we see sin. When a brother sins the body of Christ sins. That sin endangers the soul of the individual who perpetrated the sin and the spiritual health of the entire body of Christ. Thus when we call a brother to repent from known sin we are attempting to preserve his soul, the health of the Church and the reputation of Jesus himself.

The Spirit desires that the truth of the organic union of the body of Christ weigh upon all of us when we are tempted to bow to the idol of individualism thinking that our sin only affects us.

We must steer clear from thinking of our faith in such terms as "Jesus and me." It is not just Jesus and you. It is Jesus, you and all the others that he calls sons and daughters. When you come into the kingdom of God you become a part of something much larger and greater than self. You become a part of a household, a part of a body, and a part of a kingdom. I have heard evangelists say to individuals in crowds, in order to get them to make a decision for Christ, that if they were the only person in the world Jesus would have died for them. Such is a very nice sentiment, but it is not accurate for it is not what the Scriptures say. Jesus died for his people. He came for those whom God had chosen. And he is coming back for his people. He is not coming back for you as an individual or for me as an individual. He is coming back for his body, his bride, his Church.

"Jesus and me" type thinking has allowed many to justify why they are not a part of a local church. They are convinced that their personal relationship with Jesus is all that matters. It is, I hope we all understand, important that each of us has a personal relationship with Jesus, but I argue an addendum. You cannot have a relationship with Jesus unless you have a relationship with his body. To have a relationship with Jesus is to be under the teaching and authority of presbyters and deacons. It is to receive the means of grace by the regular preaching and teaching of the Word of God and the Holy Sacraments. Unless these are included one cannot have a relationship with Jesus for the presence of Jesus on this earth is the Church. The Church is a continuation of the incarnation.

Regarding the sin of Achan we are told that all of Israel suffered defeat at the hands of the nation Ai because of his sin. From one vantage point it is astounding that Achan can watch others suffer because of his sin. Thirty-six men died. Husbands, sons and brothers were killed because of Achan and yet there is no mention of his grief or remorse. From another vantage point we can imagine how one like Achan, bowing to the idol of individualism, is so busy, so concerned about himself only, that he does not see how his sin is affecting others. Even when his conscience makes a possible connection between the suffering and death of others and his selfishness, he pushes such thoughts away choosing only to see what he wants to see.

God, by his Spirit, is persistent in response. God does not allow us, his children, to push guilty thoughts away. He stays on us until we relent. When Joshua approached the Lord after the nation Ai defeated Israel, God told him the reason for the defeat. Israel had sinned. If Israel was ever to be victorious again over any tribe she must repent and root out the sin in her midst. Joshua was told to present the people tribe by tribe. The tribe that the Lord pointed out was to be brought family by family. The family the Lord identifies was to be brought man by man. Then the Lord would point out the guilty man and punish him for bringing guilt upon the nation of Israel. The pursuit of the guilty party as described here is the same in principle as the discipline Jesus tells his Church to practice. If you see a brother in sin you are to go to him and confront him. If he refuses to repent you are to bring another who witnessed the sin. If he still refuses to repent you are to bring the guilty man before the Church. If he refuses to repent he is to be cast out of the Church and treated as unredeemed. The purpose of such strong disciplinary action is to save the soul of the man for when the Church takes sin seriously people within the Church will take it seriously as well and they will be saved from Hell fire.

Because we have bowed to the idol of individualism we may say to ourselves, "I don’t want to get involved." "What a brother in the Church is doing is his business and what I do is mine." These lines whether articulated or practiced prefer individualism to the organic unity of the Church. Be not deceived brothers and sisters, God will not be mocked. Whatever a man sows he will also reap. If we sow individualism, leaving our brother in sin, we will be left in our own sin. We might have many well conceived excuses why we do not get involved. We may not want to be confronted ourselves and so we do not confront. We may not want the person in sin to be mad at us and so we avoid confrontation. But dear brothers and sisters, confrontation avoided in this life assures eternal confrontation will be experienced in the hereafter.

When God narrows down the tribe and family he points to Achan. Achan is confronted and to his credit finally confesses. He confesses what he did and why. The confession is noteworthy but something more must be done. There must be consequences for his sin. Even though our culture has made us sensitive to capital punishment we are likely to agree that Achan must be put to death. Even though we do not like to see people punished so severely, primarily because if it was us we would not want to be punished so severely, we could understand Achan’s death. But God goes farther than any of us would go. Everything that belonged to Achan, his worldly belongings and his children were gathered together, stoned and burned so that there would be nothing remaining of the family. I ask the following because I anticipate some of you have asked, "Why kill the children?" "What guilt did they have in the sin of their father?" If you have asked God such questions I would request that you ask of yourself where you derived the notion that children shouldn’t be punished for the sins of their father? I wonder if it is the idol of individualism that has caused our psyche to reject the notion that children should suffer for the sins of their father. After all, we know from God’s second commandment that if his people were to make for themselves idols he would visit judgment upon them to the fourth generation. In our every day experiences we see families around us who suffer because of a father’s alcoholism, a father’s infidelity, a father’s dishonesty, etc. etc.

Families suffer for the sins of one parent. It is as God has said.

It is a mistake, an eternal mistake to believe that a man can live in sin and only cause himself harm.

Achan is severely judged for the name of his family is gone forever and the only things that remain are details of his sin. The details are told to bring fear, a holy fear into the hearts of any man who would be tempted to go his own way.

While individualism is exemplified in the sin of Achan and all acts of sin committed, it is contrasted by the life and work of Jesus Christ. While individualism tempts us to think first and foremost about ourselves, Jesus thought only about doing the will of the Father for the eternal salvation of others. While individualism does not accept that the sin of one man affects others, Jesus gave himself as a sacrifice so that his righteousness would affect all those who are guilty of sin. It is in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we have salvation. I underscore this today because it is not enough that we identify the idol of individualism and even turn away from it. We must also turn to Jesus Christ. It is in him alone that we will find salvation.

In your times of privacy, when the vices of the flesh tempt you most, recall the story of Achan and the idol of individualism that brought him down. Allow yourselves to consider how the sin you are tempted to perform brings sin upon your family and the body of Christ. Allow that to weigh upon your conscience. Then, when you decide to say "no" to your flesh, turn to Christ. Be satisfied in your moments of privacy with his sustaining, cleansing grace and your soul will be preserved.