First Baptist Church of Highland Park

Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis III: Hi, I'm Henry Davis, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland. A Bible-believing, Christ-centered, and spirit-led congregation. I want to welcome you to our radio broadcast and remember, there's power at the park.

Guest (Male): In this setting, I want to look at this sixth chapter of Joshua, verse two. New Living Translation says, "But the Lord said to Joshua, 'I have given you Jericho, its king and all its strong warriors. You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the ark, each carrying a ram's horn. On the seventh day, you are to march around the town seven times with the priests blowing the horns.

And when you hear the priests give one long blast on the ram's horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse and the people can charge straight into the town.'" Drop down to verse 15, and of course, you can read it all when you're in your private time after the Commanders beat the Eagles.

I looked right in that direction because I know that's where Royal sits. On the seventh day, the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as they had done before, but this time they went around the town seven times. The seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout, for the Lord has given you the town." Amen. You may go to your seats around the building. The Lord has given you the town. Wow.

I'm preaching this weekend from the theme "Don't Stop Now." But in this service, I want to tell you to keep showing up. Keep showing up. Sometimes that's the greatest thing you need to do is just show up. And there are some seasons in life when the hardest thing God will ask you to do is not something new. Sometimes the hardest thing God will ask you to do is the move to do it again. Let's do it again.

Pray again, believe again, trust again, try again, forgive again, get up again, go back again, put one foot in front of the other again. Show up again. Matter of fact, that's what you try to teach young people, show up again. One of the things I prided myself as a student was making sure I was in class all the time. Did not want to stay home.

Because there are times when you become weary not because you've been doing the wrong thing, but because you have been doing the right thing for a long time without seeing the results you expected. That is a different kind of tired. It's one thing to be tired because you've been running in the wrong direction, but it's another thing to be tired when you know you heard God. You know it.

I marched across the Norfolk Scope in May of 1982. I really had finished Calvin in '81, finished in the summer of '81, but I hung around Norfolk for an additional year. I wasn't really ready to cut ties yet. So I stayed another year, went to the Graduate School of Communications and just making sure I could tell my parents and make them believe I was making use of my time.

But I marched across the stage at the Norfolk Scope in 1982. And that summer, I really heard the voice of God to preach the gospel. I had just walked across the stage, just got my degree. That same year I preached my first sermon in December 1982. I'd done a whole lot. I'd marched across the stage, flipped my tassel and all of that.

You've got to make sure you hear the voice of God. I knew I was running, I knew I was. I mean, other folk might not have known it, but I knew that God wanted me to preach, but I was trying not to do it. I was trying my best not to do it. And I was even in church one time in Portsmouth, Virginia, wringing wet with sweat because God was in my ear.

And He said, "You are in the wrong seat." And there were three seats in the pulpit. There was the pastor, another minister, and it was a church nebulous to me, but there was an empty seat. And the voice came in my ear and said, "You're in the wrong seat." You have to realize, you've got to make sure you hear God's voice.

For some cases, you know you have been faithful, you know you've been praying, you know you've been trying, you know you've been doing what God told you to do and yet, when you look at the situation, the wall is still standing. That's where Israel is in Joshua chapter six. They have crossed the Jordan, they have entered the promised land. God has brought them through the wilderness, a generation that wandered has passed away.

And now Joshua is leading a new generation into the future God promised them. But standing between Israel and the next chapter of their destiny is a fortified city called Jericho. Jericho has walls, thick walls, strong walls, intimidating walls. And before Israel can possess what God promised, they have to deal with what is standing in their way.

But watch what God says in Joshua 6:2, "I have given you Jericho, its king and all its strong warriors." Don't run past that. The wall is still standing but God speaks as though the victory has already happened. God does not say, "Joshua, I might give it to you." No, God does not say, "Joshua, if everything works out, maybe you can go to Jericho."

No, God says, "I have given you Jericho." Yet Joshua can look right in front of him, after hearing that, Brother William, and see a wall that appears to contradict what God just said. That's where faith gets difficult. Because sometimes God's word and your present circumstances don't appear to agree. God says, "I'm going to bring you through," but the wall is still standing.

God says, "I'm going to provide," but the money is still funny. God says, "I'm going to heal your heart," but you're still hurting. God says, "I'm working in your family," but everybody is still acting crazy in my family. God says, "I have something more for you to do," but every door seems closed. And you've got to decide, will I believe what I see or will I trust what God said?

Because faith is not pretending the wall isn't there. Faith is looking at the wall, Ellis family, and looking at the wall and it says, "You're real, but you're not God." And then God gives Joshua one of the strangest military strategies in the Bible. He doesn't tell them to attack. He doesn't tell them to build a battering ram. He doesn't tell them to climb the wall.

All God says is walk around it. Walk around Jericho once, then go home. Tomorrow come back, do it again. For six days walk around it once. But on the seventh day, walk around it seven times. And I can imagine somebody asking Joshua, "When are we going to fight?" Joshua says, "We're not fighting, we're just walking."

"When are we going to attack?" "No, no, no, walk." "When are we going to see something happen?" "No, walk." "Joshua, we've already walked around this wall." "Walk again." And that's the word God sent me this morning, Highland Park. I don't know who came to church tired. I don't know who has been wondering whether your faithfulness is making a difference.

I don't know who has been thinking about backing away, sitting down, throwing in the towel, or simply saying, "What's the use?" But under this weekend theme, "Don't Stop Now," I've got one simple word: keep showing up. Because number one, obedience doesn't always produce immediate results. Israel walks around Jericho one day, nothing happens.

No bricks fall, no cracks appear, nobody inside Jericho comes running out waving a white flag, nothing. So they go home. They wake up the next morning, walk around it again, nothing. Third day, nothing. Fourth day, nothing. Fifth day, nothing. Sixth day, nothing. And that's where somebody lives this morning.

You've been doing what you are supposed to do, but you cannot see any evidence that it's working. You prayed, nothing. You applied, nothing. You served, nothing. You gave, nothing. You apologized, nothing. You went to counseling, nothing. Nothing seems different yet. That's right, yet. You started taking better care of yourself, nothing seems different yet.

You poured into your children, nothing seems different yet. And if you're not careful, you will interpret no visible evidence as no divine activity. But those are not the same thing. Just because you cannot see God working does not mean God isn't working. I wish I had a witness in here. We live in a culture that has conditioned us to expect everything immediately.

We want instant information, instant communication, instant delivery. That's why I've got a box on my porch this morning, instant gratification. But some things God does gradually before they happen suddenly. Brothers, y'all see me slip that in there? Gradually, then suddenly. A seed can be alive underground before you see anything above ground.

Roots can be growing before fruit starts showing. God can be doing His deepest work in places you cannot yet see. And sometimes God isn't only working on your Jericho, God is working on you. While Israel was walking, God was teaching them discipline. While Israel was walking, God was teaching them unity.

While Israel was walking, God is teaching them patience. While Israel was walking, God is teaching them dependence. While Israel was walking, God is teaching them that the victory will not come because Israel is powerful, the victory will come because God is faithful. And our people know something about showing up when the wall hasn't fallen yet.

Our ancestors prayed when slavery was still legal. They sang when the chains were still visible. Generations after emancipation, our people marched when segregation was still in force. They sat at lunch counters while hatred was still standing. They registered voters while intimidation was still standing. They organized while unjust systems were still standing.

They showed up because they understood something: the continued existence of the wall does not mean the walking is useless. Sometimes you have to keep walking until systems change, keep speaking until justice comes, keep voting. That's why we have a social justice ministry. Keep organizing, keep loving, keep demanding human dignity.

Keep showing up because faith doesn't just ask, "Did the wall fall today?" Faith asks, "Did God tell me to walk?" And if God told me to walk, I'm going to keep on walking. Don't judge your obedience by today's evidence. So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Church, keep showing up.

But there's something else. What looks repetitive may actually be preparatory. I can imagine that about the fourth or fifth day, somebody in Israel had to be thinking, "Didn't we do this yesterday?" We've been walking and walking and walking. Same wall, same route, same priest, same trumpet, same march, same instruction. Same thing again and again and again.

Repetition can make you believe that you're not progressing. That's how you remember stuff many times. Person, how do you remember somebody's name? Keep saying it over and over again. They say if you keep saying something over seven times, over again, seven the number of completion, I keep saying it over, it starts to sink into my spirit.

There's nothing glamorous about doing the same thing, faithful thing every day. Praying again, studying again, going to work again, raising those children again, caring for a parent again, working on a marriage again, serving in ministry again, getting up, trying again. Sometimes life feels like same wall, different day. But don't confuse repetition with stagnation.

They were walking around the same wall, but every lap was moving them closer to God's appointed moment. That's worth saying again. Every lap looked the same, but every lap wasn't the same. Yesterday's prayer, today's prayer may sound alike, but you're one day closer. Yesterday's obedience and today's obedience may look alike, but you're one day closer.

Yesterday's discipline and today's discipline may look alike, but you're one day closer because what looks repetitive may actually be preparation. God uses rhythms. I thank God, rhythms to form us, rhythms. We celebrate breakthroughs and celebrate formation. We want God's formation. That's what Beyonce talked about, formation.

We want God to change what's around us. God says, "I'm developing what's within you." We want God to move the wall. God says, "Before I move the wall, I'm going to mature the walker." Maybe they thought they were just walking around Jericho, but perhaps God was also walking Jericho out of them. Walking out fear, walking doubt out, walking arrogance out, walking self-reliance out, walking impatience out.

Because sometimes God has to get something out of you before He can entrust you with something new. Some things that you had in you, I want you to walk it out. We want the seventh day shout, God wants the sixth day formation. I want you to have six days of formation before you get to the seventh day shout.

We want the breakthrough, God wants maturity. We want the harvest, God wants roots. We want suddenly, God often works gradually. That's why you cannot despise the ordinary routines God uses to develop extraordinary people. Langston Hughes famously wrestled with what happens to a dream deferred.

Faith asks you another question: what happens to the dreamer while the dream is deferred? God develops the dreamer. God strengthens the dreamer. God deepens the dreamer. God prepares the dreamer. So that when the door finally opens, the person walking through has become strong enough, wise enough, humble enough, mature enough to handle what's on the other side.

I'm trying to get you to the other side. But I want you to handle what's on the other side. So don't despise your routine, don't despise your preparation, don't despise your quiet season. Don't despise the days when nobody knows your name. Don't despise the season when nothing seems to be happening.

God may be doing His greatest work in you while you're waiting for Him to do something around you. All you've got to do is keep showing up. Because family, there's one more thing. One more round can change everything. They say every round goes higher. That's what brings us to verse number 15. The text says, "On the seventh day, the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as they had done before, but this time they went around the town seven times."

There are four words in that verse that grabbed me: "as they had done before." My God, they woke up that morning and did what they had been doing. They showed up again. They didn't know how the day would end when the day began, they just knew God told us to walk. Thank God, we're walking. But the text says, "but this time."

Oh, somebody ought to feel that, Nicole. That's what you were preaching out there with our evangelism on yesterday. Six days, same wall. "But this time." Six days, same march. "But this time." Six days, same Jericho. "But this time." Yesterday nothing moved. "But this time." Yesterday there was no evidence. "But this time." Yesterday the wall was still standing. "But this time."

You never know when you're going to walk into a "but this time" moment. It's a "but this time" moment. That's why you can't quit because you don't know which round you're on. Israel could not quit on day number six. And even on day seven, they could not stop after the sixth lap around Jericho.

Think about it. What if people had said, "Joshua, we've been walking around this thing six times today. I'm tired"? They would have stopped one round too short. And somebody needs to hear this today: don't stop one round too short. You don't know how close you are. You don't know what God is setting up for you.

You don't know what God is arranging. You don't know what God is lining up. You don't know what conversation is happening that you haven't heard about. You don't know what door is getting ready to open. You don't know what heart God is about to touch. You don't know what opportunity is developing.

You don't know what God is doing behind the wall. So keep showing up. Keep showing up. I've run 21 full marathons in my lifetime. Trying to do another one, I know that's crazy. I'm not going to tell y'all too much about it, but 21 marathons, 26.2 miles. It will teach you something about perseverance.

I learned a whole lot of lessons running marathons. Normally, my early days of running marathons, I'd run about the first five miles crying. And I was crying because I was thankful that I could get out there. So it wasn't tears that I had to run 26 miles. It was, God has given me the ability to half train and get out here and run 26.2 miles.

There comes a point in a marathon when your body starts negotiating with you. Your legs say, "That's enough." Your mind says, "You've proved your point." That's what my son tells me, "Dad, you don't have anything else to prove." Your body says stop. But you learn something. You cannot judge the finish line by how you feel in the middle of the race.

Middle of the race! And there's a point in some of the races, Joe, where there is a split. And the split in the road is for those running 13.1. You've got a short way to get on in. Then the other one is the 26.2. And Steve, you know about this. More people are turning to the left for 13.1. It's a few of us who straggle over to that 26.2.

And at that moment, you think about it. "Man, I could be almost home. But I'm going the long route." You don't know the finish line didn't move because you got tired. And somebody is tired. I understand. But tired doesn't mean finished. Tired doesn't mean you're defeated. Tired doesn't mean God has changed His mind.

Sometimes you've got to put one foot in front of the other and say, "I didn't come this far just to come this far. One more step, one more mile, one more prayer, one more attempt, one more round, one more reach out." And when Israel finished that seventh round, Joshua says in verse 16, "Shout! For the Lord has given you the town."

Notice this: they shout before the wall falls. See, we get it mixed up. We shout after we see it. No, they shouted before the wall falls. That's faith. And that's something our people understand. And that's how our ancestors could sing freedom songs while bondage was still visible.

That's how our grandmothers could shout on Sunday while trouble was waiting at home. That's how our fathers could say, "The Lord will make a way somehow," when they couldn't yet see the way. Their praise wasn't denial, their praise was defiance. Their praise said this wall does not get the final word.

And that's what I've come to tell you this morning, Highland Park: keep showing up. We're getting ready to come on 105 years, keep showing up. When you're tired, keep showing up. When you're disappointed, keep showing up. When nobody notices, keep showing up. When nobody calls your name, keep showing up.

When nobody applauds, nobody pats you on the back, keep showing up. When you prayed and nothing seems to happen, keep showing up. When the wall hasn't moved, keep showing up. Because the wall can stand on day six, and it can still fall on day seven. Don't let yesterday's lack of evidence cancel today's obedience.

One more prayer could change everything. One more application could change everything. One more conversation could change everything. One more counseling session could change everything. One more semester could change everything. One more act of forgiveness could change everything. One more worship service, one more time to coming into the house of God could change everything.

One more step could change everything. One more, one more round. And when I need an example of somebody who kept showing up, I know somebody. Because Jesus kept showing up. They misunderstood Him, but He kept showing up. They criticized Him, but He kept showing up. They lied on Him, but He kept showing up.

They betrayed Him, but He kept showing up. They arrested Him, but He kept showing up. They marched Him up to Calvary, and He kept showing up. They put nails in His hands and they nailed His feet. They lifted Him between heaven and earth and Jesus stayed there until He could say, "It is finished."

They took Him down, put Him in a Joseph's borrowed tomb, rolled the stone in front of the entrance. On that Friday, the wall was still standing. Saturday, the wall was still standing. But early—that's what the preacher said—Sunday morning, God said, "but this time." Death had to move, the grave had to open, hell had to back up.

And Jesus got up with all power in His hands. That's why I'm not quitting. That's why I'm not stopping. That's why I'm going to keep on praying. That's why I'm going to keep on believing, keep on serving, keep on loving, keep on fighting for justice, keep on preaching Jesus, keep on trusting God, keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Because resurrection has taught me what looks permanent is not necessarily permanent when God gets involved. So don't stop now, keep showing up. Your obedience is not wasted. Your repetition is not meaningless. Your prayers are not forgotten. Your labor is not in vain. Your story is not finished.

Your God has not changed. And you might be one round away, one more round, one more round, one more round. And if you're here this morning and if you've never given your life to Jesus, maybe this is your round. Maybe God brought you here today because you've tried everything else.

You've carried your own burdens, you fought your own battles, you tried to tear down your own walls. But Jesus says, "Come to me. You don't have to fix yourself before you come. Come with your questions, come with your mistakes, come with your fears, come with your failures, come with your walls."

Because God loved you so much that He sent His son, Jesus, to die for you. And the same Jesus who got up from the grave can give you a brand new life. So don't stop now, keep showing up. Come to Jesus because you have no idea what God might do in the next round.

Hallelujah! Do you love Him today? Every round goes higher, higher, higher, higher! Ain't He alright? Say, yes! Keep, keep, keep, keep showing up! See, the devil don't want you to show up. The devil wants you to do like Roberto Duran did against Sugar Ray Leonard.

He wants you to say, "No mas," and throw in the towel. I'm not throwing in the towel. I'm look to the hills from whence comes my help. Because I know my help comes from the Lord. Hallelujah! My help, my help! We sing that song, all my help, all my help comes from the Lord. Ain't He alright? Yes!

Keep showing up. I know it gets hard, but keep showing up. Keep walking around the wall every day. Keep showing up. God is with you. God can lift you, love you, lead you. Keep showing up!

Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis III: You've been listening to the radio broadcast of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park and Landover, Maryland. If you want to receive a CD or DVD of what you have just heard, please call 301-773-6655 or visit us on the worldwide web. And remember, there's power at the park.