Yesterday was ‘National Cinema Day’, with cinema tickets costing just £3 per adult, and so I ventured for the first time in quite a while to the cinema to watch ‘Fisherman’s Friends: One And All’, the sequel to a film i greatly enjoyed in 2019.

For me, the film held two irresistible attractions: the beautiful scenery of Cornwall (the singing group are fishermen from Port Isaac, a place I visited for the first time in 2021) and the exquisite acapella singing of these talented men. To have a film wholly dedicated to these two things was like sitting on the beach on a summer’s day with the sun warming my bare feet and the beauty of God’s creation and the harmony of song warming my soul.

The film contains sixteen songs (more than you get on a CD!) and charts the ups and downs of fame, the pain of bereavement, the dawning of love and the vicissitudes of life, and ends with the performance of the group at Glastonbury, of all places (which actually did happen in 2011.) Many film critics have said the film lacks depth, subtlety or plot and is all too predictable. All I can say is we live in a world so staggeringly beautiful, it’s worth the time spent gazing on Cornish seas and towns and that the sea shanties which made the group’s name have the ability to capture life experiences with simple poignancy. For me, the reminder of beauty, love and song are enough to bring a smile to my face and a spring to my step.

On a few occasions now, my computer or mobile phone have been so damaged that I have had to restore them to what is known as ‘factory settings.’ This is essentially going back to their original state, losing anything I have personalised or added since (unless this is backed up and can be retrieved at a later date.) Factory settings, the ‘default setting’, give me back a working piece of equipment, but it’s far from an ideal solution.

Our ‘default setting’ since the fall of Adam is that of sin. Before the Fall, we were created in God’s image and lived in harmony with Him and our world. Since the Fall of man, sin and death are part of our ‘default settings’, with enmity, hostility, rebellion and disobedience uppermost in our natures. Self-sufficiency is seen as our normal (and desirable) condition. Living by faith has to be learned again, customised through our personal encounters with God.

Salvation is God’s way of ‘sorting’ the problem and is far more radical than any factory re-set on a computer or phone. God’s aim is for His original plan of relationship to be restored. He wants us to default not to the ‘old nature’, governed by sin, but to be restored to our original state, created by Him and for Him, re-shaped, given a ‘new nature’ that is conformed to the image of Christ. (See Romans 6)

Thereafter, each of us who are Christ’s followers face a daily choice. Will we live by our old nature or our new one? Will we default to the ‘old settings’, relying on ourselves, letting temper dictate our actions and mood shape our behaviour? Or will we allow God’s new settings – love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, patience and self-control (Gal 5:22-23) – to determine our thoughts, words and actions? That’s the choice.

Tonight we continued looking at the lessons we learn from the life of Joshua and in particular focussed on the victory God brought about in miraculous ways at Jericho. (Josh 6:1-25) Victory at Jericho, the first town to fall in the Promised Land, demonstrated God’s power over all the nations, but it was definitely an unusual divine strategy which led to this victory. The people of God were commanded to march around the city for six days, and then on the seventh day, march around seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. This would lead to the walls collapsing and then the army could go in and bring about victory.

We see how the people’s obedience was instrumental in this victory, but ultimately also how God used ordinary means – trumpets, marching, shouting – to bring about something totally miraculous. The book of Joshua shows us many different victories, each one the response of Joshua to God’s specific word (using ambush at Ai (Josh 8:1-29) or surprise – with an extended day thrown in! – against the five kings of the Amorites. (Josh 10:1-15)) When we have no clue what to do, our eyes must be on God (as Jehoshaphat discovered in another battle years later. (2 Chron 20:1-17))

Methodology and strategy may change according to the times, but the battle belongs to the Lord alone; victory must be His. If we try to claim credit (as Nebuchadnezzar foolishly did in Daniel 4:30-32), the result will be disaster. Humility is necessary if we are to see the miraculous (Luke 14:11). Faithful obedience, such as was demonstrated by Joshua throughout his life, can achieve spectacular results, even if we feel that the means God uses are pretty ordinary!