WHICH GOD? Sermon Presented to St. Paul s Church 22 Pentecost, Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25, Year A November 9, 2014 Thack Dyson What is the meaning of life? Your definition of the meaning of life determines how you live your life. If the meaning of our life is reflected in how we live it, how should that look for people of faith? This idea came to mind this week following Gus Likos death. As I met with his family throughout the week and heard their stories about Gus, it was very obvious to me that Gus made a clear decision when he was young about the meaning of his life. His decision was based on what he thought was most important in his life. In this instance, it was his family. Accordingly, Gus saw his main purpose in life was to support and nurture his family. So, he dedicated his life as a family man. He did a good job too. I ve never seen so many grown grandsons weeping at a funeral as I did yesterday. How we live our lives is a matter of choice, which, incidentally, is the underlying theme in today s reading from Joshua. Today s reading is at the end of the book of Joshua and Joshua s ministry. The setting is at Shechem, the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel. The Israelites have spent the entire Book of Joshua conquering the indigenous people of Canaan so that the Israelites could populate the territory. Joshua recognizes that the Israelites are susceptible to being assimilated by the local traditions and religions and lose their cultural identity. Because of this fear, he gives them a farewell speech intended to make them decide whether to follow Yahweh, the God of Israel, or the gods of their ancestors, or the local gods of the region. 1
Joshua begins his discourse by reminding the Israelites of their history how Yahweh went to Abraham and made him the father of their people. He then reminds them of God rescuing them from bondage in Egypt. After reminding them of their heritage and salvation history, he challenges the people. From Joshua's perspective, they must now choose which god they will follow. Joshua tells them, Now therefore revere the Lord, he declares, and serve God in sincerity and in faithfulness... if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods that your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:14-15). In other words: Here are the alternatives, says Joshua, now make up your minds. Those who intend to serve the Lord step forward. The rest of you good luck! At least on the surface, the matter appears to be rather clear-cut. I mean, it's not as if he is asking these people to write an essay or fill in the blanks. This is more or less a multiple choice exam: a) the gods of your ancestors; b) the gods of the Amorites; c) Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel. Take a pencil and circle one of the above. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, not so fast. Keep in mind that the Israelites are dwelling in a society which has a veritable smorgasbord of deities. You name it; they have it. Simply pick up a menu and order a little heavenly intervention a la carte. Problem with your crops? Try the third idol to the left: bow three times, leave an offering, and you'll be harvesting within a couple of months. Over there, the one with the long line and the dancing girls gyrating on the stage out front: pay a visit to the sacred prostitutes, and your cattle will be blessed 2
with many calves. There are plenty of gods to go around, or so the surrounding culture suggests, so why take chances? It s always smart to hedge one s bets. There's no telling what the future will bring. It seems an compelling argument, I'll admit. But for Joshua, it's beside the point. It's not a question of choosing which god is more helpful; it's a question of choosing what is true. Quite frankly, if Yahweh is not the one true God, then serving the Lord is hardly an essential choice, no matter how beneficial it might turn out to be. However, if Yahweh is the one true God, then serving the Lord is the only essential choice, regardless of whether it provides any help at all. Make no mistake: Truth is the crucial issue for Joshua. And perhaps truth needs to be the crucial issue for each of us as well. And the truth in Joshua s mind is revealed in the declaration Joshua himself gives:... as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. For even in a world where nothing remains constant, the truth of God's abiding love lives on remaining throughout eternity, a love that cannot change and will not cease. I believe that more than anything else, I think this is the reason the question is so urgent for Joshua God is waiting for a response. Now you may say to all this, What does this have to do with me? I know I did when I first read the lesson last week in anticipation of the sermon. I reasoned, I ve already made the choice to follow the one, true God you know God, the Father of Jesus. To prove my devotion, I became a priest in Christ s Church. Then I thought, Most of the people I will be preaching to have made the same decision. Otherwise, you wouldn t be here today, or any day for that matter. You wouldn t pledge, sing in the choir, serve on the vestry, or spend the night with our Family Promise families. So, 3
again, what s the point? How does this passage from a book from the Old Testament that chronicles war and the conquering of the Holy Land have any relevance or challenge us? Well, it didn t take me long to answer these questions. You see, every day we have to choose which God we will follow. We may think we have already chosen the one true God in this case, God, the Father of Jesus. But in reality, we have our own little collection of idols tucked neatly away in our spiritual drawers. I know I do. If I were to open that drawer now, I d be afraid of what I might find. I suspect there would be an idol named Pride. Another one would be named Selfish. Then another would be named Self-righteous, while another would be named Petty. And those would only be the ones in the front of the drawer. I m not casting stones here, but I suspect many of you have spiritual drawers full of these little idols as well. Consequently, if you ask me, Joshua s challenge to the Israelites is no less urgent for us today. We must choose whether to love or to hate, to give or to hoard, to become involved or to withdraw. We must choose whether to talk badly about our neighbor over lunch following the service, or to keep such petty and hurtful comments to ourselves. We must choose whether to apologize for hurtful words we now regret and wish we could recant, or to add another brick to the wall of silence that exists between us and our neighbor. We must choose to devote one's life to something that will mean a difference in this world, or to settle into the seclusion of our own world. We must choose either to continue to worship the petty gods we have collected over the years. The decision is ours. And as in Joshua s time, God is patiently waiting for our response. 4
Thomas Long, the great preacher and professor of homiletics, told a story that captures how God continues to wait for us to choose Him over the petty gods we tend to collect in this life. In many ways the story is like the story of the Prodigal Son but it spoke to me on this issue of choice. The story is about a daughter who had to make a choice. When I was a child, she recalled, my dad and I were as close as we could be. And the times I knew it best would be at those family reunions, when after the big meal, they'd move all the furniture, crank up the stereo, and start playing polka records one after another. Eventually, someone would put on the Beer Barrel Polka. It was our special song. And my father would come over with an outstretched hand and say, Come on, girl, let's roll them blues away! And we d dance my father and I we d dance. As a teenager, however, I started to despise the silliness of those family gettogethers. I remember one occasion in particular when, for reasons known only to adolescents, I sat moping on the sofa in one of those don't-associate-with-anybody moods. As the Beer Barrel Polka began to play, my father came over with an outstretched hand. But I glared at him with icy indifference. Just leave me alone, I muttered under my breath. Startled, he turned, and never invaded my privacy again. He danced with my mother, he danced with my sisters, but not with me. I d come home from a date, and he d be waiting for me in the old chair his bathrobe loosely tied at the waist, an opened book in his lap, half asleep. What are you doing up? I'd say. Why don't you just go to bed? He d look at me with sad, pleading eyes and whisper, I was just waiting for you, that's all. I was just waiting for you. 5
I was glad to leave that house when I finally graduated from high school. My father and I had a distant, formal relationship, but not much more. Eventually, though, I began to miss what we had once enjoyed only I wasn't quite sure how to bridge the gap. Until one day, when I happened to be home for a family reunion, somebody put on the Beer Barrel Polka. As my father walked across the room, I went up to him with an outstretched hand and said, Daddy, I believe this is our dance. He looked at me and smiled, I ve been waiting for you. I've been waiting for you. 1 As for me and my household, Joshua proclaims, we will serve the Lord. Are there any other takers? God is waiting for us. AMEN 1 Thomas G. Long, Joy In The House, Princeton Seminary Chapel, Princeton, New Jersey, July 5, 1987. 6