Rev. George Miller
Oct 16, 2022
Joshua 24:14-18
Past, popular, or present. That’s
what today’s reading is about. Choosing. Making a choice.
Do you stick with what was in the past?
Do you choose what’s popular? Do
you opt for the present, knowing who you are and where you are?
Choose today what is best for you; what is best for your household.
Last week we were camped out with Moses by Sinai mountain. He told the people they were God’s most
precious possessions. They were given a
chance to accept such an honor. They
were blessed with 10 Commandments.
Now, 40 years have passed. Moses
is dead; Joshua is their new leader.
They are poised to enter the Promised Land, a place flowing with all the
milk, butter, bread, and gasoline that you could want.
But before the people go into the Promised Land, before they leave behind
their time in the wilderness, Joshua reminds them of all they have been through,
all they have seen, and all that God has done for them.
Joshua gives each and every one of them a chance, an opportunity to
decide, for themselves who they will serve and who they will be.
Joshua tells them “Before you step into your future, choose today what
you will do. Will you cling to the ways
of the past when your enslaved ancestors worshipped other gods.”
“Will you look around at other people and decide you want to be just like
them, so you’ll worship their deities.”
“Or will you allow the God who is here, the God who is now, the God who
saw your through the sea, the sand, through the hunger and thirst, to be your
one and only?”
Joshua does not force his choice upon them. Nor does Joshua force them to choose his
way. He does not shame them; he does not
condemn them.
Joshua says “Choose who you will serve- the idols of your enemies, the
gods of the cool kids, or the One who calls you God’s most precious jewel.”
Joshua then says “As for me, my family and I will serve the Lord.”
Joshua could have chosen the god of his captors, he could’ve taken the
easy route and did what everyone else was doing, but instead he goes with the
God who is Still Speaking.
What’s so lovely here is that Joshua’s notion of faith is one of
service. He is not asking “who will you
pray to?” or “who will you sing too?” He
is not asking “who will you donate to.”
Joshua asks is “Who will you serve?”
It’s a bold turn. He is tying his
own mission and identity to what he knows about God.
He is implying that the one he serves is the one who will authorize and
energize him.
Joshua is articulating that to choose to serve God means that one is
willing to be an agent of God, an actor for God, that one is willing to do
justice, love kindness, walk humbly.
The beauty of today’s reading is that no one is being forced into their
faith, no one is being told “this is what you have to do.”
The beauty is that each and every person is being invited to select who
they will serve.
For Joshua, it is a no brainer- he will serve the God who saves, and because
of the gift of the 10 Commandments, Joshua already knows how to serve-
To speak honestly, to be content with what he has, to not harm his
parents, his spouse, his neighbors.
Joshua knows that to serve God means don’t hurt God through words or manufactured
idols.
Joshua knows that to serve God also means to rest, to allow the earth,
the animals, the immigrants to rest as well.
Perhaps most wonderful of all is when Joshua says “Choose today.”
Choose today who you will serve-
What this implies is that the choice is not a one-time deal, but an
ongoing decision made each and every day, each and every time we wake up.
Choose today, Joshua says, with the implication that if you choose the
past or choose the popular and it doesn’t work out for you, you can choose
again tomorrow and select God.
Choose today, Joshua says, which also means that if we do choose God, and
we slip up, we fail, we make a tragic mistake…guess what?- we can choose again all over.
“Choose,” Joshua says to a people who have been wandering in the wilderness
for so long.
Choose who you will serve. The past,
the popular, or the one who calls you the most precious possession.
Who do you choose at this moment, in this place, at this time?
Amen and amen.
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