Choices: Sermon on Joshua 24 from Oct 14, 2018

Rev. George Miller
Oct 14, 2018
Joshua 24:1-26

Life is filled with choices. In fact, it’s been said that an average person makes about 70 choices a day, or 25,000 choices in a year.

There are those choices that are fun:
Stay in or go out?
Cook dinner or order pizza?
Watch TV or rent a movie?

There are those that are a bit more serious:
Go to college or trade school?
Take the job offer or not?

There are those choices that are downright difficult:
Pay the car note or buy groceries?
Stay in this relationship or go?

Then there are the choices in which either one is a no win situation:
Stop receiving cancer treatment now or continue with the hopes of 6 more months?
Send my loved one to Good Shepherd Hospice or allow them to die at home?

Life is full of choices, and more often than not we always get to make a choice even if it does not feel that way, even if the choice is difficult, even when either outcome breaks our hearts.

A sign of a person’s emotional health and spiritual wellness is when they make a difficult choice and come to peace with it.

A sign that a person is overwhelmed or about to break is when they say “I have no choice” or “If I don’t do it, who will?”

Except for extreme situations, there is almost always a choice, even if it is choosing how to respond, how to sink or how to swim.

This notion of choice is so prevalent in today’s reading. In fact, this theme of choice has appeared throughout every reading we have done over the past 6 weeks.

Noah is called to build an ark; he could have said “No.”

Abraham is told to get up and go; he could have said “Heck no!”

Joseph could have engaged in an adulterous relationship with Potiphar’s wife.

The Israelites could have taken one look at the parted waters and said “There’s no way on earth we’re walking through that!”

Moses was invited up the mountain to have a meeting with God and he could have said “No way, Jose!”

And the people could have taken one look at the 10 Commandments and said “Sorry God, but we’re gonna have to pass. We like working on Saturday and don’t want to have to edit what we say or do.”

Choice after choice after choice is made by our ancestors in the Old Testament, and they get to make these choices consciously, even if they don’t always fully understand what the long-term rewards and consequences are.

And if you notice- God also has the ability to make choices. Nowhere does scripture say that because God created the world, God had to look after it.

God could have been like an absentee Father. God could have been like a potter who makes a vase and gives it away. God could have been like a mama shark who gives birth to her young and then gobbles them all up.

But that’s not what we see with God. The idea of God being removed or uninvolved in Creation is the furthest thing from the biblical narratives.

We see God engage with us in the garden. We see God remember us in the flood. We see God invite us into new wilderness adventures.

We see God bless us in the jail cell. We see God part the waters, and we see God provide nourishment in the dessert.

Today we see God take it upon Godself to once again strengthen the love affair between God and the Israelites.

It has been decades now since the people crossed the Red Sea. It’s been decades since they wandered the desert. It’s been decades since they have been in the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey.

It has been years of rest. Of comfort. Of peace. It’s sort of like a spiritual retirement for the people, as they have a chance to enjoy their days after years and years of hard work and struggle.

Joshua has been their faithful leader. He has taken over the role of Moses. Joshua is now the one who stands before God on the people’s behalf and shares the intra-holy communication with the folks.

But now Joshua is coming to the end of his days, and the end of his ministry. So he gives the people one final sermon.

In this sermon he reminds them of who they were. He reminds them of all that God has done on their behalf. He reminds them of who they are now.

After recounting all the wonderful works of the LORD, Joshua invites the people to make a choice.

They can choose to continue worshipping God and following the commandments, or they can choose to walk away, do their own thing, and worship whoever or whatever they please.

This invitation is astounding. This invitation is indicative to just how awesome and abundantly loving God is.

Even after all that God has done, even after all the promises their ancestors have made in years past, God still gives this new generation a choice- they can choose God or they can choose another way.

The freedom is theirs; they are not being forced; their arm is not being twisted; there is no shotgun at their back or shackles on their feet.

God wants their relationship to be so valid, so real, so true, that God is willing to lose them then to force them to stay…

…Think on that for a moment…

For the sake of having a true, meaningful connection with the people, God is willing to lose it all.

If that is not love…

What we are witnessing here today is that notion of Covenant that guides the Old Testament narratives.

This notion of Covenant is the very basis of our denomination’s faith and structure.

Covenant.

Covenant is that rainbow God placed in the sky after the Flood. Covenant is the words God spoke to Abraham about children and land and blessings. Covenant is what inspired God to give the 10 Commandments.

As our new members learned 2 weeks ago, a covenant is an agreement between 2 parties.

It’s kind of like a promise, but it is so much more than that.

A covenant is a decision that is made because one wants to, not because one has to. A covenant does not involve force or ultimatums.

A covenant is a choice that 2 people or 2 parties make, not because they must, but because they may.

For example, no one forced Marjorie or James to join Emmanuel UCC; it is something they asked about; something they discussed; something in which there were willing to meet certain criteria.

Our church is in Covenant with the FL Conference of the UCC; not because the regional ministers bribed us or forced our hand, but because we chose to be in relationship with the other UCC churches in our state.

A Covenant is a beautiful reality because it is based on mutuality, it is based on freedom, it is based on love.

A Covenant is based on choice.

In our New Member class we talked about certain beliefs that Protestants have. Perhaps none is greater than the belief that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God.

What this means is that if you want to know who God is, if you want to see God’s love and compassion in action, we don’t have to look any further than the life Jesus lived.

And if we look at the life of Jesus, we will see how much of his ministry and interactions with the people dealt with choice.

For example, when Jesus met the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethsaida, he didn’t offer the man what he wasn’t ready for, instead Jesus asked “Do you want to be made clean?”

When Jesus accepted the hospitality of Martha, he did not take away Mary’s choice to sit by his feet and to learn while her sister served with anxious abandon.

We see this when Jesus meets the woman at the well, and he gives her the chance to accept the gift of Living Water.

And we see how Jesus is given his own choice to make when he is in the garden and he is faced with a no-win situation- to accept the cup God had given him or to deny who he was meant to be.

Choices. We make about 70 a day; 25,000 a year, about 2 million choices in a life-time.

Some are easy. Coke or Pepsi?

Some are hard. Stay or go?

Some choices are painful; while others are outright unfair.

But we almost always have a choice we can make.

Today’s reading is a reminder that when it comes to God, things are no different.

God does not force Godself upon us. God does not demand we unknowingly give it all to Him.

God does not force us against our will or black mail us into submission.

God calls to us. God speaks. God invites.

God watches over us. God remembers.

God blesses, God parts the seas and God says “Look what I have done for you.”

God calls to each and every one of us; God is patient.

God says “Choose me today,” and even if we say “No!” or we mess up, God is right there the next day saying “Choose me today, because I have already chosen you.”

God is waiting; God is ready.

What will your choice be?

Amen and amen.