Rev. George
Miller
March 28, 2021
Luke
19:29-44
Months ago we discussed
Deuteronomy 30, a vital chapter in our faith.
Moses had been leading the
people through the wilderness. Before
entering the Promised Land, they are given a choice- choose God or choose not
to follow God.
Moses reminds them of all
they and their ancestors have been through, all that God has done on their
behalf.
He says- “Before you is wellness
and life, adversity and decay. Choose
God, choose life, choose today so that you can enjoy God’s beautiful nahalah
and be blessed.”
Choice. It’s such a part of being an individual.
I think of a dear friend who
shared the reality of being a 1st time parent to a young girl soon to
be 2.
She’s discovering and
establishing a sense of space, choosing which parent she prefers.
At this moment, it’s not
him; and it hurts. He’s a tall, good
spirited, goofy fellow with a big heart who is used to using humor and a
winning smile to endear folk.
But not his daughter.
The other day he stepped
into her room. She did not want him
there. She told him so. When he didn’t leave,
she threw toys at him.
He thinks she’s misbehaving. What I observed is that she’s trying to
establish boundaries, and when he didn’t listen to her, she resorted to
physically articulating what he did not hear.
I told my friend that he
should be thankful that she is learning about personal space, knows how to say “no”,
and it’s important that he honors her request.
We also discussed the skill
of offering choices as opposed to “yes” or “no” questions.
Choice is not only part of
our identity as individuals, it plays a major part in our faith.
There’s that discussion
about God’s involvement in our life- does God control everything? Is our entire life plotted out and we have
zero control over what happens?
Are we just puppets in a
play that we didn’t know was already written?
Scripture tells us differently. Scripture shows again and again how folk are
free to make a choice.
Cain was given the choice to
not kill his brother. Shiphrah and Puah chose
to disobey the pharaoh.
Moses’ mother made a choice
to place her baby in a basket; Miriam chose to follow him down river; the Princess
chose to rescue him from the weeds.
Esther made the choice to
speak up, Jonah to run away, Daniel to pray.
Mary made a choice when she
said “Here I am.” The M & M Sisters made
their choices, which Jesus would not take away.
We can call these “The
Theology of Choice”.
The idea that although God
is active in our life, we are free to make our own choices, to experience the
results and consequences, to realize that the choices of others affects us, as
our choices affect them.
We see this in today’s
reading. Jesus has spent time with Zacchaeus. Now he is entering Jerusalem.
An outpouring of praise emerges
from the disciples as they lay down their cloaks and sing “Blessed is the king!”
The Gate Keepers of the faith
tell Jesus to silence his follower’s voices to which Jesus says, “If they were
silent, the stones would shout out” which is a poetic way of saying “I will not
take away their choice.”
If we subscribe to the
Theology of Choice, you can see it’s presence abound in the disciples choosing to
follow his instruction, the owner chooses to let them borrow the colt, the
people’s choice to celebrate, Jesus not silencing their voices.
Theology of Choice.
Is it possible that choice
is what justice is about? Allowing folks
to make decisions? Granting people the
ability to have a say in their life?
Therefore, is it taking away
the right to choose which makes something unjust?
Marriage Equality was about
giving folk the right to get married to who they love if they so choose.
Women’s Equity ensured women’s
right to vote and make the choice who they wanted to see in office.
Perhaps the biggest example
of American and global injustice is slavery, which has taken away the choice
and freedom of millions.
Choice.
Perhaps this is what has
made COVID so painful for many. The sense
that COVID has stripped away many of our choices.
The quarrels COVID has
created surrounding choice.
What is and what’s not the
right way to respond to a pandemic?
To mask or not to mask?
Distance or not to distance?
Vaccine or no vaccine?
Close church, continue worship
or some kind of hybrid?
Some states have said “This
is what you must do.” Other states have
said “This is what we suggest, but do what you want.”
Who makes these choices that
we are expected to live by?
Politicians? Business
owners? Church Council? Individual
church members?
Then there is the unexpected
thing COVID has done- it’s caused folk to evaluate why they do what they do.
For example, think of
worship.
Before COVID how many came
to church because they truly wanted to?
How many came cause of habit
or sense of obligation?
Now that we’re back to in-person,
folk wake up each Sunday and get to make a series of decisions-
Do I want to go, do I want to
stay in?
Do I want to change or stay
in my pjs?
Do I watch online? If so, do I watch now, later or another day?
Is this really the church I
want to worship at?
These options will forever
shape us. They will shape choices we
make as individuals, as servants, as a church.
How do we now praise
God? How do we welcome Jesus in? What ways do we worship?
What is God calling us to
be?
Post COVID, what are the
cloaks we’re willing to lay down? What
are the things we refuse to be silent about?
What are the choices and
boundaries God is placing before us?
The Theology of Choice.
We are not robots. We are not puppets. We are not mindless players on a stage.
We are individuals with our
own set of gifts, our own goals, our own dreams, our own limitations, our own
scars.
How do we honor the gift of
choice? How do we choose God? How do we welcome Jesus?
How do we best say “Hosanna! Hosanna!
Hosanna! Blessed is the one who
comes in the name of peace!”?
For that, we say “Amen.”
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