Bonus Sermon: “The Choices That Define Us”
Sermon
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B)
August 25, 2024
Joshua 24: 1-2a, 14-25
Psalm 16
Ephesians 5: 15-33
John 6: 60-69
“The Choices That Define Us”
All of life is about choices. For most of us, we choose when we will get up in the morning, what we’ll eat or wear, and what we’ll do. And there are myriads of other choices as well.
Some of them are pretty trivial, pretty inconsequential. With them, it is much as my father used to say, ‘If the dog hadn’t stopped to answer nature, he would have caught the rabbit.’ (Well, those aren’t the exact words he used. After all, he was a central Alberta farmer and was a bit more down to earth, a bit more colourful than that.)
As I have suggested that’s a rather trivial choice. But there are lots of more serious choices and the Bible mentions lots of them. Adam and Eve made a choice about whether to eat of the forbidden fruit or not, and we all, right to this very day, reap the consequences of that choice, that decision. Because of that fateful decision, that choice, sin, sorrow, shame and death came into the world.
The book of Proverbs is loaded with warnings about our choices and their consequences. On the matter of work, for instance, it says:
“Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way ants live. They have no leader, chief, or ruler, but they store up their food during the summer, getting ready for winter.
“How long is the lazy man going to lie around? When is he ever going to get up? “I'll just take a short nap,” he says; “I'll fold my hands and rest a while.” But while he sleeps, poverty will attack him like an armed robber.” (Proverbs 6:6-11).
And on the matter of our words and our speech it says:
“Intelligent people think before they speak; what they say is then more persuasive.” (Proverbs 16:23)
“Gossip is spread by wicked people; they stir up trouble and break up friendships.” (Proverbs 16:28)
“Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, quarreling stops.” (Proverbs 26: 20)
“Charcoal keeps the embers glowing, wood keeps the fire burning, and troublemakers keep arguments alive.” (Proverbs 26: 21)
“Getting involved in an argument that is none of your business is like going down the street and grabbing a dog by the ears.” (Proverbs 26: 17)
“Someone who tricks someone else and then claims that he was only joking is like a crazy person playing with a deadly weapon.” (Proverbs 26:18-19)
“There is more hope for a stupid fool than for someone who speaks without thinking”. (Proverbs 29:20)
“You will have to live with the consequences of everything you say.” (Proverbs 18:20)
Sayings of a similar type, sayings conveying warnings or advice, have probably been drummed into many of us from childhood. For instance, there were two things I could never forget as a child or teenager and even now subconsciously take to heart:
“Never do anything that you’re not prepared to take responsibility for”
And “Never do anything unless you can keep in control of yourself.”
Those sayings probably saved from a lot of trouble and grief. For instance, during my one year in a university residence I was around a lot of people who were actively taking drugs, whoofing down a swig of alcohol and then popping various kinds of pills. But given that I had no idea of their outcome or effects, and felt that had to keep in control, had to be willing to accept responsibility for whatever happened to me, I never touched them. Likewise, those sayings kept me away from what could have been very harmful, even dangerous, situations, like who I associated with or accepted rides from.
Today’s Scripture passages likewise speak of choices, some very real, big-time choices, two choices in fact:
Our reading from Joshua speaks about what is most important in our lives—what will be our gods. Or put another way, what will be the things that we give our time and attention to, our goals and ambitions for life. The Bible calls these things idols, which sounds strange or foreign to us, but in reality, anything or anyone that we give our lives to other than to Almighty God, is actually an idol.
And our reading from the Gospel of John picks up on yet another choice, a choice as to who we will follow, who will be the lord of our lives, who will be in charge of our lives. Will it be Jesus, or will it be someone else?
Interestingly, neither of these choices come in a vacuum, as if we are to make them ‘willy nilly’ for no good reason. In the first case, Israel’s choices came within the context of what God had done for them, done for Israel:
-their ancestor Abraham had been an idolator back in Mesopotamia,
what is now Iraq, and God led him by stages to a new land, a land he
could call his own.
-in the midst of a great and grievous famine there in Palestine, God
provided for Israel by sending Joseph ahead of them into Egypt to
store up grain so that they might not perish.
-unfortunately, a future king became frightened of their numbers and
strength and made them his slaves, and then, failing in that, tried to
wipe them out. But, once again, God intervened by rescuing them,
bringing them safely through the Red Sea and the wilderness and
bringing them back to their original lands.
So then, this is the context of the choice that Joshua set before the people of Israel: choose the God who had done all this for them, or else choose the gods of their neighbours.
So, what was the attractiveness of the gods of their neighbours? Well, according to their neighbours, who knew nothing of Israel’s God, these were the gods that made life work for them. They were the gods of the weather and crops and fertility, and by worshipping them, these neighbours supposed, they became fruitful and prosperous. That those gods were wicked and debauched and demanded terrible things of them made no difference. The locals figured that they were the key to life in that place. And so, for the newly returned Israelites, that made a lot of sense: why argue with something that seemed to have worked?
That same kind of reasoning can infect our thinking as well. If working ourselves to the bone and neglecting our health or our families, or our moral standards or moral compass, or espousing the sometimes questionable ideas and standards of those around us, if these seem to work for our neighbours, well, who are we to argue about it?
But then, whether with the Israelites or us, we would then be forgetting what we already know and have experienced of God: a God who is infinitely loving and caring and has our best in mind, a God who is control even over such things as the weather, the nations of the world and even sin and death. That then, is our first choice, whether to God with the God who we know and trust and know to be in control—or, to entrust ourselves to some other god, that is, some other goal or organizing principle in life.
And, as for the choice enunciated by Jesus in John’s Gospel, it was based on what the disciples had seen, experienced and heard in Jesus Himself. As the crowds on the far side of the Sea of Galilee said about Him, ‘He does all things well’ (Mark 7:37). Or as Peter says in today’s reading, ‘You have the words of eternal life’ (verse 68). Or as the Roman centurion said in observing Jesus’ death, “Surely this was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39). Or as Peter and John told the Sanhedrin after the Resurrection, “There is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved” (Acts 4:12). Indeed, there is no one quite like Jesus, so why would we choose to accept or follow or obey anyone else? That, then, is the second of our two choices.
These basic choices then have to do with either choosing God and His ways or choosing someone, someone else, and their ways. Here, as a way of choosing, we can remember what God has done for us and remember how precious and wonderful Jesus is for us.
American evangelist Bill Bright put the choice this way, “Every day I find countless opportunities to decide whether I will obey God and demonstrate my love for Him or try to please myself or the world system. God is waiting for my choices.” And yes, God is waiting upon our choices as well. Thanks be to God.
And so it is for each of us. Amen.