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Time after Pentecost - Lectionary 21
(B) Grace, mercy, and peace be with you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Today’s first reading is from the 24th and final chapter of the book of Joshua. Up until this point, the book of Joshua has depicted the Israelites’ rapid conquest of the land of Canaan – not because of their own might but because the LORD had given them victory over many foes who were much more powerful than they. After the conquest, before the Israelites settle by tribes into their newly acquired home-places, Joshua assembles them at Shechem, to give a farewell speech (he was very old) and to invite them to renew the covenant that had first been made at Mount Sinai. Joshua tells the people to choose whom they will serve, whether the gods that their ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land they were now living. And then he makes his famous statement: “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” The people in response seem to answer in a good way. They say, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods…” and then they recount all the ways that the LORD had protected and blessed them up to this point. And they conclude: “Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.” So what was the problem? The problem was that their words, as good as they sounded, were for the most part just words! They said that they would serve the LORD, but notably never said that they would therefore NOT serve other gods. Many if not most of them still had Amorite and Mesopotamian stone idols in their tents which were often being worshiped in secret – and sometimes even openly. The Israelites were just like most people are today. They indeed worshiped and served the LORD when it was convenient, but they also wanted the freedom to be able to worship and serve other gods at the same time. They wanted to worship and serve ALL of the gods whom they were attracted to instead of having to make a choice to choose only one and to reject the others. Isn’t that what we are often like in our lives? We want it all! So often we want our choices to be “both – and” instead of “either – or”. For example I want to be physically fit but I also want to not have to exercise. I want to be at an ideal weight, but I also want to be able to eat all and everything that I want all of the time. In the management of our time we often do the same thing. We have two tasks that we want to do, but instead of saying “yes” to one and “no” to the other we try to do them both. The result, of course, is that neither task gets the full time and attention that it should. And the same thing is often true in our life with God as well. We say that we want to love and serve the LORD. But we also have a number of other priorities in our lives that we also want to love and serve – and eventually our love for and service to God gets more and more crowded out and pushed to the side. Our faith becomes just a peripheral thing rather than being at the center of whom and what we are. True love and commitment to God, however, means saying “No” to other gods. As Joshua tells the Israelites in today’s first reading, “Put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.” Or in other words, “Throw these other gods out – get rid of them – and serve the LORD alone!” In order for a relationship between two people to grow to its deepest level, they eventually have to make a conscious choice of saying “No” to others. In the traditional wedding vows, for example, those being married each promise “to forsake all others and keep only unto him (or her) for as long as they both shall live.” Without that commitment to “forsake all others”, a bride and groom’s love for one another – and trust in each other – will never reach its fullest potential. Their “Yes” to one another must also always be accompanied by a “No” to any other rivals for their love and affection. So it is also for us in our relationship with God. God does not only want our “Yes” – he also wants our “No”. He wants our commitment that we will not serve any other gods – that we will put them away so that he (and he alone) will be the focus of our trust and love. Put away the Amorite and Mesopotamian idols – and put away the modern day idols such as money, power, sex, popularity, recreation and sports, or whatever may be keeping us from fully loving and trusting and serving the LORD. We are being called upon to say “No” to other gods, so that our “Yes” to the LORD will be total and wholehearted. Then, and then only, we will truly know and experience the blessings that He wants to give us. I think that this is also what Jesus has been stressing in his “bread of life” discourses from the 6th chapter of John these past weeks. To have eternal life, Jesus says, it is not enough to just partially believe in and serve him. We must also “eat his flesh and drink his blood” – that is, to completely take his life into our own so that he alone is our Lord and Savior – so that we have no other gods, and no other lords, and no other saviors. When we give ourselves to Jesus totally and absolutely, that is when we will know God’s love and peace. Our gospel tells us that when confronted with this, many of Jesus’ disciples said “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” - and that they then turned back and no longer went about with him. So it is with many people today. They will believe in and follow Jesus up to a point, but they do not want to say “No” to other teachings and priorities and relationships. They do not want to love and serve him only as their Lord and Savior. Eventually, it always comes down to a choice – an “either – or” kind of choice. Whom will we serve? Whom will we love to the exclusion of all others? May we, along with Joshua, say “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” And may we, along with Peter in today’s gospel say, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” May we serve the LORD, and him only. May we follow Jesus, and him only. Then we shall know God’s love, and joy, and peace in the depths of our souls – and we shall have eternal life. So may it be for us today and always, in Jesus’ name. Amen! -------------------- Pastor George Karres 418 W. Main St. Sidney, MT 59270
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