Sermons from Myers Park Presbyterian Church

November 27, 2011

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Dr. Steven P. Eason
"We Need Some Things We Don’t Expect"
Isaiah 64:1-9

 

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O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence— ²as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence! ³When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. ⁴From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. ⁵You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed.

⁶We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. ⁷There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. ⁸Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. ⁹Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.

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Two weeks ago I was invited to participate on a panel for a psychology class at the Pfeifer University extension here in Charlotte.  The topic was, “Religion and Psychotherapy” and the panelists included a rabbi, the director of Catholic Social Services, a Muslim Haman and me as the token Protestant! 

The students had questions as to how we deal with a person’s faith and our own view of God in a therapeutic relationship.  The four of us agreed on more than one might think.  But there were differences. 

The rabbi shared his belief in the “Watchmaker Theory.”  God is the watchmaker who designs the watch and then steps away from it.  God is absent from the world which explains how things like the Holocaust could happen.  Evil in the world is an abuse of humankind’s freewill.  There are other tragedies like natural disasters, accidents and illness, which indicate an impossibility for God to be present.  God is absent or God simply does not care.  

Beyond the Watchmaker Theory is the possibility that God is punishing us.  But if things like the Holocaust, cancer, car accidents, and other tragedies are a means of divine punishment, then God apparently chooses to punish some but not others.  We all “…have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) So all should be punished.  Does God pick and choose? 

Jews, Muslims, Christians, atheists and the like, seek to find meaning and purpose in light of pain and suffering.  Is God absent?  Is God punishing some for their sins?  Are there times when God momentarily withdraws from history but chooses to intervene at other times?  (Jewish theologians call this “The Eclipse of the Divine Presence.”)   Others say that, “God is dead,” otherwise God would intervene on our behalf.  Still others have come to the conclusion that God may exist but God is not omnipotent, God is limited or self limits, in order to allow our free will to exist.  In other words, God’s hands are tied. 

Regardless of the theory, people try to make sense of the world and discern God’s activity, or lack thereof, in it.

This section of Isaiah is a part of a communal lament.  Israel had occupied the Promised Land but had a long cycle of being unfaithful.  They worshipped other gods.  They forgot their roots and so God allowed the Babylonians to conquer them.  At least, that’s how they saw it.  In exile for almost 50 years, they were finally released when the Persians defeated the Babylonians.  Going home to restore Jerusalem would not be an easy task.  The restoration of anything is never an easy task. 

So, the prophet cries out for a demonstration of divine power,

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down.  (64:1a)   

In other words,” O that you would get involved!”  It’s a very common prayer. 

There has never been a time in the history of the world without dishevel, chaos, pain or suffering.  In our current world we wonder what will be our financial future.  The people of Greece and Italy wonder that.  The G-20 Summit had to wonder about it.  Christine Lagarde, Chairperson of the International Monetary Fund, wonders.  She was quoted to say, “There are dark clouds over Europe and uncertainty in the United States.”  (60 Minutes, November 20, 2011) 

But does God have anything to do with our finances or are we left to sort this out on our own?  And if so, are we to look to our political leaders?  Who among them will lead us?  Does it do any good to pray for the elections, for Congress, or is God detached from all of that? 

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, … (64:1a)

And now would be a good time, by the way. 

In our times of trials and tribulations we long for divine activity.  That’s one of the dangers of prosperity.  When you are prosperous you can be lulled to sleep by a false sense of security.  In prosperity, we want God to keep the blessings coming.  Endorse us.  We try to turn God into a “Genie-in-the-Bottle.”  God exists for us.  We pray for things and God produces them.  It’s a consumer-driven religion that is obviously a small, tainted and unhealthy view of God.  It’s not a very accurate view of ourselves either.

In our despair we want God to “tear open the heavens and come down.“  We don’t care how, we just want it to happen.  We don’t want a “Watchmaker God.”  We don’t want a God who created and then detached.  We want God to help us now. 

We can’t explain the Holocaust or genocides, child abuse, or how anything else evil can happen in a world where God exists.  We don’t know when God will intervene, or even if God will intervene.  We pray for intervention but we don’t know what the answer will be.  Sometimes the answer is, “Yes.”  Sometimes the answer is apparently, “No.”  We don’t know what makes the difference.  How are we to know?  God’s activity in the world is a mystery – to all of us; to Jews, Muslims, Christians and the like.  

The truth is, “We Need Some Things We Don’t Expect.”  Isaiah writes, 

When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down; the mountains quaked at your presence.  (64:3) 

The world needs some of that.  We need something we don’t expect.  We need something we cannot produce. 

But there is a brutal honesty in Isaiah that none of us deserves this divine intervention. 

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.  We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind, take us away.  There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.  (64:6-7) 

We’re not exactly in the best position to be expecting God to do anything for us.  But if that’s the way it works, we would all perish.  God doesn’t intervene in human life based on who deserves it.  It’s not a merit system.  Isaiah writes; 

Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.  Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity forever.  Now consider, we are all your people.  (64:8-9) 

Sometimes the only prayer we have is reminding God of who we are.  “We belong to you.”  Don’t leave us down here without your power and your strength. 

Today is the first Sunday of Advent but every year the Church struggles to do Advent because it’s not about Christmas.  It’s about the anticipation of the second coming of Christ.  It’s not about getting ready for the birth of Christ.  It’s about his return. 

Will Willimon writes, “The world wants Christmas jingles and the Church sings laments.”  (The Christian Century, Dec. 19-26, 1984, p. 1192)  I don’t know if the world does want Christmas jingles.  Some people want God to show up.  Some people want more than a passing Christmas holiday season.  Some people need to be surprised by God’s activity in the world.  They are longing for something real and lasting.  We need God to do something that we don’t expect. 

Jesus came to a broken world, a world of lament.  He came to redeem it; to salvage it; to reclaim it.  We don’t need a helpless infant under the stars.  This world needs a powerful God to “tear open the heavens and come down.” 

As Christians, our hope is not limited to a political party or a candidate.  Our hope is not based solely on the wisdom of our financial leaders.  Our hope is not confined to our courts of law to bring justice on earth, or to our police or military to provide protection for all people.  Our hope drills down a lot deeper than all of that.  Our hope is in the God of Abraham and Sarah – the God of Covenant who came in Jesus Christ and sent the Holy Spirit; a God who is mysterious but not far away; a God who cares about the world; a God who has sacrificed for the world, who continues to be our Father, our potter, our redeemer, and friend. 

Sometimes the only prayer you have is an Advent prayer; 

‘We need something we don’t expect, O Lord.  We cannot fix ourselves.  We need you to tear open the heavens and come down.  Not because we deserve it, but because we don’t.  You are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are the work of your hand.’ 

So begins Advent.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Congregation:  Amen

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November 20, 2011

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Dr. Steven P. Eason
"Thanksgiving!"
Deuteronomy 26:1-11

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When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, ²you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. ³You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” ⁴When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, ⁵you shall make this response before the Lord your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. ⁶When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, ⁷we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. ⁸The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; ⁹and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.” You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. ¹¹Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.

 

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I Thessalonians 5:12-18

¹²But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; ¹³esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. ¹⁵See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.

¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

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This Thursday we will sit down at our tables of Thanksgiving.  For many, but not all, it will be a day of family, friends, food and football.  It’s a day for Christians, Jews and Muslims – people of all faiths or no faith, to pause and give thanks.  Thanksgiving is a national holiday that has evolved throughout American history.

Three hundred and ninety-one years ago, in September of 1620, a group of English merchants financed the voyage to America for 102 men, women and children. 

• They sailed for 65 days (just over two months) on the Mayflower.  A third of that group, 34 of them, were Puritans, or separatists, from the Church of England.  (So, they were disgruntled Episcopalians!)  The rest of the group was hired to protect the interest of the investors. 
• Their original destination was Virginia, but because of an error in navigation, they ended up in New England.  They dropped anchor on November 21, 1620 in what is now Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts, which is just inside the hook of Cape Cod.  It was there that they drew up the Mayflower Compact to govern themselves and for almost a month they sailed up and down the coast of the Cape area looking for the best place to settle until they were forced by a blinding snowstorm to take refuge on December 21, 1620 at Plymouth.  Their first winter was devastating and they lost 42 of the original 102 who made the trip.   
• In the spring of 1621, two Indians by the name of Samsoset and Squanto befriended the 60 remaining settlers and taught them how to survive in the wild.  The fall of that year, they had a bountiful harvest and Governor William Bradford declared a celebration.  They invited 90 of their Native American friends for a three-day festival, what we now call the first Thanksgiving Day.  (Sylvia Hawes – a direct descendant of William Bradford) 

Here’s what I didn’t know.  The settlers did not repeat their celebration of Thanksgiving the following year.  Two years later in 1623, during a severe draught, they gathered to pray for rain.  When a long, steady rain followed on the very next day, Governor Bradford proclaimed another day of Thanksgiving with their Native American friends.  Grateful for rain.

It wasn’t until the year 1777, that was 156 years after that first Thanksgiving Day, that all thirteen colonies would join for the first time in a Thanksgiving Day celebration.  That was mostly a celebration of our victory over the British and it was a one-time affair.  From there the day varied among the colonies.  

Eleven years later in 1789, President George Washington proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving, which was spurred by the completion of the Constitution of the United States.  He wasn’t particularly a religious man but he wrote, 

Now therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26^th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States, to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be:  That we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for his kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation…; - and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He hath been pleased to infer upon us.      (George Washington, 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation, The Salem Mercury (Mass.) 1789 Volume 111, No. 158 front page) 

There were those, including Jefferson, who felt an annual national holiday set aside for Thanksgiving was not necessary, but in 1846 (225 years after that first Thanksgiving), Sarah Hale, a magazine editor, went on a 17 year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents in order to establish Thanksgiving Day as a national holiday.  (Ms. Hale was the author of the nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” but apparently Ms. Hale was anything but a “little lamb!”)  She prevailed. 

It was four months after the victory at Gettysburg in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving in response to the end of the Civil War.  He wrote,

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.  (www.classicallibrary.org/lincoln/thanksgiving.htm) 

Every president since Lincoln has honored the day as a national holiday. 

Here’s something you may not know.  Franklin Roosevelt moved the date up by one week in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season, which was met with public uproar.  Two years later, he moved it back!  (President Roosevelt would be pleased to know that we now begin the Christmas season the day after the Fourth of July!)  

So, the American Thanksgiving Day has evolved over the past 391 years.  Sixty survivors from the Mayflower, along with 90 of their Native American friends gave thanks for a year of survival.  Other Thanksgiving Days came because of, 

• gratitude for rain
• victories over the British
• the establishment of the Constitution of the United States
• and for the end of the Civil War.   

From a historical perspective, the American Thanksgiving Day originated as a response of gratitude after times of trial and tribulation.  It was a celebration at the end of times of scarcity.  It was a time to remember the providence of God that sustained us through difficult and painful times. 

From a biblical perspective, the same is true.  Thanksgiving comes not solely because of our abundance in the present but also because of the many ways in which we have been sustained in trying times in the past.  

Paul writes to the Thessalonians; 

…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (I Thess. 5:18) 

The children of Israel looked back and remembered God’s providential hand that led them out of Egypt, a place of slavery.  They looked back at how God had sustained them in the wilderness, and led them to the Promised Land.  That happened over years.  But they never forgot.  

The power of gratitude is in looking back and remembering how God has been at work in your life, in the lives of others and in the world.  It’s not always the abundance for which we are thankful.  Sometimes there is no abundance.  More often, it is for God’s providence in times of scarcity; in times of trials and tribulations. 

With the spirit of our forefathers and mothers we will gather around our tables of Thanksgiving on Thursday to celebrate this great American holiday.  We are grateful for our many blessings but let us also give thanks for the many ways in which God has sustained us in our times of trouble and despair.

…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  (I Thess. 5:18) 

Thanks be to God! 

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Congregation:  Amen

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November 13, 2011

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Dr. Steven P. Eason
"Risk Management"
Matthew 25:14-30

 

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¹⁴“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; ¹⁵to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. ¹⁷In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. ¹⁸But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ ²¹His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ ²²And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ ²³His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; ²⁵so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ ²⁶But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? ²⁷Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. ²⁹For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. ³⁰As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

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Well, that sounds awful doesn’t it?  No one wants to be that “worthless slave,” thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Terrible! 

Let’s remember that this story never actually happened.  Jesus made the whole thing up.  It’s a parable.  Parables don’t have facts, they just have truth.  This means, you have to be very careful with a parable.  It’s easy to overcook it, try to get too much out of it, or not enough, you can miss the whole point of it.

On first reading, this parable seems to say that each of us is given different talents and we should use them or we’re going to be severely punished.  But is that what its saying?  Puts the fear of God in you, I know that.  So Jesus wants us to live our lives out of guilt and fear?  God’s going to get us if we don’t behave?  What does that say about who God is? 

Is God like this master who goes away, entrusting his property to his slaves, giving five talents to one, two to another and then one to some poor soul?  Seems unfair.  And then God just goes away?  Is God like this master?  Absent and demanding – unfair and cruel? 

When the master does return, he wants to settle his accounts.  Another loving image of God.  But that’s how a lot of folks look at Christianity, as some kind of “heavenly examination system.” (Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone, Part 2, p. 136)   God gives you the rules and then comes back to grade you.  A cosmic version of Santa Claus; making a list and checking it twice. 

Is Jesus telling us that God is like this earthly slave master?  Or, is Jesus not talking about God here at all?  He could just be using a modern day example of slavery to get to another point.  The spotlight of the parable is not on the master but on the third slave.  That’s who Jesus wants us to see. 

All three slaves receive an enormous amount of wealth.  A talent was not something like playing the piano or carving a sculpture.  A talent was a measure of weight in silver, gold or copper.  One talent could equal about 6,000 denari and one denarius was a common laborers daily wage.  So, a talent would be roughly equivalent to 17 years of wages for the average worker, if they worked every day.  Five talents would amount to the value of almost 100 years of wages!  So, it’s obvious that Jesus has put these crazy amounts in here to make a point.  The master has been more than generous.

The first two slaves doubled their holdings.  Those are the guys you want to hire at the bank!  This other guy received one talent, which is still a lot.  Jesus has him go off and dig a hole in the ground and hide his master’s money. 

Before you judge him too harshly, that’s not actually a bad idea.  In fact, in our economy, who doesn’t feel like burying their wealth in the ground?  At least you won’t lose it!

                        “Risk management,” is a term we hear a lot in a banking town.

(It’s) the identification, assessment and prioritization of risk followed by a coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities.  (Wikopedia.org) 

(I had a lot to look up!)       

Now, risk can come from a lot of sources; from uncertainty in the market, from failures, liabilities, accidents, natural causes, deliberate attacks or just things that are uncertain and unpredictable.  We have strategies to manage risk, to transfer risk to another party, to avoid the risk, to reduce the negative affect or even to choose to accept the lesser risk to avoid the greater risk.  People do this for a living!  Some of you.  Truth is we all do it to different degrees.  We’re risk managers! 

And, isn’t that what this third slave is doing – risk management?  He decides to play it safe, dig a hole, put the 17 years of wages in the ground and protect it from thieves and the risk of losing it.  So, when the master comes back he’ll get what’s his.  That’s a deal in today’s market.  You throw a guy in the outer darkness for this? 

So, Jesus, what’s your point?  The point may not be with what the third slave did or did not do with the talent but with the fact that he has an awful relationship with the master.  Listen to this.  When the master comes back the one talent slave says, 

‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, (circle the word, “afraid”), and I went and hid your talent in the ground.  Here you have what is yours.’  (25:24-25) 

Now we’re at the heart of the problem.  This parable is not so much about using your talents or giving more money to the church. (Although we need you to get your pledge cards in and we do need those increases!)  This parable is about having a relationship with God that’s not based on fear.  Or knowing a generous and gracious God and living accordingly. 

How many people in the world today see God as somebody to be avoided?  God is some unknown, far away, absent entity who sits with arms crossed and a scowl on his face, looking down and waiting for you to mess up.  And when you do, you are thrown into the “outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  (25:30)  That’s a pretty awful view of God, isn’t it?  Who would want to worship that? 

It’s not a wonder that some people avoid church and stay away from Christianity if that’s the way they see God, or the way we have projected our relationship with God.  Life is like a big exam.  If you get it right, you get rewarded.  If you get it wrong, you are punished for eternity.  That’s a very long time!  A billion years, times a billion years then times 10 more billion and add on 40 billion more.  You’re still not done.  That’s a lot of billions for the mistakes you made in just 85 or 90 years (if you should live so long).  Is that really the way it works?  Is that who God is? 

I know it says here that there are consequences to our choices; that we can separate ourselves from the graciousness of God.  Not so much by digging holes and managing the risk as it is by seeing God as some “harsh man reaping where (he) did not sow and gathering where (he) did not scatter seed.”  (25:24b)   That’s the outer darkness.  You’re outside the grace – outside the generosity – outside the life of faith.   It’s really dark out there.  Your life’s in a hole in the ground. 

There are those scholars who think Jesus has this third slave representing the scribes and Pharisees.  Two chapters back, in Matthew, he delivers some strong confrontations concerning their hypocrisy and legalism.  It may be that this third slave is the scribe or the Pharisee who has received the law of God and just buried it.  It’s as if Jesus is saying,

‘You’re just keeping the law.  You’re doing all the right things but for the wrong reasons.  There’s no life in it.  You’re just keeping the rules for your own self- preservation.  You’ve missed the whole point.  It’s not how it works.‘  

Whatever Christianity is, it’s not a merit badge system.  Salvation is not by works, but it is a free, gracious gift like a master entrusting five talents, 100 years of wages, to a slave.  It should compel you to live a generous life – a life of faith and trust in God.  Don’t bury it. 

When we reduce the Christian faith to merely a religion of rules and regulations with traditions, we suck the life out of it.  We dig a hole and bury it.  There are other scholars who suggest the third slave may indeed be the Church today.  We dig holes and bury things, keeping them safe, avoiding the risks, rather than living generous and gracious lives with the doors open to all kinds of people.  “Here’s the grace you gave us Lord and we doubled it!”  I’d like to belong to that church.  Who wouldn’t?  But oddly enough, some don’t.  That’s why Jesus probably told this parable. 

The shift that Jesus is most likely calling for in this parable is a shift in the way we see who God is.  We may be spending too much energy digging holes trying to save things, rather than investing them graciously and generously in the things of God.  The worst risk of all is that of missing the joy in life because you were so calculated and so afraid of failing.  The even greater risk is in seeing God in the wrong light and wasting your whole life accordingly.  Maybe Jesus is calling us to manage that risk.  

It’s not about the money.  You could turn five talents into forty and still have the misconception of who God is.  It’s about the relationship.  The third slave buried his talent because he was afraid of the master.  Jesus is inviting us to see it another way. 

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

Congregation:  Amen

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November 6, 2011

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Whom do you serve?
Joshua 24: 1-3, 14-25

There are times in life when it is important to renew commitments and remind yourself why you made the commitment in the first place.   At the end of the book of Joshua, the leader of the Israelites calls the people to renew their commitment to God.  The country is at peace.  Life is going well.  People are comfortable.   And, Joshua asks: Whom do you serve?

 One commentator has noted that “this is a defining moment for Israel, in that the people are asked not only to identify their god, but to shape their own self-identity as well.” [i]  When we identify the god we serve, we begin to define who we are as persons and as a people.  This was true in the ancient world and it is true today.   

"Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. ²And Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. ³Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac;"

‘Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’

16 Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; ¹⁷for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; ¹⁸and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.’

"19 But Joshua said to the people, ‘You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. ²⁰If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good.’ ²¹And the people said to Joshua, ‘No, we will serve the Lord!’ ²²Then Joshua said to the people, ‘You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.’ And they said, ‘We are witnesses.’ ²³He said, ‘Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.’ ²⁴The people said to Joshua, ‘The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.’ ²⁵So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem."

Whom do you serve?   This question is a challenge, because there are times we place something other than God at the center of our lives. 

 When my husband and I were first married we lived in a small apartment in San Francisco.  We were just starting our careers and we had big dreams for the future.  My aunt and uncle came to visit.  After dinner that evening, we talked to them about moving and owning our own home, buying new furniture, making more money.  In our minds this was the ticket to happiness and freedom.  My uncle looked around and said to us:  you are going to look back on this as the happiest time of your life.  At the time, I thought that was ridiculous.  In fact, I didn’t understand what he was talking about.  I thought that the more we had the better life would be. 

 Some 20 years later, when we lived in a large house, with a big yard to mow, a driveway with 4 cars in it and college tuition to pay, I thought about what he said.  And, when my husband and I downsized and moved temporarily into an apartment again, we finally understood what my uncle meant.  The pressing obligations, continual upkeep of everything we owned, and the stress of all the stuff had pushed God to the margins.  Even though I was serving the church, I realized how easy it was to serve other gods.  My work, my achievements and my ambitions sometimes pushed God to the edges of my life.  I knew this wasn’t right, but it just happened.  I had responsibilities and obligations.  But, secretly I hoped God would make my life easier, without my having to make any changes. 

 Well-known Charlotte artist Romare Bearden is quoted as saying: 

"You have to go back to where you started to gain insights.  Things that aren’t essential have been stripped away and the meaning of other things has become clear."

Once we begin to strip away the non-essential things that clutter our lives we gain clarity and are able to make different choices.  We don’t have to do this.  The decision isn’t forced on any of us.  We are asked to choose whom we will serve.  We are free to choose.    

Many of us haven’t thought about this in a long time.  We had the decision about whom we would serve made for us when we were babies; then we confirmed this choice as teenagers.  We have routines and habits and this is one of them.  Our text this morning invites us to return to the question again – to make a choice and renew our commitment.

How do we begin to do this?

We need to know who we are choosing.  Which God are we putting at the center of our lives?  There is a book many of us are reading by Rob Bell called Love Wins.  You heard Steve make a reference to it last week.  Bell’s premise is that the story of the bible is:   “God so loved the world . . . that’s why Jesus came.”

But, he goes on to say that this story has been hijacked by a number of other stories, that have nothing to do with what Jesus came to do.” [ii]  For many this has created a barrier to God and our ability to choose God as the one we will serve.  Bell writes:

"Do you know any individuals who grew up in a Christian church and then walked away when they got older?  Often pastors and parents and brothers and sisters are concerned about them and their spirituality – and often they should be.  But sometimes those individuals’ rejection of church and the Christian faith they were presented with as the only possible interpretation of what it means to follow Jesus may in fact be a sign of spiritual health.  They may be resisting behaviors, interpretations, and attitudes that should be rejected.  Perhaps they simply came to a point where they refused to accept the very sorts of things that Jesus would refuse to accept." [iii]

If God is not whom you serve . . . perhaps it’s because the god you reject should be rejected. Who wants to serve a God who is described as hating people because of their beliefs or their politics, or their ethnicity? We all have seen signs that tell us what God hates at every kind of protest and demonstration. This past week I even saw a sign that read "God hates banks." Really! Is this the same God that invites us to love the way Jesus loves; to serve the way Jesus serves; to offer healing and hope the way Jesus does? I don’t think so.

It’s important to ask which God will be at the center of our lives.  Which God will we serve?  Which gods will we turn away from?  How do we choose?

John Maxwell, a well-known leadership expert and speaker writes:

“Learn to say ‘no’ to the good so you can say “yes” to the best.”

His premise is that there are many good things that we could be doing, but knowing that there is only a limited amount of time, what is the “best” thing we could be doing?  This quote has been helpful to leaders as they make decisions.  It can help us as we review our choices and as we reflect on our priorities.  How do we sort out the good from the best?   This will be unique to each one of us and our circumstances; however, there are a couple of things I will suggest to get you started.

First, think about what you are doing. How you are living your life and what kind of choices have you made?  Is this how you want to live?

Second, do you want to make any changes?  If not, why not?  You might be perfectly happy with your life the way it is.

Third, stop and take time to pray.  Talk to God.  Maybe you could sit still and listen. Turn the Blackberry off or if that doesn’t work shoot God a note on the Blackberry.  God gets it.  Whatever works.   You already know how you make decisions in life.  So, apply that to this decision. 

Finally, ask yourself: what is the best thing you could be doing when it comes to faith?

Bill Hybels, the founding pastor of the Willow Creek church in the Chicago area, wrote a book I read many years ago called The God You’re Looking For.  He tells this story:

“On a sunny August morning, three different couples prepare for a weekend of sailing.  One couple get out of their car the one with the license plate holder that reads, “I’d Rather Be Sailing,” and begin to haul their provisions to the boat.  It takes them several trips to carry their picnic basket and the rest of their gear to their craft.  Once aboard, they change their clothes, turn on the music, and then spend the better part of the day lounging around on the boat (which is still tied to the dock), reading and napping and talking.  They sleep in the cabin Saturday night, and on Sunday morning go through roughly the same routine of the previous day, cleaning up the sailboat, reading and napping.  Then about four o’clock, they pack everything up and drive back home.

The second couple gets to their boat early on Saturday morning.  They travel to the same marina, they have the same license plate frame, they bring the same gear, turn on the same music, socialize a bit, but then do something somewhat odd:  They start up the motor.  They untie the ropes.  They back out of their slip and cruise around the harbor.

The couple spends an hour looking at the other boats in the harbor and then drops anchor to cook a dinner meal.  That evening, they venture out by the breakwater, to gaze out on the open seas, then come back in, sleep on the sailboat, and repeat the whole process on Sunday.

The third couple gets to their boat early on Saturday, bring their gear aboard, back out of the slip, and head straight for the breakwater.  As they’re heading out, they hoist the sails, and when the wind fills them, they shut off the motor and enter the open sea.  They hear the sails straining and the water rushing along the hull.  They feel the swells rising up underneath them, and they keep going until the sight of land is lost.  They spend the entire night out on the seas, cooking in spite of the motion of the boat underneath them.  They use a flashlight at night to look at the charts and to keep their bearings.  And then they come back into the harbor late Sunday night.

On Monday morning, each couple will be asked, “What did you do this weekend?” and each couple will give the same answer, “We went sailing.”  But did they really do the same thing?  It’s like this with our commitments, isn’t it?” [iv]

There are choices.

The only way we can unfurl our sails and travel out into the open sea with a sense of trust is if we have put God at the center of our lives.  When God is the one we serve, we are able to overcome fear.  God frees us from bondage, delivers us from what enslaves us, protects us along the way and forgives what we have done wrong.  We won’t have perfect lives.  We won’t escape the pain and heartache of human life, but we can discover profound joy and true peace to sustain us in the good times and in the bad.

In our scripture passage this morning, all the people cry out:  We will serve the LORD!  Joshua,   places a large stone under an oak tree as a witness - a reminder of their promise.  

What will be our witness, our reminder?

There are all kinds of reminders in this Sanctuary:  the stories in our stained glass and Reredas windows.  The empty cross of Christ.  The light of the candles.   The baptismal font.

The communion table can become our reminder.

When we gather around this table we will remember what God has promised to us and what we have promised to God.  Then, when we move out of this Sanctuary, into our circles of influence, and the table remains here, our lives can reflect compassion and justice and peace.  We will be a witness to others.

Soon, we will share a meal at this table.  So, I leave you with this question:  Whom do you serve?  With all the things in our lives, the joys and successes, the pressures, the family, the distractions and obligations, all the stuff - the question remains:    Whom do you serve?

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

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End Notes

[i] Texts for Preaching NRSV (Year A), p. 55 

[ii] Bell, Rob  Love Wins, p. 4

[iii] Ibid., p. 10-11

[iv] Hybels, Bill The God you’re Looking For, p. 130-132