Dearest e-votees-
This week’s lectionary selections include lots of low hanging fruit: Ephesians 6:10-20 (the Full Armor of God), John 6:56-69 (the final installment in our series of bread texts) and Joshua 24:1-2, 14-18 (including “Choose this day whom you will serve…as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”). We will use the Joshua text but realize that much has been left on the cutting room floor. You will be blessed if you peruse the outtakes this week.
Blessings on you and those you love as you find ways to choose to serve the Lord.
Peace,
Karl
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24 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. 2 And 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.
[3 Then 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; 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterwards I brought you out. 6 When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 When they cried out to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did to Egypt. Afterwards you lived in the wilderness a long time. 8 Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan; they fought with you, and I handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. 9 Then King Balak son of Zippor of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent and invited Balaam son of Beor to curse you, 10 but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you; so I rescued you out of his hand. 11 When you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I handed them over to you. 12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove out before you the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards that you did not plant.]
14 “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. 15 Now 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; 17 for 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; 18 and 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.”
Joshua 24:1-2 [3-13] 14-18, NRSV
I was in Port-au-Prince Haiti with a group of young adults (it was a while ago) on a mission trip with STEM ministries. It was Sunday morning and we had a choice. We could either attend a local worship service and engage that community or we could go to the empty bandshell downtown, gather all who might come and have an open-air worship service. We decided on the latter.
We spread out in smaller groups with interpreters and went about the area inviting all we could find. It was simple. “We’re having church, would you like to come?” We bumped into a man who was carrying a green bottle full of a murky liquid with a something like a milkweed sticking out the top of the bottle. We invited him to come. He said that he would like to come but that he had to deliver this love potion for which he had already received payment--$20. (keep in mind that $20 was something like one-tenth of the average income of a large family in Haiti). Into my mind popped Joshua 24:15. I shared it with him, we said goodbye and parted ways. I wasn’t too concerned about what response we might get—our job was to invite, to cast seeds, to welcome—response was God’s department. On we went.
Later, during worship, the man found me. He beckoned to me. I followed and he took me to a bush. He showed me that inside the bush was a broken bottle with something like a milkweed laying among the broken pieces. We talked and shared and prayed. We made sure to help him get connected to the local church. I imagine God was more active than I first thought in our exchange.
Looking back these 25 or so years later I wonder:
+ Whatever happened to that man?
+ How willing would I be to yield one tenth (a tithe) of my annual wage in response to God’s call through someone I had just met?
+ How do we best continue to lift up the particular call to follow after Jesus in a world with sensibilities toward inclusion, tolerance and acceptance?
Three strands come to mind from the Joshua text:
1. All of us can choose to serve God in our own lives and in the expressions of faith in our households. To be sure, God chooses us first. In response, however, we can make choices that bring glory to God. There are so many other gods that vie for our attention—more explicitly religious gods, things more like idols (fame, power, security, wealth, comfort, etc., etc.), lifestyles, attentions, allegiances, sports, family, etc., etc. The call from Jesus (and from Joshua in the Old Testament) is to put all other things aside that we can more fully serve, worship, follow and adore God. This begins in the household.
2. In order for certain things to thrive and come to the fore others must be put down or pushed to the side. We don’t like to talk about this much. Verses 3-13 were conveniently left out of the lectionary. Peoples were displaced and afflicted in these verses. The things that have come our way have certainly displaced and afflicted others. Some of these histories are shameful and laden with sin—repentance and statements of remorse are most appropriate. Some of these histories are just how struggles for limited resources and better lives shake out. Some of these histories are guided by God’s hand—others we just like to presume such providential intervention. The truth is that there is a dark side to things that come our way—unclear histories, sinful inclinations and much too quickly attributing God’s election on our cause of choice. Part of serving God as a household is finding times and ways to reflect, repent and make restoration as the Holy Spirit empowers.
3. God has given us a calling and a way of life that is superior to the false callings and ways of life offered by the world. The calling is not ours alone. The way of life is not constrained to people who are like us. We are called to invite all who would come. We are called to be like the farmer scattering seeds. We are called to publicly and earnestly lift up the hope we have in God. It may seem like it is falling on deaf ears. It may seem to be bouncing off hard soil. But I don’t think Joshua had any idea that we would still be drawing hope and inspiration from his proclamation so many years ago. I didn’t have any idea what a profound response would be stirred in the man with the love potion near that abandoned bandshell in Port-au-Prince. We don’t know who or when will be the opportune moment. That’s God’s business. We’re just called to serve God by offering that hope we have found in God.
Dear God, all of us and our households have dark and shameful moments—stir us to honest reflection and repentance. All of us and our households could serve you more resolutely and more fervently, stir us to know you more deeply and serve you more faithfully. All of us and our households could scatter your good news more freely, more cheerfully and more often—help us scatter your grace and salvation with reckless abandon. Amen.
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