Deuteronomy 30:15-20
with Matthew 5:21-37
While our New Testament reading for
today keeps us in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel, our Old
Testament reading jumps backwards from the prophets of weeks past to the words
of Moses. This morning I found deep
connections between Moses’ exhortation to choose life, and the kind of life
Jesus calls us to live.
The writing from Deuteronomy is part
of Moses’ final address to the people.
You may remember from a few years ago when we did a sermon series on
Moses, that Moses doesn’t actually get to the Promised Land. He is able to see it from afar but he is not
able to cross the Jordan and enter the land himself. Having taken the Israelites within footsteps
of their goal, Moses now prepares to die at the ripe old age of 120. Before he breathes his last, he gives a long
speech to the people, encouraging them to continue to follow the paths that God
has laid before them.
Moses makes it clear that the future
is up to the people themselves. “See, I
have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.” All futures are open to the people, from
success and joy to death and destruction.
It is up to the people to choose which path they will follow. Making the choice is all about how people
will respond to God. If they follow
God’s commandments they will be blessed, if they choose to follow idols
instead, they will perish.
Moses encourages the people to choose
life. “I call heaven and earth to
witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings
and curses. Choose life so that you and
your descendants my live.” Just like the
Israelites our natural response to these phrases is to say “yes, I choose
life.” No one when given a choice
between blessings and curses, chooses the curses. And yet, this simple idea can be very
difficult to put into practice.
When I was discussing this passage in
my lectionary group this week, one of my friends brought up the idea of
idols. Just who were these idols that
the Israelites were tempted to worship instead of their God. Surely this can’t be a matter of putting up a
stone statue and worshipping that instead of the almighty God that had brought
the people out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders.
I think that the temptation the Israelites
faced was much the same temptation that we face today. Just like them, we are seeking security and
comfort in our lives. Of course I choose
to trust in God for my security, but that doesn’t mean I don’t also pay
attention to the stock market and watch my investments. Of course I choose to worship God, but that
doesn’t mean I don’t watch the news each evening and let that dictate my outlook
on the world. Of course I choose to
share what I have with others, but only to a sensible point, I need to have
enough for my own retirement after all.
The Israelites were tempted to worship
the neighboring gods, because to them that seemed like a sense of
security. I can plant my crop and pray
to the Lord for rain, but why not stop and make an offering to Baal just in
case. One has to cover all their bases
after all. That is not so different from
waking up each morning and thanking God for our day, while we also check the
stock numbers in the morning paper. One
has to cover all their bases. From the
idol of financial security to the idol of our political identity, we are just
as likely to choose something other than God as the Israelites were.
The gift of this reading is that God
places this choice before us each and every day. God is offering us the opportunity to choose
life, to choose a hopeful future, and it is up to us to make that choice
through our daily thoughts and actions.
Every morning we wake up with the opportunity before us to choose
life. We can choose to love God, to
cling to God, to follow God’s ways and commandments through our daily
activities. This can be something as complicated
as sorting out our finances or something as simple as smiling at a stranger
walking down the street.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
gives us a few instructions on choosing life.
Jesus encourages us to choose forgiveness over anger, faithfulness over
lustful desires, covenant relationships over casual affairs, and the simple
truth over complicated lies. Jesus tells
us to choose life by choosing to interact with each other in simple and
truthful ways.
You might have noticed my new stole
this morning and I want to take a moment and tell you about it, because I think
it is a wonderful example of someone choosing life. This stole was a gift to me from a friend of
mine named Ron Smelser. 15 years ago,
when I was considering going to seminary Ron was the clerk of Session at the
church I was a member at, First Presbyterian Church in Moscow, Idaho. Ron decided that part of his duty as clerk
should be to send me postcards while I was away at seminary. So, through four years of schooling, I would
receive a postcard from Ron about once a week.
Well, it didn’t take long for Ron’s
term to expire as Clerk, and yet he continued to send the postcards. Then Ron left Moscow, Idaho to take a new job
as the Associate Dean of Engineering at the University of North Carolina in
Charlotte, and yet he continued to send postcards. Then I graduated from seminary and began
working at my first church. And still
the post cards came. Through the birth
of my children, to our big move across the country, every week or so for the
past 15 years, I have received a post card from Ron Smelser. You might wonder what profound words these
post cards offer, but in reality they are simply correspondence. From comments on the weather, or about his
work at the college, to news about his kids and now grandkids, Ron simply shares
the details of daily life. But despite
its simplicity, the constant show of love and support for me and my ministry
has meant a great deal to me.
A few weeks ago, Ron called me on the
phone. He and I have never talked on the
phone, and so I was very surprised and curious to find out why he was calling
me after such a long time. Well, Ron
said he was calling because he wanted to give me a gift, a stole to celebrate
my ordination. He said “I meant to do
this ten years ago but I got busy. I
feel bad that I never did anything for you.”
I was aghast at such a statement.
“Ron,” I said, “You have given me so much, you have been there for me in
a way no one else has.” Other than my
immediate family, Ron has been the one constant on my journey of ministry. We only knew each other in person for 3-4
years at the most, but his gift of thoughts, prayers, and postcards has been a
constant for 15 years. Ron chose life in
a simple way, by offering me a profound gift, one postcard at a time.
Today we gather at the communion table
and this is yet another opportunity to choose life. Here
we gather to say that we once again commit ourselves to following the path of
Jesus Christ. We will choose forgiveness
over anger. We will choose faithfulness
in our relationships. We will choose the
Lord over the idols of money, power, and politics that call to us on a daily
basis. When we come to this table, we
choose life.
As you go out into the world today, I
encourage you to remember the words of Moses, for they are as true for us as
they were for the Israelites on the edge of the Promised Land. “I have set before you today life and death, choose
life.” Go out into the world this week
and choose life. Turn off the TV. Take a walk outside. Call an old friend. Play with children. Take time to laugh. Take time to cry. Tell the truth. Worship God with your heart. Sing a song that you love. Read a book.
Apologize to someone, even if it was mostly their fault. Stop arguing.
Have patience with yourself and others.
Go out to lunch. Take a coffee
break. Find some joy in the world. Send a postcard to a friend. Choose life.
Amen.
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