Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Psalm 1 Philemon 1-21 Luke 14:25-33 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who chose life for all. Amen We have some pretty stark choices before us in our lessons for today, Moses starts us off in Deuteronomy, he’s addressing the Israelites just before they enter the promised land, they’ve wandered in the desert for 40 years, learning how to be a free people while still being taken care of by God, but the manna will stop when they cross the Jordan river, and there will be other people there and it will be time to put the lessons learned over the past forty years to the test. You are free to choose, Moses tells the people and here are your choices: life and prosperity, death and adversity. And he urges them to choose life. That seems like a pretty obvious choice doesn’t it? The comedian Eddie Izzard does a bit where he says,”Cake or death That’s a pretty easy question anyone can answer that. ‘Cake or death’ ‘uh cake please’ ‘very well, give him cake’ ‘ah thanks very much’ ‘you, cake or death?’ ‘ah cake for me too please’ ‘very well, give him cake too, we’re going to run out of cake at this rate, you cake or death?” ‘Death please, no cake, cake, cake, sorry’ ‘you said death first’ ‘I meant cake’ ‘oh alright’ Life or death, that seems like a pretty easy question to answer doesn’t it? But of course because we’re humans we make it more complicated than that. After the initial offering of life or death Moses goes on to explain what living out that choice looks like: Choosing life looks like obeying the commandments loving God, and walking in his ways “But,” Moses continues “if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish.” Serving other gods is the choice of death and here’s the thing, those other gods, those false idols make it seem like they are the better choice, whether it’s because following them is easier or more comfortable or even more exciting, they disguise death in flashy shiny things that grab our attention for a moment but ultimately lead to death because in making these choices we’re serving ourselves, we’re thinking of our own lives and comforts. Life as God defines it is bigger than just ourselves, life encompasses all of creation, life is lived in community with others and God, that’s what the rules God gives the people are about, living with God and others in community and ironically, to us at least, choosing life means giving up some things, namely being self-centered. And that’s hard because the messages we receive on a daily basis tell us that we should be thinking about ourselves (and families) first and these false idols lead us astray promising life with quick fixes or the next great thing when all it leads to is death. Choosing life is hard. It’s what Jesus is talking about in our gospel for today, it’s one of those readings where we want to put a question mark at the end of the proclamation, the gospel of the Lord? Because it doesn’t really sound like good news does it? Hating family and giving up all possessions but here Jesus is in the process of choosing life and he’s trying to communicate to those following him just how radical choosing life is. Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem and the cross where he will die so that all may live, in dying he will destroy death and bring about everlasting life for all. And yes that sounds backwards and foolish but that’s how our God, the author of all life works. So Jesus turns to the crowd following behind him, waiting for him to do miracles and overthrow the Romans and he asks them to consider just how far they’re willing to go, what they are willing to give up to be his disciple, to choose life, when you choose life Jesus says it means caring for the whole community, especially the most vulnerable, and sometimes you will get caught between caring for your family and the most vulnerable and with Jesus, the most vulnerable come first And Jesus says when you follow me you’ve got to be willing to make your resources available to the community, if it’s a choice between your things and someone who is hurting, they come first. And boy how foolish you will look if you say you’re going to follow me and then change your mind partway through. “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity... Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days…” Choosing life should, well, it should change our lives. Following Jesus means doing things that seem foolish to the world around us, like taking time on Sunday mornings to gather with a community broader than our family, it looks like using our time, talent, and treasure for the sake of people we don’t even know because we believe that their needs should be taken care of in the same way ours are even if that means we use less for ourselves. Choosing life means that we care about all lives with a special emphasis on the marginalized, understanding that our call to love and serve our neighbors expands around the globe, that in Christ we are one body and when one part hurts all the parts hurt. Choosing life means that if they way we’ve done something in the past hurts others we must acknowledge that hurt and change our ways. So, what’ll it be? Life or death? It’s an easy question to answer, it’s a hard choice to live out, and it seems that no matter how hard we try, we always seemed to be lured away again by the ease and comfort of just focusing on ourselves And God knows that’s going to happen which is why Jesus, fully God and fully human, chose life for all and lived out that choice through the cross all the way to the empty tomb Which means when we fail, there is forgiveness and the chance to try again, joined to Christ in baptism each day we die to sin and rise to new life in Christ each day a new chance to chose life so that all may live. Amen
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AboutPastor Emily Johnson preaches weekly at Christ Lutheran. These are manuscripts of her sermons given at Christ Lutheran. Feel free to engage with them in the comments section of the blog. Archives
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