Choose Life
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (Luke 14: 25-33 )
by Rev. Rick Thompson
Luciano
Pavarotti, the immensely talented operatic tenor who crossed the
boundary into popular music, once commented on a lesson he learned from
his father.
"When I was a
boy, my father, who was a baker, introduced me to the wonders of song.
He urged me to work very hard to develop my voice. A professional tenor
in my home town took me on as a student. I also enrolled in a teacher's
college. As graduation was nearing, I asked my father, 'Shall I be
a teacher or a singer?'
"'Luciano,' my father replied, 'if you try to sit on two chairs, you
will fall between them. For life, you must choose. You can
only sit in one chair.'
"'I chose one',
Pavarotti continues. 'It took several years of study and frustration
before I made my first professional appearance. It took another several
years to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now, I think, whether it's
laying bricks, writing a book--whatever we choose--we should give
ourselves completely to it. Commitment--that's the key. Choose one
chair."
Isn't that what
Jesus is saying in the words he speaks in
Luke 14: 25-33? It's another
hard saying, not unlike one we heard a few weeks ago about how his
coming will bring division among families. "Whoever comes to me and
does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and
sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple." Wow,
Jesus! Those are hard words--hate our families? Hate even
our own selves? Especially on this weekend, when we are about to enter
a new season of Christian education with our children and youth--we're
supposed to hate our families? What is Jesus talking about here?
Well, Jesus is
not talking about being emotionally at odds with our families,
filled with animosity and spite. Language changes. That's not
what the word "hate" meant in Jesus' day. Then it meant making
clear choices about what's really important. And, Jesus is
saying, as much as we might love our families and our own lives,
what's really important is to long for and live for the full coming
of the kingdom of God, which he will bring when he gets to Jerusalem and
suffers and dies. That's what Jesus means when he calls upon his
followers to "hate" family and self--to love God and long for God
most of all! And that's a message that is relevant in any
day and age.
As Pavarotti
said, we've got to "choose one chair". We can't waffle when it comes to
what really matters in life, can't remain indecisive and still hope to
live a significant and meaningful life.
In our first
reading for today, Moses is giving his final speech to the people of
Israel. Shortly after he speaks these words, he will die. And his
message is similar: "Choose, people of God! Choose whom you will
serve! Choose life, or choose death. Choose the God who has promised
you countless blessings, and rescued you again and again, or choose the
gods of the nations who will only give you chaos and destruction.
Choose one chair," we can hear Moses saying. "Choose life.
Choose life!"
When they
heard these words from their leader, the children of Israel were at a
boundary.
They were on the
boundary of the Promised Land. God had rescued them from slavery in
Egypt, led them through the wilderness, provided for them miraculously
there, disciplined the unfaithful ones who wanted to return to Egypt,
taught the people God's will and God's ways, repeated the ancient
promise of the new land, and brought them to the boundary.
The people are at
the boundary. Their leader is about to die. They are leaving the
wilderness, and will enter a new land under their new leader, Joshua.
They will be tempted there by things they cannot even anticipate. They
are excited about finally reaching the land of promise, but
anxious about what it will really be like.
The people are at
the boundary.
And it's likely
that these words come into their final form long after the time of
Moses. Then the people are at yet another boundary. They have
been conquered by the Babylonians, and their leading citizens hauled off
into exile. They have no land, no temple. Are they still God's
people? Will they ever go home? Everything is up in the air, including
the question of whether they can continue to trust God. And they hear
the ancient message again, at another boundary. The times have
changed, but the message does not: "Choose life. Choose life!"
Is it fair
to suggest that God's people are always at some boundary,
always at a decision point?
At least that's
true of us, isn't it--on more than one level?
We experience
change in our personal circumstances. A new year in school, a new job,
a new house, a new spouse, a new child. Or a chronic illness, the death
of a relationship, the death of someone we love, a move into
retirement. Some of them more welcome than others, but all of them
changes. All of them boundaries. And, as we cross the boundary, Moses'
challenge is addressed to us: "Choose life!"
We face
boundaries as a congregation, too. Decision points. We enter a new
season of the church's year--fall, with more intense and intentional
educational ministries taking place. In our plans and in our choices,
will we follow God? Will we choose life? We have discerned a new and
clearer vision, and it could change how we carry out God's work in this
time and place. That makes us a little anxious--like Israelites entering
the promised land, like Israelites trying to live their faith when land
and temple are gone. And will we choose life?
It's not so
simple, is it. It's challenging to remain faithful to God.
Moses makes that clear. The ancient people's experience makes that
clear for, as the prophets reminded them, it was their
unfaithfulness which resulted in the loss of land and temple.
There is, after
all, a powerful seductiveness to the gods who would lead to death. For
ancient Israel, the temptation was to follow the gods of their neighbors
who promised fertility in a barren land, and practiced ritual
prostitution in an effort to show the gods what to do to the earth. We
can appreciate the appeal of that, can't we.
We have our false
gods, too. The materialism and consumerism that drive our economy. The
commercials that endlessly appeal to our desire to look and feel young.
Our athletes and entertainers, about whom we can't read and hear enough
gossip. Even our children, as much as we love them, whom we sometimes
allow to rule our lives with their activities--as beneficial as those
activities may be. We have our false gods, too. Moses was speaking to
us, too, when he challenged the people, "Choose life!"
And by that, of
course, he means, "Choose God! Remain faithful to the one true God!
Trust God's promises! Even when it seems you must wait and wait, trust
that God is with you in your waiting. And even that is a blessing, my
people! God is with you, and that is blessing enough. So choose
God. Choose life!"
The choice is
real, isn't it. Don't you experience the tension, again and
again? I do! I know what's right, I know what God desires, but that
other choice--well, it seems so much more interesting and real!
What will it hurt, just this one time, if I turn away from God? God
will take me back, after all.
Yes, God will
take me back. But God doesn't want me to turn away to begin
with! God wants me to live in God's abundance, now--and EVERY moment
of EVERY day--and God desires that not only for me, but for ALL of us as
we live together as God's people!
And, no,
it's not easy--but it's good!
Jesus
teaches us that, and Jesus shows us that. He takes the hard
road--the lonely road that will lead to death. He takes it willingly,
but not without struggle. He takes that road in joy--and knows the joy
of his Father's constant and eternal presence. And isn't that enough?
It was enough for Jesus, so isn't it enough for us? Isn't it enough to
know God's presence, know God's blessing, know God's promises, know
God's peace--and live them in the company of God's beloved people?
That's what God
gives when we choose life!
It's an urgent
choice. We're at the boundary--always at the boundary between
life with God and death as we follow our own devices. And the choice is
ours--now.
Theophane, an
ancient monk, spoke about that challenge in his life.
"I had just one desire," Theophane reports--"to give myself completely
to God. So I headed for the monastery. And old monk there
asked me, 'What is it that you want?'
"I
said, 'I just want to give myself to God.'
"I expected him
to be gentle and fatherly, but he shouted at me, 'NOW!' I
was stunned. He shouted again, 'NOW!' Then he reached for a club
and came after me, brandishing his club and shouting, 'NOW! NOW!
"That was years ago," Theophane concludes. "He still follows me, wherever I go. Always
with that stick, always with that 'NOW!'"
Always with that
now. Just like God--perhaps more inviting than threatening.
"Live as my children--now! Live in my love--now!
Follow me faithfully--now!
Live in blessing and joy--now!"
"Now, my
children. Choose life. Choose life now! Now!"
AMEN.
Cavanaugh, Brian, T.O.R., Sower's Seeds that Nurture Family
Values: Sixth Planting, Paulist Press, Mahwah, New Jersey, 2000,
p. 40
Cavanaugh, Brian, T.O.R., Sower's Seeds of Encouragement: Fifth
Planting, Paulist Press, Mahwah, New Jersey, 1998, p. 7
