Readings: Deuteronomy 30: 15 – end; Psalm 1; Philemon 1 – 21; Luke 14: 25 – 33
“Choose life”. I couldn’t help noticing that all of today’s readings are about choices. Now – we’re not the sort of church that regularly has altar-calls – and before you start to feel uncomfortable or head for the doors – I don’t propose to change that. In any case, in the real world where we make our decisions choosing life isn’t always as easy or as obvious as we might think. As one illustration of this think of those many unfortunate refugees who think that they have chosen life when they embark on their dangerous journeys only to discover that their choice leads to death. So I wanted to spend a little time this morning thinking about what it might mean for us to choose life – and what our readings have to say that might help us.
Our first reading comes from the book of Deuteronomy, the last book of the Torah and a kind of summation of its teaching. The book is set out as Moses’ teaching to the people before they enter the Promised Land. It’s effectively a book of sermons, about the way the people are to conduct themselves in the Promised Land. Moses sets out God’s Covenant with His people. There will be blessings if they obey His commandments, but they will be cursed if they do not (Chapters 28 – 29). There is a solemn renewal of the Covenant, and the people are then urged to choose life. They stand on the brink of the Promised Land, but the new life God offers in the land doesn’t happen automatically. The land given must also be the land taken, the life offered must also be the life lived out. To live in the land according to God’s directions is to create the possibility of a good and blessed life. To live some other way, and in particular to worship other gods, invites the possibility of death and catastrophe. God offers a choice. He never coerces His beloved people. But please choose life, he urges in Moses’ eloquent words.
God’s laws, as in the ten commandments, are still foundational for us and still guide our choices. They undergird all that Jesus taught. They are lifegiving. We have that lovely picture in Psalm 1 which we have just sung of the righteous person, who delights in God’s laws being like a tree planted by fresh water – healthy and producing good fruit.
I wonder if Jesus got fed up with the large crowds who followed him about – the hangers-on, the ones who weren’t really serious – who were there for what they could get or just wanted to see the show or tag along with their friends? It might explain his sobering message – not perhaps literally that they must hate their family (hyperbole was a known rhetorical device) – but certainly that they must love Him more than they loved their families. That is a challenge for us too, especially if we are time poor. How much time can we give to those activities which stretch our faith and contribute to the kingdom of God? (I’m not meaning to suggest by this that time with our families is not time spent for the kingdom of God).
As I was preparing this, the words of a song came into my head “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden……” It’s from the 1970s or 1980s I think – shows my vintage anyway! That’s the only part of the tune that I can remember – perhaps fortunately!. But some of the rest of the words are interesting too.
“I beg your pardon I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine there’s gotta be a little rain sometime”
And then it goes on –
“I could sing you a tune and promise you the moon
But if that’s what it takes to hold you I’d just as soon let you go
But there’s one thing I want you to know
You’d better look before you leap still waters run deep”
God doesn’t promise that life as a Christian will always be a bed of roses, or a rose garden. We all have our share of difficulty, disappointment, sadness……..In any relationship of love, the one who loves, hopes for a response not because of what they can give, but because simply of who they are. That’s what Jesus – God- wants too. Love me for who I am, not because I promise you good things. On the contrary, He gives a warning. You’d better look before you leap, count the cost – I’m not promising you that it will all be easy. No rose garden. Or, as we read in Mark Chapter 10:
“ ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news,[a] 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” (Mark 10: 29 – 30)
This is life – eternal life, abundant life – but not easy life.
Finally we come to the letter to Philemon – perhaps an example or an object lesson in Christian choices. Firstly, as Christians our choices sometimes have to break new ground. Paul writes eloquently to persuade Philemon not only to take back his runaway slave and forgive him, but to treat him as a brother in Christ. This was new ground indeed in highly stratified first century society. It would have been controversial. Perhaps the nearest equivalent for us is our growing awareness of past injustices towards gay people and the need to redress this. It hasn’t been an easy ride for the church – and still isn’t. You may have seen news of the row over the recent appointment of the new Bishop of Grantham just this weekend.
Secondly, each of the three actors in the drama of the story of Onesimus and Philemon had to make a difficult choice. Paul had to give up Onesimus, the runaway slave, who had been of great help and comfort to him in prison. Onesimus had to have the courage to return to his master Philemon and ask for forgiveness. Philemon had to have the grace to forgive – and perhaps face the incredulity and ridicule of his friends and neighbours, and perhaps of some members of the church which met in his home too. The Christian way can often be the difficult or the costly way.
So – to summarise very briefly our tour of today’s readings:
Choosing life doesn’t guarantee an easy life, choosing life may mean breaking new ground, choosing life may mean taking the difficult path, choosing life is more than just hanging around with the crowd, it’s a commitment to a person who seeks our love.
And finally, choosing life brings God’s blessing whatever form that blessing takes. The life offered must be the life lived out.
Amen