Choose You This Day Whom You Will Serve

November 9, 2014 Joshua 24:14-28 Choose Who You will serve Year A Joshua This is one of the most important lessons in the bible for me. Moses of course was the leader who led the Isrealites out of Egypt. But it was Joshua who had to take them to the next level. Joshua led them to the promisedland, and it was Joshua who helped them to understand what it meant to be a child of God. God requires something of us all – we all have work to do. The isrealites had started to get comfortable in the promisedland, but along with being comfortable, they seemed to forget about God’s place in their life. It was God who led them out of Egypt, It was God that provided manna for him, It was God who led them in timesof trouble, It was God who provided a place for them. But now that all of those promises has been fulfilled, life was about them, and what they did, how hard they worked, and what they depended on to get through every day life. What do we depend on besides God? Today, we may not have quite reached the promisedland in our lives, but we all do have a life routine. We all have people, practices, and things that we rely on to get through every day life. What things do you rely on to get through your life? Some of us depend on our jobs, or a monthly check in order to pay our bills, some of us depend on a friend or family member to get us through hard times. Some of us depend on our car – to get us where we have to go. We all depend on somebody to get us through. What are the things that you depend on every day? There is nothing wrong with depending on something to get through life. The problem comes when we forget that all of those things, those people are agents of God’s grace in our lives. The problem comes when we put the things that we depend on first, and God last. God should always be first. If we depend on the Lord to get us through, then everything that we need will fall into place That is what Joshua was trying to get the children of the promise to realize. They had gotten comfortable in their life. But in their comfortableness, they started to rely on themselves, and not God. So Joshua calls them together and challenges them. - choose you this day whom you will serve, Will you serve the gods of the past, or the God of the present. When we set others things in our lives as more important than our relationship with God – those things become our god – with a little g. The Choices we make Choose ye this day whom you will serve? Are you going to serve God, or are you going to choose other things. Eleanor Roosevelt once said that you can tell a lot about a person from the choices that they make. BILLY GRAHAM: CHOICES Billy Graham said, "The strongest principle of life and blessings lies in our choice. Our life is the sum result of all the choices we make, both consciously and unconsciously. If we can control the process of choosing, we can take control of all aspects of our life. We can find the freedom that comes from being in charge of our life. So start with what is right rather than what is acceptable. "If you don’t make a decision, then time will make it for you, and time will always side against you." Where do we put God in the midst of our choices. There were a lot of people who constantly reminded Joshua of how wonderful things were in Egypt. They did not have to worry about anything, life was easy. They did not have to make any hard choices. Remember how you used to make a choice when you were a child? Suppose you had to chooses between wearing the red shirt or the blue shirt – and you couldn’t decide – you would go eeny meeny miny moe – catch a tiger by the toe if he hollers let him go, eeny meeny miny moe. And wherever your finger was pointing – that was the choice that you made. Choosing to serve God is not a eeny meeny miny moe choice. It is much deeper than that. Joshua says – choose ye this day whom you will serve. If we don’t make a choice, a choice makes us In Egypt life may have been easier, but you were a slave – a slave to every day life. That things that you depended on to get you through life became your master. But the things that hold us in bondage – do not always have our best interest at heart. People who hold us hostage – don’t have our best interest at heart- they only care about themselves. Former president Ronald Reagan once had an aunt who took him to a cobbler for a pair of new shoes. The cobbler asked young Reagan, "Do you want square toes or round toes?" Unable to decide, Reagan didn't answer, so the cobbler gave him a few days. Several days later the cobbler saw Reagan on the street and asked him again what kind of toes he wanted on his shoes. Reagan still couldn't decide, so the shoemaker replied, "Well, come by in a couple of days. Your shoes will be ready." When the future president did so, he found one square-toed and one round-toed shoe! "This will teach you to never let people make decisions for you," the cobbler said to his indecisive customer. "I learned right then and there," Reagan said later, "if you don't make your own decisions, someone else will." Today in the Word, MBI, August, 1991, p. 16. colored divine was once asked to explain the doctrine of election. Said he, “Brethren, it is this way: The Lord he is always voting for a man, and the Devil he is always voting against him; then the man himself votes, and that breaks the tie!” Choose ye this day whom you will serve – will you serve the gods of your life, or will you serve the living God who loves you, who supports you – who led you through the wilderness – who promised you a fulfilling life, and who never goes back on his choices. Rechoice a recommitment Joshua offers this time of decision, just as he is about to die. This is his last conversation with the people. But he reminds us that sometimes when you make a choice –you will find in life that you will have test in your life, when you will have to make that choice over and over again. When you get married, if the relationship last for a long time, you will have to make a choice to marry that person all over again, and again, again. When we choose to follow God – we will have to make that choice again, and again. When we choose to join a church, we will have to make that choice again and again. When we make a decision to have faith- there is no guarantee that things will turn our well. We will all come to those times when we have to ask ourselves if me made the right choice. Choosing God does not mean everything will be perfect. As a matter of fact, most of the time it makes things worse. And yet when we choose god we cant go wrong. God has no policeman to pass around and grab us by the neck and say you must read your Bible, or you must go to Church, or you must give to Missions. When God created man, He made man superior to all other creatures. He gave man the power and privilege of CHOICE. Up to now the Lord respects that privilege. He will not force us. With that privilege of Choice, goes the terrible responsibility of abiding by the results or consequences of our choices. Perhaps you’ve heard about the man who died, then awoke in a splendid city of golden streets and fine homes. He was shown to one of thefinest, one with arolling front yard, lovely flowers, luxuriant shrubs. Wondering how to care for those things, hewastold that others would dothatforhim. So, he climbed in a hammock and spent the daycontemplating his happy state. Days passed, thenweeks. Finally,bored, he sought to do someyard work but was told that hecouldnot. He then inquired what kindofwork hecould do. He was told by thefellow incharge that he was not allowed to do anything butrest. Finally, theman complained. He said, I neverthought heavenwould bethisboring. The man in charge asked – whatmakesyou thinkyour areinheaven? Choose the Lord God requires something of us always – to make a choice and to live in that choice. I love Joshua’s final words so much, I have them on the wall in my house – as for me and my house – we choose to serve to Lord. Choose you this day whom you will serve. when I was a child, and played games with my friends we used to use the “Eenie, Meanie, Miny, Mo” method to make decisions concerning which game to play, or who would be in the game. And at the end of that ryhme we would say, “if he hollers let Him go... eenie, meanie, miny, mo.” Well... now that I’m grown, physically and spiritually, I realize that Jesus is the best choice for my life! AND CHURCH... I CAN’T LET HIM GO! I’ve made up my mind to be like Jacob, who wrestled with God all night long... I won’t let Him go until He blesses me! And guess what... He doesn’t have to holler... I’ll holler myself!! Somebody said, “When I think of His goodness and all that He’s done for me, my soul has to holler hallelujah, I think Him for saving me!” Let uspray…..Amen. Children’s Sermon…… Theme: Choosing to follow Jesus - Proper 18 (23) Year C Object: A soccer ball and a book of piano music. Scripture: "And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:27 (NIV) A soccer ball and a music book -- two very different things that play an important part in a story about Katy, a girl about the age of some of you. Katy faced a very difficult decision. Many of her friends had signed up to play soccer. Katy liked to play soccer too, and she wanted to be with her friends, but she also liked to play the piano and had been taking piano lessons for a couple of years. Soccer practice was at the same time as her piano lesson and playing soccer would take away from the time she needed to practice the piano. There was no way she could do both. What should she do? Should she quit piano and play soccer with her friends, or should she finish what she had started and continue with her piano lessons? Finally, Katy came up with an idea. She sat down with a sheet of paper and drew a line down the center of the page. At the top of the page on one side of the line she wrote, "Piano." On the other side of the line she wrote, "Soccer." Below the word soccer, she wrote all of the advantages of playing soccer with her friends. Below the word piano, she wrote all of the advantages of being able to play the piano. After she had considered all of the advantages and disadvantages of each choice, Katy made her decision. She decided to continue her piano lessons. After all, she could still see her friends at school, and playing the piano was something that she would enjoy for the rest of her life. We all face important decisions in life. The most important decision we face is whether we will follow Jesus or not. Perhaps you might say, "Oh, that is an easy decision. Of course I will follow Jesus," but Jesus warned that it isn't always easy to follow him. He said that we should sit down and count the cost. Will we choose to follow him if it means giving up friends who are making bad choices? Will we choose to follow him if it means moving to a far away place and leaving our family behind? Will we choose to follow him if it means we will never live in a big house or drive a fancy car? Jesus said, "Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." Where did Jesus carry his cross? He carried it to Calvary. It was on that cross that Jesus gave his life so that you and I could have everlasting life. When we choose to carry our cross, it means that we are willing to give up everything to follow Jesus. It is a choice we have to make. Dear Jesus, we thank you for being willing to carry your cross to Calvary. Help us to make the choice to take our cross and follow you. Amen. Text Illustration: THE BIG BLACK DOOR An Arab chief tells a story of a spy who was captured and then sentenced to death by a general in the Persian army. This general had the strange custom of giving condemned criminals a choice between the firing squad and the big, black door. As the moment for execution drew near, the spy was brought to the Persian general, who asked the question, "What will it be: the firing squad or the big, black door?" The spy hesitated for a long time. It was a difficult decision. He chose the firing squad. Moments later shots rang out confirming his execution. The general turned to his aide and said, "They always prefer the known way to the unknown. It is characteristic of people to be afraid of the undefined. Yet, we gave him a choice." The aide said, "What lies beyond the big door?" "Freedom," replied the general. "I’ve known only a few brave enough to take it." -- Don McCullough, "Reasons to Fear Easter," Preaching Today, Tape No. 116. FAITHFUL INSTRUCTIONS There was a man who got lost in the desert. After wandering around for a long time his throat became very dry, about that time he saw a little shack in the distance. He made his way over to the shack and found a water pump with a small jug of water and a note. The note read: "pour all the water into the top of the pump to prime it, if you do this you will get all the water you need". Now the man had a choice to make, if he trusted the note and poured the water in and it worked he would have all the water he needed. If it didn’t work he would still be thirsty and he might die. Or he could choose to drink the water in the jug and get immediate satisfaction, but it might not be enough and he still might die. After thinking about it the man decided to risk it. He poured the entire jug into the pump and began to work the handle, at first nothing happened and he got out he drank all he wanted, took a shower, and filled all the containers he could find. Because he was willing to give up momentary satisfaction, he got all the water he needed. Now the note also said: after you have finished, please refill the jug for the next traveller.” The man refilled the jug and added to the note: “ Please prime the pump, believe me it works”! We have the same choice to make, do we hold on to what we have because we don’t believe there are better things in store for us, and settle for immediate satisfaction?

Days Like This

October 7, 2012 “Days Like This” Job 1:1, 2:1-10 Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12 19th Sunday After Pentecost Year B World Communion Sunday God gave me a song, that the angels cannot sing…… I won’t sing the rest of the song. But that is my favorite all time gospel song. As a child I used to sing it over and over again. I would sing it so much, that I got tired of hearing myself sing. But even today, I just can never get tired of that message. The angels have to priviledge of spending all day with God, of singing in the presence of God, of passing on the personal messages of God. And yet in spite of their many blessings, their perfect life, they will never know what it means to be human. They will never know what it means to wake up here on earth. They may be able to praise God. But since they don’t have to struggle, or worry or wonder, since they don’t know hunger, or pain or sickness. They can praise God with joy, but they cant praise God in spite of their pain and uncertainty. They don’t get to make a choice to sing hallelujah anyway. Perhaps that was why God asks Satan if he had considered his servant Job. A man. A blameless and upright man who had a perfect life and a perfect faith. We all know a Job – a person who has it all. They have a stable family, a wonderful job, a beautiful house, they drive a nice care, not only do they have everything, but they are nice too. It looks as if they have been richly blessed by God God truly rewarded them for being faithful. They are the homecoming queen, the star football quarterback, the successful person with the perfect life. You might be surprised that there is no such person as Job. Just as there are no people in our lives, with the perfect life and the perfect faith- Job was not intended to be to one person. We all have a chance to be Job. If someone who has everything can lose it all and still love God, then surely those of us who may not have everything, but we have something, who may not have lost everything but have lost something – can still love God. This is a story about God and Satan, about the angels, and about what it means to be human in a difficult world. This is a story about a perfect example of a human who never gave up on God in the midst of suffering – that is Jesus, not Job. But most important – this is a story about, not just being faithful but about keeping our integrity – our promise to God, even in those times when we wonder if God has forgotten about us. It is about knowing that God never breaks God’s promises, and neither should we. For the last two months or so, we have been looking at the wisdom literature of the bible. And Job is actually another wisdom story. It is not a true story, it is a story of truth. A story about what any of us would go through if we were put in the situation of Job. But it is intended for us to look at our own situations. We all have our days, days of bad luck, of struggle, of mourning and loss. I don’t know how much longer I am going to go into the book of Job. It is a pretty long book – 48 chapters. But it shows the transformation of Job’s faith. As he is going on about his life, until the day that God allows Satan to mess with him and take away everything. His friends don’t understand why he is so faithful to God. It was believed in those days that if you lived a good life it was because God blessed you, and if you became sick or lost everything, it was because you were a sinner and God was punishing you. If the devil was allowed to do anything – you deserved it. We have to remember that the devil has no more control that what we give him. He can tempt us all day – but he cant draw us into sin. Only our heart can do that. As a matter of fact, this story uses the name Satan. Satan means the accuser. He only points out to God what you have done. He doesn’t make you do it. The power of satan There is an Eastern story of a Sultan who overslept himself, so as not to awaken at the hour of prayer. So the Devil came and waked him, and told him to get up and pray. “Who are you?” said the Sultan. “Oh, no matter,” replied the other. “My act is good, is it not? No matter who does the good action, so long as it is good.” “Yes,” replied the Sultan, “but I think you are Satan. I know your face; you have some bad motive.” “But,” says the other, “I am not so bad as I am painted. You see I have left off my horns and tail. I am pretty good fellow, after all. I was an angel once, and still keep some of my original goodness.” “That’s all very well,” replied the sagacious and prudent caliph, “but you are the tempter; that’s your business; and I wish to know why you want me to get up and pray.” “Well,” said the Devil with a flirt of impatience, “if you must know, I will tell you. If you had slept and forgotten your prayers, you would have been sorry for it afterward, and penitent; but if you go on as now, and do not neglect a single prayer for ten years, you will be so satisfied with yourself that it will be worse for you than if you had missed one sometimes and repented of it. God loves your fault mixed with penitence more than your virtue seasoned with pride.” —Walter Baxendale For as many times as I have read the book of Job. The one thing that stand out to me, is that it is not really a story about good and bad. Right and wrong. There is no real advice giving about what you should do or shouldn’t do. It really doesnt answer the question of why bad things to good people. It doesn’t tell us really the right thing to do. In chapter 2, even Job’s wife –who is suffering right along with Job, encourages him to just curse God and die. He already lost everything worth living for, so why not just die. Because of his integrity. He made a promise to God and God made a promise to him – and he cant give up on that. How do we maintain our integrity, our promise in our world? Jesus is our perfect example Hebrews, which we will studying for a few weeks also. But the beginning of Hebrews says that at one time God spoke through wisdom literature. But in today’s world he speaks through his son. A son whom he appointed heir of all things. A son who was made a little less then the angels. So that he could be our perfect example. We know that Jesus didn’t live the life of the homecoming king, or the star football player, or even the rich successful business man. Jesus lived a simple, poor life born in a manger, raised by a carpenter, living in the streets traveling from place to place. He was a human like us, who suffered like us, he lived like us. who died like us. But in spite of it all – he never lost his integrity. He always kept his promise to God. Hebrews is teaching us that there are a lot of good examples out their of how we should live, but Jesus us better than them all. The book of Hebrews uses the word better 22 times in referring to Jesus. Jesus was made less than the angels, but today he is higher than the angels. He overcome this world, and sits at the right hand of God. The good news for us – God rewarded Jesus for his righteousness, and if we follow his lead. If we keep his promise – we will be invited to be brothers and sisters of Jesus. In heaven, we will still have a song that the angels cannot sing. can of shaving cream, and read the words on the label… In fact, those words have me reading labels these days, on everything… Those words said; Warning; contents under pressure, Do not puncture or incinerate…. Do not throw into fire… It even said, keep out of the reach of children… Harmful or fatal if swallowed… And the words caught my attention, because they summarize the situation going on in so many lives of the children of God…. They are living under pressure… They are on the verge of an explosion… Perhaps because they don’t trust God. They forget about the promises of God. But more importantly. They forget the promises they themselves made to God. Perhaps they should consider the story of Job. He is introduced not as the successful man who had everything. He is introduced as a blameless and upright man who feared God and turned away from evil. If we were to look into a Hebrew Bible, we’d learn that the word perfect is the Hebrew word tam. And it means to be complete or entire, not lacking in any respect. It means that he had a whole and complete faith in a whole and complete God. It means that he trusted God for all of his needs, and he was always certain that God would never forsake him. He knew that God had the final word in all circumstances, and that God was a good God. But more importantly it meant that he made a commitment to this God, a promise in baptism. And that he was not at liberty to walk away. He kept his integrity in all things, even his pain and his anger. Integrity is doing what you said you would do, no matter what. Did I hear you say that you would love and follow Jesus to the cross? Story of keeping our integrity Several years ago, in Long Beach, California, a fellow went into a fried chicken place and bought a couple of chicken dinners for himself and his date late one afternoon. The young woman at the counter inadvertently gave him the proceeds from the day-a whole bag of money (much of it cash) instead of fried chicken. After driving to their picnic site, the two of them sat down to open the meal and enjoy some chicken together. They discovered a whole lot more than chicken--over $800! But he was unusual. He quickly put the money back in the bag. They got back into the car and drove all the way back. Mr. Clean got out, walked in, and became an instant hero. By then the manager was frantic. The guy with the bag of money looked the manager in the eye and said, "I want you to know I came by to get a couple of chicken dinners and wound up with all this money. Here." Well, the manager was thrilled to death. He said, "Oh, great, let me call the newspaper. I'm gonna have your picture put in the local newspaper. You're the most honest man I've heard of." To which they guy quickly responded, "Oh no, no, don't do that!" Then he leaned closer and whispered, "You see, the woman I'm with is not my wife...she's uh, somebody else's wife." Charles Swindoll, Growing Deep in the Christian Life, p. 159-60. We all have our days, when we will be tested. But integrity means keeping the faith in all areas of our life in all circumstances. Jesus knew our days very well, Jesus is our brother, Jesus understands temptation, he knew our questions. But he knew God, he knew what it meant to trust and obey, and he provided a way for us to to stand tall, to have strength. To be blameless and upright and to turn away from evil. God made a promise to you – are you keeping your promise to God? Let us pray….. World Communion introduction Today we celebrate communion with Christians all over the world, in all types of churches. God has made us his family, a family that stretches around the world, a family that is called to love as we have been loved, to forgive as we have been forgiven, to give as we have been given too. As we share in our family meal, give thanks to God that we are not alone, that we have both each other and the spirit of Christ amongst us, the spirit of him who was, who is, and who shall ever be one with us, and one over us, and one under us, one who truly loves us. Amen. can of shaving cream, and read the words on the label… In fact, those words have me reading labels these days, on everything… Those words said; Warning; contents under pressure, Do not puncture or incinerate…. Do not throw into fire… It even said, keep out of the reach of children… Harmful or fatal if swallowed… And the words caught my attention, because they summarize the situation going on in so many lives of the children of God…. They are living under pressure… They are on the verge of an explosion… They are just a few degrees away from losing it… They can’t stand the heat, but they don’t know how to get out of the kitchen… The pressures, and the calamities of this present life are destroying them… They are living under pressure, wondering just how much anyone is expected to take… Many of them ought to wearing a sign this morning, saying warning, stay away… Warning… danger approaching… Many of them ought to be wearing a sign saying keep out of reach of children…