Choose Life
Luke 14: 25-33, Deuteronomy 30:15-20
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.’”
[1]
Isn’t that what Jesus is saying in the words he speaks today? 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!’”[2]
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.
[1]
Cavanaugh, Brian, T.O.R., Sower’s Seeds that Nurture Family Values: Sixth
Planting, Paulist Press, Mahwah, New Jersey, 2000, p. 40
[2]
Cavanaugh, Brian, T.O.R., Sower’s Seeds of Encouragement: Fifth Planting,
Paulist Press, Mahwah, New Jersey, 1998, p. 7
