Joshua 24 24:15

Sunday November 9, 2008 Rev. Robert L. Clark II Joshua 24 24:15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." 24:16 Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; 24:17 for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; 24:18 and the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God." God heard the cries of the people when they were slaves in Egypt. God heard their cries and God responded. God sent Moses to lead the people out 1

of Egypt into freedom. God parted the waters and the people crossed the boundary between slavery and freedom. God heard the cries of the people when they were slaves in Egypt and God responded. God hears our cries today and God responds. God hears when we cry out under the burden of too much debt at too high interest; the burden of doctor bills we cannot pay and prescriptions we cannot fill, God hears and God will deliver. In the wilderness God heard the cry of the people rising in response to the fearful rumbling of their empty bellies. God heard and sent manna from heaven to liberate them from the fear of scarcity, the fear of hunger.

God heard the cries of the people then and God hears our cries today. God hears us when we cry out under the weight of exorbitant gas prices, of rising electric bills, and escalating food costs. God hears and God will deliver. God heard the cry of the people when they were greeted with hostility by the peoples of the wilderness. God heard the cries of the people and God preserved and protected them from the dangerous powers who sought to destroy them. Today God hears our cries when planes bring down majestic towers, when terrorist plot to destroy us, when enemies threaten nuclear annihilation. God hears and God will deliver. God heard the cry of the people, who weary from 3

long wandering longed for nothing more than to lay their heads down on the same bed for two consecutive nights in a place called home. God heard their cries and God parted the waters of the Jordan so that Joshua might lead the people across. God parted the waters of the Jordan and Joshua led the people into the Promised Land, a land where the people plucked grapes from vineyards they did not plant and slept in cities they did not build. Today God hears the cry rising from the throats of the 11.9 million undocumented persons who have crossed the Rio Grande in search of a promised land. God hears the cry rising like a single voice from the lips of the 1.6 million homeless persons living on the streets of US cities. God hears the cry

rising from the 15 million refugees seeking safety in a dangerous world. God hears and God will deliver. God is faithful. God’s promises will never be broken. From always until forever God is here. God is listening and God is acting. God is acting to bring about reconciliation with all creation. God is acting for the sake of your and my salvation. God is acting to liberate the captives, to lift the burden from the oppressed, to free you and I from all forms of bondage to bend the bars of each one’s personal prison, to break the chains, to part the waters, and to demolish all barriers to human liberation. To put it as simply as possible, God is good! (all the time!) and all the time! (God is good!) 5

God led the people into the Promised Land and God delivered control of that land into their hands. Now it is the peoples turn. Joshua calls them all together and after retelling all the wonderful things God has done for them, he presents them with a choice, either serve the Lord or choose this day whom you will serve. Today we are being offered the same option either serve the Lord or decide whom we will serve. There are a whole lot of options, the god of money, the god of popularity, the god of patriotism, the god of family, the god of vanity, the god of selfindulgence, the god of greed, the god of success, the god of…I could go on all day but I think you get the point. There are an almost infinite number of

things we could choose to value more than God. The problem is God will not play second fiddle. God wants to be number one in your heart, ahead of everything and everyone else. Therefore, choose this day whom you will serve.

But before doing so, before you say anything, think about what it means to say that you will serve the Lord. Think about the cost. Serving God is not for free. Serving God is very, very costly. The price for serving God is your life. Listen carefully this is what Jesus said: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In 7

the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal. If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you'll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment's notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me.”

Now a many of us are willing to say that we want to serve God. We say we want to obey his ordinances, his rules. We may even say we are willing to die for him just like he died for us. We may be willing to say we will give up everything for his sake but I wonder, when push comes to shove, how many of us are willing to put our money where

our mouths are. I wonder how many of us are willing to put service to God ahead of our own needs and desires.

When we join the church we make a promise to serve God in several very specific ways. We promise to serve God by supporting the ministries of the Church through our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service. A hard look at how each of us is doing in each of these areas will provide a good measure of our commitment to serving God. Jesus says we are to pray without ceasing. Are we praying without ceasing? Hebrews 10:24-25 says something like, “Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and 9

helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do…” (MSG Hebrews 10:24-25) When we promise to support the ministry of the church through our presence we are promising not to avoid worshipping together. We are promising to show up. Showing up in church for worship is a good start but it is only a start. Serving God by showing up means much more than regular worship attendance. When we promise to serve God by supporting the Church with our gifts, we are promising to provide financial support for the ministry of the church. The Minimum Biblical standard for giving is the tithe. The Tithe is 10% of all that we produce. One of the places we find this is in Deuteronomy 26: 12-

13 …give a tenth of your produce to the priest, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow so that they may eat their fill in your cities. And then, in the Presence of GOD, your God, say this: I have brought the sacred share, I've given it to the priest, foreigner, orphan, and widow. What you commanded, I've done. I haven't detoured around your commands; I haven't forgotten a single one.” Have we forgotten? The final promise we make when joining the Church is to support its ministries with our service. In Matthew 25:35-36 describes service with these words, “I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, in prison and you came to me.” He goes on to say that in as

11

much as you did these things for the least among us you have done it for Jesus. Serving God involves serving others. There is no way around it. If we do not serve our neighbors we cannot serve God. I would like to invite you to spend sometime this week reflecting on your choice to serve God. Reflect on all the ways God calls us to serve. Think about your willingness to pray constantly, to show up for worship regularly, to give generously, and to serve God by serving the least among us. Think about these things and then decide. Who will you serve? …as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Amen.

13