If It Was Only That Easy (Sunday, September 4th, 2016)

Bible Reference(s): Luke 14:25-33

Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn

Wouldn't it be great if decision-making was as straight-forward and easy as what God lays out before the Israelites in this passage from Deuteronomy?  Choose blessing...or choose curse.  Choose life...or choose death.  Door #1...or Door #2.   Basically God says, Ok, people, I am giving you two choices.  Pick one.  And...the answer seems so obvious, right?  

Oh, if life was really that easy.  A or B.  Nothing in-between.

Unfortunately, though, not everything we face is fits into this kind of either/or, black or white, thinking.  No, for a multitude of reasons, we encounter a lot of gray in our world.  In fact, I'd venture to say that for most of us, life is a series of stressful, complicated, decisions and choices.  Numerous doors lined up in a row...waiting for us to pick one. Only to find that picking one just leads to another decision.  Every time we turn around,  we are being forced to make a decision about something...and the "right" door isn't always clearly marked before us.

According to one survey, it is estimated that the average American makes as many as 35,000 decisions a day.  Furthermore, the study showed that the more decisions we make throughout the course of the day, the less consistent we are in our decision-making at the end of the day.  Likewise, the more choices before us...the more doors, if you will...the less likely we are to open any at all.  It's why we will change our mind four times between the time we get the menu and the time the server takes our order...and then just end up ordering the Daily Special....because it's easier.

Turns out that this mental condition has a name.   Decision-fatigue: being overtaxed with too many decisions.   No kidding, it is a real and unhealthy condition that appears to be on the rise in society.  Decision-fatigue can eventually lead to a reduced ability to compromise or to find common-ground.  We may find ourselves withdrawing in order to avoid decision-making altogether, or becoming impulsive when we are forced to choose.  Sadly, decision fatigue has the potential to do serious harm to our personal well-being.  It can wear us out, wear us down, and make us vulnerable to poor and destructive choices.

So yes, the simplicity of God's words to the Israelites is appealing.  We would like very much to only have one choice before us...life or death.  Pick one.  Seems fairly easy, huh?  I mean, who would pick anything but life...right?

Well...then again...have you read much about these Israelites?  If so, then you know they were pros at choosing death and adversity...over and over again.  And to be quite honest, if we take one look at the media headlines, it seems clear that so are we. 

Yes, even the well-meaning people of God choose a whole lot of death and adversity, sometimes without giving it much thought.  It could be that we are decision-fatigued and it's easier to just go along with what everyone else chooses, or maybe we're like the Israelites...seeking the security of false gods, determined to do and see things our own way...even if it's not life-giving for the others.  Or perhaps we have grown accustomed to choosing those things that mean life and prosperity to one group at the expense of another.

It's not a pretty history, but it is ours.  As a nation we have consistently chosen corporate progress and patriarchal prosperity while delivering death to our environment, to our farmers, to minorities, the poor and minimum wage workers, just to name a few.  So yeah, we are guilty of choosing life and prosperity for some, while dealing death and adversity to others.

But...then again...as the wisdom literature and history books agree, there is nothing new under the sun. Death-dealing choices have been happening throughout the history of civilization...despite God's desire and his every attempt to get people to choose otherwise.  I suppose it is the curse and blessing of free will.  God expects  us to choose life and blessing, but God will not force that choice upon us.  We are compelled to choose it for ourselves.  

Even more so, it seems that no matter how many decisions we face throughout the days of our lives, there is one over-arching question that is always in front of God's people. How will we choose to live the life God offers?  What will we do with the grace we've been given?  The way we answer, the decisions we make, really are life and death.  They may or may not result in physical death, but they certainly can lead to emotional death or death to one's dignity.  Every choice we make has the potential for life...or to suck the life right out of us.

Now in this Deuteronomy story, God lays out this either-or question before the Israelites just as they are getting ready to leave the wilderness and enter the Promised Land - where they will be free to make their own choices...choices that have the power to be life-giving to the people of God...as well as the potential to bring about their death and destruction depending on their priorities and decisions when they are there. In other words, the Promised Land will be what they make of it.  

Let that sink in for moment...God's promise will be what we make of it.  God's promise of grace.  God's promise of mercy and justice.  God's promise of abundance and welcome.  The promise will be what we make of it.  It's an amazing possibility to consider.

In the case of these Israelites, up until this point God has been faithful to them despite all their whining and complaining in the wilderness, despite all their unfaithfulness and doubt.  God has promised to be their God...and to make them into his people...and to give them freedom and an identity.   Now, here at the cusp of crossing over the Jordan,  God is also about to make good on the promise of a new and blessed life. 

You see, the Israelites were on the verge of a great release into freedom (sort of what our young people experience when they leave home and head down the road of independence).  God basically says:  beloved children, when you get there to the Promised land of abundance, you will be free, completely free, to choose how you will live!   The real question set before the Israelites was not all that different than what we ask of our own children when we set them free.  Basically:  Will you remember who you are?  God asks:  Will you choose my ways? Will you choose love?  Will you choose life?  Will you keep your hearts and minds turned toward me...or will you choose otherwise?

It's interesting to note that elsewhere in this passage God makes it clear that the people also have everything they need in order to choose well.  They've been instructed and taught.  They've been shaped and molded and prepared to be his chosen people.  They know the difference between life-giving and death-causing choices.  So when  God says, "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Choose life!"   It's all about what they will do next. God is pushing them to  "Choose to be his chosen."

I love that!  Choose to be chosen.  Choose to be the people God has created and chosen us to be.  

Notice that God didn't say, "if you choose to be the people I've chosen you to be, then I will deliver you into the Promised Land."  No, the Israelites were going into that Promised Land...that was a given.   And God didn't say, "You choose me first and then I'll decide if I will bless you."  No God chose first..he chose them and had already decided to bless them before they ever knew who God was.  

All that said, God is setting an expectation for how they will choose to live within that abundant blessing. He's challenging them to respond to being the blessed, by choosing only that which furthers the blessing...to the all their descendants and for generations to come.  Surely, God has a desired response in mind, but in loving freedom God has placed the decision and choice with the people.

Recently, when talking about the idea of free will, someone asked me, "But don't you think God already knew they would fail?"  Honestly, I'm not sure how to respond to that. God gave the Israelites what they needed to choose well, but clearly they did not.  Was it a matter that they could not, or that they would not?  Were they not able...or were they not willing? 

Talk about nothing new under the sun. God's people are still struggling with that same question:  When it comes to choosing to be the chosen, are we not able...or are we not willing?   Perhaps the answer is both...we are certainly not capable by our own power...but sometime we just aren't willing to do what it takes.

That seems to be what Jesus was saying to the crowds in the Luke reading as well.  All are welcome to follow Jesus.  All are invited into his mercy, his grace, and his peace.  But not all will be willing to make the choice to remain there. 

It sounds a bit harsh, but Jesus is just being real here...letting his followers know that when it comes to the life of a disciple there is a cost to be counted.  A price to be paid.  God's grace is freely given to us through Christ (who paid a price with his life), but that grace is not meant to be cheap.  It is offered with an expectation that we will, in turn, choose to live graciously toward others...that we will be willing to make the complicated and difficult choices that bring about the same life and blessing...the same wholeness, redemption and peace...that has been given to us. 

Folks, life with Christ really does boil down to the single choice God laid before the Israelites...what will we do with this beautiful promise of grace that we've been given?

For a minute let's be just as real with each other as Jesus was with the disciples.  Let's admit that gracious, life-giving choices are not always easy to make.  And sometimes we make the wrong choice - we choose selfishly...or fearfully...or defensively.   I mean, really, one of the reasons Presbyterians say a prayer of confession each week in worship and Disciples of Christ folks come to the table every week is because we admit that we don't always choose well! 

Thankfully, though, the good news for all of us is that God offers to us the same response that he had for the Israelites every time they failed to choose life.  He allows the natural consequence to emerge; yet through Christ he also gives us more grace...more faithfulness...and more opportunities to get it right the next time.

Jesus knew his followers would always struggle with the life of discipleship. He knew that we would not be able to follow him because we would not be willing to make some of the really difficult choices.  Jesus knew that things would get in the way...families, traditions, comforts of life, safety nets, wealth, social norms, politics, even patriotism...all kinds of things that will keep us from choosing the life God intends...and from experiencing the peace and joy that it brings.

Jesus knew all of this...but chose to love us anyway.  This is the promise and gift of God's grace.  It is completely dependent on the choice God made for us through Christ. However, what we do with that promise is dependent on the choices we make for Christ.  Will we choose the grace-filled, life-giving, blessed, ways of Jesus...even when it is not easy...even when the world around us does not? 

Maybe not every time...but if we do not make every attempt to try, then what difference does being a follower of Jesus Christ make in our lives? 

If living out the compassion, love, mercy, and justice of Jesus is not our one and only priority, then what we are doing with the grace that we've been given?

"I have set before you life and death, blessing and curses.  Choose life so that you and your descendants shall live."    Simple? Yes, but not always easy.   However in faith, and by the power of God's Spirit, we try anyway.

When we forgive even those who hurt us deeply, and even when we don't feel like it...we have chosen blessing. 

When we seek justice, with courage to stand against the status quo or speak against power structures that privilege a few...even if we are one of the few.  We have chosen life.

When we order our lives in such a way to ensure that others have the necessities of theirs. That is live-giving.

When we show hospitality and help maintain dignity for others -- regardless of their race, nationality, socio-economic status, religion, or lifestyle.  We choose the way of life and blessing.

And, when we show mercy and compassion to the stranger, even at the risk of our security and comfort.  We have chosen the way of Christ.

Beloved people of God, hear this good news. God has also set this table before us.  It reminds us that every time we choose Christ...we have chosen life.  The bread of life and the cup of salvation.  Choosing Life. Grace. Blessing. One bite and one sip at a time. 

Together, let us enter the promise of grace and choose life so all may live.   Amen.