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Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18 John 6:56-69
In the beginning, God created the sun, the heavens, the earth, and everything in it. He created human beings to take care of his creation and for companionship. Yet those very first humans, Adam & Eve, broke that relationship with God by doing the only thing he asked them not to do – eating fruit from the tree so that they could be like God. And while this broke God’s heart, he didn’t let that end their relationship with him. While he did send them out of Eden, he remained with them, and blessed them so that they could have children – Cain & Abel. And although Cain killed Abel out of jealousy, God did not turn his back on Cain. God remained with him, even as he was sent to wander the earth. Many years later, after God had blessed humanity with abundance, marriage, beauty, and freedom, human beings began to take advantage of that freedom and became corrupt. Yet God did not allow this corruption to end his loving relationship with humanity. He saved the creation through Noah and his family, and by giving this world a second chance. Many years later, God called Abraham out of Mesopotamia to a new land. He promised Abraham and Sarah a homeland and more descendants than there were stars in the sky so that they could be a blessing to the entire world. And even though they doubted God, he did not let this doubt or their old age deter him from fulfilling this promise and giving them a son named Isaac. Isaac married Rebecca and they gave birth to two sons, Jacob and Esau. God slowly began to fulfill his promise to Abraham by making him the father of many nations, for Jacob had 12 sons & 1 daughter. Unfortunately, 11 of these sons turned on 1 of them, Joseph, throwing him in a well and selling him into slavery. And even those these sons broke promises to God and to their father, Jacob, God still used this circumstance to remain faithful to his promises. Because Joseph eventually became a great ruler in Egypt, he was able to forgive and save the rest of his family during a drought. All of these children and grandchildren of Jacob went to live in Egypt during this time and God used this time in Egypt to multiply them into a great nation, just as he had originally promised Abraham. The Egyptians however, enslaved this growing nation, and began to mistreat them. So they cried out to God and God sent them a savior, Moses. Through Moses, God performed incredible miracles and saved them from slavery. After saving them, God invited them into a new promise at Mt. Sinai. God reiterated the promise he made to Abraham, to make them into a great nation and promised to give them a land flowing with milk and honey. They responded by promising to be God’s people by following the commands that God had outlined. When God led them straight to the land he had promised, they refused to go in however, because they were afraid. Even though this broke God’s heart, he gave that generation exactly what they asked for – they did not enter the promised land & were forced to wander in the wilderness instead. With the next generation, God was again faithful to his promise and through Joshua, finally led them to the promised land. After settling into their new homeland, once again, God gathered all of them together. God recalled his promises to his people and gave them the choice of whom to serve. As our 1st lesson said today, the people wholeheartedly agreed to serve this God who had been faithful to them. For many years, God served as their king, and whenever they needed an earthly leader, God would raise up for them a judge who would lead them into battle or make important decisions. Eventually however, the people got tired of having an invisible God as their king and they begged God for a human king. And although this broke God’s heart and he warned them against the consequences, he gave them what they wanted. Saul served as the first king of Israel, and just as God has warned, he soon became corrupt and exploited the people. God stayed true to his promises however, and selected a new king for them, a righteous man named David. David recognized God’s faithfulness and served God above all else. Unfortunately, despite God’s many blessings, David’s son and successor, King Solomon, did not remain faithful to God. His actions so weakened the kingdom that upon his death, Israel erupted into civil war and divided into two kingdoms – the northern kingdom of Israel & the southern kingdom of Judah. Despite their hatred for each other, God raised up prophets like Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah to continually remind them that they were loved and that God was there for them. King after king after king turned their back on God, ignored the prophets, and did evil in the world. Unfortunately, this so weakened their kingdoms that other nations conquered them. Assyria conquered the north in 721 BC and Babylon conquered the south in 586 BC. Even though the people had turned their backs on God and lost their promised land, God did not leave them or forget about those promises. After many years in exile, God used Cyrus the Great of Persia to conquer Babylon and allow the Israelites to return home. Through Ezra & Nehemiah, God was faithful and helped them rebuild their nation, even though it was now under the control of the Greeks and then the Romans. Under the Roman emperor Augustus, God sent his son, Jesus Christ into the world, born to ordinary parents in the small, out-of-way village of Bethlehem. When humanity rejected Jesus and crucified him on a cross, this undoubtedly broke God’s heart again. Yet, God didn’t let our unfaithfulness deter his faithfulness. He brought Jesus back from the dead and opened up this everlasting life to everyone. No matter how many times humans made promises to God, they broke them every single time and, at times, even tried to break off their relationship with God. Yet God always remained faithful, always remained in relationship, and never once wavered in his commitment to humanity. The salvation story continued after Jesus’ resurrection. The Holy Spirit empowered the remaining 11 disciples and St. Paul to spread the message to the ends of the known world. God encouraged the early church fathers and Christians to persevere in spite of constant persecutions and death threats. When the church failed to act like a church through the Crusades, the Inquisition, and endless splits and divisions, even though this broke God’s heart, God never once left or abandon her. In the 1500s, God worked through reformers like Martin Luther, Philip Melancthon, and John Calvin to remind the church what she was to be about. And throughout the last 500 years, God has inspired many great saints, nuns, popes, monks, and ordinary Christians to do many great and wonderful deeds, despite the fact that it was often two steps forward and three steps back. God never let up on his promise to bring salvation to the world, despite our unfaithfulness. And at some point within the last 85 years or so, almost everyone of you here this morning was brought to these waters of Holy Baptism and God made these same promises to you. He promised to count you among his children, to make you part of his family, to love you, to forgive you when you make poor decisions, to give you the gift of the Holy Spirit, and to grant you eternal life. God has never waffled or wavered on these promises. He has never reneged on those promises. He has never, ever left you alone. He was with you when your loved ones have died. He was with you when you were sick and lonely. He was with you when your children were born. He was with you when you said your marriage vows and when you signed divorce papers. God has been with you in the good times and in the bad times, even when you didn’t know he was there. God has been faithful to his promises to you in baptism, even though we have all waffled and wavered from time to time. Just as with the Israelites who denied and went against God more times than we can count, no matter how much waffling and wavering you do in the future, it will not affect God’s promises & God’s covenant with you. He always remains faithful to those commitments. And so, in response to God’s actions, we are forced into the same decision that Joshua, the Israelites & Jesus’ disciples faced in our lessons today – to love and serve this God or to deny him. There is no in between. Through our words, our time, our actions, even our wallets, we either choose to serve & love God or we choose to deny him. One way or the other however, our choice is only good for today. Tomorrow, each one of us will have to wake up and make those very same choices all over again – choosing to remain in covenant with God or to deny that covenant with God. And the day after tomorrow, you’ll have to decide again. And everyday for the rest of your life and in every single circumstance, you are faced with that choice – to serve God or to serve one of these other gods (other people, an ideal or cause, pleasure, work, money, security, an addiction, our country). So, after being reminded of God’s actions throughout history and your life, and with Joshua and Jesus, I stand before you today and say, “Choose this day whom you will serve – the God of our ancestors who has been faithful to them and to you, or one of these other gods who will eventually let you down.” But before you even begin to consider that choice remember two very important things: 1) God will always be there for you, no matter what kind of commitment you make to him today. Tomorrow, when you wake up and your faith is in doubt, God will still be there for you. And 5 years from now, if tragedy strikes and you get so mad at God that you refuse to come back to church, God will still be there for you, patiently waiting for you to return. History has proven that your response and your actions won’t affect God’s love and promise at all. And #2) God has already made his choice – he chooses you. Amen.
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