SERMON
by Reverend Judith Alltree, delivered on Sunday February 13, 2011
at the Church of the Holy Spirit
EPIPHANY 6 – YEAR A
I stood on top of Mt. Nebo, in Western Jordan, which is the mountain where Moses is supposed to have spent his last few moments with the Israelites. Moses would not be going into the Promised Land with them; this was his last chance to speak with them, to instruct them, and to say goodbye. I tried to imagine the scene and the sense of what happened that day.
Moses would have seen the river Jordan winding its way through the lush countryside, through the land that God said would be “flowing with milk and honey”, a reference to the great fertility of this new land God had promised to give them. I too saw lots of green fields, on both sides of the river, now the border between Israel on the west and Jordan on the east. But I could barely make out the Jordan itself: in the beginning of the summer it’s nearly dry in some places from the heat, but mostly because it has been drained by Israel for domestic use.
There would have been no paved roads winding up and down the flank of Mt. Nebo, which allowed our huge bus to navigate the steep face of the mountain. The people of Moses’ day would have traveled by foot, for the most part, and some by animals, from the top of Mt. Nebo, 817 metres above sea level, to the floor of the Jordan River valley. It would have been an extremely difficult and dangerous journey.
What struck me most about the view from the top of the mountain was the sense of promise I felt. I could imagine what the ancient Israelites must have felt looking at that amazing vista of river, sea, and hills: that ahead of them was new life, that anything would be possible. But I was also struck with the thought that this would have been a time of confusion for them: Moses was leaving them, and the unknown life stretched before them. What would they do?
Deuteronomy is the last of the five great books of Torah, which are the foundation of the Old Testament, and consequently the foundation of the New Testament and our own faith as Christians. It’s Moses’ ‘last will and testament’ to the Israelites; this passage in particular has a profound and powerful message not just for the original audience of Israelites, but for everyone.
The commandments God gave Moses on Mt. Sinai at the beginning of this 40-year long journey are not suggestions, as some would have you believe; they are commands, to be sure, but not meant to repress. Moses’ message to the people is simple: following the commandments is a path to freedom and blessing; not following the commandments is a path to death. The people of Israel are at a crossroads: it is up to them to make a choice about which path they will follow. Moses urges them: CHOOSE LIFE.
“To choose” is an imperative, but not a demand. The choice is up to the people – up to us – to make, and the consequences of our choices are clear: life or death; freedom or repression. I don’t know what people dislike more: being told what to do, or having to make the choices themselves.
But that is the freedom God gives all of us; nothing is imposed on us, we must make our own decisions. When we choose for ourselves, right or wrong, we are free. Think about what has happened to the world economy over the past couple of years. The bad choices made by a small number of people became a curse for uncounted millions. The right choices would have meant blessings not just for one but for many. Bad decisions about our environment have resulted in the death of species, animals, plants and threaten our own existence. The right choices would mean an equitable sharing of resources, which would mean life. The right choice means life, which is what God wants for us. The commandments are not a path to constricted lives, but to the fullness of life.
Moses told the Israelites: “If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God… the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.” (Deut. 30:16) In ancient Hebrew, the word “obey” has several other important meanings: to hear and be heard; to listen, understand and obey. The Chinese, another ancient civilization, have a character for the word “listen” that has four distinctive elements: ear, eye, undivided attention, and heart, that are quite similar to the meaning of the ancient Hebrew “obey”. To listen requires our senses, our intellect, and our emotion. Only when we use all these elements in concert, are we able to discern what is right or wrong, and then to obey with understanding.
How often when we make decisions do we listen to what our heart is telling us? That is because the heart is the vessel by which we hear God speaking to us. To listen to God’s voice, to obey God’s word, leads to transformation in our lives; God’s word is not a wall which we throw ourselves against in order to destroy, but are pathways to follow, guide, direct and enable us to live full lives.
Even when we are stubborn and choose what we know is not the right or best thing for us God remains faithful. That’s because our wrong choices can’t separate us from God. Learning to choose life, and to choose well, is a lifelong process. Our choices may also be open ended; choosing life is always an option, even if we make mistakes along the way.
Earlier this week a woman I know named Melody died suddenly. She was only 39. A native woman from Manitoba, she had been horribly abused by almost everyone she knew, for most of her life. In order to kill the pain of that abuse, she abused herself with drugs and alcohol; but Melody had a remarkable spirit. She fought to find a path to the dignity which had all too often eluded her: drugs and alcohol would still claim their victory over her from time to time, but she persisted. She tried to create a home for herself and her 16-year-old daughter. She began to write down the stories of her life, as a gift of their shared heritage to her daughter, and to those of us who knew her. And she finally understood that nothing in her life could come between her and the love God has for her in Jesus Christ. She fought so hard to stay alive, but her diseased body betrayed her in the end; still, in her final two years, and in so many ways, Melody chose life.
Jesus took the Ten Commandments and distilled them into two: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your mind, your soul and your strength, and love your neighbour as yourself. ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS HANG ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS. Do you hear the similarities to this in the ancient meanings of the words ‘obey’ and ‘listen’: heart, mind and soul; ear, eye, undivided attention, heart; to listen and understand, to hear and be heard. Sense, intellect, emotion, action. “Choose life” is an imperative but not a demand; there is grace in the choosing; there is life in the right choice. Moses asked the Israelites to “Choose life”.
Ever since we were created, we have been given the free will to live our lives as we see fit. God has also given us his Commandments, guidelines within which we can live full and fruitful lives, no matter what our circumstances. There are consequences to all our decisions; we know that. We will always make mistakes, big or little, knowingly and unknowingly, in one way or another, and we accept that. But if our choices are based on following God’s commandments, on listening with all our senses and our intellect, to what our heart is telling us, we can and will choose life.
AMEN.