Joshua 24:14-24
14 Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! 17 It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 18 And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.”
19 Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”
21 But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”
22 Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”
“Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied.
23 “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
24 And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.”
It’s a No-Brainer!
How many choices do you make every day? Sometimes it feels like life is on autopilot, doesn’t it? There’s not a whole lot of choice; you just follow a predetermined well-worn path. You get up, eat breakfast, shower, get dressed, go to work/school, do what your boss or teacher tells you to do, get home, eater dinner, watch TV, go to bed, rinse and repeat tomorrow. But even that predetermined, well-worn path is just a choice you’ve already made – you chose your job/career, you might have chosen your classes. And within that rut are all kinds of micro-choices you have to make, like what you’ll have for breakfast, which clothes you’re going to wear, whether you’ll talk to that weird person you pass in the hall every day, etc…
We are surrounded by choices. We make decisions every minute of every day. Some are difficult. Others are easy. It’s one thing to decide what you want to do when you grow up, where you want to go on vacation. It’s something else entirely to choose whether you drive within the lanes on the Henday or veer off into the ditch, whether you eat the Twinkie, or the wrapper it came in. Some choices are absolute no-brainers.
And that’s the kind of choice that Joshua laid before the people of Israel as they stood in the land God had been promising to give them for hundreds of years. He said, “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.”
At first glance, when Joshua says, “Choose for yourselves whom you will serve,” it almost sounds like an invitation, e.g. “Go, do your research. Don’t take my word for it. Experiment. It doesn’t really matter which God you worship. Find the right one for you. Just don’t do nothing. Don’t be spiritually lazy.” After all, that’s what the world tells us, isn’t it? That’s the choice that our teenagers and university students and churchless adults confront every day. “There are so many religions out there. I just have to pick the right one for me. I just have to choose who my god will be.”
But that’s not what Joshua is saying at all. He doesn’t hold up the gods of Babylon and Egypt as viable alternatives to the God of Israel. What he’s trying to do is point out the hypocrisy and inconsistency that many of the Israelites embodied – the thinking: “I can follow the God of Israel and hold on to these other traditions and practices that are part of my family heritage, that my friends and neighbours value.” That’d be like pledging money to Poilievre’s campaign but voting for Trudeau. That’d be like rooting for the Oilers at Roger’s Place in the battle of Alberta while wearing a Flame’s jersey. The two things don’t go together!
And while we can come up with all kinds of historical or hypothetical examples of hypocrisy, it’s not always as easy or as pleasant to uproot our own. Do you remember these words? “Do you desire to remain faithful to the teachings of Christ, be diligent in the use of God’s Word and sacraments, and lead a godly life as the Lord gives you strength? If so, answer: I do, and I ask God to help me.” Many of us made that promise when we were confirmed or received into membership at this congregation. We made a solemn vow before God and each other. How have we done? Joshua told the people to throw away all of the other gods in their tents, the gods their forefathers worshiped alongside the true God. What are the gods of your fathers that have found a home in your tent?
Maybe your dad abused alcohol growing up, and you use that as an excuse to do the same, holding onto that empty god which promises everything and gives you nothing but a headache. You can’t serve both God and alcohol. Maybe your dad was always at work and didn’t have time for you as a kid, and you use that as an excuse to hold onto that empty god that promises success, but only leaves you fatigued to be faithful in the other areas of your life. You can’t serve both God and work. Maybe your mother was rude to your father growing up, and you use that as an excuse to hold onto that empty god that promises you the good feeling of superiority but only leaves you with burned bridges and a guilty conscience. You can’t serve both God and self. Is your god a busy-ness that neglects worship of the true God? Is your god greed? You can’t serve both God and money.
What are the idols in your tent? And which one will you choose – the one and only true God or one of the many empty gods that Satan uses to lead souls to hell? I suspect that everyone here today would say the same thing the Israelites did: “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD and serve other gods!...we will serve the LORD because he is our God!” And that’s the right answer! It’s the only answer; it’s a no-brainer. You might expect Joshua to be proud, but that’s not how he responds:
“You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve other gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you!”
Joshua knows his people! He knows that talk the talk, but don’t always walk the walk. Joshua is saying, “Don’t just say what you think God (or your pastor or your spouse or your mom) wants you to say. Don’t you know what kind of God you are dealing with? He is holy and jealous! Don’t you dare come to him thinking, ‘though it makes him sad to see the way we live, he’ll always say, ‘I forgive.’” Our God is not a soft cuddly Santa in the sky who drools over easy lip service. He is not a God who is pleased with our strongly worded confirmation vows when they are followed by weakly lived lives. You have to be all in!
I’m sure you’ve heard the hog and hen story. Both hog and hen were walking past a church and noted the pastor’s sermon title on the outside bulletin board. It read: “What can we do to help the poor?” As hogs and hens are wont to do, they entered into earnest conversation over the question as they continued on their way. At last, the hen had a bright idea: “I’ve got it!” She cackled, “We can help the poor by giving them a ham and eggs breakfast!” “Oh, no you don’t,” shot back the hog, “for you, that only means a contribution, but for me, it means total commitment.” The hog was right. That is Joshua’s point—there can be no chicken’s way out; we must go “whole hog” for Jesus.
So the question is not will you say you will only follow God and put away all other idols in your life. The question is are you willing to do it? What’s your choice? It’s easy to say something. It’s another thing entirely to back it up with action. But that’s what makes God’s choice so beautiful.
There Jesus was in the halls of his heavenly Father enjoying eternity in perfect glory, when suddenly he had a choice to make: Do I stay here in the painless perfection of heaven, or do I give up my glory and descend into the dirty, grimy world below and give up my life through torture and torment on a cross for a mass of humanity that likes to say they love me, but shows a different face entirely on Monday morning and Saturday night? The spectator might look at Jesus and think, “That’s a no-brainer. That’s an easy choice.” And Jesus would agree, but for an entirely different reason.
For Jesus it was a no-brainer to leave heaven and come to earth and die for you, because he loves you. For all the times our faith has faltered, for all the times we gave our attention to something/someone else, Jesus came to earth with consistent determination and undivided attention to save you. He marched to his death on the cross so that you could live with him forever in heaven. He took away your sin and your guilt and your shame and replaced it with peace and joy in his name.
And that’s not just a gift he gave to you 2,000 years ago, or a gift that will only apply to you on some undisclosed future occasion when you finally go to heaven. He still treats you with the same consistent determination and undivided attention today and every day. Think about that! How many times has your mind wandered in this one sermon? His attention is still on you. With all the things – all the cares and concerns he has all over the world, all at once – in his mind, there is nothing better to do than to love you. That’s your God.
And that’s why Joshua was able to make his pledge of allegiance: “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Make it yours, too. This week, do some soul searching about the idols that you have allowed to stay in your tent and choose to throw them out and only serve the LORD. That is going to be hard. But remember who your God is. He is the one who delivered the Israelites from slavery, and provided for them in the desert, and led them to the Promised Land. And he’s done the same for you. He has delivered you from your sin. He provides for you every day. And he is preparing a place for you even now in his heavenly home.
So, people of God, choose this day whom you will serve. Give up your empty gods. Embrace the true God. It’s a no-brainer. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Amen.