The big choice

"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. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers 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. 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" (Joshua 24:14-18).

The great teacher Socrates once told a story he called "The Choice of Hercules." Hercules is at the cusp of manhood; he is giving serious thought to the direction of his life. Two women appear before him. One has curves in all the right places and dresses in expensive clothing; her smile is an invitation and her eyes are dark pools of hunger. The other woman hides her figure beneath a plain white garment; her lips are set in a strict expression, and her eyes are filled with clarity and resolve. The first woman is named Pleasure, and the second is named Virtue. Pleasure promises to lead young Hercules along a short and easy road, where he can amuse himself with every kind of pleasure. Virtue beckons him to a path which ivolves hard labor and times of suffering, but is the only path leading to a beautiful and productive life worthy of his manhood. Pleasure or Virtue—which will win Hercules’ heart and guide his life?

As we look at today’s Old Testament lesson, we see the same kind question placed before the Israelites. Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, Joshua tells them. But this is no dusty history lesson; the challenge to choose…whom you will serve is a question you must answer as well. As we will see, the Israelites at that moment were very much like you are right now. So let us examine what brought God’s people to this point of decision, and see how it echoes what’s going on in our lives today.

The Israelites had been slaves in the land of Egypt. They could not live where they wanted, they had no choice about the kind of work they were assigned to do. They had no say in the schedule they kept, they could not protect themselves from wanton acts of cruelty, and failure to please their masters could result in harsh punishment or death.

They were also surrounded by the worship of false gods such as Ra, god of the sun; Osiris, god of the dead; Set, god of evil; and Thoth, god of learning. In fact, the king of Egypt was himself considered a son of the gods. Certainly the Israelites were made fun of for their religious beliefs. Only one God? Ridiculous—everyone knows that there are many gods and goddesses! And you claim that your God is supreme over every other power in the universe? If that is so, then how can our god-king keep you in slavery? Your God doesn’t seem very powerful to us!

That was the situation the ancient Israelites found themselves in. Yet it has many parallels to our own modern world. The people of today are also slaves—slaves to sin. As slaves to sin, they have no choice about what they will do each day—they can only commit one sin after another, because without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). They have no say in the schedule that they keep; when Satan prods them with temptation, they immediately respond according to his commands. They cannot protect themselves from his wanton acts of cruelty; no one has the strength to oppose the devil’s power. Being slaves, they can only look forward to harsh punishment and death—their misery will last forever in hell.

The people of this world are also surrounded by false gods. These include Materialism, the god of greed; Popularity, the god of vanity; Control, the god of power; and Lust, the god of earthly pleasures. These gods and others like them promise the illusion of happiness and try to make the chains of slavery attractive by painting them to look like gold. These false gods tolerate anything but the truth, because the truth reveals their deceptions. So they make fun of the Christian God and insist that His followers keep silent about their beliefs. The Christian God is not welcome in a world enslaved by sin.

But our God is the God of love, and He acted to free His people from their slavery. Moses was royalty, raised as an adopted son in the king’s palace. He was also a Jew by birth, one of people needing to be rescued from slavery. This was the man God chose to free His people with great miracles and the very words of heaven. Moses called down ten plagues on Egypt, plagues that never harmed the Israelites; in this way, God showed both His power to destroy and His mercy on those who trust in Him. Finally, the king of Egypt was convinced that he was overmatched, that the God of Israel was indeed sovereign over all. The children of God were set free and followed Moses to the edge of the sea, where God’s chosen leader parted the waters and led the people forward into a new life.

These events parallel what God has done for us through Jesus. Our God loves us, and He acted to free us from our slavery to sin. Jesus was royalty, God’s Son and heir to heaven. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the virgin Mary; in this way He was also human, becoming one of the people who needed rescue from sin and death. This was the true God-man, the person chosen by God to free His people with great miracles and the very words of heaven. Jesus commanded storms to be silent and calm down; He fed thousands with scraps of food; He healed incurable ailments and raised the dead back to life. In this way He demonstrated both His mighty power and His mercy on those who trust in Him. Finally, Jesus confronted the slave owner and defeated Him; Jesus did this by dying on the cross, exchanging His death for our eternal life; then He descended into hell and let the devil know in no uncertain terms that by God’s power we were freed from Satan’s control. With that announcement of victory, Jesus rose from the dead to lead us out from our slavery to a new life. When you passed through the waters of holy Baptism, your slavery to sin was ended and you embarked on a journey following Christ’s lead.

As the Israelites followed Moses, they spent most of their time traveling through wilderness; they would have starved or died of thirst had not God seen to their daily needs. But the most important thing in their lives was not food or drink; the one thing truly essential was the Tent of Meeting. This was designed by God Himself, and it contained the Ten Commandments they were to live by. Even more important, the Tent of Meeting contained the altar; this was where sacrifices were offered and the people had their sins forgiven. Without the Tent of Meeting and what went on inside of it, the people could not have a positive relationship with the God who was leading them.

As we follow Jesus, we find ourselves traveling through a spiritual wilderness. All around us, people wallow in their sins like pigs in mud—they take pride in seeing how much they can get away with. Few are the voices in this world that speak for God and moral decency. Thankfully, our Lord gives us His body and blood through the bread and wine of Holy Communion, nourishment for our souls in a world parched of life and desolate of meaning. These gifts are given through the Church, the place set up by God where we come and meet with Him. It is here that He reminds us of His laws that govern our lives. It is here where we find forgiveness for our sins. Without the blessings God gives us through His Church, we could not have any kind of meaningful relationship with the Almighty.

The Israelites were rescued from slavery with dramatic miracles. They were led by God’s chosen representative. They had the Tent of Meeting where their sins were forgiven and their lives were given direction. You would expect that for the rest of their journey to the Promised Land, they would be happy and content, right? Wrong! As they continued walking through the wilderness, life wasn’t always easy; there were challenges to overcome, shortages that had to be endured. Some of the Israelites began to forget how bad slavery was; some even looked back on those days with fondness. Others resented Moses’ leadership; they wanted to have a say in where the people were going, and how things were done when they set up camp.

We have been rescued from slavery to sin by the most dramatic miracle of all—Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection from the dead, by which Satan has been defeated, the curse of sin lifted, and the grip of death broken. We are led by Jesus, God’s chosen representative. We have innumerable churches where our sins are forgiven and our lives are given direction. So you would expect that, as we journey towards heaven, we would be happy and content, right?

You know better than that. Our journey through life isn’t always easy. There are times when we face tough challenges. There are times when we don’t have enough. When these hardships come, it is tempting to look back; we remember with fondness the sinful pleasures we have given up for Jesus, forgetting the negative things that came with those pleasures. There are also times when we grumble about Jesus’ leadership. We want to decide for ourselves what sort of conduct should be encouraged and rewarded. We want to determine what kinds of behavior ought to be punished as unacceptable.

The Israelites had a bumpy relationship with God and His servant Moses. Joshua had seen it all, the best and the worst of the journey. When Moses died, God appointed Joshua to take over Moses’ position as leader. Following Joshua, the Israelites had begun settlement of the Promised Land—yet even through these years, their faithfulness to God flickered in intensity. So when Joshua neared retirement, he challenged the people of God to reflect on their history with the Lord. Had God kept His promises? Had the Israelites benefited for having followed Him? Or were they better off as slaves in Egypt? Were the foreign gods of other nations more in tune with their moral sensibilities? You can’t have it both ways, Joshua warned—either commit to God, or commit to the other path—the path that leads to destruction.

Joshua’s words are for you as well. You’ve also had a bumpy relationship with God and His Son Jesus. Your faithfulness to God has wavered between being strong and weak. So Joshua challenges you to reflect on your relationship with God. Has God kept His promises? Did He provide a way for your sins to be forgiven, a way to defy Satan’s control, a way to escape the confines of the grave? Is a life enslaved to sin better than a life of commitment to the Lord? The old gods still whisper their promises of happiness—the gods of money, of popularity, of lust, of power over others. They would be only too happy to lock you in gilded chains once more.

But you can’t have it both ways. Jesus said, He who is not with me is against me (Matthew 12:30). He also said, No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other (Matthew 6:24). It is important to choose, and to choose well. Jesus said, Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13-14). How does one find the narrow gate? Jesus tells us, I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved (John 10:9).

There is a choice to be made—cling to Christ, remember His promise of forgiveness offered through your baptism, reconnect yourself to Him regularly by sharing in His body and blood before the altar. Or walk away from Christ—embrace the materialism and hedonism of this world and its gods, exchange freedom for slavery to your desires and let Satan yank your leash. It’s one or the other—you cannot try to please both masters at the same time. If serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."