CHOOSE LIFE!

It's Saturday night and I am praying for the clergy and laity of the Mountain Sky Conference as we prepare for Sunday worship.

"I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving your God, obeying the commandments and cleaving to God, for that means life to you... that you may dwell in the land which God swore to your parents."

       

Moses spoke these words the Israelites as they stood on the far side of the Jordan river. This is the second generation of those who were once slaves but were liberated from Egypt. The first generation nearly reached this same point forty years earlier but didn’t reach the Promised Land because they feared the risk of following God over the Jordan river. The result of their lack of faith was that even though this first generation experienced God's help in their release from captivity, they led themselves into another kind of captivity as they wandered in the wilderness, because they lacked the faith to follow God into the promised land.  This journey became a death march, as the first generation slowly died off. Moses speaks to their surviving children, now adults themselves. The decision is now before them: to choose life, or death. Are they able to trust God enough to risk following God over the Jordan, or shall they stay wandering in the wilderness another generation? 

The promised land is so close now that they can see it. Yet, so did their parents decades earlier. Will they have the depth of faith and trust in God to enable them to risk crossing over into Canaan? "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live."

This choice is ours as well. Every day, God sets before us life and death. Are we willing to take a step towards life, or will we be like that first generation of wandering Israelites, and choose death over life?

As a pastor, I have seen too many people settle for death instead of choosing life.  It is a culture of death which pervades so much of our world, our nation, our cities, our communities. Too many of us have adopted this culture of death in our own lives. Life has become cheap, meaningless, hopeless, and nowhere else is that visible than the way we live our lives. We have grown so comfortable with death that we invite death into our lives, into our bodies, into our relationships, into our homes, into the land, the water, the air, in countless ways.

How have you settled for a culture of death?

It’s not just individuals who must choose between life and death. Entire communities, too, must decide.  I have seen too many churches choose death instead of life. One church had dwindled down to 8 members. They didn’t want their church to close, but were unaware of the ways they had chosen death over life. They had literally nailed the front doors of the church shut, so that everyone needed to find a side door when they came to church. They allowed their building to become so run down that there were more rats than people in the church. When a newcomer made their way through the hallway maze from the side door to the sanctuary,  they were greeted with cold stares instead of warm welcome which communicated strongly to the newcomers, “What are YOU doing here?” And woe to the visitor who sat in the pew of one of the regulars.

This church had chosen death instead of life. They believed their best years were behind them and they stopped looking forward to the promised land God was calling them to.

With so many of us willingly accepting a culture of death in our lives, relationships and homes,  it is any wonder why there is so much violence in our neighborhoods, cities, schools, and world? Until we get a sense of our own self-worth, that life--our life--is not a cheap thing to be thrown away but a gift to be savored, and that the same holds for every living person, every living thing on this planet, we will be plagued with a culture of death. But it is not inevitable. It is not our fate. We can end the violence, end the death-inviting behaviors, end the brittle and battering relationships.

Jesus said,  “I have come that they might have life, and have it abundantly.” I have come that YOU might have life. And not just a miserly piece of it. Not some fraction that could be used up before you know it, but abundant life.

This life is rooted in love. Love of God, love of neighbor, love of ourselves. This is the abundant life Jesus tries to teach us over and over again: When we love, we find ourselves connect to others in deep and mysterious ways. What happens to others, even to those we don’t know, matter and move us when we are living a life of love. We react to it. We want to do something about it. We want to make things better.

You and I can push back this culture of death. Together. In community. It starts now. Whatever and wherever death has a hold of you, know God is wanting to give you life. Abundant life. And it is right this moment that we can choose life, can choose the way of love, can live into connection with others by committing ourselves to community. When we say we are a part of a church community what we mean is that I am greater, more powerful, more loving, more hopeful with you than I am without you. I can affect more change, I can transform more of the world, I can better heal my own life and the lives of those around me when I join my love with others than I can do when I am alone.

Choose life!