The Unavoidable Choice

The Unavoidable Choice

Tenth after Trinity

Collect: Let thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy humble servants; and, that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament: Joshua 24:14-24 (KJ21)

14 “Now therefore, fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord.

15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

16 And the people answered and said, “God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods;

17 for the Lord our God, He it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went and among all the people through whom we passed.

18 And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites who dwelt in the land. Therefore will we also serve the Lord, for He is our God.”

19 And Joshua said unto the people, “Ye cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins:

20 if ye forsake the Lord and serve strange gods, then He will turn and do you hurt, and consume you after He hath done you good.”

21 And the people said unto Joshua, “Nay; but we will serve the Lord.”

22 And Joshua said unto the people, “Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”

23 “Now therefore put away,” said he, “the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.”

24 And the people said unto Joshua, “The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey.”

If we go out to eat, it always goes like this. I say, “Where do you want to go?” She says, “I don’t care; you choose.” I say, “No, really, I don’t care; you to pick a place you’d like go.” She says, “What I’d like is for you to choose.” I say, “OK. I’ll give you three options, and you choose one.” She says, “No, I don’t want to choose. Pick something.” Somehow after 10 or 15 minutes of this game we end up going somewhere

We’ve got to choose or stay home.

As Joshua came to the end of his life, he confronted God’s people with an unavoidable choice.

1. The Charge: Choose whom you will serve.

The Lord used Moses to set his people free from slavery in Egypt and lead to the Promised Land. When Moses died, Joshua took over and led them to conquer and possess the Land. As Joshua’s days came to an end, he gave this charge to Israel.

Now therefore, fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord.

The charge is both positive and negative. The positive choice is to fear and serve the Lord. “Fear” is not the response of a beaten child who cowers before an angry parent. The fear of the Lord is loyalty to him as the God who redeemed us, love for him as the God who is gracious to us, respect for him in his purity and holiness, and revulsion against displeasing him. Those who fear the Lord serve the Lord. Serving the Lord is not going through the outward motions or worshiping half-heartedly but serving him  with sincerity and truth.

Fearing and serving of the Lord means rejecting all other gods. Joshua reminds them of the idolatry in their background. God called Abraham out of a life of worshiping other gods. In Egypt some Israelites got involved in the worship of the Egypt’s false gods. Choosing the Lord means rejecting all other gods. There are only two choices - the Lord and any other god, whatever form that god takes, whether the god of a false religion, or the gods we make of other people, or possessions, or pleasures, or reputations.

Joshua wouldn’t let them say, “Let us think and talk about it, and we’ll get back to you.” “Choose you this day whom you will serve.”  Joshua had made his personal choice and, as head of his family the choice also for his household. He and his would serve the Lord. But, if the people find it evil in their eyes to serve the Lord - if it is distasteful to them, if they think it contrary to their happiness, then let them worship the gods their idolatrous forefathers worshiped or the gods worshiped by the people of Canaan.

Joshua’ charge makes it clear that there is a choice that cannot be avoided. The first commandment is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Jesus said,

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

He went on to give a concrete example, “You cannot serve God and money.”

This charge comes to us every day, every hour. Whom do I trust and love? What do I serve? The choice is always between the Lord  everything else that claims our worship, trust, love, loyalty, and service.

2. The Choice: We will serve the Lord.

The people were ready with their answer. They make the right choice. “We also will serve the Lord for hs is our God.” They will not even entertain the possibility of worshiping other gods. “God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods.”  

Not only do they make the right choice. They make it for the right reasons. They do not say, “We will serve the Lord, because we are scared what will happen if we don’t.” The reason they will serve the Lord is because of all he has done for them:

...the Lord our God, He it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went and among all the people through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites who dwelt in the land. Therefore will we also serve the Lord...

The Lord is their Redeemer who saved them from slavery in Egypt. He did great miracles of salvation they had seen. He had preserved them through all dangers of the wilderness. And he had defeated their enemies in Canaan so they could take possession of the land.

There are professing Christians who are very indifferent about being faithful to the Lord. They worry about their own happiness, not pleasing the Lord, and it never occurs to them that God could be displeased with them for the other they serve. But there also are Christians whose motivations for remaining faithful to the Lord and serving him are guilt and fear. They are like the child who is always looking over his shoulder, fearful his dad is going to catch him doing something wrong and give him the back of his hand.

Real Christian faithfulness doesn’t begin until we see all that God has done to redeem us from sin and judgment. He did mighty miracles of salvation for us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He promises to preserve us through dangers, toils, and snares until he brings us to the heavenly Promised Land. We faithfully worship and serve the Lord not out of guilt but gratitude. Faithfulness is our response to God’s grace of salvation.

3. The Challenge: You cannot service the Lord.

Joshua’s response seems strange - he challenges what they say:

And Joshua said unto the people, “Ye cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins: if ye forsake the Lord and serve strange gods, then He will turn and do you hurt, and consume you after He hath done you good.”

Why did Joshua this? Does he intend to discourage them? Does he want them not to follow the Lord?

First, when he says God is jealous, we need to remember there are two kinds of jealousy. There is jealousy that comes from insecurity and possessiveness - the husband who becomes upset when at a social gathering his wife has a conversation with another man. But there there is the right kind of jealousy - when a wife and husband pledge their love to each other and both expect the other to be faithful to their vows and loyal to one another.

Second, when he says God will not forgive but will turn on them and consume them, he does not mean that God is not willing to forgive those who sin and then return to the Lord. He does not mean that God is not patient but will quickly destroy his people if they are unfaithful. Look at the history of his dealings with his people - his patience and mercy through century after century as they flirted with other gods and wandered away from the Lord. What he means is that there is an end to God’s patience when he will judge his people.

Third, when he tells them they cannot follow the Lord, he is being a realist about human nature - how weak and fickle it is. One of my favorite hymns is based on this reality:

Oh, to grace how great a debtor

daily I'm constrained to be!

Let thy goodness, like a fetter,

bind my wandering heart to thee:

prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

prone to leave the God I love;

here's my heart, O take and seal it;

seal it for thy courts above.

4. The Confirmation: We still will serve the Lord.

The people’s response to Joshua’s challenge of their commitment was to confirm their commitment to the Lord.

And the people said unto Joshua, “Nay; but we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua accepted their confirmation and impressed on them the seriousness of their commitment:

Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve Him.”

The people responded,

We are witnesses.  

Joshua challenged them not to stop at words but to act on their commitment:

Now therefore put away the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.

And the people again expressed their loyalty and commitment to the Lord.

The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey.

Every Sunday when we come to worship as God’s people, we express our commitment to the Lord. “Lord you are our God. You redeemed us and saved us. We are yours.” And every week the Lord responds to us, “Then put away all your other gods and worship me only.”

We sing with Anglican poet, William Cowper:

The dearest idol I have known,

Whate’er that idol be

Help me to tear it from Thy throne,

And worship only Thee.