For the last few years I have been involved with the Confirmation program at our church. Mostly I have been responsible for administrative tasks such as keeping track of the student’s requirements in order to go through Confirmation. But occasionally I would step in and substitute teach. I will have to admit that I am more comfortable speaking to a room full of veterinarians than a small classroom of 7th and 8th graders. I guess maybe in the former case I know my audience while in the latter case I am very far removed from their world.
During one of my teaching sessions we were covering the teachings of Christ when it occurred to me that I was not sure that they believed in Christ or even God. Did they believe that Christ was God? It is a sad situation when Religious Education students get to their Confirmation years and it is not an accepted fact that they are all believers in God, Jesus and the Church. But that is the reality of the effect of the secular world they are exposed to for several hours each day.
So, I decided to challenge them. I asked them if they believed that Christ was God…but told them that they did not have to voice it out loud. Just think about it. And I further proposed that this question was the most critical question that they will have to face and answer in their lives. Why? Because the answer determines how they will live their lives.
If they decide that there is no God, or that Jesus was not God, then the consequences of their actions has a very limited effect. Whatever they could get away with, and derive pleasure from, in this life will have no bearing on anything once they die. So all bets are off. They are free to live how they please. To accumulate as much wealth as they could, as much power as they could, fame may be their primary goal and whatever they need to do to get there is open as an option.
But if they believe…They are living not for this home but the one that is to come. Their actions in this life will determine what is to come for eternity. This life becomes a proving ground for God. To separate out the weeds in their lives. To be purified in the fire. To serve each other and bring them God’s word. A very different picture than the one for the non-believer.
I recall a talk that was given at a Cursillo weekend I was working on and the speaker took a very long rope and stretched it from one end of the room to the other. He then taped the first few inches of the rope and he said to us that this represented our life here and now, in the present. The rest of the rope? Our lives for eternity. What we did in those first few inches determined the course of the remaining hundreds of feet.
And this is what Joshua was trying to communicate to the Israelites in today’s first reading. Joshua’s life was about over. He had led the people in capturing much of the land of Canaan as the Lord had commanded. And they prospered under his leadership and with the help of God. Now, knowing he will be leaving them, he wanted to people to be faithful to God and the covenant He had made with them. He reminded them of all that God had done for them and for their forefathers.
The people respond with a resounding pledge to serve the Lord. But Joshua also remembers this same oath they had taken with Moses at Mt. Sinai. Following this oath came the worship of the golden calf. He knows that their determination is fleeting. And tells them of the consequences of not following the Lord. They pledge their faith in God once again. But we all know what happens then. Once Joshua dies the people stray again. They live in the midst of people who serve pagan gods and over time the Hebrews do the same. They turn their backs on God repeatedly, building altars and sacrificing even their children to these false idols. They are ultimately punished by God having the Assyrians, and later the Babylonians, take them captive and remove them to a foreign land.
But we also know of God’s mercy to His people. He has King Cyrus of Persia defeat the Babylonians who then allows the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and the temple. Now, we may wonder how these people could have turned their backs on God over and over again. And we, who are Christians, could never worship idols as they did. Or sacrifice our children as they did. After all, we have over 2000 years of Christ’s teachings. Of being taught by the Church. Having a written history and words of Christ.
Yet we still worship idols. The idols of power, fame, money, success, etc. They can very easily take the place of us surrounding ourselves with the presence of God. Where ours deeds communicate that we really don’t believe in the Deity of Jesus. But we all fall, don’t we? We are human and imperfect. We draw closer to God then fall away throughout our lives, only to pick ourselves up and find our way back again. It happens over and over until we finally exit this world. But we have Jesus’ sacrifice for us to help us return to God. We just need to call on His name and trust in that name. To ask for forgiveness and for help to defeat the demons in our lives.
We are told that God is a Holy and jealous God. How could God be jealous. Such a human frailty. But God is telling us that we cannot serve two gods. We must choose which we will serve. Does that mean we must give up all our hobbies, our jobs, and our relationships in this world? No. Not by any means. But the question is, do any of these things take precedence over serving the Lord? Is God involved in all your decisions. Do you ask His guidance and then listen and act on it?
In verse 27 of this reading from the 24th chapter of Joshua, he says to the people:
Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak
that was in the sanctuary of the LORD.
And Joshua said to all the people, “This stone shall be our witness,
for it has heard all the words which the LORD spoke to us.
It shall be a witness against you, should you wish to deny your God.”
A stone? As a witness?! Really?! A stone is ever lasting. It does not change. It remains constant. As should the words of our covenants. So when Joshua speaks these words in front of the community and in front of that stone, it is meant to be an eternal promise to God:
“…As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Can we say the same?
