Choose today whom you will serve. My family and I will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15
You are not to make a covenant with those who live in this land. You should break down their altars. But you didn’t obey me. What have you done? Judges 2:2
This week we looked at the story of Gideon from the Book of Judges in worship. I don't usually spend much time in this book, but there are some great stories in there. Today I was reading in chapter two, and I was struck by what was happening. Let's remember what happened before this chapter. Moses was sent by God to free the Israelites from Egypt, and then Joshua led them into the Promised Land.
Our first Bible verse today comes from this time of Joshua's leadership. He was calling on the people to set aside the religion and gods of Egypt and commit to God. The people agreed and turned their lives to God.
Eventually, the generation of Joshua passed away, and we get to chapter two of Judges. The various tribes of Israel, based on the family lines of the sons of Jacob, each were given an area to conquer and settle in. However, along the way, they decided that they didn't always want to push out all the people who were already there.
This was a problem. To our ears in our culture, moving everyone out sounds like ethnic cleansing and a bad thing. We aren't sure we are on board with this policy. However, what God was really wanting was that the people would be committed to God and worship God with their daily lives. The problem came when the people started worshiping other gods and using religious practices that God didn't like. By letting people stay as neighbors, the Israelites started living like their neighbors instead of following God's commands.
What have they done? It is easy to point a finger at them and feel smug ourselves. But I wonder, what have we done? Are we living as Jesus taught us to live? Or have we turned our focus to the values of the world, and turned away from God?
Today, we might not kneel down before a carved idol to worship. But maybe we put our family first and don't love and care for our neighbors or strangers like Jesus asks us to. Maybe we put our work or hobbies and activities first in our lives, and don't set aside time every week to worship God. Maybe we try to hold onto every penny we get and don't share resources so our community is strong.
What have we done? Can our neighbors see Jesus in our daily choices, or do our lives look like those of people who are not connected to God?
Maybe it's time for us to answer Joshua's challenge: choose whom we will serve.
Amen.
Pastor Anna-Lisa Hunter
January 30, 2024
