As many of you know…we follow the Narrative lectionary which assigns the readings we preach on each week. And I say this…because this would not be a passage I would choose to preach on if it weren’t assigned …mostly because it’s dangerous. It’s dangerous when it is taken as a blueprint for God’s intentions because we hear it saying God was in favor of them invading a land and destroying the people who already lived there. And so that’s how the Chrisitians who settled America framed their invasion and genocide of the “new world”. They saw America as their promised land and set out to exterminate the native populations that already lived here, believing it was “God’s intention”. And in the same way, the patriarch of Russia is justifying the destruction of Ukraine as “God’s intention”….and Palestinian villages are continually being destroyed to build Jewish settlements because it’s “God’s intention”. This reading is dangerous…because it’s used to justify “nation building” by invoking God…and we know that’s just plain ugly no matter what faith tradition you are a part of. The current Christian Nationalist movement here in the US is a prime example of everything that’s wrong how this passage in Scripture is used. But we need to remember that instead of using this passage as a blueprint to justify our acts of violence…as Christians we have to read all of this through the story of Jesus…through the lens of Jesus. And Jesus was not the least little bit interested in building nations or waging wars or expanding territory or controlling people. No…what Jesus was interested in was sharing the good news of God’s love and mercy for all people and bringing healing and hope.
So…that said…what do we do with this reading? How do we hear it today?
There are two things that strike me in this reading that I think are important for us today. The first is how Joshua tells their story. As he reminds the people of where they started and all they’ve been through…as he looks back on all that has happened in their people’s history….from the very beginning he sees the hand of God in it all. Not just in the good times…but in the hard times too. Before they understood who God was…while they were just learning about God with Abram and Terah. In Egypt…during slavery….when they thought God had abandoned them. Years wandering in the wilderness…thinking they had no future, no hope. In the midst of their search for a home…as they fought to have a place to live. All along, God was active in their story. In the midst of life and all its ugliness and struggles and messiness…Joshua affirms that God was there. God never quit choosing them…never quit loving them….never gave up on them. God’s hand was leading them. God was at the center of their story…not peripheral to it…not an add-on or an aside. God was at the heart of it all.
So a question for you this morning…how do you tell your story? Do you tell your story with God at the heart of it all? Do you look back and see that God was there…even in the times you thought were the worst? Most of you have seen the “footprints” poem…how looking back, during the good times we see two footprints in the sand during the good times of our life…God’s and ours. But during the difficult times…there is only one set of prints…and though might feel that was when God abandoned us…rather, that was when God carried us. I think that’s something we can take from this Scripture. When we tell the story of our life…we can look back and see God’s presence even during the times when we forgot about God…when we were on the wrong path….or maybe even when we felt like God didn’t care…and we can see God in the moments we found hope, grace, and the strength to continue. When we wanted to give up….we can look back and see how God carried us through. When we tell our story, like Joshua, we can place God in the center….knowing that our whole life was created in God’s heart and is lived in God’s presence, and through it all, we are beloved beyond measure. Seeing God in the center of our lives…at the center of our stories…that’s one thing we can take from this passage.
The other thing that we can take from this story has to do with the people’s affirmation of the covenant. We talked some last week about the covenant. How God makes promises to us…to be our God …to be with us..to love us…to never abandon us…and then how we are invited to live in that covenant with God…by living as God’s people in the world. By showing the world God’s love in all we do. The Israelites are covenant people…and in this passage, Joshua is having the people renew and reaffirm their covenant with God. They are promising to live as God’s people.
We too, are invited to renew our covenant with God. God’s promises to us cannot be revoked. God is faithful, even when we are not. God’s love, God’s claim on us, God’s forgiveness are everlasting. When you were baptized, you were marked as God’s child forever. No exceptions. No take backs. But in that baptism, you were also invited to live a new life in Christ. To live as God’s child. To put to death all the ways and habits and beliefs that destroy our life…that destroy our hope, our peace, our joy…and to put on Christ. To live in Christ. That is our covenant.
And, just like the people of Israel, our baptismal covenant is meant to be renewed….again and again and again. Luther used to say that every day, when we wash our face, we remember our baptism. Every day, we choose to live as a child of God. And we will not do so perfectly. We know that. We are human. So were the Israelites
You know….If we read the next verse…right after where it ended this morning…in verse 19…right after the people say “Therefore we will serve the Lord our God”….Joshua replies simply. No…you won’t. No you won’t, Joshua says…and there will be all sorts of consequences. Because he knows. He knows they are human. They will fail to keep the covenant again and again. And when we read the full story of these Israelites throughout the Old Testament, we find Joshua is right. They will fail to live as God’s people…fail to love God and their neighbors…they will fall prey to greed and jealousy and anger and pride …they will commit injustice or ignore injustice…they will get caught up in nation building … and the prophets will rail against them over and over again. Over and over again, they’ll serve their own interests instead of serving God. Over and over, they won’t hold up their end of the covenant. And we’re no different. As the baptized body of Christ, we will mess up again and again. And sometimes, even when we’re trying to do the right thing…we’ll get it wrong.
But God’s promise remains. God’’s love never fails. God is faithful even when we are faithless. And each day, we are forgiven and given a new beginning. Each day, we are invited to renew our covenant. Each day we can strive to live as God’s child…reflecting God’s love in the world. Each day, we can trace the cross that was marked on us in baptism…and invite Jesus to give us peace. To hold our hearts. Each day, we can affirm our faith in God…choose to serve God. To remember God at the center of our story.
You know…so many other things tend to take center stage in our lives. I’ve been in so many homes where news stations are on all day…defining how people see the world, themselves and their neighbors. Turn that TV off, people. For the love of God, literally…for the love of God…so you can love God with your heart and soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself…turn it off. And open your heart to Jesus. Open your heart to the one whose Spirit pulses in the beauty of creation…whose life is eternal…and who connects you to others around you …to every person…with love that is truly the quantum mechanics of the universe. Make the covenant…your covenant…your baptism…God’s faithfulness…the center of your story.
This morning, I’d like each of you to grab the hymnal in front of you and turn to page 234 in the front. It’s the service of Affirmation of Baptism that we use for confirmation. Today, I invite you to affirm your faith…to remember who you are…and commit your ways to God. Today, like the people of Israel…may we choose to serve God.
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