Whom Will You Serve?

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

~~~Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b~~~Psalm 34~~~Eph 5:2a, 25-32~~~John 6:60-69~~~

 

Unless you are a robot or under some hypnotic spell

you have had the occasion to question your faith.

It is normal to to have doubts from time to time.

 

Have you ever disagreed with one of the church's teachings?

Have you ever not been in total agreement

with the teachings or mandates of the church?

Most of us can answer yes to these questions,

but we chose to remain faithful in spite of our questions.

 

But many people make the choice to leave the church

when they disagree, or have felt rejected by the church,

or been denied access to the sacraments as a result of past choices.

 

This is where the disciples of Jesus find themselves today.

They just cannot accept his teachings about the Bread of Life.

 

"This saying is hard; who can accept it?"

 

Because they could not believe and accept his teaching

they turned and walked away.

It must have been disappointing to Jesus

to be rejected in this way.

Even though Jesus knew what was in their hearts

he still delivered his message.

 

Joshua is addressing a similar situation today with his people...

"If it does not please you to serve the LORD,
decide today whom you will serve..."

 

His question was, which God are you going to serve?

Joshua gave them an ultimatum.

He was not willing to tolerate indecision.

 

The people were so reluctant to change

from their service to their idol gods.

Finally he says you can decide for yourself,

"...As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

 

The people were able to use right judgment

and in the end put aside their doubts.

They were able to make the connection

and see that the goods things they had experienced had indeed

come from God.

 

"...Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."

It is good for us also to be reminded of all that God

has done for us throughout our life.

He truly is the God of Spirit and Life.

It is the Spirit of the Lord that gives us life.

It is the Spirit of God that speaks to us in the scriptures

and in the teachings of the church.

The Spirit has provided guidance for the church to continue to flourish.

 

Jesus emphasizes the gift of faith, which comes from the Father.

"For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me
unless it is granted him by my Father."

As people turned away and left,

 Jesus gives his apostles the chance to make the same decision.

"Do you also want to leave?" 

 

Jesus never requires one to stay with him against their will.

 

Unlike some cults we have witnessed in our time,

Jesus always invites you to freely follow him.

Likewise you are free to leave his community of faith.

Jesus does not take us as prisoners

or slaves...

we are free.

We are free to accept the results of our choices.

 

 

Taste and See the goodness of the Lord

and you will make the best decisions.

As for me and my house we have made the choice to serve the Lord.

We have made the choice for the Spirit and the Life of the Lord.

What have you chosen?

Obedient to the Lord

~~~ Jer 13:1-11 ~~~ Psalm Dt 32:18 ~~~ Matthew 13:31-35 ~~~

"...Obedient to the LORD's command..."

The Lord sent Jeremiah to buy a loin cloth...to wear it...not to put water on it...

Later the Lord directed him to hide the loin cloth in a cleft in a rock...

Much later the Lord told him to go back to the rock and retrieve the loin cloth.

When Jeremiah removed the cloth from the cleft in obedience he found it to be rotten....and good for nothing.

God wanted this cloth to become rotten to make his point.

When we are not obedient to the Lord's command we too can become rotten.

He never makes a request of us that we cannot accomplish.

Jeremiah was given multiple directions any of which he could have skipped.

We want to jump to the end without following all of the steps.

From time to time I have been known to struggle with the concept obedience.

If you are obedient, are you still exercising your free will?

You can in fact exercise your free will by making

the decision to be obedient.

Does that make sense to you?

Being obedient is always a choice.

There may be extenuating circumstances that influence this decision, 

but you make the final decision.

Jeremiah made the decision to follow each direction given by the Lord.

He even followed the direction when it probably made no sense to him.

"...Go now...and fetch the loincloth
which I told you to hide there."

When he saw the rotted cloth he must have been wondering

what could God possibly want with a rotten piece of cloth.

Jesus spoke in parables about things that were

 "...hidden from the foundation of the world."

The loincloth had been purposely hidden in the cleft and left there to rot.

"...This wicked people who refuse to obey my words,
who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts,
and follow strange gods to serve and adore them,
shall be like this loincloth which is good for nothing."

God did not just use an anology in this example; he was not telling a story.

He actually had Jeremiah carry out his prescribed

steps to make his story

real and tangible.

Jeremiah was instrumental in making a prop for God.

With this prop of rotten cloth God could better explain his point.

Participate with God through your obedience to him.

Trust that He just might be preparing to make good use of your obedience.