1 Happy are they whose way is blameless, *
who walk in the law of the Lord!
2 Happy are they who observe his decrees *
and seek him with all their hearts! (Psalm 119:1-2)
Every moment of every day we make choices. We make choices about what we eat, what we wear, how we spend our time, how we interact with the people around us. We choose what we pay attention to and what we choose to let slip by in the muddle of our busy lives. We make choices about how to respond to the actions of others and the events in our lives. A crying child, a distressed partner, or an urgent situation will often get a quick concerned response. But other needs and demands that seem farther away, we may choose to let go—to delay our response, to respond with little thought, or not to respond at all.
As children, our choices were immediate and direct. Whatever was right in front of us was what we chose with little thought to other options or the consequences of our choice. This is why most parents and caregivers look exhausted all the time. But as we mature we understand better that our choices are layered and have costs. And the more we learn and see of the world the better we are able to understand that even those choices which may seem only to affect us, actually have ripple effects into the lives of those in our community and beyond. When we choose to buy all our purchases online, it is a great convenience for us, but it can cause the demise of local shops and financial collapse for local shop owners. When we drive our cars long distances, heat our houses so it feels like the tropics indoors even though it is freezing outside, it is a blessing of great freedom for us, but it can cause others to sacrifice their sacred lands and access to clean water because our energy demands cannot be met without more drilling and more pipelines that cross once pristine land.
Sometimes our choices seem simple—seeming only to either offer comfort or inconvenience to us directly. Many times we make choices without much thought as part of daily habits. But in our readings today in scripture we hear that every choice we make reveals our values, says something about who and what we worship, and has in its impact a result that can be life giving or lead to diminishment or death—ones that offers blessing or ones that curse.
Moses has led his people to the edge of the Promised Land. They have journeyed from slavery to God’s promise. It has not been an easy transition. There have been constant complaints about the food and the accommodations. Moses steps away to talk to God and they begin to worship a human-made god of gold. Time and again the people have chosen to turn away from God, but God remains steadfast. Though it has sometimes required Moses’ intervention, God has accompanied these “stiff necked” people to the edge of the land that will be their home.
Moses knows that he will not enter this land with them so in this fifth book of the Torah, he speaks his final words in Moab shortly before his death. He wants to prepare them to live in the land where he has led them, living in harmony with God and enjoying God’s bounty. And in this final testimony, he sets before them stark choices—life and prosperity or death and adversity. He tells them that if they love God, strive to walk in God’s ways and follow the commandments, they will be blessed, their lives will be fruitful. But if they choose to ignore God’s guidance–God’s dream for them– and follow after other gods or neglect to care for the vulnerable in their society then they will be cursed, their lives will be diminished and suffering will be their lot. Once again Moses is having to present the hard truths to the people.
Like a loving parent speaking in the way of compassion and care, Moses tells them, “I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.” (30:15-19a)
Moses teaches the Israelites that their welfare depends on establishing a society that pursues justice, follows God’s laws, and seeks to live in a way that is righteous—obeying God and holding fast to him. They have arrived at the place God has prepared for them and it is God’s will that they should receive it and prosper in it. Walking in God’s ways will ensure that.
Likewise, Jesus tells his disciples in this section of the Sermon on the Mount that it not enough for them to follow the technicalities of the law, rather they are to fulfill its heart. Again and again he says, “you have heard it said…but I say to you.” We hear Jesus not making a new list of rules, but showing us their intentions. In obeying and holding fast to God, it is not enough to choose to avoid murder. They must strive to avoid hatred and anger. Anger often escalates to violence in word and deed that can kill the spirit, kill relationships, kill a community. At the first sign of separation, reconciliation must be sought.
For Jesus, it is not enough to choose to avoid committing adultery, rather we are to seek and serve Christ in all persons. We are not to look at or treat another person created in God’s image in a way that diminishes or turns them into objects for our pleasure. For Jesus, relationship is paramount. So divorce which in Jesus’ time meant that a husband could simply remove his wife from the home with a simple writ of divorce leaving her destitute and isolated was wrong. God’s intent from the beginning was that people were not to be alone. The ultimate good was that no one should be discarded. No one should be deemed outside the bounds of grace.
For Jesus, obeying God means that we choose to tell the truth. No amount of swearing and no number of Bibles on which we place our hand can restore trust when deception is allowed to take hold. As Howard Thurman says, “The penalty of deception is to become a deception with all sense of moral discrimination vitiated. A (person) who lies habitually becomes a lie, and it is increasingly impossible to know when he is lying and when he is not”[1] The stability of trust and integrity that is required for community to thrive is destroyed leaving behind only anxiety and cynicism.
Moses calls the people to a way where life is the choice. Jesus tells his followers that “You are already blessed” You are already salt” “You are already Light” and you are called to live so you may have life and have it abundantly. The choices we have been given—to love God, to obey and hold fast to God—comes from God who can be trusted. This word comes from God who has already redeemed the people. It is a word that comes from God who loves and lifts us when we stumble. It is a word that comes from God who has claimed us as beloved. But the choice is laid out directly. It is yes or no—it is life or death.
Returning home last Saturday night after dinner in Manhattan with some longtime friends, Gregory Locke boarded a No. 1 subway train and was confronted with a hideous sight. Every advertisement and every window was covered in Swastikas and other anti-Semitic hate filled graffiti. He says, “The train was silent as everyone stared at each other, uncomfortable and unsure what to do.”[2] Jared Nied was also on that train. Going home from his work as a sous chef, he reacted in horror to the graffiti and when a fellow rider noticed his face, she asked, “Do you think there is any way to remove it?” That was when Mr. Nied, remembered that Purel would get rid of the writing from a Sharpie pen. According to Mr. Locke, Mr. Nied stood up and said, “Hand sanitizer gets rid of Sharpie. We need some alcohol.” Apparently many people on the train dove into their bags to retrieve hand sanitizer and tissues. Mr. Nied and several other commuters went to work wiping away the graffiti.
The event lasted about five minutes and the graffiti was erased before the train reached 96th Street. Mr. Nied said, “We sat down and glanced around at each other and settled back into the commute.” The commuters who helped clean the windows and advertisements on that train made a choice. They choose not to sit by and allow violence and death to claim their space. They chose to act to restore safety, welcome, compassion; they acted to restore righteousness. Righteousness where if only for a moment we are aligned with each other, caring for each other, seeing the dignity in each other—allowing love to grow. They chose life.
Our world is a complicated stew. There is much goodness in the world. Many acts of selfless love are offered every minute of every day. Teachers teach children with many needs for long hours with minimal compensation. Parents love children and care for them without thought to cost. People prepare a welcoming space for families new to our country. People rush to help others. People devote their lives to service. But in us there is also the possibility of anger, hate, and violence. As Christians we are called to practice making choices that offer the opportunity for life and blessing. But we must choose. As James Baldwin says, “To not choose is to choose.” And William Sloan Coffin says, “the world is too dangerous for anything but truth and stoo small for anything but love.”
God calls us to see that we are given the chance every moment to choose those things that are life giving. Choices that draw us to love God and cling to God with all our heart, mind, and strength. Choices that seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving others as we love ourselves. Choices that demonstrate our desire for justice and peace, respecting the dignity of every person. These choices require us to follow Christ whose demands go beyond obedience to rules to truly loving and serving God and all God has created. These choices require us to look beyond solely our own benefit to listen and respond to the needs of others.
Moses calls the people to choose—life and prosperity or death and adversity, blessings or curses. We too are called. What will our choices be? Choose life so that we will fully live and God, who never fails, will bless us in this land.
[1] Howard Thurman. Jesus and the Disinherited. Boston: Beacon Press, 1976, p. 65.
[2] Jonah Engel Bromwich. Subway riders scrub anti-semitic graffiti, as ‘decent human beings.’ February 5. 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/05/nyregion/swastika-nyc-subways.html?_r=0