St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen, Jersey City NJ
June 2, 2013
Year C: Proper 4 –
The Second Sunday after Pentecost
1 Kings 18:20-39
Psalm 96
Galatians 1:1-12
Luke 7:1-10
Choosing God, Choosing Love
I’m
not sure why, exactly, but I’ve only officiated at a few weddings in the six
years since I was ordained a priest.
As
it happens, though, lately I’ve been on a little bit of a wedding streak! I
officiated at one wedding last Sunday afternoon and I have another one later
today.
I
didn’t know either couple when we began our pre-marital counseling sessions. In
one case the groom is the son of parishioners at my former parish and in the
other case the couple found me after being turned away by the local Roman
Catholic parish.
I
spent a lot of time offering pre-marital counseling to both couples – encouraging
them to look hard at their relationships, remember what brought them together, admit
the things they don’t really like about each other, face up to mistakes they’ve
made, and share their hopes and plans for the future.
Like
most of us, both couples carry a good bit of baggage: failed relationships,
poor decisions, complicated family dynamics, and anxiety and fear about the
future.
But
despite all that baggage, despite past mistakes, despite concerns about what
tomorrow might bring, despite the option of not committing to each other till death
do they part, both couples have made a choice. They’ve chosen love – not just
romantic love but deep, self-giving, self-sacrificing love. And since God is
love, whether they fully realize it or not, they’ve chosen God.
Choices.
We
Americans have more choices than any people who have ever lived.
In
the first years that Sue and I lived on Highland Avenue, there was a little
corner grocery store on West Side Avenue that was run by an elderly man and his
two sisters. Maybe some of you remember it. Walking in there was like entering
a time warp. There was fresh produce, but only what was in season. There were a
few small aisles containing canned goods and household products.
You
could find pretty much all the essentials but there wasn’t much selection –
there was little choice – Dawn, but no Joy – Chef Boyardee, but no
Franco-American…you get the idea.
Not
too long ago that’s what life was like.
Now,
we go to Shop Rite and are faced with an incredible number of choices –just in
the salad dressing aisle alone!
Most
of us remember when we had just a handful of TV channels. Maybe because it was
a hassle to get up and change the channel, lots of us just stayed tuned to the
same channel most of the time. There were “CBS families” or “Channel 7
families,” and so on.
Choices.
And
it’s not just at the supermarket or on TV that we face way more choices than
people before us. We also have many more choices when it comes to religion.
A
generation or two ago, it was very unusual – and usually downright scandalous –
for someone to switch Christian denominations, let alone adopt a different
religion, or, God forbid, to give up on religion altogether.
But
today, according to the writer Diana Butler Bass, “roughly 44 percent of
Americans have left their childhood faith in favor of another denomination or
religion or by dropping any religious affiliation at all.” And that last group
– the people who don’t belong to any religious group is the fastest growing,
especially among young people.
Choices.
In
many ways, all these choices make for a new and troubling world. It’s
definitely a lot harder to be church now that it’s perfectly acceptable for
people to skip church and to ignore religion.
Now,
obviously, we’ve chosen to be here
today. And many of us choose to be here most Sundays. Most, if not all of us,
have chosen to identify as Episcopalians, as Christians, as followers of Jesus.
But,
when we’re here, that’s not such a hard choice, is it? Admit it, it’s easy to
be a Christian here at St. Paul’s, right?
But,
that choice gets a lot harder when we’re out in the world. The choice gets a
lot harder when it’s embarrassing to admit our faith. The choice get a lot
harder when we know something’s wrong but we see people all around us doing it
and getting away with it and we think, “Why not?” or “Just this one time.” The
choice gets a lot harder when we have the chance to stand up for what’s right,
to defend the weak, to risk something big for something good.
It’s
a pretty easy choice to be a Christian here at St. Paul’s. But, that choice
gets a lot harder when we leave this place
God
who is Love has already chosen us.
What
choice do we make?
Today’s
lesson from Hebrew Scripture, from First Kings, is all about choosing – or not
choosing – God.
One
of the great themes running throughout the Old Testament is the fact that God
chose the people of Israel and was faithful to them but, like us, lots of times
the Israelites made other choices.
In
today’s reading from the Old Testament, it seems like at least some of the
Israelites are hedging their bets – not quite abandoning their God but also choosing
to worship the popular pagan god, Baal - you know, just in case. So, the
Prophet Elijah calls them out - tells them to make up their minds. – to make a
choice. Elijah says to the Israelites, “How long will you go limping with two
different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow
him.”
Elijah
then dramatically challenges the 450 prophets of Baal to a little game that we
might call, “My God’s More Powerful Than Your God.” Sure enough, despite the
best efforts of Baal’s prophets – despite calling to Baal from morning to noon,
despite limping around the altar, despite cutting themselves, despite making
offerings, Baal is silent, offering no answer, demonstrating no power.
Then
Elijah called upon the Lord and, we’re told, “the fire of the Lord fell” and
the people then made a clear choice, saying, “The Lord is indeed God; the Lord
is indeed God.”
Choices.
Unfortunately,
our choice between the false gods of the world and the God who is Love is not
as clear-cut as the choice the Israelites faced so long ago. These days God
doesn’t usually send lightning strikes to display God’s power, to make our
choice obvious and clear-cut.
Then
again, maybe God sends us a different kind of lightning strike.
Isn’t
love – deep, self-giving, self-sacrificing love - like a lightning strike?
It’s
like a lightning strike when we realize that somehow we love someone
else – a partner, a child, a parent, a brother or sister, or a friend – more
than we love ourselves.
It’s
like a lightning strike when we realize that, somehow, despite our many
failures and imperfections, we are loved - loved by a partner, a child,
a parent, a brother or a sister, or a friend.
And,
most of all, it’s like a lightning strike when we realize that we are loved by
the Source of all love – the God who is Love.
It’s
like a lightning strike when we realize no matter how far we stray, no matter
how many bad choices we make - no matter how many Baals – no matter how many
false gods – we worship – God always loves us.
As
the ancient Israelites proclaimed after witnessing God’s power, “The Lord indeed
is God. The Lord indeed is God.”
We
live in a time of many choices, both trivial and big – choices ranging from
what salad dressing to buy to what religion, if any, to follow.
But,
we face one big choice.
Will
we be like the Israelites of long ago and hedge our bets – try to have it both
ways by coming here to worship God, claiming to be Christians, but then going
out into the world and choosing to worship the false gods of our time – the
false gods of money, materialism, selfishness, cynicism, apathy and the rest?
Or
will we be like those two brave couples who made vows till death do they part –
who despite the baggage, despite the risks, despite the fear, have chosen deep,
self-giving, self-sacrificing love?
God
who is Love has already chosen us.
What
choice will we make?
Amen.
Posts
