"Choose life."

St Barnabas Ealing, the 3rd Sunday before Lent, 16 February 2014.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Please turn with me to Deuteronomy  30:15-20 on your reading sheets. Let’s read through this one more time:

See, 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. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

This is part of God’s final word to Moses which he in turn delivers to the Israelites. The word of God comes to the people at a critical crossroads. They are standing on the plain as Moses prepares to die and the Israelites prepare to enter the promised land. Behind them is the bondage of Egyptian oppression and the painful and unpredictable journey in the desert. The covenant, or special relationship of trust, that they entered with God, governed by divine law remains remarkably intact. There were a number of close calls. It seemed at times that they would not or could not uphold their end of the bargain. The journey out of slavery in Egypt towards a new life felt like another type of bondage. It was much longer than anyone had expected, spanning generations. It was much harder than they ever could have known, trudging through a harsh and uncompromising terrain, which boiled the blood by day and froze the nerves by night.

But the promise of security and peace was now actually within their reach. They had survived. For the last time Moses rises to speak to them. What he says would have been familiar by then. He reminds them, once again, that they have a choice. The choice concerns obedience and relationship. It is matter of life or death. If they choose to love God and keep the way of life commanded by him they will live and prosper in the land. But if they choose to turn from God’s ways, to choose a life that is self-serving, their prosperity will run dry and their future in the land will be cut short.

For these ancient Israelites, the power of God and the land itself were almost inseparable. They believed that their God, the one true God, did not have sovereignty beyond the borders of their terrain. So to choose for Yahweh, meant that all human activity would be infused with the protection of the divine. To choose against Yahweh would result in an existence devoid of the divine presence. A barren spirituality would soon lead to a barren life.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him. Isaiah 30:20

Looking back over the recent past you may feel, as the people of God in this place, that you have come through a journey of adversity. You have had to survive many challenges and the harsh conditions of a wilderness experience during which you longed for security, prosperity and peace. As we start the approach to my first Lent and Easter at St Barnabas, the holiest of the seasons in the Church’s calendar, you could suggest that we too are approaching an important cross roads. But this chapter in the life of St Barnabas is no longer new.  Believe it or not, I have been with you for almost 6 months. You have already crossed the Jordon and entered the so-called promised land of new vicardom. And yet, I am sure you are starting to discover, just as the ancient Israelites did, that the fundamental choice between spiritual life and spiritual death is still very much before us.

You see, the journey of the sacred people of St Barnabas, just like any other community of God, is never over. That is, not on this side of Christ’s second coming. One phase has ended but in it’s place another has began. And once the excitement of a new vicar (or anything new for that matter) begins to fade and fade it will, we are left with the uncomfortable knowledge that there is a long journey ahead. There is much work to be done.

We remain the people we were before we crossed our River Jordon. Each of us carrying an unseen world of past wounds and joys, victories and defeats. Each of us living from within a perspective of particular priorities, preferences and needs. All of us bound together in a kaleidoscope of relationships; some that are nourishing, others that are challenging and others still that are just beginning.

When Moses directs the Israelites towards choosing life, he emphasises that this can only be realised through obedience to the one true God.  However, he is not making the case for mindless compliance with the law, cold and dispassionate. He is reminding them that they are in a living relationship with the divine and that obedience in this context is a faithful response to that covenant. So much more than compliance, they are called into communion and cooperation with Yahweh their faithful provider. The deeper meaning of obedience, to listen, is at heart of the Deutronomic law.

We too, the people of God at St Barnabas are called to choose life, to embrace again and again communion with God our faithful provider. In practical terms this means building lives that become ever more fine-tuned to the presence and ways of God. And of course we believe that we have been given the promised land in actual flesh and blood. We have been sent a man called Jesus who through his life, death and resurrection has secured an invitation to participate not only in life, but life in all its fullness.

Our lent study course this year is aptly named Pilgrim. We will be doing the first part of it called “Turning to Christ”. It could well have been called “Choosing Life”. The course should be seen as one of many way stations in our ongoing pilgrimage.  It’s structured in a way that is reflective and conversational. No one will force the pace.  In other words, it provides plenty of space and oxygen to explore the deeper things of God and to refuel our obedience to the law of love.  You may feel you never really understood what it means to be a Christian. Perhaps you are concerned that your spirituality has gone stale. You may just want to share in the experience of discussing ideas about Christianity. In all these cases Pilgrim is for you.

Come and join in as we rediscover that God’s sovereignty is made complete in a man called Jesus. That Christ’s reign of love is not limited to a specific religious code or a specific people or even a specific terrain. Through Christ the divine rule of law and the absolute provision of God has been fulfilled and is on offer to anyone wants a seat at the banquet.

See, 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. Deuteronomy  30:15-18

In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen