Choices and Decisions
Choices and decisions are the things that life is made of.
Each day we are faced with decisions that have impact on our lives. We choose what to eat, what to drink, whether to exercise or not, who we spend our time with, how we spend our money, how we talk to other people, where we invest our time. All of these decisions that can seem “small” and insignificant in the moment, even these decisions, over time, build up and make an impact on our lives.
Choices matter.
Dangerous Minds is based on a true story about high school teacher LouAnne Johnson (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) making a difference in the lives of troubled but smart inner-city students.
In one scene, while LouAnne is in front of the class teaching, the students are upset with her because they felt she “ratted” on three students for fighting. LouAnne asks them if they want to discuss the issue. There is no response. Fully calm and composed, she tells them if they feel so strongly about it, they should leave the classroom. No one is forcing them. They can stay or leave.
One of the students objects and tells her they don’t have a choice. “If we leave, we don’t get to graduate. If we stay, we have to put up with you.”
LouAnne tells the student that’s a choice—not one they like, but it’s a choice.
Another student angrily objects and says, “Man, you don’t understand nothing. You don’t come from where we live. You’re not bussed here. You come and live in my neighborhood for one week, and then you come and tell me if you have a choice.”
LouAnne, with a slight tinge of anger, firmly replies, “There are a lot of people who live in your neighborhood who choose not to get on that bus. What do they choose to do? They choose to go out and sell drugs. They choose to go out and kill people. They choose to do a lot of other things. But they choose not to get on that bus. The people who choose to get on that bus, which are you, are the people who are saying, ‘I will not carry myself down to die; when I go to my grave, my head will be high.’ That is a choice.”
Then in a slightly louder and angrier tone, she says, “There are no victims in this classroom!”
The camera shows one student seriously considering her words.
Another female student says, “Why do you care anyway? You’re just here for the money.”
LouAnne quickly responds, “Because I make a choice to care, and honey, the money ain’t that good.”
We make choices and then we have to live with those choices. I have a friend who likes to quote, “You make your choices, and then your choices make you.” There is truth to that.
"Today's passage contains one of the most familiar lines from the Old Testament, Joshua's charge to 'choose this day whom you will serve,' combined with his own response, 'but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord' (Joshua 24:15)
You will remember from a few weeks ago, Moses was not able to enter the Promised land due to disobedience, and Joshua was raised up to lead the people into the Promised land. Our lectionary skips us over most of the book of Joshua and brings us to the end of the story.
God had commissioned the Israelite leader Joshua to accomplish a two-part mission: 1) to conquer the Canaanites (Joshua 1-12) and 2) to settle the Israelite tribes in their allotted territories (Joshua 13-22). In Joshua 24, Joshua offers his last words of instruction and renews Israels’ covenant to their God before he departs this life.
God had promised the land to Israel; God reiterated this promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:1; 15:17-21; 17:8), Isaac (Genesis 26:2-5), Jacob (Genesis 28:1-4, 13-15), Joseph (Genesis 48:3-4, 21), and Moses (Exodus 3:7-8). There had also been a failed attempt by Moses to bring Israel into the land of Canaan thirty-eight years earlier that had ended in disaster (Numbers 13-14).
But God raised up Joshua to take the people into the Promised land and finally the people are there. He brings the people together to give his final speech to them.
Joshua invites all Israel to the town of Shechem in the central highlands of Israel. Joshua reminds them of the long history of all that God had done for Israel: the promises to the ancestors, the deliverance from slavery in Egypt, and God’s provision through the wilderness (Joshua 24:1-13). Our lectionary leaves out these verses but they are important to bring context and understanding to verse 14 which begins,
“Now therefore revere the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness.”
Remembering God’s grace to you, mercy to you, and unmerited love along the way, “Now, therefore, revere the Lord and serve him.” Remembering all that God has done for you, revere and serve him.
Then he reminds them, and chastises them, to put away all false gods from foreign lands and to serve the LORD their God. It was time for the Israelite people to remember and lay claim to whose they were.
The Israelites were getting ready to begin a new part in their journey. They were entering into normalcy. Sameness. No more wandering, no more wondering, the Lord has brought you into the Promised the Land, now it is up to you to decide what you are going to do with it.
He gives them an option: “choose this day whom you will serve” the LORD God or the false gods of their ancestors. Then, he makes it clear: “as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua takes the initiative as God’s chosen leader, and lets the people know who he was going to serve, the people then choose following his example, and answer Joshua, that: “Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.”
The danger with normalcy, the danger with sameness is complacency, and a wandering from what we know to be true. You take things for granted.
We are a fortunate and blessed people and nation, we are grateful to Veterans who have fought and served our country to give us a freedom that few have. We live in safety and security and we are indebted to those who have given of their lives for our freedoms, and those who continue to serve each day. And we must not grow complacent. Or take it for granted.
And we must not take our relationship with God for granted. The Israelite people made a covenant with God that day. And the text tells us that there would be consequences if they didn’t follow and keep their covenant.
We are people of the covenant too. We also, if we have been baptized, entered into a covenant. We repeat and make promises at baptism.
We are asked four questions about our beliefs in the members of the Trinity and repeat a concise understanding of their natures. Then we answer five questions of how we choose to live out our faith. This is found on page 304-305 in the Book of Common Prayer.
We promise to seek and serve Christ in all person’s loving our neighbors as ourselves and we promise to strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.
There would be consequences for Israel if they broke their covenant that they just made. There will be consequences for us for choices that we make, both good and bad.
Let us live wisely. Not taking things for granted. Not taking our relationship with God for granted. May we be aware of our choices each day and how they impact us and others.
“Choose you this day whom you will serve”, said Joshua.
“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Amen.
Each day we are faced with decisions that have impact on our lives. We choose what to eat, what to drink, whether to exercise or not, who we spend our time with, how we spend our money, how we talk to other people, where we invest our time. All of these decisions that can seem “small” and insignificant in the moment, even these decisions, over time, build up and make an impact on our lives.
Choices matter.
Dangerous Minds is based on a true story about high school teacher LouAnne Johnson (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) making a difference in the lives of troubled but smart inner-city students.
In one scene, while LouAnne is in front of the class teaching, the students are upset with her because they felt she “ratted” on three students for fighting. LouAnne asks them if they want to discuss the issue. There is no response. Fully calm and composed, she tells them if they feel so strongly about it, they should leave the classroom. No one is forcing them. They can stay or leave.
One of the students objects and tells her they don’t have a choice. “If we leave, we don’t get to graduate. If we stay, we have to put up with you.”
LouAnne tells the student that’s a choice—not one they like, but it’s a choice.
Another student angrily objects and says, “Man, you don’t understand nothing. You don’t come from where we live. You’re not bussed here. You come and live in my neighborhood for one week, and then you come and tell me if you have a choice.”
LouAnne, with a slight tinge of anger, firmly replies, “There are a lot of people who live in your neighborhood who choose not to get on that bus. What do they choose to do? They choose to go out and sell drugs. They choose to go out and kill people. They choose to do a lot of other things. But they choose not to get on that bus. The people who choose to get on that bus, which are you, are the people who are saying, ‘I will not carry myself down to die; when I go to my grave, my head will be high.’ That is a choice.”
Then in a slightly louder and angrier tone, she says, “There are no victims in this classroom!”
The camera shows one student seriously considering her words.
Another female student says, “Why do you care anyway? You’re just here for the money.”
LouAnne quickly responds, “Because I make a choice to care, and honey, the money ain’t that good.”
We make choices and then we have to live with those choices. I have a friend who likes to quote, “You make your choices, and then your choices make you.” There is truth to that.
"Today's passage contains one of the most familiar lines from the Old Testament, Joshua's charge to 'choose this day whom you will serve,' combined with his own response, 'but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord' (Joshua 24:15)
You will remember from a few weeks ago, Moses was not able to enter the Promised land due to disobedience, and Joshua was raised up to lead the people into the Promised land. Our lectionary skips us over most of the book of Joshua and brings us to the end of the story.
God had commissioned the Israelite leader Joshua to accomplish a two-part mission: 1) to conquer the Canaanites (Joshua 1-12) and 2) to settle the Israelite tribes in their allotted territories (Joshua 13-22). In Joshua 24, Joshua offers his last words of instruction and renews Israels’ covenant to their God before he departs this life.
God had promised the land to Israel; God reiterated this promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:1; 15:17-21; 17:8), Isaac (Genesis 26:2-5), Jacob (Genesis 28:1-4, 13-15), Joseph (Genesis 48:3-4, 21), and Moses (Exodus 3:7-8). There had also been a failed attempt by Moses to bring Israel into the land of Canaan thirty-eight years earlier that had ended in disaster (Numbers 13-14).
But God raised up Joshua to take the people into the Promised land and finally the people are there. He brings the people together to give his final speech to them.
Joshua invites all Israel to the town of Shechem in the central highlands of Israel. Joshua reminds them of the long history of all that God had done for Israel: the promises to the ancestors, the deliverance from slavery in Egypt, and God’s provision through the wilderness (Joshua 24:1-13). Our lectionary leaves out these verses but they are important to bring context and understanding to verse 14 which begins,
“Now therefore revere the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness.”
Remembering God’s grace to you, mercy to you, and unmerited love along the way, “Now, therefore, revere the Lord and serve him.” Remembering all that God has done for you, revere and serve him.
Then he reminds them, and chastises them, to put away all false gods from foreign lands and to serve the LORD their God. It was time for the Israelite people to remember and lay claim to whose they were.
The Israelites were getting ready to begin a new part in their journey. They were entering into normalcy. Sameness. No more wandering, no more wondering, the Lord has brought you into the Promised the Land, now it is up to you to decide what you are going to do with it.
He gives them an option: “choose this day whom you will serve” the LORD God or the false gods of their ancestors. Then, he makes it clear: “as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua takes the initiative as God’s chosen leader, and lets the people know who he was going to serve, the people then choose following his example, and answer Joshua, that: “Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.”
The danger with normalcy, the danger with sameness is complacency, and a wandering from what we know to be true. You take things for granted.
We are a fortunate and blessed people and nation, we are grateful to Veterans who have fought and served our country to give us a freedom that few have. We live in safety and security and we are indebted to those who have given of their lives for our freedoms, and those who continue to serve each day. And we must not grow complacent. Or take it for granted.
And we must not take our relationship with God for granted. The Israelite people made a covenant with God that day. And the text tells us that there would be consequences if they didn’t follow and keep their covenant.
We are people of the covenant too. We also, if we have been baptized, entered into a covenant. We repeat and make promises at baptism.
We are asked four questions about our beliefs in the members of the Trinity and repeat a concise understanding of their natures. Then we answer five questions of how we choose to live out our faith. This is found on page 304-305 in the Book of Common Prayer.
We promise to seek and serve Christ in all person’s loving our neighbors as ourselves and we promise to strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.
There would be consequences for Israel if they broke their covenant that they just made. There will be consequences for us for choices that we make, both good and bad.
Let us live wisely. Not taking things for granted. Not taking our relationship with God for granted. May we be aware of our choices each day and how they impact us and others.
“Choose you this day whom you will serve”, said Joshua.
“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Amen.