2/11/16 Reflection - Choices

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021116.cfm

Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Luke 9:22-25

This morning's reading from Deuteronomy is one of my favorite passages. The words were delivered by Moses to the Israelites during the days at Mt Sinai when the the Ten Commandments were given and a covenant was established between God and his chosen people. (I will be your God, and you will be my people.) The text from Scripture that opens the passage refers to both the commandments and the covenant because the commandments are an integral part of the covenant. The message is clear. The people have a choice. One option brings life and prosperity; the other brings death and doom. One option is to "obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways"; the other option is to "turn away your hearts and not listen, but be led astray and adore and serve other gods." The consequence of one is to "live and grow numerous, blessed by the LORD, your God, in the land you are entering to occupy;" the other is to "perish and not have a long life." One is a blessing; one is a curse. One is life; and one is death.

Let me offer an analogy here to make clear the nature of this blessing/curse dichotomy that Moses is presenting. If I take the words of Scripture and put them in the context of teaching someone to drive, it might come out like this: Drivers have a choice. One option brings life; the other brings death. One option is to "obey the rules of the road, which are here presented to you today. Drive on the right side of the road. Stop at red lights and stop signs. Yield to those who have the right of way. Keep within the speed limit. Do not be overly anxious to pass the driver in front of you. Do not let food or phone calls or conversation or anything else distract you from your driving. Do not wander on the road but stay in your own lane. Do this and you will live. But if you turn away your hearts and do not listen, if you are led astray by your own desires, and serve the gods of willfulness, carelessness and recklessness, you will perish and not have a long life." One is a blessing; one is a curse. One is life; and one is death.

Moses didn't go up Mt Sinai to ponder in peace and quiet what rules would best serve this disparate mass of people he had led out of Egypt. Nor did God come down on the mountain to describe the rules of a game which He had recently invented. Neither were these commandments arbitrarily contrived to keep people "in line." What is described, is basic, like the 'rules' of driving are basic to our driving behavior. What we call the Ten Commandments, is simply the essential, fundamental outline for blessed, peaceful and prosperous living in the world as God made it.

But now we come to the second portion of today's readings; and, when the two texts are brought together, we are faced with one of those paradoxes of Christian life spoken of a few weeks back.
"I have set before you life and death."
"Choose life."
"Pick up your cross and follow me."
What possibility is there for reconciling two statements which, at least on the surface, appear mutually exclusive. "Choose life!" "Pick up your cross and follow me!"

These matters don't fall cleanly within the realm of theological speculation and instruction, even though theologians may well have some thoughts that are relevant. Rather, these are issues of day to day living. Moses' words focus on basic life choices we must all make. Jesus' words direct our attention to the response we give to the choice presented, specifically the response which he encourages us all to make. It may not be obvious, but the call to "pick up your cross" is contained within the admonition Moses addresses to the people.

When I think about the cross I am to pick up it is easy for the pains and struggles of life to rush to the forefront of my thoughts. After all, life can be difficult and the burden is increased as I think about the sufferings of my children, my family, my friends, my fellow church members, and their children and their families. The list goes on. And then it is compounded by the news of a bus overturning on the highway, of a child being shot or abused, of a war in the Middle East, of people losing their jobs, of the discovery of a new disease on the rampage. And again, the list goes on. Is this my cross? Is this what I am to pick up and carry.
When I reflect on what I believe together with the suffering in my life and in the world I can easily empathize with those who wonder how a good God can allow such suffering. But, beyond understanding the doubts aroused by these pains and sorrows, I can turn in faith to the divine promise of life and prosperity we just heard from God through Moses. I also find that these matters all need to be put into the right framework.

You may recall what is recorded at another place in Luke's Gospel at the point of Jesus' triumphal entrance into Jerusalem. Those in the crowd were waving palm branches and shouting: Hosannah to the son of David. The Pharisees were upset. "And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out." (Luke 19:39-40) That's a strange reply. Why would stones cry out? Paul supplies us with the answer: "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God." (Romans 8:19-21)

All of creation has been and is in a state of disorder because of man; and for that very reason all of creation "waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God." Why? Because "creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay" on the day when all of mankind shall choose life and become a new creation in Christ. In the meantime, people, families, relationships are all dis-ordered. So too is the physical world we live in. Is it any wonder that pain and suffering are rampant? Is this the suffering I am to offer up? Is this the cross I am to carry? My answer is an emphatic "No!" 

"Sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned." (Romans 5:12) But "As one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men." (Romans 5:18) The sufferings which follow from the dis-order in our lives and the corresponding dis-order in the physical world are not the sufferings I should be content to "offer up." These are sufferings and hardships which Jesus has already conquered. Consequently, I, as a Christian, cannot sit idle, satisfied with a fatalistic attitude about the world and it sorrows. Why would I offer brokenness to God? Rather, I need to participate in the conquest of this dis-order because it is precisely the elements of disorder which Jesus has overcome and over which He will complete his conquest as He draws all things to himself. The cross I am to carry is not the cross of suffering in a broken world. 

Return to the opening text, the one from Deuteronomy. The choice proposed is unmistakeable: Choose life and prosperity OR choose suffering and death. Then go on to the words of Jesus: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Jesus doesn't speak here about his death --- or ours. If I stop with the crucifixion, I have stopped too soon. The invite is not one that ends at Calvary but at an empty tomb; his invite is not an invitation to death, but to life. 

But, you may say, he is telling me to die to self. And I reply: Not True. His invitation is not to die, but to deny. All invitations involve choices. You are invited to a party; your choice is to go or not go. You are invited to watch a TV program; your choice is to watch or not watch. You are invited to join a group helping the poor; your choice is to participate or not to participate. You are invited to drive on the right side of the road; your choice is to drive on the left or right. You are invited to do the will of the Father; your choice is one of choosing life or death. Jesus' invitation is not to die, but to deny. Practically speaking, it's no different than denying to myself the party, denying to myself the TV program, denying the left side, denying death. Jesus is proposing that we deny to ourselves the willfulness, carelessness and recklessness that lead to death, and embrace the will of the Father which leads to life.

Sometimes I think our approach to Lent comes from a more miserable age. It must have been an age that concentrated on passion and death, sin and suffering, self-will and indulgence. But the text placed before us begins Lent with a different image altogether: Choose Life! Choose to live in the will of the Father! Choose his statutes and commandments and decrees! Choose to be blessed by the Father in the place where you are. Choose to follow Jesus even if the path leads through a cross. Choose an empty tomb. Choose life. The emphasis is not on denial at all and it's certainly not on death. It is, very simply, an emphasis on embracing choices that offer life, life in abundance.