A Hairy Challenge…
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
24:1 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God.
24:2 And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors--Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor--lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods.
24:3a Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many.
24:14 "Now therefore revere the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
24:15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
24:16 Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods;
24:17 for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed;
24:18 and the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."
24:19 But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.
24:20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good."
24:21 And the people said to Joshua, "No, we will serve the LORD!"
24:22 Then Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him." And they said, "We are witnesses."
24:23 He said, "Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."
24:24 The people said to Joshua, "The LORD our God we will serve, and him we will obey."
24:25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.
Foreign gods. What a pain in the backside. My gallon of milk and I hate lining up behind those who worship foreign gods (buying lottery tickets) at the convenience store. Whose convenience? Or how about those voters who make a beeline to the polling places to vote to assure that THEIR rights and THEIR property are protected by candidates who promise to do so? After all, higher taxes to benefit poor people and to educate kids from “the other side of the tracks” is NOT something they cotton to. Foreign gods. Or how about showing up at the school board meeting to side with parents wanting to ban “sexual” books, or books that DARE accuse THEM of racism? There they go, dragging out the foreign gods again. “I want what I want when I want it…”—foreign gods. Unregulated, free-market capitalism? Foreign gods to true believers, who believe in justice, equity, and equal opportunity.
OK, I’m being tough on some of the “hot button” American issues, but when will we hold some of them up against the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who said “let the children come unto me,” and “as much as you have done it unto the least of these…”? If one wants to argue for “biblical authority,” one must hold to the authority of the obvious and foundational statements of Jesus, such as these.
Put away your gods! Joshua is saying this, but this preacher agrees. We are so GOOD at creating our own gods, and when that comes up short—which it always does—we begin to form God in our own image. Ludwig Feuerbach, a 19th century anthropologist and philosopher, was famous for saying that most of humanity’s view of God is that God is just themselves, writ large. BOY, was HE right! The Jesus of the Gospels was never the doctrinal purist, the dogmatic preacher, or the “God said it, I believe it, that settles it” messenger that so many in the modern church try to make him out to be. This view of Jesus Christ is truly a false god. Why do we do this? Because it is much more convenient and comforting to understand God in a way that we’d be happy inviting him over for an evening of Trivial Pursuit, or a beer. We like to think that God thinks like we think, partly because we are largely uncomfortable with PEOPLE who don’t, and therefore a deity who doesn’t. SO, as Feuerbach said, we just remold God to look more like a god we’d be happy with.
The view of God that we get from the scriptural witness MUST be seen as at least partly distorted by this human tendency to shape God. Regardless of how “inspired” the scriptures are, the human storytellers, writers, and redactors are part of the narrative. Still, with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we can see a decent “picture” of God emerge, and we get the best picture from Jesus, who said, “If you’ve seen ME, you’ve seen the Father.” However, Jesus was not a popular “image” of God in his day, hence his succumbing to capital punishment. Paul and the Gospel writers “shaped” him, too, to allow for their views and prejudices, but again, the truth slips through, and it is mostly to be found where Jesus “breaks” or negates the popular stereotypes we have of God. Loving neighbor wasn’t a radical idea, but loving one’s enemy WAS. Favoring and leaning into the poor and disenfranchised, including accepting them as equals, was NOT a thing; at best, they were treated as “charity cases” by religious folk and leaders. Jesus hung out with them, accepted them, and even endorsed them. Jesus was inclusive; religious rules he rebuffed were exclusive. Lines in the sand, walls separating people, and doctrines that had to be swallowed, hook, line, and sinker, or you were an outcast, were NOT on the agenda of the Savior!
In the Hebrew Bible, we see this “clearer view” of God break through the “history-written-by-the-winners” narrative, in the persons and messages of the prophets. They were generally not welcome, when they showed up, because their message reminded people of the REAL God, and God’s expectations of them, namely that they love one another, welcome the stranger, and strive for a just community of faith and life. After all, they were human, and we humans live on a continuum, of sorts, between our OWN interests, the needs and interests of OTHERS, and ultimately, at the other end, the interests of the Divine. In justifying where they locate themselves on this continuum, some have brought the ends together to form a circle, which brings their OWN interests right next to GOD’s interests. And “the other” is then clear across the circle, “opposed” to those of mine and God’s. The prophets were circle-busters. The truth of God (and Jesus, of course) are also circle-busters. The only circle they endorsed were ones that were drawn to encircle and INCLUDE all of God’s children.
When Joshua says, “CHOOSE this day whom you will serve,” he’s drawing HIS line in the sand. To serve the God of Israel, means obeying the “whole counsel” of the Word of God, not just the parts that support our views. “Choose this day” means not hedging one’s bets until something better comes along. Lines in the sand of THIS sort are pretty unforgiving, and have no patience with dilly-dallying. CHOOSE THIS DAY.
The modern Christian disciple would do well to take a regular inventory of the “other gods” we have lined up on our mantle, and to challenge ourselves with Joshua’s words: “Choose this day whom you will serve…” The good news is that this introspection is not hard to DO; the bad news is that it is hard to yield to and to live with. Personally? Not a week goes by that I don’t make a few gods to justify my desires and whims. But because I am part of a worshiping community, and live with a faithful, God-fearing partner, my gods and I don’t last a week, unchallenged.
This reminds me of a humorous story from the days of the old, black-and-white “Dick Van Dyke Show.” If you’re old enough to remember, you will recall that Van Dyke plays Rob Petrie, a TV show writer, who works for mythical TV variety show host, Alan Brady, played expertly by Carl Reiner. When Rob’s wife, Laura (played by Mary Tyler Moore) “exposes” the fact that Alan Brady wears a toupee. In an hilarious scene, Laura goes to Alan’s office to apologize and plead for her husband’s job. As she enters the office, there sits Alan Brady with an assortment of “head” manikins on the desk in front of him, each sporting one of his designer toupees, while Alan sits behind the desk unadorned. As she enters, he says to the manikins, “Well, fellows, here’s the blabbermouth who put YOU out of business!” The scene is one of the best ever on TV!
I have “discussions” like this with my designer gods, every time the Holy Spirit, my pastor, or my wife (pretty much synonymous) “blabs” that I am trusting in them. How about you? What does your “god” inventory turn up? And what will it mean for you to honestly reckon with them? How will this alter your faith? Your life? There’s your “homework” assignment for this week!
OK, another “hair” story. Years ago, as kids, we used to love to watch portly WJET-TV anchorman, Bob Sutherland, do the news. He was very large, gave the news kind of hunched over the news desk, and wore a terrible toupee. One night, as he read the news, a studio ventilating fan blew the toupee off the back of his head, and in front of his face. He grabbed it off his head, exclaiming with his gruff and somewhat-raspy voice, “Well, we don’t need THAT, anymore!” I don’t think he ever appeared with it again.
Whether you have a humorous “chat” with your collected false gods, or dispatch with them as abruptly as did Mr. Sutherland, you (and all of us) are challenged by the words of Joshua: “Choose this day whom you will serve!”
Just remember, to answer as did Joshua—“as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”—probably means making some serious changes, even if you ARE already a committed disciple. And like those toupees, “removing” our “foreign” gods will leave us bald before the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus! Amen.
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