Title: Today We Get to Vote!
Text: Joshua 24:1-3 and 14-24
The Big Idea: Today is an historic day… today we get to vote. Today we get to choose.
Introduction:
On Tuesday the absentee ballots, the mail-In ballots, the early-voting ballots, and the ballots cast that day will be counted and a new president-elect will be named. The citizens of our democracy will have expressed their preferences and a new leader will be chosen to lead our country into the next four- year term. We cherish the privilege of voting. We like to have our say and we like having our way even more… so we vote, we choose.
After all the ballots are counted and the winner is announced… there will be many who are
very pleased and there will likely be nearly as many who are equally disappointed. There will be some whose hearts are filled with hope and anticipation and there will be some whose hearts are filled with despair and dread… in either case, we will all step across the line in 2009 and the onset of the next four years.
At least we get to choose every four years… not so in the Old Testament story of the Children of Israel on their epic journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. They were given their leadership and their terms were for life… unless God, as God did on occasion, impose term limits. The first was leader was Moses and Joshua was the second.
Interestingly enough, neither Moses nor Joshua seemed all that concerned about whether the Israelites were big personal fans of their leadership. Rather, they were concerned that the people be committed to following God.
At the end of his term of leadership, Moses called the people together in Deuteronomy 28-30, and challenged them to choose to follow God.
“Today I give you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live! Choose to love the Lord your God and to obey him and commit yourself to him, for he is your life. Then you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give you…” Deuteronomy 30:19-24
Moses went on to assure the people of Israel that if they would commit to following God, they would discover that God is absolutely faithful.
“Do not be afraid… the Lord your God will neither fail you nor forsake you. Do not be discouraged, for the Lord will be with you; he will neither fail your nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 and 8
After Moses died, Joshua became the designated leader of the people of Israel. Their journey continued into the land God had promised to give them… then when Joshua neared the end of his term of office and death, he, after the manner of Moses, called the people together and gave them a similar challenge.
He said, “Honor the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly… but if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15
What followed was a three-fold affirmation of their desire and determination to follow God:
• “We would never forsake the Lord and worship other gods…” 24:16
The people replied, “We would never forsake the Lord and worship other gods. For the Lord our God is the one who rescued us and our ancestors from slavery in Egypt.” Joshua 24:16
• “We are determined to serve the Lord!” 24:21
Joshua challenged them again, questioning their willingness to do as they had pledged and they answered again, “No, we are determined to serve the Lord!” Joshua 24:21
• “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him alone.” 24:24
And again in Joshua 24:24, the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey him alone.”
I’m not sure Joshua was all that comfortable with their boisterous declaration of loyalty to God. In contemporary terms, they were getting settled in their new land. They had moved out of their tents into nicely appointed tract homes. They were gainfully employed, living comfortably, and able to put a little aside for a rainy day. Their investments were working and their retirement seemed secure. Every family had a late model automobile or two and the kids were all attending Charter Schools and playing in the Department of Parks and Recreation Soccer League. Plus, they had a nice mega-synagogue in every community to minister to their spiritual needs, should any arise. He wasn’t sure they were feeling much need for God now that things were going so well.
It was as if Joshua, wanting to make sure they knew what they were voting for said, “Okay, now all in favor of following the Lord our God, say, “Aye.’” “Okay then,” he said, “just to make sure, all in favor of serving the Lord our God say, “Aye.’” And then the third time being a charm, he repeated himself once again, “Okay then… I just want to make sure that you really want to follow God. All in favor of following the Lord our God say, “Aye.’”
“Okay then,” he said, “it’s unanimous. We will serve the Lord our God and obey him alone.”
But that was then and this is now… what does this Old Testament scenario mean for us today?
It may be a different time and the circumstances of our lives may be different but the invitation is the same. Everyone chooses whom he or she will serve. Everyone casts his ballot!
Casting a ballot is all about choosing.
1. Choosing determines your desired destination in life.
• “Today I have given you a choice between life and death, between blessing and curses...” Deuteronomy 30:19a
• “If you are unwilling to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve.” Joshua 24:15
• “And all who believe in God’s Son have eternal life. Those who don’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life, but the wrath of God remains upon them.” John 3:35-36
Because we book travel arrangements through Travelosity, we are blessed to be made privy to the latest in destination travel packages. They have a catalog of options: We could go on an Explore the Windy City package in Chicago; a Steal of a Deal Hawaii Vacation Sale package; an LA Getaway package; a Hold the Big Apple in Your Hand getaway to NYC; a Pamper and Putt golf and spa package at the Moon Palace in Cancun; A Sail Somewhere Sunny and Save Caribbean cruise; a Catch the Big One deep sea fishing package to Mexico’s bottomless blue sea; ski packages; beach packages; shopping getaway packages; and Disney packages and more. Every getaway deal has a reduced flight and free hotel nights at your destination of choice.
Moses in Deuteronomy 30, Joshua in Joshua 24, and Jesus in John 3... all offered a choice ultimate getaway package. Choose God and you get God’s blessing and eternal life. We understand and expect in this life that we will have the privilege of choice in nearly every area of life – even our desired eternal destination. We choose:
• Either a life of obedience and blessing.
• Or a life of disobedience and destruction?
When we choose our ultimate destination we are also, in a sense, choosing a way of life essential to that choice.
2. Choosing determines the life you desire to live.
• “Choose to love the Lord your God and to obey him and commit yourself to him, for he is our life. Then you will live long in the land the Lord swore to you.” Deuteronomy 24:20
As you know, Bonnie and I have a Starbucks date on Sunday evenings… do you know how many choices we have at a typical Starbucks? According to the 20-page booklet titled Make it Your Drink: A Guide to Starbucks Beverages, there are over 19,000 different ways you can order a custom, made to order cup of coffee. (Greg Rosenthal, Don’t Panic: A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Starbucks, Gourmet Fare Magazine, March 24, 2004)
The choices always begin with cold or hot. In summer Bonnie will frequently order a Frappuccino, which is a cold drink and in winter she changes her order to a Macchiato, which is a hot drink.
Then you have to order a size... the sizes are an 8 ounce Short; a 12 ounce Tall; a 16 ounce Grande; and a 20 ounce Venti. The size of drink you order determines how many shots of expresso you get. A Short or Tall gets a single shot of expresso; a Grande gets a double shot of expresso; and a Vente gets a triple shot of expresso… and if you are feeling really under-energized, you can order a quad shot of expresso.
Then you have to order a flavor… the flavors are complicated but Bonnie will often order a Carmel flavor or a Pumpkin Spice or other seasonal flavored coffee.
And then there are the details: Default 2%, Skinny, Whole, or Soy milks? And then there are things like extra hot, foam or no foam, whip or no whip, dry, wet, or extra dry?
It is all too complicated to me so I just order an iced Vente Americano with no room… it was so much easier when it was just “regular” or “decaf.”
Our decisions run the gamut from regular or decaf, the names we choose for our children, our spouse, clothing styles and shopping venues, taste in décor, brand-names… we vote our preferences on every level of life. We choose how we wish to live.
Under any form of government, any socio-political system, under any cultural influences, we may choose to be God fearing and God following people. We choose to be a follower of Jesus Christ. We choose to live out the Word and will of God as best we know how. We choose to be kind and gentle. We choose to be generous. We choose to submit to the controlling influence of God’s Holy Spirit. We choose to be involved in a faith community.
We choose to love the Lord our God and to obey him and commit ourselves to him, for he is our life.
We also choose to live in such a way as to make a difference.
3. Choosing determines the legacy you desire to leave.
• “Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live!” Deuteronomy 30:19b
• “Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the leaders who outlived him – those who had personally experienced all that the Lord had done for Israel.” Joshua 24:31
The October 27, 2008 Barna Update featured survey result was titled: American Spirituality Gives Way to Simplicity and the Desire to Make a Difference. The report concluded that our nation’s population has always possessed an appetite for active spirituality citing that 71% of Americans describe their personal faith as very important. 64% of Americans think of themselves as deeply spiritual. And beyond that, 78% of Americans say they are making a positive difference in the world.
While politicians are asking us if we are better off today than we were four years ago… perhaps a better question would be, is the world better off today than it was four years ago because of me?
Next Monday, November 10th Gideons International will mark their 100th Anniversary. 100 years ago Samuel Hill, John Nicholson, and William Knighs formed The Gideons and placed their first Gideon Bible in a room at the Superior Hotel in Superior, Montana. Three traveling salesmen began by placing 1 bible in a hotel room… in the last 100 years The Gideons have placed 1.3 billion bibles.
The Gideons are just one of innumerable Christian church and para-church organizations doing the work of God around the world… each is a living legacy that was left and sustained over the centuries by others.
Our legacies include the impact we leave on our families, friends, neighbors, coworkers, classmates, fellow believers, and acquaintances… and our legacies include the difference we make not only in our own lives and ministries but in the investments we make through others who go where we cannot go and do what we cannot do.
Conclusion:
Kevin Miller tells two stories he heard his father tell. One was of a wealthy couple who visited the president of Harvard University intent on making a donation to the university. The president did not know them, other than that they were from out west somewhere and being a busy man, treated them rather curtly. After a few minutes the woman turned to her husband and said, “Come Leland, I think we have better things we can do with our money.” The Stanfords returned to California and founded Stanford University.
One moral of the story is that if you have a lot of money you can tell anyone you wish to go and take a flying leap.
A second story is of a minister who was invited to have lunch with John D. Rochefeller. While driving up the long, winding, tree-lined drive to the Rockefeller mansion the minister remarked, “My, my! Think what the Lord could have done if he had this much money.”
The moral of that story is that John D. Rochefeller must have more money than God.
And then he told the story of his own father who died of a heart attack when he was only seventy years old. He was not a rich man but neither was he a poor man. He lived simply and was buried in his navy blue blazer and a Lands End tie.
He said a woman came up to him after the funeral, introduced herself, and told of when she was much younger and forced out of a physically abusive marriage. She said she did not know what would become of her… and then his father intervened and added her to his payroll, paying her to attend junior college so she could become a dental hygienist. She told of how he paid “the whole thing…,” she said, “your dad literally saved my life.” (Kevin Miller, Financial Contentment, PreachingToday.com)
The moral of this story is that we can keep our lives free from the love of money and leave a legacy of having made a difference.
The challenge today is to vote… today we each get to decide.
The Challenge Today is two-fold:
1. Whom will you choose to serve? God? Will you be a devoted follower of Jesus Christ?
2. Will you personally and we, as a faith community, choose to leave a legacy for others that transcends the continents and generations to come? Will we leave a legacy that is honoring to God, builds the Kingdom of Christ, and blesses others?
