Sermons from

First Presbyterian Church

“Citizens With The Saints”
The Rev. Dr. Fairfax F. Fair
April 15, 2012
Second Sunday of Easter
Joshua 24:1, 14-18, 23-24
Ephesians 2:19-22

“Choose this day whom you will serve.”

What an appropriate text on the Sunday when we receive our 2012 Confirmation
class, baptize an infant, and recognize all the members of the church who make
tangible whom they have chosen to serve through their gifts and support of the
ministries of First Presbyterian Church! This Sunday, when the shouts of ‘Christ is
risen! He is risen indeed!’ and the strains of the Hallelujah Chorus are still fresh in our
minds from last Sunday’s glorious Easter service, we encounter a biblical passage
which recounts another new beginning. We hear the challenge Joshua gives to the
people of Israel, newly gathered in the promised land. Joshua, a man of faith and
Moses’ successor as the leader of God’s people, knows that his peoples’ conquest of
the land may lead to an arrogant nonchalance – a feeling that because of their own
merits they are deserving of a land of milk and honey. The people whom God has led to
victory are in danger of believing that what they have is because of their own efforts.
They are in danger of failing to give credit where credit is due, and Joshua wants to
correct their erroneous thinking.

God is responsible for the Hebrews’ safe entrance into the promised land and
Joshua recounts to those around him God’s gracious acts. It is God’s saving grace that
has blessed and benefitted the Hebrew people, stretching back to the days of their
ancestor, Abraham. Lest they forget that it is the providence of God – not their stealth
or strength – that has gotten them this far, Joshua is their ready reminder. Lest they
think that playing with fire – disregarding God – is a safe pastime, Joshua reminds them
that God is single-minded in the sole allegiance which he demands. With example after
example down through the generations, Joshua points out instances of God’s
beneficence. Then he concludes with a rousing challenge: “Now therefore revere the
Lord, and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors
served…if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve…
but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

The people, whipped to a frenzy by Joshua’s recital of the mighty acts of God,
are ready to shout the affirmation of their allegiance: “Yahweh! Yahweh! Yahweh!” They
enthusiastically concur with Joshua and say, “We also will serve the Lord, for he is our
God.”

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 But even this rousing cry is not enough for Joshua.

Rather than accepting them at their word, Joshua challenges the Hebrew people
again. He says, in effect, ‘Do not promise what you cannot deliver. If you say you are
pledging your allegiance to God and then are found to be flirting with other gods, your
penalty will be severe.’

The people again cry out with one voice: “We will serve the Lord!” And Yahweh
is the God they proclaim, Yahweh alone.

This may be the first altar call in scripture.

First Pres, being in Ann Arbor, is probably not a typical Michigan congregation.
Many of us who are a part of this congregation have lived in other parts of the country
(and the world). Among us are people who have worshipped in many different
denominations, including undoubtedly some good ‘ole Southern Baptists. The Baptists
know an emotional, unrelenting “Give your life to Jesus’ altar call when they hear one,
and Joshua fills the bill. All that is missing from this account are the organ swells of Just
as I Am, Without One Plea…

Okay, so if we do not want to irreparably shake the foundations of the venerable

First Presbyterian Church and invite everyone here to stand and stream forward, what is
the appropriate response to Joshua’s stirring words?

It is easy to read this story from Joshua and think of it simply as a story from a
long ago time and place. The days of the tribes of Israel are long past. Precious few –
if any -- of us could find the ancient city of Shechem on a map, and the instruction to
“put away the gods of our ancestors” sounds more like gathering up relics befitting an
archeological museum than like changing an established practice.

But before this story is dismissed out of hand, are there not commonalities
between us and Joshua’s contemporaries? What are the stories of God’s sustaining
love that we can tell from our more recent past, stories of God’s strength that enabled
us to move forward after the death of a loved one, stories of God’s grace that spared
the lives of all in the path of the Dexter tornado, stories of God’s opening the hearts of
our youth in Immokalee, Florida in January and moving within these fine eighth grade
confirmation students who today affirm their faith and their desire to become active
members of First Presbyterian Church? Do we not also share with the ancient Hebrews
our tendency to look past God -- our tendency to latch onto flashy, lesser gods, gods of
no substance -- to be seduced by power and glamour?

God’s faithfulness to us calls for a response. Lip service alone is insufficient.

Joshua speaks in imperatives to the elders, leaders, and judges who surround him.
Saying first, “Revere the Lord,” Joshua demands a serious and attentive attitude toward
God.

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 Similarly, our relationship with God is not to be casual and chummy. God, the
most high, is mighty. We can come before God only in humility, only with an awareness
that we owe our all to God.

Joshua goes on to command those before him, “Serve the Lord in sincerity,”
perhaps better translated “serve the Lord with integrity,” lifting up the importance of
congruence between what we say and what we do, between our Sunday affirmations
and our Monday though Friday actions. To ‘revere the Lord and serve him with integrity
and faithfulness’ does not allow for divided loyalties, for going back and forth between
two camps as if God only held sway over a percentage of our lives. Joshua makes
clear that there is no place for dual citizenship, with one foot in the household of God
and the other in the kingdom of this world. God’s claim on us is absolute and God is
absolutely trustworthy. The lesser gods of this world offer only false security. As
imposters, they are gods of fleeting importance, flash-in-the-pan one hit wonders that
evaporate in times of genuine difficulty. Lesser gods -- those things we elevate to the
stature of deity and bow before, such as wealth and status – (these lesser gods) distract
from things of eternal importance and the one true goal of being united with God.

Friends, on this day when we lift up commitment – the commitment of our

confirmands, the commitment of the parents of baby Charlotte Mary, and the
commitment of so many of our members highlighted by the blossoming flowers all over
our campus – let us see this stark choice that Joshua presents as good news because
the God we worship and serve makes our choice to serve the Lord a time for mutual
election. Just as we choose God, we are assured that God already has chosen us. We
choose, knowing that we already have been chosen.

So let us reaffirm the goodness of the Lord. Let us choose this day whom we will
serve, choosing to serve Almighty God, and knowing that by God’s plenteous grace, we
no longer are strangers and aliens but citizens with the saints and members of the
household of God.

Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Amen.

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Because sermons are meant to be preached and are therefore prepared with the emphasis on verbal presentation,
the written accounts occasionally stray from proper grammar and punctuation. Copyright ©2012 by Fairfax F.
Fair. All rights reserved. These sermon manuscripts are intended for personal use only and may not be
republished or used in any way without the permission of the author.

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