The choice of God; putting God first!

Sermon - 09/09/07 – Trinity 14 (Proper 18) – Year C
Preached at St Alphege, Solihull 8.00am Eucharist on 09/09/07
Readings: Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Philemon 1-21 Luke 14:25-33


Our readings today make us to think about the choice of God. Choosing God! What does this mean, choosing God! It means putting God in the first place in our lives and then allowing all the other things in our lives to find their right place in accordance with what God requires.
In our Old Testament lesson the Israelites are just about to enter the Promised Land. For years God has been promising them this land, if they live according to his commandments. At long last God is delivering on his promise. Forty years of wondering around in the desert are over and the good times are at hand. And God chooses this moment to remind the Israelites that they face a clear choice. They can continue to walk in the Lord’s ways, obeying his commandments, in which case God will bless them, and they will be prosperous in their new land and their descendents too will prosper. God describes this as choosing life and blessings. Or they can choose to stray from God’s ways and serve other Gods. If they choose to stray from God then they will not live long in their new land, rather they will perish. God describes this as the choice of death and curses.
And we too all of us face this choice at the personal level. We can put God in the first place in our lives and seek to walk in his ways, obeying his commandments. God is our creator and the source of our life, so to make this choice is to choose life and to choose blessings. Alternatively we can give first priority in our lives to something that is not God, but which feels important to us. We might give top priority to our job, or our home, or our financial security, or to our children, or to our sense of being in control, or to money, or to shopping, or to holidays. It is not that there is anything wrong with these things; if fact they are all very good things when they are put in their rightful place under God. The problem comes if we prioritise these things over God. If we do this then we deprive God of his rightful place, we cease to be open to the things he asks of us. We fail to notice or fail to value the good things that he gives us. To do this is to choose death and curses. Eternal life does not come from shopping. It does not come from financial security, or even from our children. Eternal life comes from God, the giver of all life, the one who created us and who wants our good, and who has a wonderful destiny planned for us in heaven. In fact to choose God, and to put God in the first place in our lives is the only logical and sensible way to live our lives. And the beautiful thing is that if we seek first the kingdom of heaven, then all these other things will be added to us as well. God will give us the things we need. Generally he does allow us to shop, he gives us financial security, he looks after our children, but we have to give first priority to God.
In our gospel reading Jesus tells us very forcibly about the cost of that choice. Jesus is God. There is no conflict between choosing God and following Jesus. These are in fact the same thing. To put God first means to follow Christ. We must not let anything stop us from following Christ. We must put Christ above father, mother, wife and children, above brother, sisters and even above life itself. We have to carry our cross and follow Christ. We have to be ready to give up all our processions.
This might make it seem very hard to follow Christ, undesirable even. But we have to trust God who made us and wants our good. He knows the things that we need and he will provide. We receive these things as gifts, not as things we snatch for ourselves. As we follow Christ we may pass through all kinds of difficulties but over time our lives become simpler and more harmonious. Certainly there are sufferings and certainly we have to be ready to lose things that we value in order to put God first, but everything we ever had comes from God, and he gives us far more back than we ever lose. In the long term Christ’s yoke is easy and his burden light.