Choose This Day Whom You Will Serve
A Sermon by the Reverend Shearon Sykes Williams on the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (B), August 22, 2021.
Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69
“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. 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.” Joshua 24: 1-2a; 14-18
This past week we have all been horrified to see images of cargo planes crammed beyond capacity with Afghan refugees, people running alongside departing flights, desperate to get on board, a baby being handed over a barbed wire fence to a U.S. Marine. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
As deeply disturbing as the situation in Afghanistan most certainly is, it has been very encouraging to see and hear how U.S. leaders across the political spectrum have expressed support for welcoming these refugees, many of whom have aided our country over the last two decades, at great risk to their own safety and that of their families. There are so many decisions in this life that are highly ambiguous and very difficult to make. But there are some that are absolutely a clear choice between what is right and what is wrong.
In our reading from the Old Testament today, Joshua gives the Israelites a clear choice. They are finally about to enter the Promised Land after 40 long years of wilderness wandering. Joshua is speaking to the new generation, born in the wilderness. Their ancestors had been slaves in Egypt and God led them out of bondage with the hope of a new future, under the leadership of Moses. But the wilderness was hard, and many longed for “the fleshpots in Egypt.” They had not been free, but they had been well fed and their life was stable. Now Joshua leads this new generation. He calls them together, just as they are about to realize the long-awaited dream, to remind them that they had the same choice that their ancestors had. “Choose this day whom you will serve.” It is a defining moment in their communal life. Will they choose Yahweh who led their parents and grandparents out of bondage, or will they choose the comfort of lesser gods?
“Choose this day whom you will serve” reminds them of the first of the 10 commandments given to the earlier generation. “You shall have no other gods before me.” So they have to renew the covenant for themselves that their ancestors made with God. They have to make it their own. And their story is our story. Each new generation of faithful people has to decide. And it’s a decision that we have to make each day. The specifics of daily decisions are different, the contexts change, but following a faithful path boils down to loving God, first and foremost, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. During his ministry, Jesus summed up all of Mosaic law in the Great Commandment. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all you soul and with all your mind and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
And as people of faith, we look at the current refugee crisis through that lens. We believe that love of God and love of neighbor are interrelated. We are called to a life of worship, prayer and service to God and service to the human family. The Episcopal Church has been ministering to the needs of people fleeing oppression and famine since the 1800s. During the 1930s parishes took up donations to pay for steamship travel for people escaping Nazi Europe. Episcopal Migration Services has helped approximately 100,000 over its history. The logo for Episcopal Migration Services pictures the Holy Family, Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus as they flee the terror of King Herod. God provided for them as they took an arduous journey to escape death. Jesus came into the world to be with us in every way, even suffering the reality of evil regimes from his infancy. Episcopal Migration Ministries does this work because it is God’s work in this world. We are putting our faith in action. EMM is one of ten agencies that have contracts with the federal government to provide resettlement services for refugees on behalf of the State Department. And our very own Saint George’s Refugee Ministry is a partner member.
Our refugee ministry began several years ago when Wendy Chan and Norma Kacen felt a real sense of call about it. We hosted a series of community forums in our parish hall and from that the NOVA Friends of Refugees was born. Today that group has over 1,000 members from across the country made up of over 150 faith communities, NGOs and government agencies. NOVA Friends of Refugees has provided advocacy training workshops, employment mentoring workshops, training for Georgetown medical students on how to better serve the physical and mental health needs of refugees. The list goes on and on. Perhaps most impressive is the huge One Journey Festival that was conceived out of this work. One Journey takes place on the grounds of the National Cathedral each summer and celebrates the contributions and stories of refugees.
The work of ministering to the needs of refugees takes place on the National Church level and at the parish level. Wendy Chan is putting together a list of people interested in helping in various ways. We will send out a parish email this afternoon with her contact information as well as the link from our National Church where you can send an email to elected leaders advocating for allowing greater numbers of Afghan refugees to enter the U.S.
We are called to pray for refugees in the days to come. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. We pray asking for God’s mercy and we ask God to empower us to be Christ’s hands and heart in this hurting world, the world Jesus came to redeem.