Proper 18 (C)

September 6, 1998

Choose Life

Deut.30:15-20, Luke 14:25-33

Choose life. Those words strike a responsive chord in all of us. In each of us, a secret -- or maybe not so secret -- struggle is going on between a life wish and a death wish. In each of us, there is a deep desire to live life to the fullest. Yet in each of us, there is also an emotional undertow that makes us want to draw back from life. The text from Deuteronomy tells us something that some people may not suspect: that the call to choose life comes from God and that God has not only given us the possibility of fullness of life but has also shown us the way into it.

I. Many people have wrong ideas about what life is like and how it can be found.

Our culture presents us with a vision of "fullness of life" that is made up mostly of pleasure, self interest, and self indulgence. (The people of Israel encountered a very similar idea of the good life among the Canaanite people among whom they lived.)

Many believe that the way into that good life is to throw off all of the burdens of responsibility and the yoke of discipline and to live just to get what you want out of life.

People who make that choice often think that they must throw off the yoke of religion as they have understood it. Self denial seems like the very opposite of the way to life. The things that Jesus said in our lesson from Luke seem ridiculous to them. "Whoever comes to me and does not hate ... life itself, cannot be my disciple." And "... none of you can be my disciples if you do not give up all your possessions" (NRSV).

But the life that results from throwing off all responsibility and commitment is not life in its fullness. At its best, it is a superficial life, empty of satisfying experiences of meaning, accomplishment and joy. At its worst, irresponsibility finally makes everything fall apart.

II. God does indeed call us to venture out and choose life.

Throughout the Biblical drama, God is the one who gives life and calls us to venture out and live it. There is always an element of risk to life. It is always necessary to leave the security of life that is less than life and to venture out in order really to live. The Deuteronomy passage was set at the end of the Exodus, after Moses had led the people of Israel out of slavery into a life adventure of epic proportions.

Jesus spoke the curious words of our New Testament lesson to people who had come to make superficial, self interested little commitments to someone who was still a popular young teacher. He wanted them to know that discipleship would be an adventure that required a greater commitment.

To "hate" something, in this context, meant to detach oneself from it. Of course Jesus would want His followers to love their families and to be responsible managers of their possessions. It is necessary for people to quit clinging to those things, though, and not be dependent upon them so they can venture into greater commitment.

We are faced with the need to make a similar choice and a similar commitment today. A person has to choose to live. Life is there for us as a possibility. Yet if we do not choose to live it, if we do not commit ourselves to life, we will only exist -- and we may not even do that. In some extreme situations, when there is serious illness, when circumstances are oppressive or when disappointments have crushed enthusiasm, it takes a real commitment to keep on living. Even under the best of circumstances, a person must choose to venture out into life and live it to its fullest, or that person will soon be just going through the motions.