Year C, Proper 18, Deuteronomy 30:15-20, “Choices”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen

Choices matter.

Choices have consequences.

And to not make a choice, is to choose.

Moses puts before the people of Israel, in the strongest terms possible, the choice that was before them.

“Choose Life!” was his admonition.

Of course the alternative is to choose death.

Underlying that choice is both a promise, and a warning.

It goes without saying that we are more comfortable listening to a promise.  Promises are good.  Make the right choice and wonderful things will happen.  We especially like the second part of that sentence:  “wonderful things will happen”.  “The Lord will bless you” Moses says.  We’d like to leave it like that.

What we often overlook is the first part of that sentence.

If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.

If you obey –

If you make the right choices –

Then you will be blessed.

Choices, you see, matter.

They have consequences.

And we bear some responsibility.

Take, for example, the fourth commandment that God gave us:

“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”

This commandment is not about children obeying their parents, though that may be what we think about when we hear it.  This commandment is about how we take care of the elderly.  Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.  God promises a long life, if we honor our parents.

The flip side of that is the warning about what will happen if we don’t honor our parents.  Our own lives will be impacted when we are old.  Choices have consequences.

It’s not that God is hell bent on punishing us if we make the wrong choice.  God warns us of the consequences of making the wrong choice.

Let’s fast forward from ancient Israel to today. 

How do we honor our parents and care for them in their old age?  And what difference does that make?  And how will the choices we make today, affect our lives tomorrow when we are old?

Now, I’m going to tell you what you all know.  There are two major issues facing everyone as they grow old.  The first is how will they survive financially, when they are no longer capable of working?  And the second is how will they be cared for as they face the health issues that always come with old age?

Do you realize, that our answer to these questions is specifically related to the fourth commandment, and honoring our fathers and mothers?  God cares about these things.

To begin with, we have sought to address these issues as a society in two primary ways:  we have “Social Security” and “Medicare”, and if needed, “Medicaid”.

You know the basics:

We all pay into Social Security so that each of us will in turn receive at least a bare minimum income during our retirement years and into our old age. 

And likewise, all of us pay into Medicare and Medicaid so that as we age, we too will be able to receive the medical care that is needed.

On the surface, it would appear that we have “honored our fathers and mothers” by providing for these two basic needs.  But anyone who listens to the news knows that there are also problems.

We are making choices that will have consequences.

One of the choices that we are making, for example, is whether we raise taxes to pay for the increased cost of health care for the elderly, or simply reduce the benefits.

I learned a bit about this when the congregation I served in Sandpoint built Luther Park, a senior housing facility.  One of my dreams was that we’d be able to offer the best in senior care for everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.  And then the painful reality set in.

What I discovered was that there were two major problems facing our residents.

The first was finding a doctor.

We had many residents who moved to Sandpoint from out of the area, and of course, when they got here they had to find a primary care physician.  The problem is that many of the primary care physicians in Sandpoint simply could not accept anymore Medicare patients.  It’s not because they didn’t like old people. The problem is that Medicare does not reimburse doctors enough to pay for the care that seniors require.  Doctors, as a result, can only allow a certain percentage of their patients to be Medicare patients, otherwise they will go bankrupt.  I have a friend who did go bankrupt because he could not turn away the elderly.

Second problem:  The high cost of care for assisted living and nursing homes is beyond what many seniors can afford.  The average cost of assisted living is between $3,000 to $3,500 a month, and if one needs nursing home care, you can easily double or triple that.  After a few years, what assets a person has are often gone, and then they are reliant on Medicaid.

But, there is a problem with Medicaid.  The amount Medicaid reimburses is not sufficient to cover the cost of providing that care.  Luther Park, for example, can only afford to have a few residents on Medicaid.  Otherwise it would have to shut its doors.

And so what happens to our fathers and mothers?

That’s the question.

Now what is the point of all this?

The point is:

Choices matter.

Choices have consequences.

And to not make a choice, is to choose.

Moses puts before the people of Israel, in the strongest terms possible, the choice that was before them.

“Choose Life!” was his admonition.

Of course the alternative is to choose death.

It would be nice if God would simply make everything right, regardless what choice we make, but it simply doesn’t work out that way.  The choices we make have consequences.

And God, in his love, warns us of the consequences.

God, you see, loves us enough that he would like to spare us the pain of dealing with the consequences that come from poor choices, and so warns us.  It’s not that he wants to punish us.  It’s that he doesn’t want us to suffer.  And so he puts the choice before us, and hopes that we will choose life.

There are all sorts of examples of choices that we will make that will have consequences.

Many of our young people are concerned about things such as Global Warming.  They, you see, strangely enough, are concerned about what the world we live in will be like in 50 years, because, unlike many of us, they will actually be alive in 50 years. 

It is easy to say that this is a political issue and to frame it in the differences between liberal and conservative politics.  Actually, it has nothing whatsoever to do with politics.

Either the oceans are warming, or they are not.  It doesn’t matter if you are democrat or republican.

Either the ice on the polar ice caps is melting, or it is not.  It doesn’t matter whether you are liberal or conservative.

Either the weather patterns throughout the world are changing or they are not.  It doesn’t matter whether you live in a democracy, or a communist nation.

And either the choices we are making are having an impact on this, or they are not.

The reason scientists are warning us about global warming is that they actually stick a thermometer in the ocean and measure the temperature.  Novel thought.

The question that drives many of our young people crazy is whether we are willing to take responsibility for our actions, or not.

When God puts before us a choice, are we willing to base our actions on the promises he offers, and heed the warnings he gives? 

A number of years ago, I received a very personal warning.  I share it because it gets to the point of this whole matter.  I was going through a very deep depression, and my doctor was understandably concerned.  Suicide is too often the tragic outcome of depression, and so the doctor had a warning for me.  “The likelihood of dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound is much higher if you actually have a gun.”

His point was that my choices, at that time in my life, might make the difference between living and dying. 

Make the right choice was his admonition.

Choose life!  God says.

Choose life, and surprisingly enough, you will live.

One of the gifts God gives us is freedom.

We have the freedom to choose. 

And our choices make a difference.

We are not the helpless victims of fate. 

God gives us his law to guide us in making the right choices so that we might live a good and blessed life.  But in the end, the choice is ours.

“See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.”  “Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.”

Amen

Year C, Proper 18, Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Pro-Life, Pro-Choice, or "Choose Life"

Over the course of my ministry, I've often avoided entering into the debate surrounding abortion.  I do not like the polarity surrounding that conversation, and the seeming inability of either side to listen to the concerns of the other.  But mostly, within the public debate and the rhetoric I never found a fair representation of my position.  

You see, I am neither "pro-Life", or "pro-Choice", but maintain a position I would call "Choose Life".

I had a youth director who had an ectopic pregnancy.  I was with her in the hospital as the drug was being administered that would end that pregnancy.  Few would consider that to be an abortion, and yet, terminating a pregnancy is terminating a pregnancy.  I cannot imagine anyone who would choose to do anything other when an ectopic pregnancy is being treated.  And I would rather imagine that even Catholic Hospitals would allow the procedure to take place.

And then at the other end of the spectrum, I hear of late term abortions and partial birth abortions and I simply cannot fathom ever making that choice.  If the baby has developed to the point of being viable, why would not one resort to a live birth?  Even if a C-Section is required, is it too much to ask that the baby be allowed the chance at life?

And then in the middle are situations for which there is no clear moral mandate.  

One couple within my congregation had to face the tragedy of two of their children being born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  In the case of the first child, they did not find out about SMA until after his birth.  In the case of the second child, even knowing the genetic risks involved, they chose not to test for SMA and resolved to have the child regardless.  And so with each, they both loved the child dearly, but also had to watch their child loose all muscular function until they died within a year or two.  

I admire their choice.  If all they would have is a couple years with their child, a couple years it would be.  

At the same time, I would totally understand if parents, upon finding out that their baby had SMA, would choose to terminate the pregnancy and in doing so, sparing the child the experience of a slow death that starts at birth and lasts a year or so.  

My hope would be that in every situation these decisions would be made with a deep regard for the sanctity of Life.  More specifically, I would hope that had my wife and I faced such decisions, we would have been guided by our conviction that all life is sacred, the life of the mother, and the life of the child.  Those are my personal convictions.

The problem I have with the "Pro-Life" movement is that given the moral complexity surrounding these choices, I am deeply concerned about who makes that decision.  Perhaps its my own cynicism, but I am categorically uncomfortable with the government's ability to negotiate the nuances of some of the more complicated moral dilemmas.  There is a limit to what government can do.  (Does this mean I'm Republican, because I believe in limited government????)

One can simultaneously believe that the moral deliberation and choice in these matters should reside with the parents while at the same time hold fast to the belief that those parents "should" be guided by an awareness of the sanctity of life.  

Finally, as a matter of faith, I believe that God has granted us the freedom to choose, and then admonishes us to make the right choice in a particular situation.  "Choose life so that you and your descendants may live!"  It is both a choice, but a choice in which we are to recognize that life is sacred.  Sometimes the choice will be clear, at other times we will face a dilemma in which multiple factors contribute to a moral ambiguity that presents us with no clear mandate.  At such times, we do our best, guided by faith, and trusting in the mercy of God.

Year C, Proper 18, Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Choices

"If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess."

Our God is not a punishing God, but one who in love, shares with us the real and inevitable consequences of our actions.  

There are choices that will lead to an abundant and prosperous life.  And choices that will lead to death.

It is as though God is writing the warning label on products and behaviors.  "Smoking may cause cancer."  It is not that God punishes smokers by striking them down with cancer.  He doesn't.  It's an inherent risk associated with that behavior.  And God wants us to know that.

Drive in an unsafe manner, speeding, running stop lights, driving drunk, and you will die (or perhaps you will kill someone else).  The natural consequences of these behaviors are pretty straight forward.  And God would not have us experience those consequences, and so warns us.  Like a parent who warns their child not to touch the hot burner, God warns us.  Just don't do it.  Trust me, don't do it.

Unfortunately for us, we have this rebellious streak within us that refuses to heed the advice of those wiser than ourselves, opting instead to learn from our own mistakes, if at all.  And God, patiently, persistently, and all too frequently, must sit back and say "I tried to tell you, but you would not listen!"

For all of God's fatherly advice, we are still prone to jump to the conclusion that God punishes for the sake of punishing.  Its like a teenager who ends up in jail for drunk driving and is convinced that their parent called the cops on them.  Rather than accept responsibility for their own actions, they seek someone else to blame.  

Choose life and you will live.  Choose death and you will die.  Sound advice.  But we don't like to admit there are consequences to our actions.

Scientists predict dire consequences for our planet if we do not take action of climate change.  Global warming is directly related to our actions.  But we are deaf to the warnings.  We don't believe the warnings.  We refuse to accept responsibility.  Perhaps when cities like New Orleans and Miami are underwater, we will become believers.  Or perhaps we will simply blame the Core of Engineers.  

Choices have consequences.  And all our loving God can do is warn us of the consequences and hope, beyond hope, we will make the right choice.