Deuteronomy 30:15-20.                Choosing life or death???                             4/9/16

15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

According to our reading here this morning there are two ways to live life – one leading to life and prosperity and the other to death and destruction. God calls us here to make a choice on which we would want for ourselves. Now that would seem to be a bit of a dumb question, doesn’t it? Of course we want life and prosperity, don’t we? Don’t we all long to have health, wealth and happiness; with a long life, with as few a hassles as possible?

So why is it then that we have the opposite? Why is pain, suffering and death the order of the day for most of us; or dare I say it, for all of us? Despite the constant spin that we are constantly confronted with, about how good life is and how good we have it. Underneath, and in many cases out in the open, we all, to a greater or lesser degree, are confronted with death and destruction.

Life for all of us is not what we know deep down it should be for us. It promises so much and yet it is far, far from what we know it should be. For so many, life is a living hell: sickness, broken relationships, poverty, abuse and war are but a scratching of the surface of what life really is like. No matter what mask we put on, or how glitzy our surroundings, life does not measure up.

But interestingly, that is the life that we have chosen. Even though we have life and prosperity placed before us and given free access to it, we have chosen to turn our backs on it and have thereby received death and destruction instead.

You see, we want this good life, but not the God who makes it possible. We think that we can have this life without taking seriously the God who has created life itself. Even if are prepared to acknowledge him, we simply want him to give us what we want, without us taking what he has to say seriously. We want life to be what each one of us selfishly thinks is what is good. That naturally leads to death and destruction, are not doing what is good for us all.

This takes us right back to the Garden of Eden. Now I know that most people today don’t believe in the reality of it. After all, science has told us the we are simply products of an evolutionary process. Sadly, even many ‘christians’ go along with this, claiming to believe that God was behind this whole process. But that then makes a mockery of what he tells us in the Bible and even Jesus Christ himself say in this regard. Not to mention, that if death and dying happened for millions of years before humanity came into existence, then death as a result of sin is discarded.

In turn that makes a nonsense of what God tells us with regard to Jesus death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. The results today then are that we have many ‘christians’ downplaying sin; and then also the true significance of his death on the cross. Then we also no longer follow what the Bible says in many other areas as well. We want to play at religion on our own terms. Life again then is about our ego and not what the creator say is good and right.

So just as was the case in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve chose to ignore what God had told them and instead to do what was pleasing to their own eyes; so also has humanity all the way down through history done the same thing. Remember also that God told them and us if we do so we will die; death and destruction will be a part of life for us.

As Luther brought to the fore in his time, so also for us today; we are trapped in this life of death and destruction. Because of this sin that clings so closely to us, we are bound into this way of life. Our natural tendency is to do what we want, especially when it goes against God’s will. So death and destruction follows us all the way to the grave. It would seem that we are trapped in a horrible mess with no way out.

However, God in his wisdom has chosen to give us a way out, if only we would take it seriously. He sends his Son into our world as a human being so that he can take the punishment that we deserve for our self-centredness and sin on himself. He dies the ultimate death and takes the real destruction from us, by dying on the cross. In its place he offers us forgiveness of sin, life and prosperity.

He has made possible for us the very best of everything, including eternal life in heaven, where there will be no more death, dying, suffering, pain our anything bad. He there has a mansion prepared for us where we can have the very best that there is to be had. There we will live with God without fear or favour, receiving everything that we need for a happy and contented life.

Even here in this life we already are assured that we would be able to live free from the pall of death and destruction that hangs over us, and which we also readily experience in our own lives. We are now assured that they are not the end of the story for us, but now a means which he uses to draw us and others to himself and the life and prosperity that he has for us.

He uses the troubles and heartaches that we experience to remind us that sin and selfishness brings these things to bear in our world. When humanity goes its own way, ignoring God and what he has to say, that is why death and destruction is all around us. When we twist or ignore his Word to suit what we would like to see and experience, then we reap the rewards. He wants us to repent – that is turn to him and not only receive forgiveness for our sin, but also all the help that we need in order to live this new life.

Let us remember that God has given us very clear commands for us so that we can live happily with God, each other and ourselves; if only we would heed them. They are simple, easy to understand and follow if only we would follow them, instead of ignoring, twisting or changing their intent to suit ourselves.

Even when we fail, as we all to readily do, he has given us a way out and a fresh start. As well as the constant reassurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. He pledges his ongoing forgiveness and help throughout. In fact, he even promises us his own Holy Spirit to lead and guide us as we go about our daily lives.

Week by week he calls us into his presence in Divine Service so the he can reassure us and help to cling to the life and prosperity that he has for us. Through forgiveness of sins, Word and Sacrament he constantly and tangibly gives us what he knows is good and helpful for us.

Through these means he wants to reassure us that he loves us, forgives us, and has good for us as we live out our lives every day. There he also guarantees us of the eternal life that he has in mind for us. So we can live with confidence and hope, in the midst of the death and destruction that is all around us.

So now we have life and prosperity placed before us as a free gift. It is all there for us to make the most of. It is all ours. God has even given us the faith to believe that this is all true and good. So we have every reason to get on with life, boldly and confidently.

So why is it then that we choose to turn our backs on this wonderful gift, and then reap death and destruction in abundance? Are we so stubborn and self-centred that we will not let even God Almighty himself give us what we so desperately want and need? Are we so rebellious that we will not take him and what he has to say seriously? Instead seek to live as we please, even though the reality is that we will reap death and destruction?

Let us take seriously what God says to us here in this reading when he says: See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

Then even more so when he goes on and says:  But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you ………. enter and possess.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you, life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he has promised.

So with that in mind let us make the most of living that life of prosperity that God has given us, instead of choosing the way that leads to death and destruction. Let us take God and his Word and promises seriously; after all he is truly God and Lord to whom belongs all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish.