Roger Lynn
July 1, 2018
As the Hebrew people stood at the threshold of the Promised Land, after 40 years in the wilderness, Moses urged them to “Choose Life!” Pay attention to what enhances your living. Pay attention to what enhances the living of those with whom you share life in this world. Pay attention to the presence of God in your life and the guidance which can be found in that presence. Choose life!
It is a message which echoes down through the years and remains as vital for us today as it was when Moses first spoke the words. And it is not a one time choice. The Hebrew people didn’t get to “choose life” in one big, dramatic moment there at the edge of the Promised Land and then go on about their business for the rest of their days. Choosing Life is an ongoing challenge – an every day, all the time way of living. In each moment, in each action, in each choice we have the opportunity to align ourselves with life instead of death, light instead of darkness, love instead of hate, connection instead of separation.
Often choosing life will put us at odds with the established cultural norms of our day. It can require courage to align ourselves with what we understand to be God’s way when such choices set us apart from family, friends, and/or the “powers-that-be.” The story of Paul, Philemon, and Onesimus is a wonderful example of this. Onesimus was a slave – the property of a man names Philemon. Onesimus ran away and eventually found himself in the company of the Apostle Paul. According to the laws in effect at the time, Philemon would have been well within his “rights” to punish Onesimus in pretty much any way he saw fit. But Paul invited him to participate in a different reality. Paul urged him to choose life. “Receive him as a brother in Christ and not simply as a runaway slave.” Such a response would require stepping beyond the ordinary, everyday rules. It required paying attention to what would be the most life-enhancing course of action. And not simply life-enhancing for any one individual, but life-enhancing for everyone involved.
It is worth noting that Paul does not simply denounce the practice of slavery. It was so much a part of “just the way things are” that it probably did not even occur to Paul to take that step. Instead he took the step that did occur to him – radically re-defining how slave owners relate to their slaves. Denouncing slavery altogether would have to wait for another voice and another day, when someone else was ready to build on the radical steps Paul took and move even further down the road towards choosing life. It is always a process – a journey we make one step at a time.
Several years ago my late wife Veronica and I spent several days in Glacier National Park. On our last night in the park we arrived back at our tent trailer late in the afternoon after spending the day in a different part of the park. We discovered that in our absence the park management had decided to close down the section of the campground where we were staying. We found a note informing us that we would need to move. After intense conversations with two different rangers it became clear that there was really no room for negotiating a different arrangement. We had done our best to explain how tired we were and what a hardship it would be to take down the tent trailer, move it to a different site, and set it back up again. We had also tried to point out that we weren’t really hurting anyone by staying there one more night. We didn’t mind walking a bit further to use the bathrooms and trash receptacles that were still open. What we received in response was a repetition of the official management position – these are the rules, we’re sorry for any inconvenience, and you have to move. And so it was that we reluctantly started to pack up, tear down, and prepare to make the move. But that is not the end of the story. Five minutes later (fortunately, before we had physically taken down the tent trailer) the ranger returned with a change of heart. He had thought about what we had said and it made sense to him. We could stay. It was a decision which required courage on his part, because he hadn’t been able to get in touch with his supervisor, and it wasn’t what the “rule book” said was supposed to happen, but he was choosing life – a life-enhancing decision for everyone involved.
Like the Hebrew people, like Philemon, like the Glacier Park ranger, we are still invited to choose life. Not just once, but in each and every moment of our living. Not just in the “big” choices, but in every choice. Not just when it is easy, but even when it puts us at odds with the world around us. What are some ways in which you have chosen life in this past week? What are some ways in which you have an opportunity to choose life in the days ahead? Where will your choices lead you? May we choose life, and in so doing discover the ongoing, life-giving, life-enhancing presence of God in our lives and in our world. Amen.
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