000 Allen FMT (i-xxii) - The Presbyterian Leader

Proper 27 [32]/Year A 111
testify against themselves in the event that they turn to other gods. It is
especially urgent since despite what they have just said, foreign gods
are among them even as they speak, perhaps a reference to the fact that
even with the memory of the exile hanging on their hearts, some who
have returned to the land are already trafficking with lesser gods (v. 23).
Nevertheless, the people reaffirmed their loyalty to God, and Joshua
made a covenant and a record of it (vv. 24–26a). Joshua erected a stone
at Shechem as a witness and reminder: if the people turn to other gods
and do not witness against themselves, other witnesses will accuse them
(vv. 26b–28).
In the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany/Year A, we discuss the values of
helping congregations make a forced choice. In choosing between God of
Israel and other gods, the choice is not simply which deity will be the focus
of the community’s liturgical acts of worship; the choice will determine
the total character of the community’s life. Choosing YHWH is choosing
a life of blessing. Choosing other gods is choosing harm. A community
becomes like the deities it worships. Whom does the congregation revere
and serve?
Human finitude being pervasive, such a choice is not a one-time affair.
Over time, good intentions can fade and commitments can drift into compromise.
From time to time, preachers need to help congregations recall
and return to their deepest commitments. Moreover, making a choice for
God is not as simple as Joshua’s stark alternative. In North America our
personal and communal lives are inextricably entwined with the values
and behaviors of the gods. The preacher can help the congregation live
with this ambiguity by attempting to discern in every situation how to
revere and serve God as fully as possible while confessing its complicity
with the gods.
Stephen mentions two passages from Joshua 24 in his sermon in Acts
7. In Acts 7:16 he recollects Joshua 24:32 and in Acts 7:45 he refers to
Joshua 24:18. Regrettably, Stephen’s sermon is constructed by Luke to
portray certain Jewish people in Luke’s own time in a bad way in order
to serve Luke’s polemical purposes (Acts 7:51–52). The congregation
needs to understand that this choice includes renouncing caricatures
such as those found in Acts 7. John 4:5 echoes Joshua 24:32 by pointing
out that the place where Jesus encountered the Samaritan was Sychar
(Shechem). This detail reinforces the woman’s comment that salvation
comes from the Jewish people (John 4:22). For the Fourth Gospel, the
divine power that was at work in the days of Joshua continues to work
through Jesus.