Sermon from Morgan's Baptism day

"Choosing Life"    Sermon delivered 9-08-13 Time After Pentecost      Immanuel Lutheran Church Neal Collins, Pastor

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16 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. 17 But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, 18 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. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors,to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Beginning with the End in Mind  The First Lesson from the Book of Deuteronomy is most appropriate for a Sunday in which we are baptizing Morgan Hobbs. Today, her parents, Brandon and Heidi, present her for the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Today they will make promises before this church to faithfully bring Morgan to the services in the Lord's house, see that she learns the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, The Ten Commandments, and receives instructions in the Christian Faith. We as a community welcome her into the Lord's family as a worker with us in the Kingdom of God. The First Lesson this morning begins with the end in mind. Why are they making these promises? Why do they want Morgan to be raised in the Christian Faith? What is the added value to this sacrament other than a ritual, a practice, something we do to and for our children? The answer to this question is reflected in the First Lesson. The Lord said, "I put before you life and death. Choose life". Baptism is about the hopes and dreams parents have for their children, that they may choose life over death and they see religion, the church, God, the water, the bread and wine, and the community as being an integral part of life. Today Morgan is being given a new identity, in addition to being the daughter of Brandon and Heidi. Today, without her permission, input, or choice she is declared a child of God. She is marked with the cross of Christ and sealed with the Holy Spirit forever, like you are. So, what does this mean for her, her parents, and you? Her parents know Morgan will have challenges /defeats, joys and sorrows, ups and down, pain/grief, disappointment/joy along with the emotions of happiness, sadness, bitterness, joy, anger, resentment, hate, and laughter. These verbs will be a part of her story. Today we bring the God story into her life as she is beginning her journey of faith. Her journey....you cannot give her your faith. You only give her the tools in the formation of her faith. Her faith, like yours, will come from the peaks and valleys of her own life. What you can give her is a foundation. Like you, she will be confronted with the choices of life and death. Operating System he Book of Deuteronomy is known as the "The Second Law". The of what happened in journey from the Exodus to the Promised Land story is told again. Some see this Book as a book for confirmation. It is a part of the Torah. The Torah does not mean "law as we understand it but instructions /teachings. So, what will it mean for Morgan to choose life over death? What does this mean for your life? Moses is on the edge of the promised land. He will not be crossing the Jordan with the folks. He will turn his leadership over to Joshua. This is his final sermon called, "Choose Life". Our lesson today should begin with verse 11 where he is saying, this is the operating system. It isn't all that difficult. You don't have to worry about reformatting, gigs, downloads, bytes, or getting it. It is right in front of you because God is present. There is a caveat, beware of using system as a way to get the rewards. This is not about morality. This is not about the good getting the goodies or the rewards. We need to balance this book with the Book of Job. This book is about having a life and living long in the land that God has given you, meaning life in community, family, and wealth in God who chose you.   Morgan's parents, Brandon and Heidi want this for her. You want it for your children. You want life. So, what is this operating system Moses is talking about this morning? The whole Book of Deuteronomy is about what it means to be the people of God. They left Egypt preparing to cross theJordan into a new land. The forty years has been a training ground for exorcising their idols. They are instructed to break down the altars when they enter this new land, along with smashing the pillars, burning the sacred poles, and blotting out the name of other gods. This is about a new life, free of idols. The most important line in the Nicene Creed is "I believe in one God." This creed is recited in most Christian liturgical tradition around the world every week. Often it is said like the Lord's Prayer, without thinking. When you say this you are saying there is only One source to all of life, One subject/being, One being out of which all of life flows, unified and connected, and to which it returns. "I believe in One God" as the source of all my life is the power of life over death. Possession We choose death when we see it as the source and power of our lives. We choose death all the time. Even when we know we are making bad choices, we do it, even when we know what the outcome is going to be. We are a people who get possessed. Demon possession is not restricted to Biblical times. All of you are possessed with the demons of anger, greed, hatred, resentment, bitterness, grandiosity, egocentrism, narcissism, and the list goes on. I don't have to name them all you. You know what I am talking about. We all make stupid choices in our anger, resentment, and bitterness. This is nothing new. The question is what do we do? How do we move from death to life? Worship in its deepest form, as Richard Rohr says, is about being "repossessed" like a car. You are repossessed in worship by God. All the deadly decisions and stupid things you did and said are wiped clean by God. Today is a new day walking in the light, and life is more than a promise to be good and not do it next time. Stop lying. You will. Life is about turning to God and saying help me. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired and being possessed by the Father of Lies. I want real life, a life with depth and meaning and love and purpose. This comes at a price. The price of not genuflecting before the old idols. Idols emerge when the gifts God has given us become our curse. They become our curse when we become narcissistic, grandiose, and egocentric with what has become entrusted to us for the good of all. This is a tough position because we can't see our shadow. So, we become possessed. This is not who are or what we were created to be. So, like the prodigal son going into the far country, we have to discover death is like while we are feeding the pigs. We have to ask, what is possessing my life, and not giving me life? This is where God comes into the picture. The God who resurrects, the God who gives new life, and the God who brings us from darkness into his marvelous light. The One God who calls you out of death into life. This is not about beating yourself up for the stupid choices you make. It is about turning. It is about transformation, the new thing God is doing in your life. Love The Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy and the Book of the Exodus began in Love. They begin as in a way of how one can have a solid life from God. Not taking his name in vain, observing the Sabbath and keeping it Holy. The other seven are about your neighbors, do not lie, cheat, steal, commit adultery etc. One Rabbi summed up the Torah as saying do not do to another as you would not want them to do unto you. The Torah is God's way of showing where trouble resides, like Brandon and Heidi are going to show Morgan, like your parents showed you, and you showed your children. They are not rules to get the love. The love is already present. Today God puts before us life and death. Without the choices there would be no freedom. You are not alone in this decision. God gives you a helper, the Holy Spirit, who convicts as well as comforts. We know God is love. We also know we don't always play by the rules. God's love for Morgan in joining her to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ like you is the same as you were joined and marked. We forget. We all have short memories of belonging to God. This is why we come back here week after week after week because we need to be reminded to whom we belong. We need to be reminded of the source of all life and the God from whom we came and to whom we return. We are reminded and participate in meal for the renewal of life by taking ordinary bread and wine, offering it to God. This is what we are doing, we ask God to bless this bread and wine, God does, and returns it to us as life in Him. This altar being in the center of this church as the bread and wine of Jesus are in the center of your life. The bread of life, Jesus Christ, as the way and the life leads us into God as the giver of all life. The God in whom as Paul says, "you move, live, and have your being". My hope for you as you read this is that you are aware of the power of darkness in your life, you don't take on these powers, as Jesus refused to take on the demonic in the his experience on Mt. Temptation. You allow the power of the Holy Spirit to repossess you through your desire for life.