"Now therefore revere the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.    (Joshua 24:14-15)

As I write this, my paternal grandfather, stricken by Parkinson's for the better part of the last seven years or so, lies in bed with pneumonia. Our family is awaiting word on his condition as we prepare our hearts for yet another loss of a loved one in this world.

At times such as this, I am reminded of the words from Joshua 24:14-15. This passage was read as part of my maternal grandfather's memorial service in Strawberry Point, Iowa, nearly three years ago now. He died from complications proceeding from the lymphoma with which he had been afflicted for over a decade. In the midst of our sorrow, poured out in St. Sebald Lutheran Church, located in the farmland outside of a small town in northeastern Iowa, these words bore much significance to me at the time. My grandfather had been a faithful Christian his entire life, and he and my grandmother had worked diligently to instill the faith in my mother and her siblings. My grandparents had been involved in the establishment of Ewalu (Eastern ioWA LUtheran), a denominationally-affiliated camp near Strawberry Point, and had provided comfort and clothing for many South-East Asian refugees through a denominationally-affiliated relief program. Before moving to a retirement community about seven years ago, my paternal grandparents had similarly belonged to their parish in the San Diego area for decades: Lemon Grove First Lutheran. My father is an ordained minister in the Lutheran church, and a professor at one of our denominational seminaries; one of my uncles was ordained, and spent his career teaching at a denominationally affiliated college in Nebraska. So, with such a 'pedigree' of Lutheran heritage behind me, it should be unsurprising that on that day three years ago I found significance in the hereditary aspects of Joshua's speech to the Israelites: "as for me and my household." In some ways, Joshua was making the choice for his descendents - they too would be faithful to the one Lord of heaven. The generational continuation of my family's adherence to the Lutheran tradition was further confirmed when we walked out into the sunshine to the church burial ground out back, and I walked past not only the grave of my grandfather, but the graves of my great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather as well. Being Christian, one might think, runs in my blood.

Indeed, this 'pedigree', as I call it, has been a blessing in my life - it has oriented me since I was a boy; it has sustained me in difficult times; it provided me with a theological and ethical structure in my life (and as something to rebel against while in college). But having been raised Lutheran, having been brought up on potluck dinners, soup suppers, and corn roasts, has sometimes obscured the degree to which being part of this community is the product of a constant choice to remain part of this community. As Joshua reminded the Israelites, we are confronted daily with a number of choices, among which is the choice not to worship the one God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Joshua 24:14-15 serves to me as a constant reminder that Israelite birth is insufficient to remain a part of the community of faith; being born into a Christian family is not enough. Instead, it is the daily and deliberate choice to honor not my physical birth into the world, but my spiritual re-birth though my baptism into the world, that orients me to God. 'Pedigree' counts for nothing.

A further sociological observation is worth noting for the converse situation: welcome into the community for recent converts. In biblical Israel, the 'household' of which Joshua speaks included not just the nuclear (husband and wife, children) and extended family (grandparents, siblings), but a number of 'clients' as well. These 'clients' (the 'stranger' or 'resident alien' of many biblical translations) could be members of the extended family (cousins, nieces, and nephews), or household servants who were not Israelite by birth. The welcoming inclusion of these non-Israelite members in the community of faith is, perhaps, one of the most reassuringly inclusive aspects of Joshua's proclamation of Israel's God. All those who worship the one God of Israel - even those who are not native Israelites - are welcome in the community at the celebration of the Passover, so long as they have made the decision and commitment to worship the Lord, God of Israel (Num 9:14). All are welcome at the table; 'pedigree' counts for nothing.

My grandfather's illness is one more thankful reminder of why I am and remain Christian: I am sustained in times such as this by my faith in the church's participation in the overarching provision and care of God that constantly recreates and sustains both the community of faith and the world at large, and by my confidence in the life of the world to come, into which we are born through the baptism in Christ; human contrivance counts for nothing.

God, our Father, help us to live our lives in faith, remembering the words of your Son: "I am the way, the truth, and the life - He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." Amen

Contributed by Jeremy
Sunday May 27, 2007
Liturgical Year C Week 26