By Deacon Timothy Siburg
Revised Common Lectionary reflection for Proper 16, Year B
August 25, 2024
Key Verse: “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” -Joshua 24:15
The calendar says the end of August is near. That means the days of summer are numbered. Summer vacation is nearly over, and many are already back in school. Congregational programs for ministry, discipleship, faith formation and education are about to launch. It’s a time to look back at the summer that was, and to look ahead at the year to come.
It’s fitting that our week’s first lesson week lands us near the end of the Book of Joshua. Where, “Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God” (Joshua 24:1). Joshua has gathered and called them together for a commitment and renewal of the covenant that their ancestors had made with God and each other. It’s not completely dissimilar to what some might experience when we profess our faith together using the creeds, affirm our baptisms, or even go through a liturgy or litany of installation for new Sunday School teachers, new congregation members, or even new council or board members. All of these actions are times of commitment.
Joshua leads this litany and invites the people gathered to remember who God is, who they are, and what God has done and will do for them. Joshua commands, “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” (Joshua 24:14). Joshua recounts where God’s people have been, and even hints at where they have perhaps fallen short. And then he invites them to respond. Whatever their response might be, Joshua makes clear, “but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
This proclamation of service is key to stewardship. It’s one’s response from which the rest of one’s life as a disciple and steward follows. Joshua leads by example, inviting others to consider their own lives. The people answer (beginning in 24:16), and in so doing they recall God’s saving work out of Egypt and the wilderness (24:17). They respond that God, “protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore, we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God” (Joshua 24:17-18).
This feels like liturgy. People are committing or re-committing to their relationship with God and each other and joining with Joshua. Together, affirm the covenant between God and the people Israel. Just as we might gather in worship each week, and particularly as we look to what the year ahead might involve, we commit to God and one another. We are in this together. And we are here – first of all, because of God’s deep, abiding, and abundant love. We are invited to respond. But the question then becomes, as Joshua asks the people, how will we respond? Will we do so with fear and trembling? Will we do so with doubt or insincerity? Will we do so with hope and trust? With joy, praise, and gratitude? That seems to be the question put forth this week. To this question Joshua leaves no doubt by saying, “but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). From this response then flows our discipleship and stewardship.
But what about you and me? Would we be so bold as to declare this? And if so, do we know what we might be getting ourselves into? Did Jesus’ first disciples even know and understand half of what they were getting themselves into? Peter gives us a good example of this in the Gospel story this week. He’s all in, much like Joshua is all in, on following God. Because Peter hears Jesus declare, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:53). Jesus’ words bring life. Peter knows this deep down within himself to be true. So, Peter responds to Jesus, and in so doing, offers the words of our own response. Peter asks and professes the words that countless Christians have said in response to the gospel ever since, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).
Discipleship and stewardship involve a willingness to risk, to follow, and to respond. Let us be so bold as to echo Peter and to join in as disciples and stewards. Let us be so bold as to respond and serve as Joshua. Let us be so bold as to risk and to follow wherever Jesus may be leading. To come and see that the Lord is good. To pay attention, witness, and wonder what new things God might be inviting now, and inviting us to see, join in, commit to and respond to in the days and year ahead.
In Worship and Congregational Life
The examples of Joshua and Peter’s responses this week might serve us well within the life of the congregation. Perhaps it would be a meaningful week to invite all the congregation together to recommit to the faith and life together. It could be useful to adapt or use the “Affirmation of Baptism” liturgy and to include an “Affirmation by the Assembly,” which invites all to commit. One such example can be found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, pages 234-235 and 237. Alternatively, as we look ahead to the weekend to come being Labor Day weekend, this could be a good time to observe some time in worship and the congregation’s life together to bless each other in the various vocations and labors that we partake in. For daily life and all of one’s vocations are holy. They aren’t separate from one’s faith life, but an integral part of it, through which we join in with Joshua and say, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” This is usually most apparent through how we show up in our daily lives and through our vocations, and usually also shapes the answer to the question of “Why we do what we do?”
Worship with Youth and Children
In the spirit of committing and following as disciples, this could be a great week given the themes in the scriptures to share in a Sunday School Commitment. To invite all the baptized who will be a part of Sunday School, faith formation, or discipleship activities to commit to God and one another to have a good year of intentional growth, focus, and shared discovery and service together as God’s people. The youth could lead by example with a call and response sort of liturgy that the pastoral leader could lead. But all would be invited to participate as the congregation as a whole commits.
Alternatively, if the school year is about to start, this could be a great week within worship to have a “Blessing of the Backpacks.” This might include a prayer over each person’s bag, backpack, or device from which they work. To affirm the vocations and studies of each other. And to recognize that we do this work as part of our lives and vocations as Children of God- connecting the dots between Sunday and the rest of the week.
Previous reflections for Proper 17 B:
2018 – Discipleship, armor and the bread of life
2012 – Offensive? You bet!
Here is a 2017 reflection on Ephesians 6:10-20: Stand Strong
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