32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
November 9, 2008

　

Elder Josh and the Covenant

It seemed like a "no brainer" at the time. His name had shown up on a number of suggestion slips, and several members of the Nominating Committee of of Old Shechem Church had planned to put him forward on their own. "I think Joshua, Son of Nun," would make a wonderful elder," said Rod, the chair. "He’s an outstanding leader."

"And he has a distinguished military career," added Elaine. "He served in Operation Desert Storm, remember? He and Caleb were sent incognito into the land of Canaan to check out the Canaanite defenses. They came back saying they felt like grasshoppers compared to the Canaanites, but advised attack anyway. Some say Joshua was almost stoned for giving such bold advice."

"That’s right," said Glenn. "And after Moses died, Joshua took command. He’s a true man of faith. He trusted God to bring down the walls of Jericho with only the sound of trumpets and the shouts of the people. And as everyone knows . . ."

The whole Nominating Committee burst into song: The walls came a-tumbling down. The vote to put Joshua’s name on the ballot was unanimous. In the congregational meeting a few weeks later, there were nods of assent as his name was read aloud.

"There’s a name we can all agree on," whispered Jane to Mrs. McNulty.

"What?" said Mrs. McNulty, who refused to wear her hearing aid in church. "Speak up!"

"I said, Joshua’s a good choice for elder."

"Of course he is. Good strong voice. I can always understand him."

After his ordination and installation, however, the saints at Old Shechem Church began to have second thoughts about Elder Joshua.

First he served on the Worship Council. "Let’s have a look at those baptismal vows again," he insisted. "Take this first one, for instance. The liturgy has the minister asking parents, ‘Do you promise to live the Christian faith and to teach that faith to your child.’"

"Right," said the pastor, who didn’t like lay people tinkering with the liturgy, "So what’s wrong with that?"

"Too general. Needs specifics. You should add, ‘Do you promise to get him or her out of bed, dressed and here every Sunday morning for the next 18 years, even when you’ve had a long week or you’d rather sleep in or there’s a soccer match or when this darling infant has grown into a surly, tattooed teenager who thinks church is ‘dumb’?" (Talitha Arnold, Christian Century, October 23- November 5, 2002, p. 18).

"Whoa there, brother Joshua. I agree, that’s specific, but aren’t you afraid we’ll offend someone?"

"Of course we’ll offend someone. The gospel is offensive, isn’t it? Might as well let people know what they’re in for. And about this renunciation business. "What’s this namby-pamby ‘Do you renounce evil and its power in the world which defies God’s righteousness and love?’ Put some meat on those bones, preacher. Tell them to fish or cut bait."

"What did you have in mind, Josh?"

"You should follow up with specifics. For instance, ‘Will you denounce any County Commissioner who tells you there’s money to pave the roads in North Tallahassee, but not South Tallahassee?’ Then follow up with ‘Do you promise to reduce your carbon footprint to zero?’"

"Well, I don’t know, Josh. That’s mixing religion with politics and economics, isn’t it?"

"Of course it is! Jesus is Lord in all realms of life, isn’t he? I say, don’t let anyone off the hook."

Ever the diplomat, the pastor arranged for Elder Joshua to be transferred to the Outreach Council. At his first meeting the Chair announced, "The purpose of this Council is to make Shechem Church more attractive to newcomers. Any ideas on how to be more inclusive?"

"Attractive? Inclusive?" boomed out Elder Josh in the voice he used at the battle of Jericho. "Why would we want to do that? Ever read Bonhoeffer? ‘When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die.’ We ought to make church membership harder, not easier."

"I propose a boot camp for proselytes. First they spend six months in intensive Bible study, then three months reading church history and theology. During that time, they will work on at least two Habitat for Humanity houses and serve no less than four meals to their homeless neighbors. After they have memorized the Westminster Shorter Catechism, they appear before the Session for examination.

I figure at least 50% will wash out, but that’s a lot better rate than we had back in Operation Desert Storm."

"We can’t do that! The Book of Order doesn’t allow it."

"The Book of Order says elders are supposed to serve ‘with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love.’ See anything in my proposal that lacks any of that? Anything loving about pretending that faithful membership in the Church of Jesus Christ is a cake walk?"

"No, General."

"I can’t hear you!"

"NO, GENERAL. I admit, you make a good point.

That night the pastor called the Clerk of Session.

"Mark, we’ve got a crisis on our hands. Joshua is driving everyone crazy. The other day he asked me why I spent so much time going to meetings. ‘Aren’t you called to be a minister of the Word?’ he said. ‘You ought to spend more time in the study and on your knees. Tend to your calling and let the elders run the church.’ I should never have encouraged him to read the whole Book of Confessions."

"Well, he’s a problem, I admit. The most enthusiastic elder on the session is Joshua, bar none."

"Mark, this is no time for puns. We need action!"

"Well, we can’t bring charges against him. He’s not doing anything wrong. We can’t wait until he rotates off the active session. He might get reelected. There’s only one thing for it. We’ll have to make him Chair of the Stewardship Council."

"That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it."

"You said it was a crisis."

"Yeah, I guess you’re right."

Nobody at Shechem Church could remember a Sunday quite like Stewardship Dedication Day that year, and nobody remembers the sermon at all. What they remember is Elder Joshua, standing in the pulpit in his General’s uniform, smelling strongly of moth balls.

"All right, troops – I mean, fellow Christians. Today you must decide. Today we either make covenant with the Lord or we don’t. No half measures. No excuses.

"Remember the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. Remember how he sent Jesus to be for us the way, the truth, and the life. Remember how Jesus died on the cross out of love for us and called us to follow him in the resurrection life.

"Today we choose. We choose whom we will serve. And before you make your commitment, I want to tell you something about the Lord God. The Lord God is a jealous God. You can’t serve the Lord and other gods at the same time. Don’t say you’ll serve the Lord unless you mean it. This is a volunteer outfit, but the Lord doesn’t tolerate any malingerers. Today you choose. Life or death. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

"You want to serve the Lord, too? Fine. Bring those pledge cards right up here to these baskets. I’ll be looking at every one closely. Some of you should expect a phone call from me before the week is up."

The hymn started to play. The pastor nodded to the choir to start the procession. Nobody moved. Eventually a few brave souls walked up and put something into the basket. All the children came forward. Most of the congregation stayed where they were, staring hard at their hymnbooks.

That afternoon the pastor called on Elder Joshua.

"Laid it on a bit thick, didn’t you, Josh?

"Did I? I thought I was fairly low key."

"But that part about your looking at the pledge cards. Don’t you think that was going too far?"

"Why, what do you mean?"

"Well, all the people in Shechem church are convinced you’re going to look at each card to see how much money they pledged. If they haven’t pledged enough, they think they’ll get a call from you.

"Why would they think that? I told them, ‘You’re making a covenant with the Lord.’ The Lord, not me. How do I know what’s the appropriate financial pledge for each person in the outfit? That’s between each person and the Lord."

"But why did you say you would look at the pledge cards?"

"Because I’m looking for trumpet players, of course! You know how fond I am of that instrument. I was hoping to organize a fanfare for Easter Sunday. Nothing like a trumpet descant on the last verse of "Jesus Christ is Risen Today."

"But Josh, all that talk about commitment . . .

"I meant every word of that, pastor. Commitment is what making covenant is all about. You know as well as I do that money is a big part of that. I didn’t tell the people how much money they should give. I told them they had to give God their whole life and everything in it."

"Including money?"

"Right."

"Including trumpets?"

"Especially trumpets!

"Joshua, life was certainly easier before you were elected to the Session."

"I know, pastor. But you’ve got to admit, I know what a covenant is.

"That you do, Elder Josh. That you do."

　

 

 

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