The story is told of a pastor who installed a suggestion box in order to track congregational sentiment and improve is product. He often shared some of the content from the pulpit. One week a note was left that read simply, "Fool." The next Sunday he recounted how he had received a few notes and letters which the writer forgot to sign, but this was the first time the writer had signed but forgot to in- clude the letter!
The story reminds me that not everyone will ever be completely on the side of a pastor but we must all be on on our God's side, as today's reading from the Hebrew Bible [Joshua 24: 1-3a, 14-25] tells us. The tale speaks of a Covenant Renewal Ceremony. Those occurred several times in Jewish history. You see, the People had finally settled in the land. (Joshua depicts a united Israel sent into Canaan to commit genocide against the natives, whereas Judges has individual tribes settle in next to the natives -- a more plausible view.) Before the call of Abraham, his ancestors worshipped the gods of "the land beyond the Euphrates," the Canaanite Pantheon of deities. In Egypt, they came to know the Egyptian gods. It seems each nation had its own. Now Joshua calls for an exclusive covenant with YHVH. "As for me and my household," Joshua says, "we will serve the Lord." The people vote yes to the true God and a stone monument is set up in the sanctuary as a reminder. Then Joshua enjoins the people to witness to their decision by destroying every token and symbol of the foreign deities. And he warns them they better not revert.
We continually face the same choice, to serve God or to revert to the worship of lesser gods, in our case, gods like wealth, influence, power, security, please. We demonstrate our priorities through our time, talent, and treasure. What would a "shadower" report about how our behaviour demonstrates either a clear preference for God or for those lesser gods? In Genesis 17, God is made to say to Abraham, "Walk in my ways and be blameless." The Hebrew suggests that God is telling Abraham to go about his business but to be aware that He is watching to see that Abraham does what is right. The writer at that time would be envisioning the capricious, angry, jealous tribal deity version of YHVH. I tend to think of God as our loving parent watching us, inspiring us to be the very best, most just and most complete human beings we can be.
We too participate in Covenant Renewal. In a very real way, every Mass accomplishes that as we receive the One whose blood sealed the New Covenant. But also when we pledge to God's work (parish being an important component of that) and make ourselves available for service in worship and out in the community, we are showing our true priority and reaffirming our commitment to the Christian Covenant which calls us to work for the full realization of God's vision for his world.
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