Choices, Sunday 22 August 2021, Trinity 12

How often do you stop and think about the choices you are making? It probably varies between us – some people think about many things very carefully – especially the worriers out there! Others don’t think very much at all unless it’s something big.

The reality is that every we day we make a lot of choices – many of them small, some of them larger.

Sometimes we think we have no choice, but that’s not often true – we usually do have a choice, even if it feels difficult.

Sometimes the choice is obvious, sometimes less so – decision making can be hard - James will tell you that sometimes I can take hours trying to choose what to eat in a restaurant!

We may be tempted to think our choices don’t matter-  but that’s also not true

What we choose to say to people, what we choose to buy or eat, how we choose to spend our time – it all matters – every single one of us has an impact on this world and on each other – whether we recognise it or not. Even the small stuff – probably particularly the small stuff – it matters.

We impact all those we interact with – do we treat people with respect? Do we notice those we encounter, as people, beyond their job?

We impact our world every time we buy something or go somewhere – do we think about where our food or clothing is made and how the workers are treated? Do we think about the environmental impact of all we buy – about the world’s resources being depleted at a faster and faster rate?

There are relational consequences, environmental consequences, financial consequences to most of the choices we make. And this includes, choosing how much time and attention we give to God.

In the gospel reading today, we hear that the disciples chose to follow Jesus. They chose to stay when others left. They chose to continue trying to follow and understand Jesus, in spite of the fact it was sometimes difficult, and sometimes….often even….they didn’t understand – but they grasped something larger – they recognised the life giving spirit of Jesus and his teaching.

Now choosing to follow God is not easy - giving God time and attention in our busy world can feel difficult – I find it really hard to prioritise God over and above work and family. Sometimes it’s difficult because it can feel boring, sometimes it’s difficult because God can seem so distant and far away. For the disciples it was difficult because they gave up everything – left all they had - some of them even lost their lives.

But the reality is that God created us to be in relationship with him. Each one of us is known and loved by God and we are able to be our complete selves – who we were created to be – only when we open ourselves up to that relationship and allow ourselves to  be loved by our heavenly Father.

As Peter says in the gospel reading – “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

And choosing to allow God’s spirit into our lives, choosing to listen to Jesus’ teaching and follow him, can help us with all the other choices we make.

Most of us would probably say that we want to be a good person – we want to do the right thing for our world and each other. But the reality is that it can be very difficult to know what this really means in every situation, and often our own wants or fears can influence our views.

If we choose to follow God’s commands; to love God and love our neighbour as ourselves, this will help inform and direct our choices in all the other areas of our lives. God is the love that keeps us grounded and centred on something beyond ourselves – beyond our own hopes and fears. God is the love that affirms who we are and the value we all have, but also demands of us that we share that love and value with those around us.

But we all know how hard it can be to do the right thing, even to know what the right thing is. And this is what Paul is talking about in his letter to the Ephesians. There are so many things that pull us off course – other voices that get into our heads – greed, envy, fear – they can all lead us to make selfish or unkind choices on a regular basis. And so, Paul says, we need to put on the armour of God to protect ourselves from these forces –forces that detract from who we are, reduce our value and the value of others.

It is the Spirit of God which can guide us and strengthen us, the words of Jesus that can ground and centre us, and God’s love which continues to hold us no matter what.

No matter what choices we make – wise or stupid, good or bad, God continues to love us and there is nothing we can do to change that. As Philip Yancey says in his wonderful book “What’s so amazing about grace” – “There is nothing we can do to make God love us any more and nothing we can do to make God love us any less”.

And we can all choose to say yes to this love. This is the choice that Monti’s parents are making for him today at his baptism. The choice to welcome God’s love into their lives, into his life. The choice to say yes to all that is good, life affirming and loving, and no to all those things which make us less than who we were created to be.

So as we welcome Monti into the church as a fellow beloved child of God, let’s all take a moment to remember how much we are loved, and to commit again to choosing God’s love as the guiding light for our journey of life and all the choices we will continue to make.