Associate Rector, Rebecca Tankersley Sermon by: The Rev. Rebecca Tankersley
Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration | Dallas, Texas
August 26, 2018
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 16

Title: Gotta Serve Somebody

Texts:

“As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

In the name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Good morning.

What great words Joshua has for us today: “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

This verse serves as a motto for people of faith. We needlepoint it, cross-stitch it, poster-if-y it, adhere it to coffee cups – heck! Later today, go to Amazon and start typing “as for me and my” in the search bar. Auto-fill will do the rest: “As for me and my house we will serve the lord wall décor” is an actual search that will populate for you. Scan the results, and you’ll see we love this verse so much there’s a market for a personalized cross for your door, with your last name above this verse. Seriously, get one. Then your friends will know that you and your household serve the Lord. It’s $49.99 and can arrive in 5 days.

All kidding aside, it’s no wonder, really, that we love these words so much. They perfectly capture our very best intentions – memorializing our earnest desire to honor the covenant between us and God.

So this morning – as we celebrate ministry (a/k/a serving the Lord) here at Transfiguration and before we rush home to purchase our “Tankersley: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” crosses – let’s pause and peruse the full passage from Joshua. Let’s make sure we’re ready to practice what we preach.

These well-worn words aren’t actually a verse of Scripture, but the second half of a verse from the final chapter of Joshua. The Israelites, under Joshua’s leadership, have finished – ish – their conquest of the promised land. “Ish” because – well – they haven’t followed all God’s instructions – at least as those instructions were received and recorded by the author of the Book of Joshua. They haven’t killed every Canaanite man, woman, child, ox, sheep, and donkey.

I need to pause here to acknowledge that this instruction and the ensuing conquest of Caanan are deeply troubling. Atheists are made by the Book of Joshua. Now, my average sermon is 16-17 minutes – not long enough to address these concerns – and I’m aware my sermons should be 11-12 minutes. So let’s leave these troubles for another day, and let me encourage you to call if you’d like to talk them through.

Today, let’s stick with this final chapter. After leading the Israelites into the promised land, Joshua gathers them (as Moses did before they entered the land) and – well – he lays out some truth. Sings them a little Bob Dylan.

You may be a Levite with your spiritual pride

You may be like Eli’s son takin’ bribes on the side

You may be a Delilah cuttin’ some guy’s hair

You may be Bathsheba, may be somebody’s heir

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody …

it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.