6 OT A ~ "Stretch out your Hand and Choose" ~ Susan McGurgan, D.Min.

The Word of God we hear today

confronts us

with a profound and awful truth:

We are free,

and our freedom matters.

God says something that feels

both terrifying and liberating:

"I have placed before you

fire and water;

good and evil;

life and death

and you must stretch out your hand and choose."

This choice is real.

It is not manipulated,

pre-ordained,

or “given.”

God does not place a thumb on the scale,

load the dice,

or throw a penalty flag before the play.

Holiness is not forced upon us;

faithfulness is not imposed;

goodness is not automatic--

We must stretch out our hands and choose.

This passage comes from the wisdom tradition

and it reveals something

essential

about God’s own self.

God is neither a gumball machine

dispensing prizes,

or a tyrant

demanding obedience.

Rather, God is a parent

who longs for a relationship with us;

a relationship that leads to our choice

to be faithful, loving, and good.

This text begins,

not with threats

or apocalyptic warnings,

but with a promise

and an invitation:

If you choose,

you can keep the commandments

and they will save you.

You can stretch out your hand and choose.

In our culture,

freedom is often seen as the absence of limits;

the ability to do whatever we want,

whenever we want,

however we want.

But Scripture teaches something

radically different:

true freedom

is the ability to choose what is good.

True freedom

is the power to become

who we are created to be.

We are created in the image of a God

who IS love,

justice,

mercy,

life.

But we must choose to embrace this inheritance.

Think about how honest God is

in this passage!

Choices have consequences,

and the moral lines are clear.

God does not say,

“All roads lead to the same place”

or “Choose what you will,

it will all be fine!"

Instead,

God speaks of life and death,

good and evil,

fire and water.

Choices have consequences

both in our lives and our communities.

At the same time,

God does not say,

“Fail and die”

or

"You get one shot at this"

but rather, “Trust and live.”

Our relationship does not demand perfection

but it does require trust,

forgiveness,

resilience.

We have the freedom to choose

and there are times we will choose poorly.

We will fall.

We will fail.

We will sin.

The true test comes in our response

to those hard times.

Do we turn away?

Give up?

Double down on sin?

Or do we choose to rise again,

try again,

and live?

Jesus is the living heart of God’s laws.

He came to teach us that these are not

simply rules carved into stone,

but a way of life

to be written in our hearts.

Jesus teaches something hard—

that obedience to God

goes far beyond external behavior.

It requires internal conversion.

Jesus says,

“stretch out your hands and choose”

and adds,

“Those choices begin in your heart,

your attitude,

your desires,

intentions--

even thoughts"

Sin doesn’t begin when I throw the stone,

it begins

when rage overwhelms my heart. .

The commandment, “You shall not kill”

is much more than a prohibition

against destroying a life.

Contempt, hatred, anger—

these are the seeds of destruction;

the first steps of violence;

the blueprint of death.

In a society filled with division,

incendiary language,

violent images,

dehumanization,

racism masquerading as patriotism—

this teaching hits pretty close to home.

How easy it is to dismiss someone

who looks and sounds different;

how easy it is to label,

to demonize,

to lash out,

to hate--

even kill.

Jesus teaches

that reconciliation is so sacred

it must come before worship.

“Leave your gift at the altar…

go first and be reconciled with your brother.”

God desires not just sacrifice,

but mercy.

Not only ritual,

but healed relationships.

Jesus teaches that

worship without reconciliation

is empty.

Every day,

we stretch out our hands and choose,

and we must be honest enough to see

that not choosing

is in itself, a choice.

Every day,

we stand before fire and water.

Every day,

we choose the person we are becoming.

Every day

we choose to follow Christ…

or not.

Hatred or love.

Violence or justice.

Chains or liberation.

Death or life.

These are not abstract ideals.

They are daily choices

that shape eternal destinies.

These are daily choices

that shape our families,

our communities,

our world.

The world tells us,

“Follow your desires.”

God tells us,

“Follow the truth.”

The world says,

“Do what feels good.”

God says,

“Do what is good.”

The world says,

“Define yourself.”

God says,

“Let me form you.”

The world says,

“Do what you want.”

God says,

“Stretch out your hand and choose.”