As Lutherans, the Bible is important to us because of the way it reveals God to us. It is the living word of God. God's word is active and powerful. It changes things. In today’s first reading from Second Kings, we hear how the reading of God’s word led to big changes when Josiah was king.
First, some context - in the time of the kings, God’s people were settled on the land after leaving Egypt and wandering in the wilderness for many years. The land was ruled as one United Kingdom under King Saul, King David, and King Solomon for about a hundred years. David made Jerusalem the capital, and later Solomon built the Temple there.
Later, the United Kingdom became the Divided Kingdom, with Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Each land had its own kings - some good, most not so good - and its own challenges with neighboring empires. Eventually, Samaria, the capital of Israel, is captured by the Assyrians, and the Northern Kingdom of Israel ceases to exist.
It was after the fall of Israel that Josiah’s grandfather Manasseh became king of Judah and its capital city Jerusalem. The writer of First and Second Kings is extremely critical of Manasseh, and it’s not hard to see why. We read in Second Kings 21 that he “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” He erected altars for Baal, a foreign god, and rebuilt altars to other gods that his father, good king Hezekiah, had torn down. Manasseh engaged in a variety of ritualistic practices that God had forbidden, from magic and soothsaying to child sacrifice.
Manasseh’s son, King Amon, is no better. He followed in the terrible footsteps of his father, serving and worshiping the idols his father served. The writer of Second Kings tells us that King Amon abandoned the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. After Amon is assassinated by his own servants, Josiah is made king at the age of 8.
In the midst of a big mess, and burdened by the terrible legacies of his father and grandfather, Josiah manages to be a good king, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord.
First, King Josiah notices the physical disrepair of the Temple in Jerusalem, which is God’s house. He instructs his secretary and other leaders to use the money that has been collected from the people to buy timber and stone so that the Temple might be repaired.
If you’ve ever watched HGTV, you know what can happen when old, old buildings are renovated. When walls are torn open, and ceilings are pulled down to make way for new ductwork, long-forgotten items can surface. Sometimes it’s just old newspapers, stuffed into walls as extra insulation, which give a glimpse of life in the past. Other times, though, journals, or money, or jewelry which had been tucked away for safekeeping are found.
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| Photo by Taylor Flowe on Unsplash |
It is during the renovation work on the Temple that the high priest finds a scroll. It had been lost, or forgotten, or perhaps even hidden to keep it safe from destruction by Manasseh and his evil ways. When it is brought to King Josiah, and he hears God’s word read aloud, he is overcome with emotion. It is a book of God’s law! Part of the Torah! Though we can’t be certain, many scholars think it is part of the book of Deuteronomy, perhaps chapters 12-26. King Josiah is overcome, in part, because he quickly realizes that his ancestors had not obeyed the words of this book - far from it! God’s laws and God’s ways had been abandoned, and the evidence of that straying lay all around them.
So, what is King Josiah to do? Reform, after all, is not an easy thing. People get pretty settled into certain ways of doing things. Changing hearts and minds is difficult even under the best of circumstances, let alone in this situation, where Josiah and the others realize just how much needs to change to bring them into alignment with God's laws.
But, despite the challenging road that lay ahead of him, King Josiah gets to work. He calls the people together - priests, prophets, and ordinary people; residents of Jerusalem and further afield - and reads in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the Temple.
Then, standing before them, King Josiah makes a covenant before the Lord. He promises “to follow the Lord, keeping all his commandments, his decrees, and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book.” And all the people joined him in the covenant.
Using the book of the covenant as a guide, King Josiah undertook a series of sweeping reforms. At the Temple and worship spots in outlying areas, the vessels and idols used to worship other gods were stripped from their places of honor and burned. Bad priests were relieved of their duties, altars were pulled down, and shrines and alternative worship sites were desecrated and destroyed. The communal Passover meal held at the central sanctuary was reinstated, which hadn’t been observed in the way prescribed by the book of the covenant since before the time of the kings - almost 200 years!
Over the centuries that the kings ruled, as the book of the covenant drifted further from their memories, God’s people lost sight of who they were. They forgot, or perhaps ignored, the primary commandment and their central confession of faith: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” They did not write it on their hearts, or their doorposts. They did not teach it to their children.
Instead of worshiping their one true God, the kings and their people adopted the various gods and worship practices of neighboring nations. In doing so, they forgot about their own rich heritage, traditions, and stories. In neglecting the communal celebration of the Passover at the Temple, the people missed out on the opportunity to be shaped as a whole community by this central story of their identity, that of liberation from enslavement in Egypt. They had forgotten their important, unique identity as God’s chosen people. But, guided by the word of God, King Josiah led by example through his own repentance and commitment to return to the covenant way.
As we hear this story of Josiah and God’s people, I wonder what other gods are crowding our own spiritual landscapes. What do we fear, love, and trust more than God? Perhaps the god of money? Power? Political clout? Health? Tradition? Individualism? Being right?
Have we spent so much time worshiping at these altars that we’ve forgotten who we were created to be? Have we become accustomed to something other than the freedom and abundant life God desires for us?
We, too, are called by God’s word to turn away from other gods and return to God’s promises. We are called back into right relationship with God and one another, reminded of the greatest commandment: to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
We, too, are reminded of the central story of our identity as Christians - the death and resurrection of Jesus. In this story, we are reminded of the depth and power of God’s love and the closeness of our belonging as we die and rise with Christ in the waters of baptism.
Each week, we begin worship with the acknowledgement that we have sinned and fallen short of God’s laws. Through words and signs throughout the service, we hear and see and taste the promise of God’s forgiveness and grace. At the table, we share a meal together that affirms God’s goodness and our belonging. Through this food, through these words, we are nourished and strengthened for the work that lies ahead. By grace we are called to return, again and again, to the goodness, freedom, and life of God’s word.
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