The humble King

When I was 8 years old, I wasn’t thinking too much about God, and I certainly wasn’t thinking about how my life could be an example of faithful obedience to him.  I wasn’t much like King Josiah from the bible at all.  Josiah was a young man, well, more precisely, he was a young boy when he became King.  Just out of 2nd grade this impressive character rose to the mantle of King of Judah.  His heritage wouldn’t have given anyone an inkling that he would follow diligently after God.  His grandfather and father were certainly not Godly Kings by any stretch of the imagination, and yet, this 8 year old boy somehow knew that his legacy needed to be different.  God’s ways were engrained into his heart.  We would all benefit from following the example of Josiah.

“He ripped his robes in dismay.”  “He ordered them all:  “Go and pray to God for me and for his people–for all Judah!  Find out what we must do in response to what is written in this book that has just been found!  God’s anger must be burning furiously against us–our ancestors haven’t obeyed a thing written in this book, followed none of the instructions directed to us.”  2 Kings 22:11-13  The Message

When is that last time you ripped your clothes in repentance about a wrong someone else committed?!  This is exactly what Josiah did after hearing the words of God’s impending judgment on the people of Israel, found in the newly recovered book.  (Some suggest that what was found and read to Josiah was a portion of the book of Deuteronomy)  It is difficult for me to take responsibility for my own sins, let alone taking responsibility for the sins of others in my family or others I am associated with.  Josiah sought to honor God by addressing the sins of his people’s past.  What a great testament to his character. 

“You won’t be around to see the doom that I’m going to bring upon this place.”  2 Kings 22:20  The Message

God promised Josiah that he would honor his humility and repentant heart by allowing him to die in peace.  His faithfulness would be rewarded, but perhaps not in the way Josiah might have liked.  For all his efforts to enact worship reforms and to reverse the sinful ways of Israel’s past it wouldn’t be enough for God’s hand of judgment to be averted.  Doom was still on the way.  I can just hear myself saying “but God, what’s the point of me going to all this trouble when your just going to zap all my people anyway?”  Good thing I wasn’t there that day, God would have discarded me in a minute, but not Josiah.  Josiah was obedient to God in spite of knowing his people would not avoid God’s judgment.

“The men took her message back to the King.  The King acted immediately…………..” 2 Kings 22:20, 23:1  The Message

I love the fact that Josiah didn’t hesitate a minute to begin carrying out his reforms.  We must learn from the responsive nature of Josiah’s heart.  He didn’t question, he simply trusted and obeyed. 

When God speaks are you ready to act immediately?  Are you listening?  If you are, you know that he has things he wants us to not only hear, but to act on.  We are his reformers in this world, just as Josiah was in his day.  Are we ready to do our part?  Josiah was.  Are we?

Dave for Wellspring  © 2008

Sunday – After the Stations

 

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: `He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

Matthew 28:1-7

This journey through Christ’s last day leading up to cross by way of these fourteen stations has been very moving for both Dave and I.  The agony of that day could be seen from the start as Jesus prayed in the garden.   He spoke to His disciples, “my soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death...”  This was His choice to walk this path, to hang upon the cross, to endure the weight of sin, and experience the separation from the Father.  It was important for Dave and I to take the time to dwell in this day of Jesus’ life to try to understand it. 

As I awoke the morning of our stations walk at Golden Ponds, I was greeted by this feeling of apprehension as to what lay ahead with this walk, the weather, the reactions of people and about the fact that we were proclaiming this message out loud in a city park.  The several weeks of preparation for this walk through the stations made us more aware of the depth of emotion in this story.  The end of my walk around the stations on Saturday night, would not lead to being nailed to a cross, but the sense of the weight of this story was upon me.  I was drawn to prayer often for this walk and particularly Saturday I felt the need to pray hard.  If only for a moment I had a small glimpse into that awful, terrible, dark day for Jesus.

We were grateful to have over 50 people join us on this quiet walk.  At the start it was cold, and then snow started gently falling.  The snow gradually increased with each station and by the 7th station it was coming down hard enough to restrict our visibility.   This is where we began to carry the cross from station to station.  By the 10th station where Jesus dies, the snow was coming down in little pellets that stung the skin.  But all this paled in comparison to what Jesus endured.   By the 14th station where Jesus is laid in the tomb all of us were feeling the affects of being out in the cold for the hour.   It was fitting that we had this walk on a day like this.

But this I believe in my very soul, the story did not end there in the tomb at the 14th station.  It was good for us to dwell there and try to live there for a moment…the disciples and followers of Jesus had hour upon hour of that sorrow and pain of seeing their Master die on the cross.  But Sunday did come.  Jesus was raised from the dead.    Jesus conquered sin and death and has given us this same hope.  Yes, it was good to dwell in His journey because we still face the difficulties always present in this life.  We live in a fallen world.  This resurrection, though, gives us power to live a life of joy and hope for the future.  Nothing of this world can give us that.   Will we continue to get pummelled and wounded by this world?  Yes, undoubtedly.  But we have a rock to hold on to.

Jesus is alive!  He has been raised and we can rejoice in that.  He did not do this for Himself, but for me, for you.

God be praised.

Scott for Wellspring Copyright 2008

Fourteenth Station: Jesus is placed in the Tomb

 

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus.  He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be handed over.  Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock.  then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed.–Matthew 27:57-60

What must have been going through the mind of Joseph of Arimathea as he was preparing Jesus’ body to be laid in the tomb?  Was this the end of Jesus, or was this just another in a long line of mundane tasks that he was used to performing?  Did he have any inkling that this buriel would be different from every other one in history?  Did he know that all his efforts to care for and preserve this dead body would be moot?  If he had, surely he wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble? 

We don’t always know what God is up to in our lives, but we can always rest, secure in the fact that whatever he is doing is always in our best interests.  When we are obedient to him, blessings come our way everytime. 

Lord, as your people, we are caretakers of your story.  We are your witnesses to the world that the story of Jesus is the hope of the world.  Lord, may we never forget what you have done for us, and may we always remember to live our lives reflecting the power you paid for us to have.

Dave for Wellspring  © 2008