Jane Youtz Riecke

Walking Faithfully

II Chronicles 27, 28 Psalm 88

We've been warned three times in previous chapters that human fortunes can plummet when spirituality ceases to be a priority.  In today's readings, the Chronicler uses a different approach to preach the same message, setting to different reigns of kings side by side.  The message?  The Lord honors consistent commitment to moral and spiritual excellence.  The Chronicler then challenges his readers to continue all their days in a living faith. 

Perhaps that is the greatest challenge of all...to continue walking faithfully even when all seems against us.  Despite natural disaster, terrorism, unemployment, bankruptcy, cancer, addiction, divorce, depression....we are called to maintain our commitment.  How do we keep an even keel?  Through prayer and supplication...through worship and acts of kindness to others....through study of God's holy Word...in this way we maintain our relationship with God and know that all that may come against us cannot overcome us with God by our side.

Remaining Steadfast

II Chronicles 25, 26 Psalm 86,87

If eventual good is the prospect of those who love God, what awaits those who go on to turn away from that love?  Here the Chronicler tell us about yet another king who begins with great promise and in the end falls from grace.  The Chronicler intends this to be a moral narrative to be a warning.  He was pleading with his readers not to "abandon" their "confidence." His message is much like that of the new testament letter to the Hebrews, "we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved." (Hebrews 10:35, 39)

Today, when so many voices compete for our loyalty, we must not draw back afraid, but persevere.  We can not allow our faith to become a relic of the past or an "entertainment."  It is up to us to fight the good fight and stand for what we believe in.  It would be so easy to turn away when opposition comes against us, but as we learned yesterday, the battle is already won...God has already gone before us.  We need only remain faithful.  

The Battle Is Not Yours But God's

II Chronicles 13 - 24  Psalm 85

I simply love the words of King Jehoshaphat, "Do not fear or be dismayed...for the battle is not yours but God's...Go out against them and the Lord will be with you." (II Chronicles 20: 15-16 para)   Some days I need to hear those words. Because its not me, on my own, fighting the battles that life brings but God making a way before me. Fighting my battles before I ever need consider them.  I do not have to be afraid...and neither did the people of Judah.  

Out numbered, out financed and out soldiered, Judah went out into the wilderness against the Ammonites, Moab and others.  They went out in faith, singing God's praises as they marched, "Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever," and they were triumphant.  They sang and prayed before battle, they sang as they went into battle and they returned praising God.  Can we remember to do that as well?

Living in His Father's Shadow

II Chronicles 10 - 12

Rehoboam lived in his father and grandfather's shadow.  He had been raised in privilege and at his father's death he aspired to his father's greatness.  But we all know, it's never easy to follow a successful parent. Sibling rivalry is bad enough, but competing with a parent...you can't win.  Rehoboam didn't have much of a chance with Solomon as his father.  He tried his best, but ego got the best of him and he made many mistakes.  His first was thinking that he didn't need the counsel of his father's advisors and the second that he didn't need his faith.  It also didn't help that made it more difficult for his people.  There was something pathetic about the way he tries to make the best of things when all is falling apart around him.  In the end, it would have been better had he just lived up to what he had done.

The Temple of Jerusalem

II Chronicles 4 - 9 Psalm 84

It is said by Christians that the return of the Christ will not happen until the temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem. Faithful Jews, patiently waiting these many millennia also believe that the Messiah will not come until the temple is rebuilt. The Temple in Jerusalem is definitely a rallying point for many believers.  

Once a symbol of God's presence among his people, the Temple was amazing to behold in all its grandeur. It was gleaming white and was built on the tallest point of the city.  All could see that it was the proud centerpiece to Jerusalem.  Now all that remains is the western wall or the "wailing wall" and the  temple mount (with the Dome of the Rock).  We need to remember this severely contested piece of real estate is central to three different religions. 

We know that the origin of its construction begins with David.  Solomon then completes the project.  Why was this so important?  If the ark was a national or Israelite symbol of divine presence, effective in communicating to the people that God favored the king and his reign among them, the Temple was essential for projecting that message internationally.  The temple was literally a "shining symbol" of God's blessing upon Israel and her kings.

To have it destroyed so completely, the last time by the Romans in 73 AD, sent a strong message.  Roman might and power brought the Jews to their knees.  The Temple would not be rebuilt but Judaism would survive.  Out of the great diaspora came a religion centered not in the temple and in sacrifice, but in the synagogue and in the study of the Torah.

Will the temple ever be rebuilt?  I think not, but it still holds sway over the imagination of many people.  

Solomon Becomes King

I Chronicles 28, 29  2 Chronicles 1, 2, 3 Psalm 83

David reigned over Israel forty years.  In the end, according to the chronicler, he thought only of the temple that would be built.  He thought only of God. His last recorded words were, "Blessed the Lord your God." Then the chronicler tells us "he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor; and Solomon his son reigned in his stead." Like his father's last words, Solomon's first act as king is to pray.  He goes to the tent of meeting and stands before the altar.  He doesn't ask for more wealth or power.  He doesn't ask for palaces.  He asks for wisdom and knowledge.  And God's response?  "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked long life...wisdom and knowledge are granted you."  In the eyes of the chronicler, Solomon is an ideal figure,second only to his father David in importance.

Would that more leaders acknowledged God before their own power and might. Would that more prayed before taking action.  Would that more sought God's will rather than that of their advisors.  Perhaps that was Solomon's greatest wisdom...that he sought out God first.

 

A Man After God's Own Heart

I Chronicles 19 - 27; Psalm 82

The picture portrayed in I Chronicles gives us a snapshot of David that is unforgettable.  He began as a shepherd boy on the hills outside Bethlehem.  He became a great general.  He was a great king.  Above all, King David was a contradiction.  He was an amazing warrior and a "man after God's own heart."  He had friends that risked their lives for him and yet he easily put Bathsheba's husband to death to suit his own needs.  He ran away from a fight with his son Absalom but ordered Joab to kill the last of his enemies. He wrote music and poetry but could easily lead men into war. He conquered many but could not control his wayward, rebellious sons.  This is the portrait of a man who fulfilled his destiny and lived out his purpose according to God's will.  He wasn't perfect, only faithful.

Deja Vu

I Chronicles 13 - 18 Psalm 81

Doesn't it seem sometimes like we're just slogging through these readings?  It definitely feels like deja vu.  I know I've asked myself these two days....didn't we just read this?  Of course we did!  I and II Chronicles is a repeat of all we've just read in I and II Samuel and I and II Kings.  It is told from a particular theological point of view.  It's idealistic and there is no attempt to be historically accurate.  The Chronicler merely wants to advocate a certain pattern of religious life for his own day and he's advocating that through the retelling of the reigns of David and Solomon in particular.  He works hard, especially in chapter 15 to make David into an ecclesiastical figure. Note that he always has an emphasis on the Levites and their role.  This was a lover of the temple!  

   

The Tale Retold through Different Eyes

I Chronicles 8 -12 Psalm 80

No job is too small in the house of the Lord.

Chapters 8 and 9 certainly detail all the different work that was required of the Levites.  Each person had their work and no job was too small.  Even today no job is too small.  Whether it is picking up bulletins in the pews after services or washing the windows of the education building, each work we are asked to do is to the glory of God and should be treated with respect.  

No one person is without honor before the Lord.

Chapters 10-12 are the chroniclers version of the history of Saul and David.  They give a very distinct view of what happened and why.  Much like the version of the news we read or hear daily, each writer has a viewpoint they are trying to get across.  In this chroniclers eyes, David is the ideal king or Messiah of the people. You also get a sense that each person had a purpose in God's plan for Jerusalem.  Saul and David as well as those who followed them also had a purpose.  

Each Person is a Story

I Chronicles 6, 7  Psalms 78,79

Names upon names. And more names. Each one is a person with a story. 

One of the best things about traveling is watching people in airports. Each has a story.  Sometimes those stories are lived out right in front of you. People miss flights to see loved ones. Newlyweds spend their honeymoons stuck in airports. Children travel alone to visit grandparents in far away cities.  Airport employees patiently explain the terms of a passenger's ticket. Pilots arrive to check out their plane.  Flight attendants make their way through passengers with their hastily bought dinner or lunch to eat later on the plane (just like everyone else).  Every person is a story waiting to unfold.  

It's hard to read these lists of names and give them any credence at all, but each one is person with a history, with a story to tell. Most of the stories we will never know.  Some of the stories we've already read. I give thanks for each one, reminding me of the story that lives within each of us and goes on...and on...and on...through the eternal Word.