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?

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.

The Prayer of Jabez

I Chronicles 4, 5 Psalm 77

Not many years ago, there was a popular book that many Christians read, The Prayer of Jabez.  Today's scripture includes that prayer.  Jabez was born in pain and carried that pain with him through his name. The prayer he gives in 4:10 comes from the heart.  God answers his prayer, granting his requests.

What might we learn from this text?

Certainly, we might learn that we do not have to live out the expectations our names place on us. Jabez was born in pain and he could have lived his life in pain, but he chose a different way. The scriptures say he was honorable among his brothers.  He was honorable and good and did not accept the inheritance of his name.  As a child, much was made of my name.  Most common was the epitaph, "plain Jane."  Of course there were the taunts of "Tarzan and Jane" as well.  I never let those nicknames or taunts define me. Neither did Jabez. 

We might also learn that there is no formula in making our requests before God.  Jabez merely asked. Although The Prayer of Jabez tried to say there was a specific way to make our requests before God so that God would grant our request, I could never believe that.  We can only make our request with a purity of heart and await God's answer.  Like the Psalmist, we can cry to the Lord and make our needs known.  And like the Psalmist there are times when it seems as if God does not hear and as if God has turned away from us, but that is not true.  We must continue to be faithful and await his blessing.  It will come, perhaps not in the way in which we wish but it will come.

Knowing Who You Are

I Chronicles 1, 2, 3

My mother spent 50 years researching our family tree. As a child, I went with my mother to graveyards all over central Pennsylvania searching for Youtz (Jutz) relatives long gone. Besides making for some fairly spooky Sunday afternoons, I suppose I learned some rather interesting lessons from those old graves. One,those graveyards gave me an appreciation of who I was and where I came from. I yearned to know more about them than a name and where and when they lived. Two, it gave me a pride of family and the connections we have between one another. I never did quite understand the concept of a first cousin twice removed but I can tell you the name of my great-great-great-great grandfather and the ship he emigrated on in 1764.  Three, I realized after years of watching my mother pour over county courthouse records that her passion for research was ignited not by a need to prove herself better than others, but a passion to know who she was and where she came from.  The issue was always identity.

Although these first chapters of Chronicles are about as exciting as reading a phone book, they gave the Israelites a sense of their history. The names tied them to people, places and most of all to a  relationship with God.  They are a part of their identity. Just as African tribal cultures to this day can recite the generations of a family back hundreds of years, so the Hebrew people could do the same. It became their touchstone when they were exiled: a people set adrift with no land and no possessions. Where they came from would be their wealth...their ancestors and their stories would give them their identity.

After all these years, I enjoy more than ever looking at the picture of my great-great grandfather and wondering what kind of man he was and why his son left home at 16 to join the Union Army. I sit and ponder what my great Aunt Jane was like and if I look anything like her. And I wish I knew stories that go with the names on all those gravestones...because in the end, its not what they had, it's who they were that informs me.  Perhaps that is why the Hebrew people enjoyed their genealogy so much.  Those that had gone before informed them, gave them a sense of history and identity and made them who they were...God's chosen people.

Defeat Is Never Easy

II Kings 24, 25  Psalm 76

Defeat is never easy. No one likes to lose. But the end had come for Judah.  One by one they were taken into captivity until no one remained.  Perhaps the words of psalmist describe best the feeling of the people, "By the waters of Babylon, we lay down and wept for thee, Zion."  Tormented by their captors to sing, they could only cry for what they had lost.

The conquering army was ruthless. All of Jerusalem was burned.  Anything of value was taken back to Babylon. Any remaining leadership was executed.They are truly a conquered people, exiled from their homeland.,  held captive in a foreign land.  But the writer of II Kings did not leave the people without hope.  He ends the tale of the kings with King Jehoiachin being released from prison to live out his last days a free man.

Individuals who have known struggle, who have known defeat in their lives are usually some of the most determined, the most successful in life. They are unafraid of failure, unafraid to take chances. They know what it feels like to give all of themselves to accomplishing a goal...they never give up. Hope is their foundation. The people of Israel and Judah were beaten down but they never gave up. They had hope that one day they would return. One day they would be victorious again. 

Josiah's Reforms Are NOT Enough

II Kings 21, 22, 23; Psalm 75

The fall of Jerusalem is blamed on Manasseh and Amon. They led the country into new levels of idol worship and depravity.  Manasseh actually persecuted the followers of the Lord, practically driving them underground. Not until the reign of Josiah did any reform take place. He put many reforms in place, but several did not succeed. In the end, Josiah was proved faithful, but Judah was lost.  Josiah died in 609 BC and the country became a vassal of Egypt.  In less than twenty years, the Babylonian exile began.

The eroding of society was Israel and Judah's greatest downfall. They allowed their cultural practices, their religion to become infiltrated with those of other nations.  They did not remain true to themselves and to their calling to be "God's chosen people" and all was lost. Was it the loss of their faith?  Was it the loss of their sense of identity and calling that caused their downfall?  Probably a combination of all three. 

It would be easy to blame Manasseh and Amon, but in reality it was many people over many years making many wrong choices that led to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 A.D.  Their downfall was not accomplished in an instant nor did their exile happen quickly.  It took many years as they passively stood by. Would we do the same?

A Kingdom Divided Can Not Stand

II Kings 15, 16, 17

All is in chaos.  The two kingdoms have had a succession of corrupt and unfaithful kings.  No prophet can stop their destruction.  The country is completely unstable and ripe for the Assyrians to take over.  Ahaz thinks he can forestall the end by paying tribute to the Assyrian King, but it doesn't last.  The corruption is complete...the nation can not stand. The worship of idols has led them astray and their destruction is nigh. "Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah only" (II Kings 17: 18).  The northern kingdom becomes "Samaria," a part of the Assyrian Empire.  And Judah struggles along.

The constant message here is that either the people and their kings are faithful to the Lord their God and follow his commandments and the customs of Israel or they will be forsaken and fall to their enemies.  It's a consistent message, coming over and over again.  They had "prostituted" themselves to be like other nations and lost their unique character as the called people of God and for that they will see their life, their world destroyed.

The biblical lesson of Israel is relevant to us today.  We can be no more than who we are.  When we are untrue to ourselves or "divide" ourselves to appease or please others we only lose...our self-respect, our self-esteem, our power and our innate sense of right and wrong.  Torn by competing values, competing social systems we become confused.  A kingdom divided can not stand. We can only be the person God intends, not who we think others may accept.  In trying to be like everyone else, Israel lost everything.  So, do we. 

Hope Won the Day

I Samuel 1,2,3

My mother and father wanted nothing more than to have children.  They both came from very large families. My father was 6^th out of 9 children and my mother 8^th out of 9. They both loved the clamor of a big family around them and kept in close contact with their siblings. But it was a family of their own that they desired most.  For 16 years, my parents tried to conceive.  My mother had 5 miscarriages. And then I was born.  Hope had won the day.

They story of Hannah is one of the more overlooked stories in the Old Testament. When we read First Samuel, it’s the drama between Samuel, Saul and David that we tend to concentrate on and that’s a shame because Hannah’s story has much to tell us.

Hannah was one of Elkanah’s two wives. Yes, I said two wives. Polygamy was common throughout the ancient Near East. That scarcely makes it any easier for us to accept, but it’s true. Women could not easily provide for or protect themselves in a patriarchal society, and warfare often  decimated the population of available men. 

Hannah was one such woman. And her life was not made any easier by Elkanah’s other wife, Peninnah. One verse says it all, “Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children” (I Sam 1: 2).

Bearing children was considered a blessing for women, while barrenness was a curse. You might remember Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and much later, Elizabeth.  Like them, Hannah waited in hope that her prayers would be answered and she would bear a child. In the meantime, fertile Peninnah continually mocked Hannah’s infertility (I Sam 1:6). The barrenness, the competition was a perceived absence of God— the whole thing left Hannah despondent (I Sam 1:8), bitter (I Sam 1:10) and desperate (I Sam 1:11).

Hannah was at her wits’ end. If God would just give her a son, she could hold her head high. If God would just give her a son, she would have security in Elkanah’s family.  If God would just give her a son, life would become tolerable.  If God would just give her a son, she would gladly give him back to God as a sign of her thankfulness.

Finally, hope wins the day.  God is faithful, and Hannah gives birth to Samuel — a name meaning “asked of God” or “heard by God.” Hannah's heart rejoices, not in Samuel, but in the Lord. She looks beyond the gift, and praises the Giver. She rejoices in the salvation of the Lord, and in expectation of His coming, who is the whole salvation of his people. True to her word, Hannah presents Samuel as God’s servant at the temple (I Sam 1:28).

There are several thoughts we might take away from Hannah’s story: 

One, when hope wins the day, it is God we must celebrate. God ultimately provides all that we have. God is sovereign over all and is often gracious in giving us what we desire.  As James wrote, “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17).

Two, we need to remember that answered prayer is rarely instantaneous. Like the persistent widow who kept knocking on the judge’s door, Hannah went up to Shiloh to worship God “year by year” (I Sam 1:7). She never gave up hope. How often did she ask God for a child, and how many years did she wait? 

Hannah is a reminder of the adage, “The best things in life are worth waiting for.” So would we rather wait for those things we’re asking God for and receive them, or would we prefer never to have them but not have to wait? That could be a great measure of whether it is a “best thing” or not. The point is to never give up hope in the waiting.

Finally, for hope to win the day we ought to be at our most honest when we pray. We often forget that God is omniscient; Jesus stunned people by knowing in his spirit what people were thinking in their hearts (Mark 2:8). This means we can tell God in prayer exactly what we’re thinking and feeling. 
How many times have we prayed “nice words” while doubting them? Have we ever been furious and felt overlooked while saying “your will be done”? God is actually hearing the words while reading the truth of our heart. So we might as well be honest when we talk to him.

If you read Hannah’s words carefully, you read not only of her praise, but her anger and her sense of vengeance. Her bitterness and her frustration are revealed in her words.  When we pray…our true heart is exposed. Remember there is nothing we can say to God that God has not already heard.  Being honest before God shows our faith in God’s ability to listen and to respond anyway. Complete honesty before God marks a hopeful life.

I was angry with God when my mother-in-law and my father both died within a month of one another. I was angry because they both had such strong faith. How could God take them away? How could God not answer their prayers? How could God not answer my prayers?  Was my faith misplaced?  It took years of honest anger until one day I realized the truth.

“Faith is not trusting God to get something; faith is trusting God when there seems to be nothing left. When everything is gone with no hope of restoration and when there is nothing on which to base your faith; then can you still trust God?”(Buell Kazee, 
Faith Is the Victory 
(Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1983), 149.) The lesson I had learned in losing two great mentors in faith was to believe even when belief seemed beyond hope. That is the faith I strive for every day.

Hannah had faith.  Hannah had hope.  Hannah believed. She prayed when others scoffed at her. She prayed even when the priest Eli thought her drunk. She prayed to celebrate God.  She prayed with persistence.  She prayed with honesty.  And hope won the day.