The readings
Kings 22:1-10
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, walked in all the way of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.the king sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, 4 “Go up to the high priest Hilkiah, and have him count the entire sum of the money that has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people; 5 let it be given into the hand of the workers who have the oversight of the house of the Lord; let them give it to the workers who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house, 6 that is, to the carpenters, to the builders, to the masons; and let them use it to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the house. 7 But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”
8 The high priest Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” When Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, he read it. 9 Then Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workers who have oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10 Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book.” Shaphan then read it aloud to the king.
2 Kings 23:1-3
23 Then the king directed that all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem should be gathered to him. 2 The king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him went all the people of Judah, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, keeping 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. All the people joined in the covenant.
Luke 24:30-32
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us[a] while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”
The message
We continue our long wait for Christmas with readings from the end of the Old Testament Book of Second Kings and part of Jesus post resurrection encounter with 2 people on road to Emmmas from the end of Luke’s Gospel. In both cases, God is revealed, in the world during difficult times. In Second Kings through the finding and reading of the law and in Luke through the blessing and breaking of the bread along with the sharing and explanation of scripture. In both of these events, 600 plus years apart from each other, people in great darkness have seen an even greater light. The world of King Josiah was a place where the law was forgotten, found stored among the garbage and crumbling structures of the temple. On the road to Emmaus, the strangers are walking in a daze of disappointment and frustration. Jesus was gone, executed, crucified shamefully by Rome with the full support of the religious authorities.
I wanted to share a quick bit of bible study and context. First and Second Kings were originally one book and they tell the story of Judah from the death of King David until the fall of the kingdom and the Exile into Bablyon. First and Second Kings are a narrative, they tell a story. The main characters include God, prophets, kings and some significant outsiders or foreigners. The drama centers around the people and kings of Israel trying to keep the covenant and law. The main events focus on God’s reaction to their failures, repentance and success. It is selective history, composed and complied from lots of ancient sources and records to show people God is truly God, to be worshipped exclusively. It is a moral world where wrong is punished, there are consequences of doubting God, worshipping other gods or seeking help and salvation from anything or anyone who is not the God who called Abraham, powerfully took the people out of slavery in Egypt and led the people to the promised land.
Today’s section of 2 Kings is known as the reforms of King Josiah. Josiah was one of the good kings of Judah, the Southern Kingdom of Israel, the people entrusted with Jerusalem and from the line of King David.. Josiah was the 4th in a line of kings that included the faithful Hezekiah, the horrible Manesseh, the short lived but similarily horrible Amon and then Josiah. During the time of Manesseh, things fell apart. He served as king for 55 years, the longest of any Davidic king. He allowed worship of outside dieties, even in the temple, doing all he could to seek salvation from partnership with Assyria (who had destroyed the northern kingdom already). Manasseh’s actions and political decisions, while they seemed necessary at the time, a reasonable, logical as one of a few bad options, are blamed for the fall of Judah to the Babylonians. The law is ignored to the point of being forgotten. In 2 kings 24, we learn, During Jehoiakim’s reign,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled. 2 The Lord sent Babylonian,[a] Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done.
Under Manesseh’s watch, the temple had fallen into disrepair and abuse as a place for worshipping foreign gods as well as their prophets and temple prostitutes. At first Josiah sets out to literally clean up, repair and restore the temple. During this work, the law is found.
I can remember quite a few times when I have told someone “Good thing I found the keys, the documents, a record” only to have the other person respond with real shock and surprise, saying “oh I didn’t realize you lost it” and a tone that indicates disappointment.
Once Josiah hears the law read, intense and aggressive reforms begin, the temple is cleansed, brought back to the purpose for which it was built, the other gods are thrown out, their images destroyed, proper worship is restored, a covenant is re-entered with the Lord.
The people of Josiah’s reign were surrounded by emeries and collapsing, had long forgotten God. At the same time, God did not forget them. The people walking with Jesus on the road, saw God’s promises gone, crucified and buried, They were in the midst of forgetting and moving on, God did not forget them.
Today, I invite you to Hear the Law,
as Jesus defines it. “‘Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is
the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like
it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the
Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Hear the law, we are people guided by God, Hear the law, before you vote, hear Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[ Love your neighbor as yourself, before you participate in the life of our city, nation and world.
Hear the law, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[ Love your neighbor as yourself before you give or consider what to do with your resources.
Hear the law, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[ Love your neighbor as yourself before you decide who is loved by God.
Hear the law, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[ Love your neighbor as yourself before you wonder what your church should do, before you wonder what you should do,
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