God’s Word Calls Us to Commit
Christ
the King Sunday – November 24, 2019
Josiah’s
Reform
Hocus Pocus, Focus Focus!
·
Kindergarten
mantra
·
Kids
are distracted and distractible – so many things to take their attention from
the 1 thing they need to be doing at any given moment (TV, tablets, toys, all
sorts of random things)
We are distracted by many things
·
So
much in the world that clamors for our attention
·
Esp.
at this time of year – can’t go anywhere, read anything, listen to anything
without being bombarded by the seduction of consumption
o The magical promise that buying a
certain thing for yourself or as a gift will bring deep and lasting joy
·
Distracted
by the numbing of TV or internet scrolling or shopping or food or alcohol
·
Sucked
into busy-ness – some good causes; some just busy-work
·
Distracted
often from the things and relationships that bring true joy and meaning
·
This
season that bears Christ’s name (even though we aren’t even past Thanksgiving
yet) doesn’t often serve to draw us closer to the God who comes near in Jesus
o Instead stresses us out and
distracts us from understanding and celebrating what Christmas truly is
o (Not a diatribe against
celebrating Christmas with joy and cookies and songs – just 1 example of a life
that is pulled away from the heart of the matter)
·
Hocus
pocus – focus focus!
Ancient Israelites also
distracted by much
·
Their
distractions a bit more obvious – other gods, other religious rituals, other
literal idols have cluttered up their lives
o They have forgotten God’s call to
live in covenant – to love God and to love one another
o One bad king after another
o Hosea and Isaiah of past few
weeks calling the people to repent, confronting them with the fact that they
have turned away from God; leaders taking advantage of and oppressing the poor
and the widow and the orphan in their midst
o Approaching the exile when the
kingdom will be conquered and leaders taken off into exile in Babylon (not
gonna happen in Josiah’s lifetime); writer sees this as God’s consequence for
all of the distractions they have let lead them astray
·
The
book of the law has been hidden away, lost, forgotten? Probably book we know as
Deuteronomy – laying out the ways they are to live in relationship with God and
as God’s people
o Dusty, unused
God’s word calls people to recommit
·
But
then along comes Josiah, one of the few good kings, who “did what was right in
the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of his father David; he did
not turn aside to the right or to the left”
o Hocus pocus, focus focus!
·
He’s
8 when he ascends to the throne – and he is somehow focused in on what matters
·
At
26, he decides it’s time to spruce up the temple, to repair what has been
neglected through years of distraction
o Sends secretary to get the money
out of the house of the Lord to give it to all of the craftspeople to buy
whatever supplies they need to get to work (and without asking for receipts or
anything!)
·
And
while they’re there, the priest Hilkiah says, “I have found the book of the
law in the house of the LORD”
o Shaphan reads it and brings it to
king Josiah and reads it to him
§ Skipped over Josiah tearing his
clothes as he realizes how very far they have strayed from God’s expectations
·
“Hocus
pocus, focus focus” – Josiah hears these words as a call to come back to what
really matters
o Gathers all of the people
together – the elders, the priests, the prophets, “all the people, both small
and great”, so that he can read the book to them
·
And
God’s word has power! Though they have been distracted by much and lured away
for so long, when the people hear the word of God, they turn
o They focus
o They recommit
o They promise again to follow the
Lord, to keep the commandments – with all their heart and soul, to do what God
commands and live as God’s people again
God’s word calls us to commit
·
This
is the power of God’s word for us too
·
To
hear these words today, and all the words of scripture open our eyes to God at
work in our lives and in the world around us
·
To
give us “holy heartburn” as we realize God’s call to live as God’s people is
not just for a people long gone, but for us too
·
To
hear God saying through God’s word, Hocus pocus, focus focus!
o In all of the distractions and
busy-ness of life to remember what really matters
o To recognize Christ as King, as
Lord over every aspect of our lives
o To become more aware of the
things that pull our attention in so many different directions and to then turn
our attention back to the One at the center
o The One who offers living bread
and holy wine, the One who promises grace and mercy and redemption, the One who
heals us and sends us into the world to bring healing
·
In
a world that pulls us in so many directions, may God’s word call us back to
focus, to recommit all that we have and all that we are and all that we hope to
be to love and serve the One who gives us all that he is, in order that we may
live a true and abundant life
·
Hocus
pocus, focus focus.
·
Amen.
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