A Tale of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: Daniel 3 by Travis Smith, seminarian

          Many have wondered what the statue of King Nebuchadnezzar looked like. Perhaps it looked like the Statue of Liberty maybe or Michelangelo’s statue of David, perfect in form?  Some of you may be thinking of Phidias’ great statue of Zeus at Olympus which is considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  These are three beautiful, wonderfully proportioned works of art. 

We’re forced to imagine what the Babylonian king’s statue looked like because Daniel chapter three is really the only reason we know about it.  If it did exist, it doesn’t any longer.

  A golden statue, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide.  Do you have a picture in your head?

You’re thinking, What’s a cubit? 

Historians guess that sixty cubits would make this statue about ninety feet tall.  The width, then, would be about 9 feet wide.  For perspective, picture Big Tex at the Fair Grounds in Dallas.  Now picture another Big Tex on top of the first one, but with his boots only 9 feet wide…and Gold.  It’s an odd looking Big Tex.  Daniel gives proportions Salvador Dali would be proud of, not Michelangelo.  I picture a massive waif-thin Oscar-Award- trophy-looking-thing swaying awkwardly high up in the sky. 

This should be in our imaginations when thinking about this wonderful story of God’s deliverance…realizing that our story begins with an image of the ridiculous.  Which is fitting…because this story is full of ridiculousness and hyperbole. 

I wonder if it shouldn’t be read with the ending credits to the old Benny Hill show in the background…characters scurrying about back and forth across the tv screen…(read fast)he sent for satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to assemble and come to the dedication of the statue he set up for himself.  Deep breath...

Soooo…(read fast)the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials assembled for the dedication of his lanky golden statue.  Now, When you are standing in the presence of the golden image of the Great man-god Nebuchadnezzar you will hear the sounds of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical abomination to the ear.  When you hear this, regardless where you’re from, whether you understand this commandment or not, you must bow down and worship like you really care even if it is out of total fear.   If you don’t worship the king in love… you die. 

Hmmmm…can you see the set up coming…?  Why would they write it like this? 

Now, there were certain Chaldeans who went to the king denouncing the Jews.  ‘O king, you see there are these Jews in your high court who refuse to acknowledge you as god.  They do not worship you!’  … Oh you jealous Chaldeans! …whoever you are.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown under the bus and into the furnace.   True to his over-the-top personality, the king became enraged and gave them one last chance…but they would not worship his ugly statue.   Without flinching they stood up to the hot-headed king…nothing against you King, but we will never worship anything but our God. 

The king blew his stack…their good faith was returned with suspicion and condemnation.  The ill-tempered king took their unshakeable loyalty to their God as disloyalty to him.  For the king did not notice that they had approached him wearing their best clothes, or maybe he just didn’t care.    

Heat the furnace seven times hotter than normal, said the tyrannical king.  Into the pit they went... 

(pause in confusion…)

How many men did you throw in there guys? Three? I see four.  Why aren’t they’re burning up…and seriously who threw a fourth guy in there? 

No one threw a fourth into the fire. 

And something then clicked…

The angry king softened…boys you can come out now.  And the Satraps, and the prefects, the governors and the king ’s counsel gathered and stood in awe…real awe…they saw the blazing hot fire had no power over these righteous boys.  They didn’t even smell bad.  They disobeyed the king and lived to tell about it…thus revealing the God who saves his people is greater than the god-king who condemns his.  In delicious irony,  the murdering, ill-tempered crazy, unpredictable ruler ends up being the protector of God’s people…if anyone just tries to say something against these boys or tries to hurt them, I’ll have ‘em drawn and quartered!  Queue Benny Hill’s theme song…

_____________

The king, in all his power had no idea that he was part of God’s saving plan for his people.  Daniel is set in the midst of what is called the exile.  After the warnings by God’s prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, God finally handed his Southern Kingdom over to a brutal enemy, the Babylonians.  They burned Jerusalem to the ground, and marched the smartest and brightest in all Israel across the desert to Babylon (which is just south of Modern day Bagdad) to be integrated into Arab culture. 

The idea behind integrating a conquered enemy, rather than wholesale slaughter was that it was cheaper and more effective.  In many ways it was also even more cruel.  Being in exile, time away from one’s homeland dims the memory. 

For a Jew it was devastating, the Land and the Temple were everything. 

The land tied the people to Yahweh.  Without the land it was next to impossible to know who they were anymore. 

Amnesia steals the soul. 

So the next best thing is to identify around something even while in slavery.  The thinking was that when they did ignore God and his commandments back in the day, God forgot them in return.  Therefore, living a holy life according to His Commands might get God to remember them anew. 

Thus the focus on pure living. 

Which meant they certainly couldn’t live like their captors. Though it looked like God had forgotten, it is crucial to believe He is a faithful God. 

… apocalyptic books like Daniel help interpret life when times seem impossible.  Proclaiming a very deep truth…that in the end all will acknowledge God as the only One to be worshipped. 

God is for the little guy, like Israel and our three heroes.  And that bullies, like King Nebuchadnezzar, mock themselves in the end. 

Nebuchadnezzar’s of the world are only in charge because God must want them in charge. 

God is always glorified, even, in the dark days. 

Indeed it is when times seem unbearable, that He pulls us from the embers.  Therefore we must be watching for God come back…to appear again.  We must be in the ready to rejoice when the true ruler of the earth reveals Himself.  For this is how you treat a king, especially the true king.

This is what we do on this third Sunday of Advent, we rejoice in the Lord coming back, because He has remembered His people. 

How do we rejoice?... 

We live well, we live holy lives…   

          It is good, right and a joyful thing always to live for the One who lives for us.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are especially poignant in Advent.  For this child is proof that God does not forget.  He has not only come to protect the little guy, God literally becomes the little guy. 

Kings and prophets

This website has a chart of the kings and prophets, who was where and when. http://www.bible-history.com/black-obelisk/kings-prophets.html. I appreciate the ability to see who overlaps with whom.

Daniel 3:1-30

1 King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue whose height was sixty cubits and whose width was six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent for the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to assemble and come to the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 So the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. When they were standing before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up, 4 the herald proclaimed aloud, "You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, you are to fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 Whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire." 7 Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

8 Accordingly, at this time certain Chaldeans came forward and denounced the Jews. 9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, "O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, shall fall down and worship the golden statue, 11 and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. 12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These pay no heed to you, O king. They do not serve your gods and they do not worship the golden statue that you have set up."

13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought in; so they brought those men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, "Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?"

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. 17 If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up."

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face was distorted. He ordered the furnace heated up seven times more than was customary, 20 and ordered some of the strongest guards in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. 21 So the men were bound, still wearing their tunics, their trousers, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. 22 Because the king's command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated, the raging flames killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 But the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire.

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counselors, "Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?" They answered the king, "True, O king." 25 He replied, "But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god." 26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king's command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way." 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Slow down. Quiet. It's Advent: Sermon on Jeremiah 18:1-11

Advent 2B                                                                                                      December 4, 2011

Jeremiah 18:1-11                                                                                             St. Alban’s, Austin

If you’re ever planning to go to Rome, January is a great time to go. The climate is just about the same as Austin’s, so you know we can have some glorious days in January and typically nothing worse than cold rain. The best part is that there are no crowds of tourists.

And so when I went to the Sistine Chapel several years ago I got to stay as long as I wanted to. I didn’t have to wait for hours to get in, and I wasn’t prodded through an airless and humid room like cattle from entrance to exit, able only to catch a glance of God’s finger touching Adam’s and the tormented melting figures in the judgment scene. No, I was able to lean back on a bench for hours and stare up into the ceiling that Michaelangelo painted on his back suspended on scaf-folding for what seemed like eons to the pope. I was able to take in figures that one might not expect to see. Jeremiah, for instance.

What are prophets and seers doing on the Sistine ceiling? Actually, there are seven Old Testament prophets and five Greek sybils, all of whom were purported to have offered assurances of the birth of Christ. The good news of the gospel was at work in the world long before Jesus was born.

Jeremiah, contrary to popular belief, was not a bullfrog. Jeremiah was born into a powerful and prestigious family in the southern kingdom of Judah in the seventh century BCE and was called by God to be a prophet in the year 626. The book of Jeremiah is long, and it occupies a pivotal place in biblical history. Last week Gerard told us about how King Josiah returned the children of Israel to the worship of one God, but after his death everything went straight downhill again when his successors Jehoakim and Zedekiah officially welcomed the idols of Baal back into the holy of holies in the Temple. God commissioned Jeremiah to warn them and the people of Judah that all hell was going to break loose if they didn’t stop.

They didn’t stop.

But, oh, my. How they tried to shut Jeremiah up. He was imprisoned. He was banished. He was cast into a cistern. He was ordered to be silent. He was made to eat his writings. But Jeremiah was called by the Lord, and Jeremiah kept telling the truth.

So what does this have to do with Jesus? I mean, after all, this is Advent. We’ve got a beautiful wreath with two candles burning. We’ve got Nativity figures making their way towards the manger. We’ve got children practicing for the pageant, and if you haven’t started decorating your house or shopping, you might be beginning to feel just a little bit desperate. As they sing, Christ-mas is coming, the goose is getting fat. Jeremiah doesn’t sound much like a fat goose or a sparkling tree with piles of gifts. Jeremiah doesn’t seem all that connected with Silent Night, stranded as he was in Egypt after the conquest by Babylon.

The thing about the prophets, though, is that they were all about promise. They were all about the God-given conviction that when all is said and done, when all illusions are dispelled, we are standing on solid ground. That even though we get beat up again and again as the consequence of our own idolatrous actions, God is in control, and God’s plan for us is all about healing and wholeness and our coming to know our identity as God’s beloved.

But as I said, it can be a very rocky road indeed getting to that point.

We’re very close to the end of our focused attention on our Old Testament scripture readings as we make our way through the Narrative Lectionary. In just a couple of weeks we’ll be turning our attention to the Gospel according to Mark, and we’ll follow God’s project into its incarnation in the person of Jesus and toward the birth of the church as the body of Christ at work in the world.

One person said that the Old Testament is the story of the repeated failure of the children of Israel to be faithful only to God. God’s project to love creation and be loved in return went off track at the get go. The first little human beings proved to be surprisingly willful, and eventually God hit the reset button with the flood and the ark, but then even those people followed the devices and desires of their own hearts, and then the kings of Israel and Judah got seduced by their foreign wives, and over and over again the people let idols of one sort or another sneak in and occupy the place where only God should dwell.

Advent is a time of preparation in many ways. Some of us are preparing for Christmas by writing letters to Santa. Unfortunately, God is frequently understood to be the big Santa in the sky. We too often equate prayer with handing God our to-do list. I do know prayers sometimes get answered the way we want them. The rain we are having is an answered prayer. I was with our grandson Ben this weekend and he is very much an answered prayer. But I also know that sometimes it feels like God isn’t listening or that God doesn’t care. Why pray if it is not how we get what we want?

Our gospel reading gives us another picture. A prophet in a later time offering the same message as Jeremiah. Repent. Come back to God. Get the idols off your altars and out of your hearts.

Get your life back into focus. Can’t you see? The kingdom of God is here, now.

John the Baptist stood in the murky waters of the river while throngs of people waited in endless lines to be submerged and to receive the promise that they had another chance. These were not the powerful people, the officials in charge of the Temple, the politicos who were in cahoots with the Roman Empire. No. These were the ones whose hearts and bodies were broken and who wanted a fresh start, who wanted to hear that if only they would cleanse their hearts God would indeed come among them. God would give them the kingdom.

Some of us are preparing for Christmas with a frenzy of shopping and planning and running around feeling as if we can’t possibly get done all that needs to be done. I think of the image of Jeremiah up there on the Sistine ceiling. He’s got his head in his hands as if to say, “They still don’t get it.” And probably we don’t, at least not all the way through. But I think we get glimpses.

Look. I’m going to be shopping and cooking and planning just as you are. And I have expectations for what I would like Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to look like. There’s nothing wrong with all that. It’s just that it is not supposed to take the place in my heart and on my calendar that only God is supposed to occupy.

Jeremiah and John spoke cautionary words to the people. Repent.

Stop what you’re doing and look and listen and remember. All God wants is your love.

All God wants is for you to love God  more than you love anything else.

What might happen if we cleared a little room for prayer – the kind of prayer that is not our wish list but the kind of presence that calls us to stand still long enough for God to gaze on us with love. For us to return our attention to God. Preparation is about time. It is about space. It is about stopping our drivenness to contemplate gratitude. It is about considering what is truly most important to us. What really belongs in the holy of holies?

Our Advent calendar says it all. Jeremiah would approve. John the Baptist would approve. It tells us first, Slow down. Be quiet. If the people of Israel and Judah had slowed down and listened they could have avoided calamity. If the people of Jerusalem rose up out of the Jordan River and truly turned their lives around, they, too, would have been able to hear the words of Jesus. And if we can slow down and listen in these next few weeks, we will receive gifts that have nothing to do  with anything that can be purchased or wrapped or placed under a tree.

I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. But knowing and doing are not the same thing. Jeremiah tells us in the metaphor of the potter that God can take what is misshapen and make it perfect. All we have to do is relax and yield to the loving caress of his hands.

Amen.

Jeremiah 18:1-11

  1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 "Come, go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words." 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.  5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. 9 And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings

2 Kings 22:1--23:1-3 Sermon by Gerard Klingenberg, seminarian

Advent 1B  

        When it comes to kitchen remodeling there are two types of people, those who plan every little detail and those who swing sledge hammers. For the planners, they measure the exact length required to obtain that perfect refrigerator – stove -- sink triangular relationship. They ponder for hours on just the right texture and color of counter tops and cabinets to fill that perfect space.

        The detailers get very excited pulling various artistic and creative ideas together. Then in perfect timing they plan a cruise to New Zealand as one of the most important rooms in their home is uprooted, disheveled and totally transformed, causing layer upon layer of dust and dirt to settle everywhere. They escape living in the resulting chaos and clutter. These guys are the smart ones!  

          Then there are those like me who immerse themselves into the dust and dirt of it all. They also enjoy planning and coordinating all aspects of the remodeling, but the real excitement comes when they actually begin to tear out the old kitchen themselves.  I love kitchen redos for this reason. The first slam of the sledge hammer against the old dry wall, the getting rid of the 1960’s orange Formica with a few swings is awesome. Dust flying, holes appearing, worn out cabinets being broken apart is all part of the excitement.

When I finally see the clear empty open space ready to receive all that is new, possible, beautiful and transformed … it gets my heart racing!

          Part of the excitement I must confess is irrational hope I have of finding behind the cabinets or old dry wall a valuable relic from the past: a letter from the Revolutionary War or a strong box filled with artifacts. You know, the kind of relic that prompts Mark Warlberg on the Antique Road show to say: “You have a National Treasure here, worth over a half a million dollars!”  Yes I secretly hope for such an item to appear with each blow of the sledge hammer. Yet all I seem to find are old rusty straight edged razor blades dropped into the dry wall space from the bathroom cabinet “slot” in the adjoining room. So much for finding national treasures in unexpected places!

          However, in our first scripture reading today, taken from the narrative lectionary series, such an event occurred. In the 7^th century BCE, Josiah was appointed king over Judah at the tender age of eight. King Josiah was a man devoted to the ancestral spirit of King David and sought to bring his people back to worshipping YHWH as their only God. His reform was far more sweeping than previous kings and ushered in a new age: one dedicated to worshipping YHWH alone.

          During his reign Josiah orders that all statues and items attributed to the Assyrian gods be removed from the Temple in Jerusalem. During this vast remodeling project a national treasure was found: the Book of the Law of Moses. The priest Hilkiah consults the prophetess Huldah as to its authenticity. She informs him that it indeed the Torah: the Law of Moses, and to heed its message:

“Therefore, I will gather you to your ancestors, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring on this place."

They took the message back to King Josiah. The king rendered his garment, as a sign of repentance and called the people together to hear the Book of the Law of Moses being read aloud. As they heard Torah being read they rededicate themselves to the LORD, renewing the covenant of their ancestors Moses and King David. They turn their hearts from their adulterous ways of worshiping other gods, and return to the Lord as their first love. This finding of the Book of the Law of Moses in the Temple, many scholars say, is the foundational manuscript for our present day Book of Deuteronomy, and was very influential in the history of the Jewish nation.

Just as King Josiah was appointed king over Judah at the age of eight and is credited for bringing his people back to God through following Torah, Jesus is brought to the Temple for circumcision at eight days old. He becomes the new Torah. Every night as we pray Evening Prayer we recall the words of Simeon, who is a seeker and a watcher in the temple. When Simeon glimpses Jesus being circumcised, he announces to those in the Temple (and to the entire world), that this small child is the Light to enlighten all the nations and is the glory of the people Israel. He proclaims that Jesus is in fact the Law of Moses. Simeon also found a hidden treasure in the Temple, that day.

Jesus becomes the new Torah for us. He, the temple, will be destroyed and raised up again in three days, Jesus tells us. We are brought back to God through Jesus, God incarnate. It is through Jesus that we will return to God in our hearts. Josiah’s reform foreshadows Jesus’ mission, and Simeon’s days of watching for the Messiah are over. Simeon is set free and may now go in peace as he was promised. His days of watching are over. Ours are not.

As you entered Church today things looked different.  Look carefully around you and notice the change. The liturgical colors of purple now adorn our altar and vestments.  (Even the choir has new purple robes!) The advent wreath and candles are now present and Nativity figurines grace our worship space. These are gentle reminders that something new is happening. Today we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent.

As a young boy of 5, I enjoyed very much these weeks leading up to Christmas.  After want seemed to be a very long time of green vestments, Advent was refreshing. The  wreath and candles, the singing of O Come, O Come Emmanuel  was a joyous announcement that Christmas was just around the corner.

The Season of Advent to my young mind was all about preparing for Christmas Day.  It meant that we would soon be hanging Christmas lights on our house and picking out a Christmas tree at the local nursery. However, in my mind, there was another and far more serious reason for Advent. It meant that I would have to buckle down and start acting like a very good five year old boy because the Advent “clock” had begun. If I was to make a good impression on Santa, the time for action was now! The clock had started ticking and there was no stopping it. I had to make up for lost opportunities where I had failed to be my best. No more pulling my sister’s hair or running through the house screaming like a five year old. Christmas gifts were at stake, here!

These signs of Advent were reminders that this was a time to start over in becoming a good little boy. I could hear the Advent clock loud and clear: Tick, Tick, Tick!  

I guess in many ways, the season of Advent is over-shadowed by the fast approaching Christmas Season. We are busy shopping for friends, family and co-workers. Our calendar begins to fill up with seasonal events and social gatherings to the point that we seem to have very little time for ourselves and God. Even at Church, the planning for the Christmas services involves almost everyone in the parish. There are linens to press, vestments to clean, flowers to buy, Christmas trees and manger scenes to set up, the Rector’s Christmas letter to write, Christmas homilies to prepare and special bulletins to create. The list goes on and on. The closer we get to Christmas Day the more we forget about the Season of Advent. 

So the Church in her wisdom offers us a time in Advent to stop, pause, and repent of our sinful ways in preparation not for the first coming of Christ, but for his coming again. We are asked to reflect on our adulterous ways of worshipping other false gods. Do we place our trust and hope in God? Do we worship God in our hearts above all things? These are hard questions to ask and I must admit at times I fail miserably.

Yet just as in Josiah’s time, we are invited to discover a new and start over again; to discover in new and unexpected ways who this Jesus is for us. Isn’t that what Advent is all about, returning our hearts back to God in ways that are new and freshly discovered.

May this Advent season be a reminder to us that God is our first love and that we need to remodel our lives based upon God’s love and will for us. We need tear out the “old kitchen” of our sinful ways and habits so that God can find a clear, open and receptive space in our hearts. Hearts ready to receive all that God has planned for us, remodeling us in new and beautiful ways. We need to be watching so that as God finds us so prepared to receive him as the Incarnation this Christmas, so too we may receive him more readily when he comes again in glory.  This is a time for remodeling our souls; to find hidden treasures within. The rediscover our first love of God in Christ Jesus. Soul remodeling as in kitchen remodeling is exciting … it gets my heart racing.  And God’s heart races in response. Amen

2 Kings 22:1--23:1-3

22:1 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 walked in all the way of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, 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.

11 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary, and the king's servant Asaiah, saying, 13 "Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our ancestors did not obey the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us."

14 So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; she resided in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter, where they consulted her. 15 She declared to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the Lord, I will indeed bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants -- all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have abandoned me and have made offerings to other gods, so that they have provoked me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But as to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, says the Lord. 20 Therefore, I will gather you to your ancestors, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring on this place." They took the message back to the king.

23:1 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.