January 11 Worship - "2 Chronicles - Those Who Set Their Hearts to Seek God"

This Sunday, we gathered on another cold and cloudy winter morning -- though it was not so slick and cold as last Sunday.  There were lots of prayer concerns for people who are sick or in the hospital (a reminder of how difficult this flu season has been so far, among other things).

We also continued the Godsway 66 series into 2 Chronicles, which focuses on the Jerusalem kings from Solomon until the exile in Babylon.  While some of this book repeats 1 Kings and 2 Kings, there is a different emphasis on how the kings support the Temple and the priests -- to the extent that they do support the Temple and the priests.  Unfortunately, external influences cause the kings to lose focus on worshiping the one true God, which allows the worship of foreign gods to enter the kingdom.  Eventually, King Hezekiah tries to root all all of the foreign god worship, leading an effort to reestablish proper faith in God and worship in the Temple.

As part of this, the Passover celebration is held (evidently for the first time in generations).  Hezekiah, eager to encourage proper worship, issues a broad invitation to participate, even to some people in the northern kingdom.  During the Passover, some of these people attend, but they are not ritually clean -- which creates a problem in the celebration.  Hezekiah urges patience, though, recognizing that all of the people had made mistakes, but praying that God would forgive them and claim them again as God's chosen people.

This created a precedent in which not all of the rules of Torah had to be followed by people of faith.  Perhaps it was the attitude that allowed for the flexibility necessary to preserve the Jewish faith through the tough times of the defeat of Jerusalem, the exile and captivity in Babylon, and the return to the devastated Promised Land 70 years later (not to mention all of the challenges of the 25 centuries from then until now).  It is an open question we face as Christians always -- how many of the rules must we follow, and how much should we rely on God's grace and mercy to forgive our oversights?

If you missed Sunday's sermon, if you'd like to listen to it again, or if you'd like to share it with others, you can find an audio recording here. 

You can also listen to the related Communion meditation and closing benediction.