Readings for today: 1 Kings 9, 2 Chronicles 8, Proverbs 25-26
I can’t help but reflect on our current cultural crisis as I read the passages for today. God appears to King Solomon a second time after the dedication of the Temple and says this, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.” (1 Kings 9:3-5) So far so good. If Solomon remains faithful, he and his kingdom will be blessed. If Solomon follows God’s rules. Obeys God’s commands. Walks in all God’s ways. God will be faithful. God will dwell in the Temple. God will watch over Israel and show His great love to her. Furthermore, God will establish descendants who will sit on the throne of Israel forever just as He promised David…Solomon’s father…the man after God’s own heart.
“But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.”(1 Kings 9:6-9) Some might ask here if God’s promises are conditional. No, they are not. God’s discipline is as much a reflection of His love as His blessings. One cannot be in relationship with God and expect only affirmation. God is faithful. He will convict. He will judge. He will right every wrong in our lives, in this life or the next. If Israel stays faithful, she will experience blessing. If Israel abandons her faith, God will not abandon her but she will experience His judgment. The same is true for Solomon. Probably even more so as leaders are held to a higher standard.
Now consider where we find ourselves in this cultural moment. Our leaders have largely abandoned God. Their behavior is often immoral and unjust. Their attitudes arrogant and rude. Their words are crass and inflammatory. They cannot be trusted because they are - by and large - ungodly people seeking their own selfish ends. I know this is a bold and broad statement but I believe their own words and actions convict them. And frankly, the average person is not much better. In a democracy, we elect the leaders who best represent us. So before we criticize those in power, we must look in the mirror. We too are selfish. We too are arrogant. We told have largely abandoned God. Is it any surprise that riots and unrest have broken out? Is it any surprise there is so much anger and outrage in our communities? Is it any surprise that so many other nations are asking what has happened to America?
And still there is hope. Hope for revival. Hope for spiritual renewal. Hope for national repentance as we humble ourselves before God. Christians should be leading the way. Humbly acknowledging our grievous sins against Native Americans, African-Americans, and people of color. Humbly acknowledging our greed and selfishness and pride. Humbly acknowledging our lust for violence and sex and outrage. Humbly acknowledging that none of us is righteous. Not one. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory which means all of the systems we create socially, politically, economically, etc. are by definition corrupt and unjust on some level. And this means all of us are victims and perpetrators of injustice on some level. We all have a part to play in creating the mess we’ve made and we all have a part to play in cleaning it up.
God blesses the humble. God blesses those who confess their sins openly and honestly before Him. God blesses the nation that repents. The nation that bows the knee to Him. Now, more than ever, our country needs Jesus. May the church be bold in her witness as she humbly, sacrificially, generously, graciously, mercifully shows the world a different way!