LOST AND FOUND

Last week as I was looking for a lost book in this building I looked through the “lost and found” section of this church. Most of the items in our Lost and Found are books. And most of those books are Bibles. That makes sense. We bring one of our many Bibles, we leave it in the pew, it is picked up and placed in the Lost and Found, and then we always remember that we need to check the Lost and Found when we are halfway home, right?

2 Kings records the story of lost Scripture. In the case, the loss happened for very different reasons – and it was found for different reasons. However, at the beginning of our resolution to read and listen to God’s Word in the next 90 days (or less), I think it is good for us to notice the impact of the loss and rediscovery of God’s Word in the life of his people.

We will pick up the story in 2 Kings 22. But before we read, some background: Josiah became king of Judah when he was eight. His father, King Amon, had been assassinated by some of his own officials. Josiah’s grandfather, King Manasseh, left of legacy that of sin and corruption that eventually led to the nation’s downfall. Josiah assumes the throne of his forefathers with the sense that things must be changed. One of his works to reverse his nations’ future involves destroying shrines to false gods and restoring the Temple of God to purity. In doing so, he learns just how much things need to change ... read 2 Kings 22:1-13

What Was Lost?

• They lost their Identity – We can safely assume that sometime during the reign of Mannaseh, the Word of God, the scroll that was read during Israel’s worship, was lost. Perhaps it was placed in a box, or stowed away on a shelf and later stowed away in a cabinet that was buried in rubble created when the shrines of other gods were built in the Temple. Once it is lost, the people no longer hear the stories of the creation and flood. They forget their lineage; they no longer can tell the stories of God calling Father Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob. They do not know the story of God saving Jacob and his sons through Joseph. They don’t remember their history as slaves in Egypt. They don’t know about the Passover and God’s mighty acts that set them free. They don’t know about God striking a covenant with them on Mt. Sinai. And they certainly do not know the story of the Golden Calf and the consequences that followed. And they do not know even the Ten Commandments. One generation neglected to tell, one forgot, and the next never heard. They have forgotten who they are. Their identity wasn’t stolen, it was lost. Very likely, Josiah has never heard all the word of God. If he has heard any of the stories of God’s action, he probably hasn’t heard what they mean, or how his people should live out the meaning of what God was done. Josiah tears his clothes in grief for when he hears the word of God he realized that they could be so much more than they are now. They have lost their identity as God’s people; and that is why ...
• They lost their Integrity – Israel had a covenant with God. The Lord provided for them. He had rescued them. He had established them. Their singular devotion to God was to serve as an example to all other people that God should be followed wholeheartedly. They were to serve as a witness to other nations and invite them to call upon the Lord. But their allegiance was compromised. In the very place that was supposed to be a house of prayer for all nations to the Name of the Lord, Manasseh wrote in other names. He built altars to all the starry hosts. Not content to trust in God we turned to other means of forecasting the future and gaining control. And he was even willing to pay the price of the son he sacrificed to false gods. (2 Kings 21:5-6).
  There is a growing interest in witchcraft and divination in our age. Anyone remember “Psychic Friends?” As advanced as we are, we are still a superstitious culture. Even those who reject magic and sorcery may manipulate technology or influence. These are simply more sophisticated methods of securing our own way rather than trusting in God. The price of serving ourselves, whether it is through magic, money, politics, or pleasure is that we may lose our integrity. And when we lose our integrity we lose our innocence.
• They lost their Innocence – 2 Kings 21:16 says this of King Manassah’s legacy: “Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the LORD.” When God’s people lose their identity and integrity the innocents suffer. If they had known the story of Cain and Abel, then they would have known that God acts when innocent blood is shed. If they had known the story of the flood, they would have known that God was resolved to re-create his creation because the world had become such a violent, wicked, and brutal place. If they had known the story of Abraham, they would have known that God had called Abraham and his descendants to be a nation that operated by a different code of ethics and dealt with one another fairly, justly, and peacefully. But they lost those stories and they lost their innocence and with it they lost peace and justice. They had not become what God’s Word was intended to shape them into, and so we might say that ...
• They lost Israel – 2 Kings 21:7-9, As a last straw Mannaseh placed the carved image of the sex goddess Asherah in The Temple of GOD, a flagrant and provocative violation of GOD's well-known statement to both David and Solomon, "In this Temple and in this city Jerusalem, my choice out of all the tribes of Israel, I place my Name--exclusively and forever. Never again will I let my people Israel wander off from this land I gave to their ancestors. But here's the condition: They must keep everything I've commanded in the instructions my servant Moses passed on to them." But the people didn't listen. Manasseh led them off the beaten path into practices of evil even exceeding the evil of the pagan nations that GOD had earlier destroyed. God calls his people to be salt and light. To make a difference by being different. We are different not because we are self-righteous or exclusive but because we want to show humanity a better way. To live out that calling we need to keep God’s Word. But if we lose it, who will be salt and light?

  Like Josiah’s generation we need to continually keep God’s Word so we might rediscover our calling for each generation ...

What Was Found?

• They found their Calling - Josiah hears the Word of God and is convicted that his generation and the generations of his forefathers have not done what they were supposed to. They did not do what God wanted them to do because they had not become what God wanted them to be. Too often we go to the Word of God to learn what we shouldn’t do. “Is there anything against that?” we ask. “Is it prohibited or forbidden?” I don’t know that this is the best way to read and hear the Word of God. The Word of God is fundamentally positive, not negative. It is trying to restore our identity and personality – not limit it. Our calling is not to avoid mistakes. Our calling in Christ Jesus is to live a new life – the life modeled by Christ and given to us through baptism and supported in the spiritual community called church. Like the nation of Israel under Josiah, our calling comes from our covenant with God ...
• They found the Covenant - The discovery of the book of the covenant started with a project to restore the Temple. But God’s spirit does not dwell in a building – it dwells in us. What started as a contracted project with carpenters, masons, and builders to restore the Temple became a restoration of the people ... (2 Kings 23:1-3) Then the king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up to the Temple of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, and the priests, and the prophets--all the people from the least to the greatest. There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the LORD's Temple. The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the LORD's presence. He pledged to obey the LORD by keeping all his commands, regulations, and laws with all his heart and soul. In this way, he confirmed all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll, and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant. As we read the New Covenant over the next few months, let’s pledge ourselves to keep the covenant. Like Israel, we will be blessed to do so. They were blessed because ...
• They found Ceremony and Celebration – Now that they had God’s instruction, they celebrated the Passover again. They are not merely keeping new rules that they had lost. They have found a heritage and a ceremony that enables them to experience joy and renewal. King Josiah then issued this order to all the people: "You must celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in the Book of the Covenant." There had not been a Passover celebration like that since the time when the judges ruled in Israel, throughout all the years of the kings of Israel and Judah. (2 Kings 23) This experience of joy and celebration is shared with young and old. It is to be shared and kept by each generation.
• They found their Children - After Josiah found the law he set about removing the symbols of his nations decline – the ungodly shrines to other powers. Among those was the altar to Molech: Then the king defiled the altar of Topheth in the valley of Ben-hinnom, so no one could ever again use it to sacrifice a son or daughter in the fire as an offering to Molech. Israel had invited this power that destroyed the life of their children into their country. But after hearing the Word of God, that power is sent away. Molech is still worshipped today – (not literally of course) – but many parents offer their children up to powers such as success, beauty, popularity, and family violence. When we influence our children to conform to a power other than God’s spirit, we are sacrificing them at the altar of a false god.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 – Passing on the word of God from one generation to the next. What could be more important? What else is worthy of shaping their Identity? Of shaping our identity?

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 15 January 2006

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