I Will Be Your God and You Will Be My People

June 27, 2012

Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

By Colleen O’Sullivan

The high priest Hilkiah informed the scribe Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the temple of the Lord”… When the king heard the contents of the book of the law, he tore his garments and issued this command to Hilkiah the priest… “Go, consult the Lord for me, for the people, for all Judah, about the stipulations of this book that has been found, for the anger of the Lord has been set furiously ablaze against us, because our fathers did not obey the stipulations of this book, nor fulfill our written obligations”… The king then had all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem summoned together before him… He had the entire contents of the book of the covenant that had been found in the temple of the Lord, read out to them.  Standing by the column, the king made a covenant before the Lord that they would follow him and observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees with their whole hearts and souls, thus reviving the terms of the covenant which were written in this book.  And all the people stood as participants in the covenant. (2 Kings 22:8a, 11-12a, 13, 23:1-2b, 3)

Jesus said to his disciples:  “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.”  (Matthew 7:15)

Piety

“I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Hebrews 8:10c)  Lord, forgive me for the many times I have forgotten who and whose I am.

Study

My initial reaction to the first reading was – how could you “discover” the book of the law in the temple?  That’s like saying we unexpectedly found a Bible in a church!  But the situation really was that bad.  Reading the preceding chapters in 2 Kings brought some clarity to the text.  The king in today’s story, Josiah, was the son and grandson of two kings of Judah, neither of whom were men of faith.  The grandfather forgot all about the covenant with the Lord and actually installed altars to false gods right in the temple of the Lord.  His son, Josiah’s father, continued in his father’s footsteps, never thinking about God, serving idols instead. 

Repairs were being made in the temple when the book was found.  Imagine the consternation of the king when he had the contents read to him.  No wonder his people had suffered so much ill fortune!  They had broken the covenant with their God.  Generations of idol worship had aroused the ire of their God.  King Josiah gathered his subjects, read the book of the covenant to them, and asked them to promise once again to be faithful to the one, true God and to be obedient to God’s law.

How many times have I turned my back on God’s promise always to be there for us as though it means nothing?   How many times have I worshipped at some other god’s altar?  How often have I listened to the siren song of some wolf in sheep’s clothing that Jesus warns us to beware of?  All too often, I’m afraid.

Action

Fickle and faithless though I may be, the good news is that our God never breaks his promise to be our God.  The Lord never stops loving us, no matter how far we may run from him.   When you are praying today, why not take an honest look at yourself and ask the Lord’s forgiveness for your forays into idolatry?