Scripture: 2 Kings 22:9-10 – “Then Shaphan the secretary came to the king and reported to the king, “Your servants have melted down the silver 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.” Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book.” Shaphan then read it aloud to the king.” (NRSVue)
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ … Indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This is one of my favorite sayings of Jesus, because it is so true. We often see our survival as more important than our faith, and fear that if we “do not look out for number one”, we will end up destitute. But Jesus indicated that things tend to work out for those who put God and God’s concern for justice first, because these are the things that lead to mutual support, love, and justice.
One of the most famous Jewish kings that you never of was Josiah. Josiah is best known as a great reformer, focusing the people back on worship of the one God and away from worshiping various deities which led people into fear and injustice. But Josiah did not start by smashing statues to Baal. He started by being fair to his workers.
Josiah noticed that a lot of silver collected in the Temple, but it was not going to the people who needed it. He had much of the silver melted down and given to his workers. And while he was focusing on justice for them, his high priest found a lost book in the temple records.
Scholars believe this to be the book of Deuteronomy, filled with all the precepts of Moses. When Josiah read these words, he rent his clothes in despair, for no one had been observing the Passover or following the other laws for four hundred years. Josiah did what he could to reverse this trend, knowing that chasing after idols had not granted Judah the success it seemed to think it deserved.
In our lives, we generally think that we deserve success. And we follow trends for things we think will make us healthy or happy. We look at “life hacks” on TikTok and pay thousands of dollars to motivational speakers who say this one pill or this one business model will give us everything we ever dreamed of. But these things do not make us happy, they do not lead to true success. Instead, we should learn the lesson of King Josiah. When we start by bringing justice to people who are abused by the systems of the powerful who hoard wealth for themselves, we find the truth of God, which leads us, sometimes painfully, toward a true joy and a true peace. It leads us not to a place of judgment and guilt, but to a place of forgiveness and repentance.
It is a bit early for Spring Cleaning, but in the next few weeks, try to get rid of the clutter of junk that you got thinking it would make you happy. Give it away, and work for just causes in your community. Who knows what you will find and how many lives, including your own, will be changed.
Prayer: God, bring peace to my heart so that I do not worry and discover your truth. Amen.
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