During the days of King Josiah, as they were remodeling the Temple, they broke down a wall and found a treasury box hidden inside. They were no doubt excited to find the offerings of years gone by stashed there. What they also found was "THE BOOK OF THE LAW OF THE LORD GIVEN THROUGH MOSES". King Josiah read it and tore his clothing in regret, shame and loss. This was in the eighteenth year of his reign as king, so we know THE WORD was hidden behind a wall and buried beneath the money for AT LEAST that long. (II Chronicles 34)
King Josiah enacted immediate reforms at having uncovered The Word of God, discarded and hidden, buried under the offerings. They seemed dramatic, because they had gotten so far from The Word, but it was counted as faithfulness to Josiah.
Jesus followed John the Baptist (Elijah), who preached repentance (changing one's thinking so that one's direction will change). Jesus ushered in the New Covenant of Grace in Agape Love, challenging what the religious leaders and political leaders had done to God's people in hiding the Word from them. Jesus uncovered the truth of God's Will and Kingdom Values, which they had buried in their concern for outward piety and for their control of the people socially, politically and economically. They exploited God's people by abusing their authority and burying the true Word under their twisted interpretations that got them power and wealth. Jesus addressed that regularly. (Matthew 23 and elsewhere)
Martin Luther and others in the Reformation era strove to uncover The Word from the corrupt traditions of Pope Leo X and his predecessors. The Gospel of Jesus' Grace had been buried under church hierarchy, piety, ritual, the sale of indulgences and abuses of authority by the Popes and church officials. Luther and others uncovered the truth of salvation by Grace through Faith, so that God's people would no longer be exploited and oppressed by the Greed and Lust for Power that had become the Holy Roman Empire in their day. (see The 95 Theses of Martin Luther)
We need Reform now.
Since 1981, when Reagan (political right) got in bed with Falwell (religious right), the Good News of Jesus has been buried behind a wall of Greed and Lust for Power in the form of Church Growth, Prosperity Theology and other "itching ears" (II Timothy 4:1-5) movements that have coincided with the political "right's" agenda to privatize all services and gain power in order to exploit the masses for their own gain. We need to unbury the Good News of Jesus from the treasury box that has fed the bellies of the Bishops and Clergy and has left the people of God like "sheep without a Shepherd" (Mark 6:34). We need to address the corruptions done by the twisting of God's Word and exploitation of the masses. We need to attack this new "sale of indulgences" through tithing with a promise of monetary return and wealth, prosperity and blessings with favor that is used to exploit the desperate and greedy. We need to expose the lust for power and prestige that leads clergy to manipulate and exploit God's children. We need to reject the corruptions that have held God's people from living Agape Love for 35 years, raising as important purity and holiness, worship, praise and tithes above what God wants of God's people (Mark 7:1-23).
We need to first UNCOVER the Good News of Jesus from within our hearts. We need to WANT to have the Good News restored, preached, taught and lived. We need to reject the false teachings and unbury the Agape Love way of life that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us. We need to embrace salvation by Grace through Faith and live the Agape way of not judging and forgiving others. We need to break down the walls that this Good News has been hidden behind and make it our standard of living as people who profess to follow Jesus. We need to weep over having kept it buried for this long, and repent (change our thinking so that we can follow Jesus) so that we can believe in His Good News as His Way for us, as God's Will, as Kingdom Values - Jesus' first command (imperative mood statement) in the first Gospel written, in the first Chapter of that Gospel (Mark 1:15)
We need Reform NOW.
In the face of all the divisions, hatefulness, oppression, exploitation, genocide, racism, classism, sexism, homophobia and violence, we need to live Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy - Luke 10:25-37), and live it NOW.
We need Reform NOW - a great "UNCOVERING".
Pastor Jamie
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