A New Normal - 2 Chronicles 34:1-7

Introduction

Everybody thinks their family is normal when they’re growing up. It’s all you know, your only reality. But, as you come of age and are around more people and exposed to more cultures, you come to realize that some of things that you thought were normal are not normal. You realize that some of these are kind of funny. For example, Sara and I used to always get pizza at Sam’s on Friday. She loved it, and it was cheap. But, whenever I eat pizza there, I always take a napkin and soak up as much of the grease as I can. So, I always did it for us both. And, one day, we’re at a birthday party where they have pizza and all of her friends are around, and Sara does what she thinks she’s supposed to do. She starts patting her pizza with a napkin, and everybody is just watching her like, “What is she doing?!?!” And, that’s when she began the lifelong process of learning how abnormal her father is.

Some of these ‘normals’ aren’t so funny though. If you grow up in a house where your dad mistreats your mom or you, you don’t know that abuse isn’t normal. If you grow up around alcoholism and addiction, you don’t know that’s not normal. If you grow up in a household in which God is on the margins of your life rather than the center of your life, then that becomes normal for you. And, these experiences, these ‘normals’ shape our worldviews, our understanding of how we’re to be treated or to treat others, our relationships with money, sex, work, and God. And, because we grow up with them as our normal, it can be really, really easy to fall into the same pattern ourselves. So, a cycle begins.

God’s Word

And, this is part of what makes Josiah’s story so extraordinary for me. Josiah was alive the same time as Zephaniah, Nahum, and Jeremiah. He born into the midst of a cycle like so many of us. He’s eight years old when we meet him, and his normal is idolatry, bloodlust, and faithlessness. His grandfather, Manasseh, is remembered as being Judah’s most wicked king. His dad, Amon, was killed in his twenties because he was turning out just like Manasseh. And, there’s no reason to believe that this eight year old king would do anything differently. But, he breaks the cycle. He creates a new normal. We can How Bad Cycles are Broken: (Headline)

“Decide” you will be “different.”

A few years ago, a young couple started visiting our church, and we found ourselves quickly in a conversation about the heavy things in life. Standing there as this beautiful young family holding their new born baby, the first thing that I remember them saying to me was: “We have to be cycle-breakers.” They both had come to realization that the normal they grew up in was not the normal they wanted their precious children to know, and they had made the decision that they would be different. If you want to break a cycle, you have to be fed up with how things are enough to do things differently.

We see this in Josiah. The decision to create a new normal requires us to:

Take “responsibility.”

2 Chronicles 34:1-2 “Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.”

Josiah’s story is a case study in how quickly a family can forsake the gospel. His great-grandad, Hezekiah, was a good king who led Judah into a revival. But, by the time we get to Josiah, he’s a faint memory after almost 60 years of godlessness. We’d do well to take heed of that warning, church family. Within three generations, the temple of God was more filled with God’s enemies than with God’s power. And, the natural expectation would be that again it would say: “And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” That was the normal path, the natural path. So, it’s a surprise when it says, “And he did what was RIGHT in the eyes of the Lord.”

Josiah could’ve justified doing whatever he wanted to do and said this is who his dad was and this is who his grandad was, and he would’ve met everyone’s expectation for him. But, he took responsibility for who was and where he was headed. He recognized that he may not have been able to prevent what he inherited, but he had the opportunity to create a new normal. So, he chose to follow after a different father — David. Not Manasseh, not Amon. David.

The question facing Josiah all those years ago in his circumstances is the same question facing you today: Who will you be? Not, who was your dad? Not, what is your last name? Not, what is your heritage? Not what is everyone else’s expectations of you? But, who will you be? Take responsibility for your life, because it’s for your life that you’ll give an account.

And, taking responsibility always leads to...

Take “action.”

2 Chronicles 34:2-3 “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images.”

Cycles attempt to tell us who we’re going to be and what we’re going to do. Your dad was a drunk; so, you will be too. Your mom had a temper; so, you can’t help it. Your family always gets divorced. And, if you’re going to break them, you can’t just acknowledge it as a problem. You must take actionable steps that are different than anything that you’ve seen. That’s what Josiah does. “He DID what was right.” He walked in David’s ways who had been dead and gone for 300 years.

How? Notice this pattern: At 16, he recognized that his normal wasn’t right. So, he sought to learn a new way. He studied the history of David to learn the difference between the way he’d been taught and the way God intended. After four years of study, he took drastic, irreversible action. He took all of the idols and altars, and he had them ground into powder to show how pathetic and weak they really were.

If you find yourself in a cycle you don’t want to repeat, this is the starting line. Josiah is the proof that you don’t have to be your dad, and you don’t have to be your mom. You don’t have to follow the path of all your friends, and you don’t have to end up like your brother and sister. But, you do have to act. Recognize what’s going on, and take responsibility. Find a spiritual parent — like David — and study with them for years. Apply what you learn, and don’t quit! It took Josiah six years to destroy all of the idols and alters. Change isn’t cheap, and change isn’t quick. But, by the power of God in the way of God, change is possible! Will you decide to be different?

Now, I want to drill down a little deeper on finding a new way. Because there’s good news.

“Discover” a better “direction.”

Most of us have things that we want to do like our parents and things that we want to do differently. That’s life since none of us are perfect. And then, there are cases like Josiah when you want to do everything differently than your family. Josiah inherited only bad and no good. He had no spiritual heritage, no moral foundation. He didn’t just need to deal with conflict in a healthier way. He needed a different worldview and value system than his parents. So, there’s really two aims I have here: First, if you have no spiritual heritage, here’s how you start one. Secondly, if you do have a spiritual heritage, here’s how you pay it forward.

2 Chronicles 34:15 “Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.”

Imagine the scene of chapter 34. They’re cleaning and renovating the Temple that Solomon built. One-by-one idols have been carried out and crushed to fine powder. Everyone is going through all the old relics that seem to be from a different time and place. And, something in the corner catches their eye. Beneath 60 years of dust and stacks of idols, the Law of God written down by Moses was found. For twenty-six years, Josiah had been feeling his way through dark, hoping to find a better way, and he had just found the map.

And, if you’re here this morning and you feel like you’re feeling your way through the dark to break cycles that have always been there, I have good news for you. There’s a map! One of the responsibilities we have to this generation in order to establish a new heritage of faith is to uncover the map.

You see, this is how you find your way.

A found “way” comes from a found “map.”

2 Chronicles 34:18-21 “Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it before the king. And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.””

I remember what is was like when the gospel changed from a story I knew to the only hope I had. It was as if lightning struck my heart. This seems to have been Josiah’s experience. He is the king of Judah ruling in Jerusalem in the shadows of the Temple, and he’d never heard or read God’s Law before. And, it strikes his heart with lightning. In an instant, he is overcome and tears his garments as the word of God has torn his heart. He recognizes that this is what has happened! This was the difference in David! Suddenly, the light of God’s word had been turned on, and Josiah could see the path forward.

It’s such an innocuous statement that “Shaphan read” the Bible, and it seems so simple that it says Josiah “heard the words.” But, brothers and sisters, that’s the difference between life and death. That’s the difference between breaking cycles and perpetuating them. Their temple was tattered and their lives were crumbling because their Bible was dusty. The people of God had lost their way because they’d lost their map.

You see, it wasn’t seen or read or heard because it was covered in idols. There in the Holy of Holies by the Arc of the Covenant there were so many idols, so many false gods, so many broken promises, that they didn’t even know God’s word was there. And, it’s the same reason that we don’t read God’s word today. We have a career to build. We have ball fields to find. We have retirements to accumulate. We have shows to watch and people to impress. And, they amount to a stack of idols in the temple of our hearts crowding out the word of God! Do we want to break cycles? Then, we better break down our idols! A broken “cycle” requires broken “idols.” We must come to our Bibles like Josiah, not to get on with our day or fulfill our duty, but to ask: God, what am I to do? Where am I to go? Who am I to be? What will become of your Bible this week when you get home from church? Because that answer has a bearing on what will become of your life and your family.

“Depend” upon a greater “Deliverer.”

2 Chronicles 34:24-28Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and …”

Of course, if you read to the end of the story, you might push back on the idea that Josiah actually has anything to teach us about broken cycles. You see, Josiah actually ended up being Judah’s last great king. Some have said he may be Judah’s greatest king. He expanded territory, led reform, honored the Lord, and died without scandal. But, it wouldn’t last. When he inquired of the Lord, the prophetess said:

So, how can we say that Josiah teaches us how to break cycles if the bad cycle just restarted? Because as great as Josiah was, he left us longing and waiting for a greater King still. Men alone have no power to change heritage and establish faith. That is the work of God alone. So, Josiah beckons us to depend upon a greater deliverer.

You see...

Josiah “couldn’t.”

Josiah’s story is as much about what he couldn’t do as it is about what he did do. Josiah could renovate the temple. Josiah could reform the Law. Josiah could renew the covenant. But, Josiah could not renovate and reform the heart. Isn’t it interesting how different this is from Elijah’s revival? All of Israel grieved their sins when they saw God move. But, here it is Josiah alone who is cut to the heart. Josiah wanted to intervene and mediate on behalf of his people before God, but he was insufficient for the task.

And, so are you.

You “can’t.”

I want you to take responsibility for your life and for your family. I want you to see that a lack of spiritual heritage does not amount to a lack of spiritual impact. I want you to have a vision of establishing a heritage of faith for your family. I want you to uncover God’s word in your house and teach your kids the way they should go. But, you can’t by the force of your will compel your children to love God. You can’t by the enormity of your works overcome all of the brokenness in your past. You can’t by sheer decision break yourself loose from an inheritance of sin and shame.

But, as we prepare for the new covenant of Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36, I want you to see that a greater mediator than Josiah has come. A greater King that Josiah lives. Josiah couldn’t, and you can’t, but....

Jesus “did.”

And, Jesus can. And, Jesus will. Jesus has come that the truth of God’s Law might illuminate our minds and be written on a new heart. He has come as the firstborn among many brothers that we might have a new heritage establishing a new cycle. Jesus has overcome the brokenness you inherited and paid its price in full. And, Jesus has promised to walk with you as you seek to pass down your faith to the next generations. That is, this morning, if you came looking to find a new normal for your life, I want you to know it can be found in Christ.