Hard things and right things

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor during World War II. He was opposed to the war and the Nazi regime. He wrote prolifically about following the path of Jesus and resisting the influence of Nazism. He was eventually swept up with some people who wanted to assassinate Hitler. He was asked to join this plot and this is the struggle he had to deal with:

Which is the lesser evil: do I break the ten commandments by killing a person or do I let one person live knowing that one person will break the commandment and kill millions? Bonhoeffer struggled with this dilemma for quite some time before finally coming to the conclusion that ending the reign of Hitler would be better for the world. He knew the consequences of his actions: he knew that he would go to prison no matter the outcome of the attempt and would likely die for what he would be a part of, but felt that the preservation of many other lives was more important than his own. Whether you have heard this story of Bonhoeffer or not, you know that is not how Hitler died, so their attempt failed and Bonhoeffer was imprisoned for a time before he was executed for his part in the assassination attempt.

I don’t know for sure but I would guess that this was the hardest decision that Bonhoeffer had to make in his life. Sometimes the hardest decisions that we make are ones that involve making the right decisions even if we know the outcome might not be the best for us, or knowing that we might not make a difference in our own lifetime. Think of all the people in history who have fought against injustices or inequalities whether it’s race, gender, pay or anything else that have fought for themselves but also for the generations of people who will come after them and hopefully benefit from the work that has come before them. It was for them and continues to be the right thing to do despite it being an uphill battle.

Well today we find ourselves learning about King Josiah who began his reign at 8 years old. What Josiah, whether he realizes it or not, is battling against is 57 years of his father and grandfather’s reigns that completely led Judah’s faith down the drain. His grandfather Manasseh ruled for 55 years and spent much of his rule establishing many places of worship and placing idols all over the land to many, many other gods. He even placed idols in the Temple in Jerusalem. He did a lot of the things that King Ahab did when we talked about Elijah a few weeks ago, only Manasseh did took it all to an extreme level.

Despite having a father and grandfather who, according to the Biblical author, did evil in the sight of the Lord, Josiah doesn’t deviate even a bit to the right or to the left. This is the same language used of the other kings who followed God’s ways like Hezekiah and David. We see some of that goodness right away when the repairs to the temple are being done and he pays the workers their fair wages, something Solomon never did. So not only are we told he is a good king, but then we see it played out with the way that he treats the people in the kingdom from the priests and officials down to the workers repairing the temple.

While the repairs are happening the scroll of Instruction is found, which everyone agrees is the scroll of what we call today the book of Deuteronomy. It’s read to Josiah who realizes how far the kingdom has abandoned the Lord’s ways, and he has his officials bring the scroll to the prophetess Huldah. She informs them that God has already declared an exile because of what his grandfather Manasseh had done. However, because God can see how good Josiah is, God will not bring the destruction of the land until after his reign is over, which lasts for 31 years.

Now Josiah has two decisions: 1. He can know that the world is about to end as he knows it and can eat drink and be merry while it lasts. 2. He can do the right thing even though he knows that it will end in disaster for the kingdom. This is where we pick up in Chapter 23. It seems, the way the writer records it, without hesitation Josiah decides to follow the Instruction scroll. He like Moses, Joshua, and Hezekiah brought all of Israel together to recommit to the covenant between God and Israel.

It is actually quite incredible to see that Josiah doesn’t follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. It is also incredible that he decided that despite the eventual outcome of Judah because of the sins of Manasseh that he does commit himself and all Judah to follow in the ways of the Instruction scroll and to rid the land of all the idols and other forms of pagan worship from the land. In fact, the rest of what is written about Josiah by the author is all the work he does to restore the temple and to remove ALL the idols and other pagan practices from the entire land. He completely removed all places of worship and idols that his grandfather had put in place. In the face of knowing that the kingdom itself would face ruin and exile, Josiah knew the right thing to do was to put his faith and trust in the Lord and to follow in God’s paths, no matter what the outcome would be. I’m sure even though the text doesn’t explicitly say it, Josiah knew that part of the covenant meant that God would never forsake them or abandon them. Which means that even if the country would be conquered, God would be with them no matter where they go.

I have always admired Josiah for all that he accomplished at such a young age whether he was 8, 18, or 26, he did so much for God by bringing so many people back into relationship with God. Think about it this way. Sure the exile is going to happen and it’s going to be very difficult for all of them. But with a leader like Josiah who had led them back into God’s paths they could now face this time in their lives being in relationship with the Lord. They were no longer praying to and sacrificing to other gods, but now had a firm foundation of their faith and trust in the Lord while they are experiencing this dark time in their lives. Josiah, Hilkiah, Shaphan, Huldah, and all the rest were the catalyst to make sure that they knew who loved them and would be there for them even when times were hard. I can’t think of a greater gift that could have been given than the reform Josiah brought before they had to endure Babylonian exile.

This is such good news for us. No matter what we go through in our lives we know that God is with us. When we are doing the right thing even though it might seem like the hardest thing we have ever done, we know that God is with us through it all. Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same, and when we work to do what God has called us to do that can seem like a hard thing to do. But no matter the outcome of what we do we can trust that God is with out through it all. Working for God’s justice and righteousness, which includes caring for the poor, the widow, the outcast and all those in marginalized might seem like an impossible task, but when we work together to bring about God’s kingdom we know that God is with us in it.

Finally, we know that no matter how good Josiah, David, Hezekiah or any of the other kings were, that the one king we know did everything for us is our Lord and Savior jesus Christ. He is the true king of kings and lord of lords. He is the one who brought the whole world into a right relationship with God so that we too can know how much God loves us and cares for us. That no matter what God is with us, whether we are wandering through a dark valley or are high on a mountaintop. That is what God did for us and for all creation. Rest in God’s goodness and love for us and make sure that everyone knows that love as well, so that one day we may all rejoice in the one true king, our God, who sustains us in all circumstances. Amen.