Today’s Scripture Reading (December
17, 2015): Judges 18
We live in a
culture that features choice – sometimes too much choice. It seems invariably
that whenever someone sends me on an errand to get something for them, the
purchase is never simply an easy pick up. No matter what it is, I always seem
to be confronted with choices that were never delineated in the request. Food
comes with a long list of choices in the way it is prepared. Most of us shop at
big stores that feature long shelves of very similar items. Sometimes they are
simply items of a different color, or a slightly different shape, or maybe just
the same item from a different manufacturer. And we are forced to make a choice
on which one we want to purchase.
During the
last few decades we have started to design church with the same opportunities
for choice that we have in other areas of our lives. Christian worship services
are now available that feature different musical styles, or services that are
available at different times, or even with different translations of the scripture
being used in the worship of God. The Christian Church has started to make its
worship convenient. But the nagging question inside of me is simply this – what
if the church was never intended to be convenient? What if church is supposed
to be inconvenient, forcing us into its mold – instead of us fitting worship into
our mold?
The Danites
steal an idol and a priest, and then set up a new priesthood so that they could
worship somewhere other than Shiloh. Again, there is no indication that they
are rejecting the God of Israel, just the way that God was being worshipped by
the other tribes of Israel. The edit of the text indicates that this practice
was continued from this point, likely early in the period of the judges until
the Captivity of the Northern Tribes by Assyria which began in the latter half
of the 8th Century B.C.E. And their justification for their action
was that the Tabernacle in Shiloh, and later the Temple in Jerusalem, was
simply too far away. It wasn’t convenient and worship in their own territory
was. Convenience won out over the law and it became the deciding choice for the
tribe.
But worship
of the God of Israel was not supposed to be convenient, Israel was supposed to
be inconvenienced by their worship. The decision to worship the God of Israel
was supposed to surpass all obstacles. And
maybe that is the real definition of worship – not doing what is convenient,
but pursuing God even though he is inconvenient.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Judges
19
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