… and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God. – 2 Chronicles 5:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 5, 2013): 2 Chronicles 5

I like to play basketball. My problem is that I don’t play the game very well. Actually, I can get even more specific. My problem in basketball is not that I can’t shoot or pass, it is just that I play a little too physical (in other words I foul a lot.) In a pick-up game playing schoolyard rules where anything goes, I play okay. But in an organized game, I am a liability until I foul out. But that is precisely the role of a referee. He is the one who gets to translate the rules written down on paper and transfer those rules into actions on the court. The ref’s job is call fouls or penalties whenever the rules have been violated. It gives order to the game.

But the best games are always the ones where the players play by the rules and the refs are wise enough to just let them play. There is nothing worse than to be watching your team score and have the points taken off the board because of an offensive foul, or in American Football game watching that long runback after a punt or kickoff called back because of a hold or an illegal block. But the rules for our sports are there for a reason and those rules need someone whose job is not to cheer for a given team, but rather are there just to make sure that the game was played according to the rules. In sports, that unenviable job goes to our referees.

In religion, we have the same need. We have our holy books, but most of them need someone to interpret for us what it is that is contained within the pages. In ancient Israel, that job went to the priests and the prophets – the experts in the law. They were the ones that were given the job of interpreting the writings and translating those writings into actions in the real world – the world where the people live every day of their lives. But the reality is that we crave those times when God simply speaks – and no one has to interpret. Those moments might be rare, but they do happen – and when they do, we know it.  

As Solomon’s Temple is finished and the Ark of the Covenant is moved into its new home, and God’s glory descends on the temple. The Chronicler makes the comment that because the cloud of the Lord filled the temple, the priests could not do their job. But the reality might be a little different, the priests were just not needed, the presence of God was tangibly existent in that holy place.

My hope is that there are times in all of our lives when the presence of God is simply there; a time when all of us who are priests and pastors are simply not needed. My prayer every time I step up to speak or to lead in the music portion of a service is that somehow I can just disappear leaving nothing but God’s presence in the place. And on the other side of the equation, I hope as teachers and worship leaders we have enough integrity to recognize a move of God  - and as we recognize God’s move be willing to simply get out of the way.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 6