Today’s Scripture Reading (August 8,
2015): Exodus 34
In 2006,
Pilgrim United Church in Chicago was destroyed by fire. The building was
designed by influential Chicago architect, Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) and is
considered to be the birthplace of Gospel Music. Following the fire, many of
the residents of the city demanded that the historic church be restored. But in
almost ten years since the fire, almost nothing has been done to start the
restoration process. And there are serious questions about where the $37
million that is needed to complete the restoration is going to come from. It is
obvious that the church members, which are both aging and have been declining
in number in recent years, are not going to be able to pay the bill. So who
will? The church has become an eyesore to the community, and now members of the
community are beginning to speak out. They don’t care what, but they want
something to be done – and they want it done now.
The truth is
that nothing is meant to last forever, but not all things are created equal. Many
things designed and built by our disposable society are built to someday throw
away. The church building in which I worship is nothing more than a concrete
box. If a fire destroyed it, no one – not even those within the congregation -
would demand that the building be rebuilt. In fact, many might take it as an
opportunity to redesign the building into something different – maybe in the
same spot, but maybe not. There is simply nothing special about this building.
But other churches within a few miles of this building are in similar positions
as Chicago’s Pilgrim United. These are churches that are special, they have
been designed by great men and have a history that many think needs to be
preserved. But the preservation and repair of these buildings are often beyond
the economic reality of the local congregation. And so there is a tug of war
between what these buildings mean to the history of our culture and our cities,
and the economic reality of what it will cost to restore and maintain these old
buildings. And right now we are not sure which force – history or money – is going
to win the battle.
In this
passage we find an unusual name for God. He is called Jealous - and jealousy is
something that we seem to believe is not compatible with the character of God. But
the key to God’s jealousy is actually found in the nature of Israel. Israel was
his possession – he considered this nation to be his children. And it would
seem that he meant it. Israel was precious to him, so precious that he would
pay any price for them. He would not sit back while they walked away from him
to one of the incompetent gods that had begun to be worshiped by the nations that
they would meet. They were his possession – and Israel was important enough to
him that he would describe himself as Jealous.
But it would
take a God who describes himself as Jealous to take the action in defense of
his children that this God took – the sacrifice of his Son on cross for us;
first for the Jews and then for the Gentiles. This jealous God said he would
pay any price – and that is exactly what he did. It was an act that could only
come from a God who was called Jealous.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus
35
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