Today's Scripture Reading (November 25, 2024): Exodus 25
It was just a movie. It is a piece of fiction conceived in the mind of a man. But it was a piece of fiction that had captured Doug's mind. Doug was young, maybe 13, and possibly a little shorter and thinner than most boys his age. Most adult people probably wouldn't even notice, but Doug noticed. He knew he was not the tallest or the strongest. And like so many of us who have never been the strongest, tallest, fastest, or most intelligent, Doug lived much of his life through movies. He had stood on Tatooine as Luke Skywalker and walked the bridge of the Enterprise as Captain Kirk (at this point, Kirk was the only Captain of note in the Star Trek Universe.) And then, he discovered this movie.
The movie fulfilled all of his fantasies. At its core, the tale's hero was a bookworm, a professor, who was not the tallest or the smartest. The hero of the story was someone with whom Doug could identify. I still remember the day that Doug came to talk to me about the movie. His words were just a comment. Until now, I still hadn't seen the film in question, although I have watched it many times since.
"Isn't the Ark great!" Doug said.
I still remember my reply; "Big boat, with animals inside for a long time. I wish I had been there! And what are you talking about."
To my amazement, he wasn't talking about Noah's Ark, but about the Ark of the Covenant, the box that sat for years inside the holy of holies in both the Tabernacle and the Temple. However, this conversation with Doug was so foundational for me that if you have ever heard me preach on the Ark of the Covenant, you have probably heard about my conversation with Doug. And part of my problem, in all honesty, was that at the time, I, a Youth Pastor, knew very little about the Ark of the Covenant.
The movie that captured Doug's attention was "The Raiders of the Lost Ark." It was the first of the Indiana Jones movies. The film was set in the Second World War. Hitler was moving through Europe, but he desired to move faster. He had stumbled upon the idea that maybe he could win the war faster with the Ark of the Covenant moving in front of his armies. With the Ark, Hitler would be unbeatable. So, the movie begins with a race between the evil minions of Hitler and a young archeology professor who was neither the tallest nor the strongest to see who could find the Ark first.
In the movie, The Ark of the Covenant became the symbol of hope. And here is the truth that I know: we all need hope. Why do we buy a lottery ticket every once in a while? You know the truth. It is much more likely that you will be hit by lightning on the way home than that you will win the lottery. Most of us are big losers. As the grand prize for the lottery climbs, it is because no one has won the jackpot. It takes an incredible number of losers in the lottery to make one winner. And we know that. The losers pile up. Why do we do it? Because this little piece of paper represents hope. And what we can't live without is hope.
We need to know that tomorrow can be better than today. Jesus told a parable about a man who goes and finds a great treasure in a field. The question that Jesus asks at the end of the parable is this: which of you would not go home and sell all that you have to go and buy that field? How many of you would not go and sell all that you have so that you can have hope? And if we are honest, the answer to the question is no one. We will all give everything that we have so that we can know hope.
And that is the real story of the Ark of the Covenant. It was a much-needed symbol of hope for all of Israel. It was a place where the God of hope came to meet with his people.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Exodus 26
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