November 9, 2009

Texts:
1 Chronicles 11 to 14
Acts 6

Chronicles:
At the end of chapter 13 is an interesting story about the ark of the covenant. It tells us that a man named Uzzah put out his hand to stabilize the ark because the oxen had shaken it. God's anger was kindled against Uzzah for touching the ark, and he died right there. This story is also told in 2 Sam 6:6-8.
David is annoyed with God (and who wouldn't be?--the guy was trying to be helpful, right?) and names the spot PerezUzzah or "breach of Uzzah". And then David refuses to take the ark with him. If God kills Uzzah, then how much trouble is it worth to travel with it? You can see David's point. But the family who was willing to take care of the ark is blessed.

A few things occur to me about this.
1. We can't understand God.
2. Being around God is dangerous.
3. Being around God is also a source of blessing.

Acts:
The early church was messy, just like ours. That is always comforting to me, somehow. The Hebrew Christians and the Greek Christians had a tough time coming together, but they did. In a culture that tries to keep us apart, I read this passage and say a cheer.
My prayer today is that the church will truly seek to hear the complaints of the "others" (whoever they may be) and listen to the people with whom we disagree. Let's leave our stereotypes at the door and trust that in the presence of the Holy Spirit, our conversations may lead us to places we've yet to reach on our own. Amen.