I Kings 15-17 The Power of One

April 18th, I Kings 15-17

       Many of us remember this image. The image of one man holding up the powers that be. The ongoing footage shows him moving back and forth with the tank, staying in it's path. A stand of defiance against tyranny in a country where defiance is brought to a halt abruptly, forcibly.
       It reminds me of this mornings readings. Kings who seemed to care nothing for God or his way (except for one). A constant theme of those who did evil in the eyes of the Lord. A sidenote that leadership and Godliness can be separate things and they shouldn't be.
       There is power that brings life and power that destroys. This picture represents that Popeye moment in the hearts of people "That's all I can stands, and I can't stands no more." Dying here would be more valuable to me than living the way I do... in shackles, imprisoned. A heart that wants to be renewed.
       In the spiritual realm God raises up prophets to make voice to things that ought to be different. After many years of ungodly kings, Elijah arrives on the scene. Unlike the period of the Judges where God called a person and they rose to power to deal with the problem of the day, the prophets are a little different. Their message from the Lord carries weight without any political, social clout to back it up. Prophets are a burr under the saddle of those with great power, much like the guy in the picture. Let's be honest, putting this tank in gear and stepping on the gas pedal will take care of this problem with little or no energy. And yet maybe the one in our way has something to say.
       Power, godliness, prophets. These three things can bring a harmony that is the most beautiful thing. In God's kingdom there will be no need for the third on the list, in the mean time people with number 1 might not have number two which means we need number three. But much like days of old number three is annoying and easy to run over. Maybe the man in the picture has something profound to say, maybe all the power in the world should stop and listen. Maybe they won't and a martyr is made, maybe they will and great change will take place.
     

I Kings 12-14 Fast Fade

April 17th, I Kings 12-14

       Yesterday was about Solomon's slow fade, but the end of Solomon's life is the beginning of an era that is anything but slow. It's a race to the moral bottom. As we get into the story a repeated line is going to be King XXX did more evil than any King ever before. Worse and worse and worse.
       It really is amazing to me how something so great, seems to be moving along and then seem to just fall off a cliff. Like when my friend was sharing a story with me in on a New York subway deck about a guy who was trying to sell him something. As we were walking along at a brisk pace,  all of the sudden in mid story he runs into a pole and falls over. My friend fell over and disappeared. It's a funny memory for me, maybe not for him. He too fell off a cliff(so to speak).
       To be honest I don't even know where to go with this. I know that as we get into the prophets, sometimes it's hard to understand all the desperation they feel. Know that their desperation is rooted in these moments where this grand moment in national and spiritual history for God's people is going to come crashing down and the prophets are led by God to say something. Hard words for hard times.
       These are intense times. Chapter 13 tells of a time when a prophet is confronting Jeroboam. As Jeroboam reaches out to seize the prophet his hand dried up, so that he couldn't grab him or bring it back to himself. Sounds like an Indiana Jones scene. Crazy times.
       Reading these sections of the Bible feel a little like watching a bad scary movie. Like the last Jaws movie years ago. Someone thinks a shark has it out for his family so he moves to the Bahamas(or wherever he moved). First off, I've never heard of a shark attack on land. If I really wanted to get away from a shark that had it out for me I would move to Colorado. Very rarely is anyone attacked by a shark in CO. My point being we sit here, read the story and want so bad for something to be different. Want the obvious to us to be obvious to them, and somehow it's not.
       We've now entered the heartache of God. A God who knows there could be something better. Praise be to God for his patience and perseverance with us!