"Tight lines" is a blessing fishermen offer each other, a wish for lines taut with the weight of good fish. May God grant that the lines written here be taut with His blessings.
Wednesday, 03 February 2010 | |||
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"Devoted" | |||
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I've known the story of the battle of Jericho for as long as
I can remember. I think we marched singing "Joshua Fought the Battle
of Jericho" seven times around a stack of blocks in our first grade
Sunday School classroom. Then we got to knock the blocks down and
celebrate God's victory over that ancient city with all our childish
enthusiasm for destruction. It's a little more difficult story to read and to prepare to preach Joshua 6 at age 54. Especially after the reflection I did last fall on God's violence in the Old Testament, I zero right in on the parts skipped over in lessons for children. The end result of the destruction of the wall was, says 21, "They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it--men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys." Verse 24 says that the slaughter was followed by the burning of the city, except for gold and silver which went into the Tabernacle treasury. At the heart of the Jericho story and a large part of the narrative of Joshua is the Hebrew word and concept, herem. Translated "devoted to the Lord" in the NIV/TNIV, the word literally simply means to destroy or devote to destruction. In the Old Testament, the word picks up overtones of things held so sacred that no one can possess them except God, hence the destruction of what cannot be held solely for God and the plunder of precious metal for the Tabernacle. Herem is a troubling concept and the Israelites themselves had great troubles carrying out the "ban" on people and property designated herem. Some account needs to be given of the terrible violence God seems to call for. Yet there is also in herem the kernel of a viewpoint which challenges our easy and careless acquisitiveness and assertion of ownership. We are quick to assume that all the products of our hard fought labors are ours to keep and do with as we please. We take little thought for what among our possessions God may deem His own. So this Sunday I hope to struggle a bit with the violence inherent in the Jericho story, but I also hope to learn a little about what it means to utterly devote my endeavors and the fruits of my endeavors to my Lord. | |||
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I am the pastor of Valley Covenant Church in Eugene, Oregon. I love to flyfish and hike along the beautiful rivers in our area. I welcome your comments as I share sermon work in progress and occasional other thoughts.
Thank you for visiting this blog. I invite you also to visit my web page.
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