Risky Business

One Year Bible (July 10)

I Chronicles 7:1-8:40

Risky Business

One of my favorite movies of all time is “The Preacher’s Wife”. It is a remake of the classic, “The Bishop’s Wife”. Whitney Houston is “The Preacher’s Wife” and the vocalist in this movie. Need I say more?

This woman can sing like an angel! Speaking of angels, her husband, the pastor, prayed on one of his lowest days, “Lord, if you’re really up there I need some help.” Yikes! He sounds a little lacking in faith!

In answer to his prayer, the Lord sent a very handsome angel (a young Denzel Washington) to assist this struggling church, preacher, and his wife. The problem is that the angel almost missed his holy calling when he fell for The Preacher’s Wife and her angelic voice.

Between the snow, the music, the inspiration, and the lessons learned this is just one of my favorite movies… EVER!

You see, I have a soft spot for those called into ministry.

Both of my grandfathers, my father, and my husband have spent their lifetime in ministry.

When my mother was a young girl, their little church was building a new church building site. She and all her siblings were there for this big day with the other families. They were “blasting some stumps from trees” to clear the land. One of the stumps went up in the air and killed her sister. I can’t begin to imagine how they dealt with all of that.

My Preaching grandpa, on my dad’s side, was as lively as he could be. He used to tell me stories and make his “teeth pop out” when he got to the scary parts! (I can’t imagine if he did that in his sermons.) He had a beautiful singing voice as well. I can remember him telling us how he just wanted to “Go when it was his time” serving the Lord. He actually did have a heart attack while he was preaching one Sunday…But, he lived to tell about that one.

I have learned as a child, an adult, and as a pastor’s wife, that ministry is a…

RISKY BUSINESS!

Ever heard the phrase, “Man of the Cloth”?

This phrase was applied to priests and clergy quite some time ago and the phrase “Stuck”. They were known for the robes they wore, but do you know what trials they faced?

Do you wonder what their work was like? They are one of the central focuses in our reading from yesterday and today. ..

“The people of Judah were exiled to Babylon because they were unfaithful to the LORD. The first of the exiles to return to their property in their former towns were priests, Levites, Temple servants, and other Israelites…” (I Chronicles 9:1-3)

First, we see that they were the first to return from exile. It was their role and function to help the people to settle in as a nation to worship God. All of those displaced people would need their help. (I Chronicles 9:1-2)

Secondly, the Levites were not given their own land. They were to be the Holy priests and overseers of the tabernacle, the Temple, and of the “Cities of Refuge”. ( I Chronicles 5:54ff)

Do you know what that means? The Mosaic Law commanded that anyone that committed murder was to be put to death, (Exodus 21:14) and retribution was part of their culture in that day and time.

If someone accidentally killed someone they could live in the “City of Refuge” which was overseen by the Levites.

Thirdly, they were to take care of all of the tasks pertaining to the Temple, celebrations, burnt offerings, the altar of incense, and making atonement for the people. They were to do everything that Moses commanded them to do.

Lastly, they were very close to the presence of God which could be life-changing or life-threatening.

Can you imagine being in church the day that Ananias and Sapphira came in with their gifs?

Well, there were some Old Testament days that rivaled that very thing!

The day the priests dropped dead had to be a showstopper for all the people and the High Priest! Aaron, who is mentioned in our passage is there with his two sons, Nadab and Abihu.

Directly after the ceremonial consecration of the priests, the boys mixed up a little batch of fire with incense in the priestly pans. But something went terribly wrong. Moses just tells us that it was “unauthorized worship”.

Did they unlawfully enter the Holy of Holies? Were they drunk? Careless? All, we know is that Aaron was stunned and lost his sons!

Leviticus 10:3 tells us that Aaron “held his peace”. He knew. We do not…

The prophets of God took the message of God “to the people”. Many times they were killed when the news they were given to deliver went against what the king wanted to hear.

Why do you think Jonah was willing to skip town and take a ride in the big ol’ fish? You knew something fishy was up!

The priest and Levites brought the people “to God”. and that was like placing gasoline near a raging fire. His power was nothing to mess with!

On the other hand, the people were nothing to mess with either. The priests, Levites, and prophets were to take a sinful people and lead them to the throne room of God. That is a dangerous mission. Many have paid the price for speaking the words of God to deaf people!

When I read their names in the genealogies I stop and pray. As the people of that day needed to return to God after their exile, we are mindful that our nation has lost its footing as well...

Do you remember the preacher’s prayer in the movie?

“Lord, we need some help down here!”...AMEN…It’s Risky Business!