“Josiah: God’s Extreme
Renovation”
Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. In our Fall Sermon Series on Life Lessons from the Old Testament, on
our journey through the pages of the Old Testament we have encountered
characters that give us both positive examples we should follow, and negative
examples we should not. As Paul says in Romans, “For everything that was
written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the
encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” This morning, for our
celebration of the 500th Anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, we consider
one of the very best, most positive examples from the entire Old Testament, who
like Martin Luther launched a mighty Reformation, and restored the Word of God
to the people of God, good King Josiah. After the death of Solomon, the kingdom was split into Israel in the
north and Judah in the south. The books of Kings and Chronicles record the
sad tale of those several centuries of decline, as the Lord’s chosen people fell
more and more away from him and into the evil ways of the pagan world around
them. What is said about Josiah’s father Amon is very typical for nearly all
the faithless kings in those years: “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. . .
He worshiped idols . . . and bowed down to them. He forsook the Lord, the
God of his ancestors, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.” In sharp contrast to his unfaithful father, today’s Old Testament
Reading tells us how Josiah was faithful to the Lord, like his great ancestor,
King David: “Josiah was eight years old when he became king . . . He did
what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his
ancestor David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.” How do you explain that out of this morass of evil arises one of the
most godly men of the Old Testament? Because Josiah was only eight
years old when he became king, some have suggested that he was entrusted to the
high priest to be raised and educated, similar to the prophet Samuel, who was
raised in the temple by the high priest. Or, perhaps Josiah’s mother
Jedidah was faithful to the Lord, and it was she who raised her son in the true
faith. Something must have happened to Josiah, because the book of 2nd
Chronicles tells us, “In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young,
Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David.” That is the first life lesson we learn from Josiah. Assuming that
the difference in Josiah’s life was indeed that he was raised and educated in
the faith either under his mother or the high priest, the outcome of Josiah’s
life is an example for all parents to do for your own children as Paul says in
Ephesians, “Bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” The example of Josiah is a good reminder of the enormous difference
being brought up in the faith will make in the lives of your children. “In
the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the
God of his ancestor David.” Josiah’s training and instruction in the Lord comes to a climax ten
years later, in today’s Old Testament Reading, when he is 26 years old. He
orders the Temple of the Lord, which had fallen into disrepair, to be rebuilt.
In the process, the Book of the Law is discovered and brought to him. This
was probably all or part of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible,
written by Moses. “When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his
robes. . . ‘Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because our
fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in
accordance with all that is written there concerning us.” That is the second life lesson we learn from Josiah: Turn to the Lord
in sincere repentance. For, like the ancient people of God, we too often
fall away and go astray, walking instead in the sinful ways of the world.
There’s a confession of sins in the Book of Common Prayer that puts it this way:
“Almighty and most merciful Father, we have wandered and strayed from your ways
like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our
own hearts. We have offended against your holy laws. We have left
undone those things that we ought to have done; and we have done those things
that we ought not . . .” “When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his
robes. . .” In ancient times, and throughout the Bible, tearing one’s
robes as Josiah does was a sign of sincere sorrow and repentance. It is a
form of confession, for it symbolizes standing before God like Adam and Eve,
naked in our sins. As the hymn “Rock of Ages” says, “Naked, come to Thee
for dress; helpless, look to Thee for grace.” Tearing one’s robes as Josiah does is a plea to God to be spiritually
clothed by him in the glorious robe of righteousness that only he can give, an
image used often in the New Testament. Paul says in Galatians, “All of you
who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” The
book of Revelation says of those in heaven, “They have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Another hymn puts it this way:
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness . . .
clothed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.” The Book of Common Prayer continues, “We acknowledge and confess the
grievous sins and wickedness which we have so often committed by thought, word
and deed. . . But you, O Lord, have mercy upon us sinners. Spare
those who confess their faults. Restore those who are penitent, according
to your promises declared to mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord.” When you fall away and go astray, follow the example of Josiah, and
turn to the Lord in sincere repentance. Tear off the tattered robes of
your sins and receive the robe of Christ’s righteousness, washed and made white
in the blood of the Lamb. “Then the king called together . . . all the people . . . He read
in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found
in the temple of the Lord. . . and renewed the covenant in the presence of
the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with
all his heart and all his soul.” That is the third life lesson we learn from Josiah: Read and
study and find direction for your life from God’s Word. The example of
Josiah is a good reminder to be in the Word. Here in worship, Sunday
School, and Bible Class, in personal devotions, like Josiah be in the Word. “The king ordered . . . remove[d] from the temple of the Lord all the
articles made for Baal and Asherah . . . He burned them outside Jerusalem
. . . He did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah
to burn incense on the high places . . . He took the Asherah pole from the
temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. .
.” That is the fourth life lesson we learn from Josiah: Give your life an
extreme renovation. Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “Do you not know that
your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received
from God? . . . Therefore honor God with your body.” It
is shocking that not only the government but even some church bodies have
perverted God’s plan for marriage, disgracefully approving and condoning a
sinful way of life. But, just as the worship of idols and the true God
could not coexist side-by-side in the ancient Temple of God, an unrepentant
sinful life and true faith cannot coexist side-by-side in you, the temple of the
Holy Spirit. Paul puts it this way in Romans, “I urge you, brothers, in view of
God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to
God. . . Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. . . Do not offer the parts of
your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to
God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and offer the parts of
your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be
your master.” Like Josiah with the ancient Temple, give your life an extreme
renovation. As the Book of Common Prayer concludes, “And grant, O most
merciful Father, for [Christ’s] sake, that we may live a disciplined, righteous
and godly life, to the glory of your holy name.” “The king gave this order to all the people: ‘Celebrate the Passover to
the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.’ Not since the
days of the judges who led Israel, nor throughout the days of the kings of
Israel and the kings of Judah, had any such Passover been observed. But in the
eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in
Jerusalem.” That is the fifth life lesson we learn from Josiah: Come and worship
the Lord. As the psalms say, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let
us go to the house of the Lord.’ How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord
Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord, my
heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Blessed are those who dwell
in your house.” “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned
to the Lord as he did—with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all
his strength.” Follow in your life the life lessons of Josiah: Just as Josiah was apparently raised and educated in the faith, and it
made all the difference in his life, do for your own children as Paul says in
Ephesians, “Bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Just as Josiah tore his robes in sorrow, when you fall away and go
astray turn to the Lord in sincere repentance, tear off the tattered robes of
your sins and be clothed with the robe of Christ righteousness. Just as Josiah “called together . . . all the people . . . [and]
read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been
found in the temple of the Lord,” read and study and find direction for your
life from God’s Word. Just as Josiah cleansed the ancient Temple of God of detestable idols,
give your life an extreme renovation, for “your body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God.” Just as Josiah “gave this order to all the people: ‘Celebrate the
Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant,’”
come and worship the Lord. Five hundred years ago this Tuesday, the hammer of extreme renovation
in the Temple of God was once again heard round the world, when Martin Luther
nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
Luther was like the Josiah of his day. For, he faced the same spiritual
situation as Josiah. Just as in Josiah’s time, the Church of Luther’s day had forgotten the
Word of God. There were lots of beautiful church buildings, but spiritually, the
Temple of God had fallen into terrible disrepair. Just like Josiah, Luther
rediscovered the Word of God, the Gospel of our salvation. The Word showed Luther that the Church had to have an extreme
renovation. So, Luther literally took a hammer and launched the
Reformation. Not only renovating God’s Church, but in the process changing
the whole world, having a huge impact on every aspect of human history. No
one realized it at the time, but in many ways the pounding of Luther’s hammer that
day was a signal, of the end of the Dark Ages, and the beginning of the modern
world we live in today. “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned
to the Lord as he did—with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all
his strength.” Like the example of Josiah and Martin Luther,
make an extreme renovation in your life, turn to the Lord with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Amen. Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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