“Lost and Found”

Dear Friends in Christ,

   I don’t think that any of us here today will ever be able to forget what happened on September 11, 2001, for that was the day when terrorists affiliated with an organization known as al-Qaeda hijacked 4 commercial airliners with the full intention of turning them into weapons of mass destruction that would kill as many Americans as possible.  Two of those planes were flown into the Twin Towers, also known as the World Trade Center, in New York City, ultimately resulting in the collapse of both buildings and the tragic deaths of nearly 3000 people.

   Much discussion ensued later on about what to do with the site where those well known majestic towers once stood.  Finally it was decided that a new tower would be erected there that will be known as the Freedom Tower.  With work having begun back in 2006 and looking to be completed in 2012, it will interestingly and I’m sure intentionally rise 1776 feet above the place where the Twin Towers once crumbled.  It will serve as a beacon of freedom to all who come to our shores and as a visible testimony to the resolve of the United States and the people of New York City.

   Well, just a few weeks ago, on April 18, the unthinkable was reported in the news.  The plans for the Freedom Tower had been found in one of the city’s trash bins.  Those plans were clearly labeled: “Secure Document – Confidential” and they were found by a homeless man who was looking for some cardboard to cover up with.  Though the 2 sets of blueprints were dated October 5, 2007, they contained plans for each floor, the thickness of the concrete-core wall, and the location of air ducts, elevators, electrical systems and support columns.  Some felt it was enough information for someone to plan another terrorist attack if those plans fell into the wrong hands.

   Now I know what you’re thinking: How in the world could something like that happen?  Well, according to one article I came across, and I quote: “The agency that owns the World Trade Center site, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, calls it a serious security lapse.”  A serious security lapse???  That’s putting it mildly!

   When I read that story, I couldn’t help but think of another time in history when something even more important than those plans was lost.  Care to guess what it might have been?  Believe it or not, it was the Bible, not the Bible as we know it, but as much of the written Scriptures as were available at that time.  It’s a sad but interesting story from the Old Testament that ties in well with what we’ve been talking about in a sermon series that I’ve been preaching this year entitled “Getting Back to the Bible.”  We started this series on January 20 by looking at some of the reasons people give these days for not reading the Bible.  Then we looked at some great reasons why we should read the Bible.  Then we followed that up with a look at some of the problems that can arise when people fail to read the Bible.  Last Sunday we examined the last of those problems which was that Biblical illiteracy weakens our defense of the Gospel.  In that sermon we talked about how if we don’t read and study and know our Bibles, then we’re not going to be well-equipped and well-prepared to defend the essentials truths of our faith when called upon to do so.

   Well, today we’re going to discover that while biblical illiteracy is not a good thing, it is also not a new thing.  It’s been around for a long, long time.  I invite you to take a trip with me then back in time to a period in the history of the Israelites when they were ruled by kings.  You may recall a few weeks ago we looked at a time when they were ruled by judges and we read how everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes.  Or to put it another way, they were doing things their way rather than God’s way.  Well, it’s sad to say, but times had not changed much when we get to the period of the kings.

   One of those kings that most of you probably are not very familiar with was named Manasseh.  He was the longest reigning king in the nation but he was also one of the most wicked of the kings.  I mean this guy was bad.  In 2 Kings 21 we’re told he worshiped false gods like Baal and Asherah and led his people to do the same.  He bowed down to the starry hosts.  He desecrated the temple of God in Jerusalem.  He practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists.  He even offered his own son as a human sacrifice to the false gods he worshiped.  Verse 16 of 2 Kings 21 says: “Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end.”  And so upset was God with this evil king and the entire nation that was following him that we read these interesting words from God in v.13 of 2 Kings 21: “I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.”

   Well, in time Manasseh was taken captive by his enemies and led away to Babylon where God finally got his attention.  And amazingly, this once arrogant and evil king humbled himself before the Lord and repented of his many wrongdoings.  So God allowed him to return to Judah again and resume his reign there.  Only this time he did it God’s way rather than his way.  And he led the people back to the Lord again.

   But when he died, his son Amon became king.  And Amon took the nation back down into the same sordid cesspool that his father had led them into during his younger years.  Well, that lasted 2 years before Amon was assassinated and replaced by his son Josiah who – are you ready for this? – was 8 years old when he became king.  Obviously he would have had to have some help in ruling and it must have been some pretty good help because Josiah became one of the most godly kings the nation had.  By the time he reached the ripe old age of 15 or 16, he was already showing signs of devotion to God and discernment beyond his years.  At age 19 or 20 he began to take an interest in returning his nation back to God.  He got rid of the idolatry that his father and grandfather had practiced and he began to institute both political and religious reforms to get his people back on track with God again.

   Then something dramatic happened.  The beautiful temple that Solomon had built had fallen into disrepair.  So Josiah gave orders that it be repaired and restored.  And while they were working on it, a priest by the name of Hilkiah made a startling discovery.  In some dusty unused holy cupboard, he found the Book of the Law that had been given through Moses.  In other words, he found their Bible.  Now think about that for a moment, my friends.  If he found their Bible, what does that mean?  It means that the Bible was lost, right?  And if the Bible was lost, then that means no one was reading it.  No one was preaching it.  No one was studying it.  Talk about a major case of biblical illiteracy!  Is it any wonder why the nation had fallen into such spiritual disrepair?

   So what happened next?  Well, Hilkiah the priest who discovered the Book of the Law told Shaphan the secretary to King Josiah what he had found.  Shaphan then told Josiah.  But he didn’t just tell Josiah, he read to him from the Book of the Law.  And when Josiah heard the word of the Lord and realized how far the nation had fallen from the laws of God, he tore his robes as a sign of great grief.  Then he called a city-wide meeting in Jerusalem and had all the people, from the least to the greatest, assemble at the temple.  There he read all the words that were contained in this book.  And the final verses of 2 Chronicles 34 tell us what happened next: “The king stood by his pillar 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, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book. Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it; the people of Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.  Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the LORD, the God of their fathers.”  Put simply, a return to their Bible resulted in one of the greatest spiritual revivals in the history of the nation.

   That’s a great story, isn’t it?  But what does it have to do with us today?  Well, I think most of us here this morning would agree that we need a similar revival in our country today.  In fact, that was something that was heard over and over again in the group that I prayed with last month in the National Day of Prayer service that was held on the courthouse lawn.  Recognizing the slippery slope and the downward slide that our nation has been on for the past several decades, some of the Christian folks that I prayed with that day whose names I didn’t even know, implored and pleaded with God for a spiritual revival that will sweep across our land and return us to the godly nation we once were.  And that’s a great prayer to offer, but the only way that that kind of spiritual revival is going to happen, my friends, is when we start doing what Josiah and his nation did in the story we looked at earlier.  We need to get back to the Bible.  We need let that holy Word of God do spiritual surgery on our hearts just like it did with Josiah and his people.  We need to let it reveal to us the sin that has become all too commonplace in our lives these days.  We need to let it direct us to the paths that God wants us to walk in rather than the paths that everyone else is walking in.  We need to let that holy Word humble us and bring us to our knees in repentance.  For in 2 Chronicles 7:14 God himself tells us: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 

   Now I realize what I’m telling you is nothing new.  We all know up here in our heads that reading and studying the Bible is what we’re supposed to do.  But if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll have to admit that knowing it and doing it are two different things.  So I want to close with a great story that I heard from one of the speakers at the Worldview Weekend Conference that Marilyn and I attended back in April.

   This story is about a young woman who had a friend that recommended she read a particular novel.  So she went down to the local bookstore, purchased the novel, and began to read it.  She got through the first couple of chapters and didn’t think it was all that interesting, so she put it up on the shelf and forgot about it.  Well, a couple weeks later she was at a party where she met this very nice guy.  And as they talked throughout that evening and got to know one another, her heart began to beat a little faster and she found him to be quite interesting.  Then when she asked him what he did for a living, she found out that he was the author of the book that she found to be too boring to read.  What a coincidence, right?  Well, she didn’t tell him that she had stopped reading his book, but I’ll bet you can guess what she did when she got home.  She got that book off the shelf and started reading it again.  And all of a sudden, it took on a whole new life, a whole new meaning, and she couldn’t put it down.

   Now, what was the difference?  The difference was she had fallen in love with the author.  And my friends, it is my contention that when we fall in love with the Author of this book that we call the Bible, it becomes the most exciting and interesting book in the world.  That’s my prayer for all of you here today, that you will do just that, that you will fall in love with the Author of this book, which is really a pretty easy thing to do, when you think about it.  For he loved you first.  In fact, he loved you so much that he gave you the best he had to offer in the person of his Son Jesus Christ who suffered and died in your place to pay for your sins so that you might be able to one day have the joy and privilege of spending eternity in his glorious presence.  And when you open this Book and start reading its pages, you will discover that you’re not just reading some ancient document, but rather you are reading nothing less than his personal love letter to you.  Amen.