Five years ago, I received one of those phone calls. You know the type. The name pops up on the screen and your stomach drops. You know that the uncle you hardly ever talk to on the phone, is likely calling to deliver some news that a text or facebook message wouldn’t be appropriate for. In my heart – in my bones – I knew. I let it ring a few times while I settled myself quickly and then answered.
Hi Uncle Brad, what’s up?
It was my Dad. He died in the middle of the night – unexpectedly a few months before his 70thbirthday. We had just buried my grandma (his mom) two years before, and I think he died of a broken heart. The coroner said the official term was coronary disease.
I was in my mid thirties, and with a 3 year old and a seven month old in tow, we went and planned a funeral 2,000 miles away. It all seems like a blur now, and as I reflect I just have to smile at God’s timing.
I knew my Dad loved Jesus, and I knew my Dad loved me. But you know what was neat? After returning from California with much of my Dad’s belongings, I found notes he had written in the margins of books he was reading about God. I saw goals he had written down, ideas and thoughts he had about theology. What a gift to see that in your parent’s own handwriting.
My dad had lived a hard life – as a kid, he was despised by his stepfather, he had failed marriages and two children he was estranged from most of their lives. He struggled with substance abuse and it wasn’t until later in life when he was paying for the consequences of those choices that he came to faith in Jesus. I reconnected with my Dad in my teens, although he was in California and I was here, and it was mostly through the mail and phone calls. As I got older we had trips and visits – and he didn’t miss an opportunity to share his testimony of faith with me. It was powerful to then see that belief continue until the day he died.
The last two years of my Dad’s life, I had grown closer to him. He had lost his mom, his best friend, and he was lonely. We talked and texted more. I checked in on him and spent time listening to what was happening in his life. Just getting to know more of who he was. He was a man that carried a lot of burdens and regret from his past, trying to look forward and follow Jesus.
Three months after my dad died, my grandma on my mom’s side sent me some mail. She was going through boxes and found letters that my dad had written her from his time in prison (postmarked 1996). Letter after letter, he poured his heart out about Jesus, his love for my half sister and me, and more. While I don’t have a lot of memories of my Dad from age 4-16, I can be thankful for God’s provision in this other way. In one letter to my grandma, he wrote that he didn’t have money to send me a gift so he wrote me this poem and sent it to me. Thankfully (miraculously?) my grandma kept this letter and her copy of the poem, because I didn’t have it.
If you’re still with me – and wondering what any of this has to do with our reading for today – let’s dive in.
2 Chronicles 34:14-33 (and 2 Kings 22 is another good cross reference for this chapter)
Josiah is king, and he’s following the ways of the Lord – going away from his predecessors and ancestors’ idolatry and sin. He is having the temple restored and during this restoration process, one of the high priests, Hilkiah, finds the lost scroll, what we call the book of Deuteronomy. What a discovery!
So. Many. Questions.
How long has it been lost? DECADES!
How did it get lost? (Those funny memes of You Had ONE Job are entering my mind) But truly, it was in the very place that it should be – in the temple that the high priests had access to.
Is Deuteronomy THAT critical? YES! Such a rich book, tying together God’s law and God’s love for his people. Deuteronomy also shows us that keeping the law is in response to God’s grace, not a means to earn God’s favor. Jesus references scripture in Deuteronomy more than any other OT book, even combating the temptations of Satan with these powerful words (Luke 4).
Now what? The book is rediscovered (thanks, Hilkiah) and King Josiah uses these words to turn the hearts of the people back to the Lord. It’s a revival of sorts, with repentance, reconciliation, and restoration. God’s word is powerful, living, and brings people to action! If you missed Stephanie’s post last week on King Josiah, check out the details here.
So back to Hilkiah, the high priest that found the lost book. What a cool legacy and blessing that had to be in his own life! When I first read this passage I had to ask myself – have I ever lost anything and then found it? Or discovered something that maybe I didn’t even know was missing? The letters my grandma found from my Dad quickly came to mind, and I’m so blessed by them. And they’re nothing in comparison to the words we have from our Heavenly Father!
What a gift He gave us in revealing Himself to us through scripture. Do we long to read the words? Treasure them for the love and grace they pour into us? Keep them in our hearts and ready to use? When was the last time I craved the Word, just so I could know God more? If we want to grow in our love for God and his people, wouldn’t getting to know Him more deeply, be a great start?
