Disastrous consequences of redirecting our sights.

I'm spending a couple of days with Mother and Dad here in Winona Lake, IN, and, as is their daily routine, we had breakfast and immediately brought the Bibles to the table. They are reading through the Bible about two chapters a day (used to be 3 or 4, but Dad can't keep up now), and today we were in II Kings 16 and 17.
Lately it has been my experience that I have seen many things that are out of line both in my life and in church situations, but it never came home to me like this morning.
The kings of Judah and Israel were generally a bad lot (with only two exceptions). We know this because the Lord tells us so and the statement is something like this: "Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God" and then there is a description of the areas in which this particular king departed from the right path. So it was with Ahaz. Though he was king of Judah, he "walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and even sacrificed his son in the fire" thus going one step further than they in his apostasy. Others had not destroyed the asherah poles, and the high places, now he was worshipping at them. He did this in imitation of the worship of the people that the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel.
He seemed to find every place to be a good place for worship of the canaanite gods.
Now the attacks come from the outside in the form of Rezin of Aram and Pekah of Israel. God was at the ready to save Ahaz and Judah from this invasion, but Ahaz had his head turned in the wrong direction. Instead, he looked to Tiglath Pilezer, king of Assyria. Bad mistake! You see, God had the answer, but Ahaz was not in tune with God's radio station! He sent a message to Tiglath Pilezer. He reminded him of the fact that he (Ahaz) was a taxpayer, and under the terms of the Middle East Taxpayers Protection Act he needed protection NOW! Money was not an object, for Ahaz had at his disposition a number of silver and gold plates, bowls, etc. which he sent along as his contribution for the 'favor' of his protection. So Tiglath Pilezer obliged by attacking and conquering Damascus. Ahaz met him there, and they took a look at the city. Ahaz' eyes were drawn to an altar which was there, and he found out that he could get the blueprints for it. It was so much more modern and up-to-date than the old altar in Jerusalem! Why, if we had an altar like this, we would certainly have a better attendance at the House of the Lord!! So he sent a blueprint to Uriah the priest, who immediately put his workmen to the job of a Temple remodelling project. By the time Ahaz got home, the project was completed. Oh how much nicer the temple and its equipment looked. It was even equipped with a back-up altar (the original) in case this one should happen not to work sometime, such as, when I really need God.!! So Ahaz went ahead and presented a sacrifice on the new and improved altar (a NoNo which caused Saul to lose his kingship, for the priest was the one that was supposed to officiate at the offerings).
The final touches in the remodelling project struck me as horribly reminiscent of churchianity today. The small wash basins were on movable stands. This is just a temporary thing. Why not make a permanent base, so that the Temple will look more stable and not just a fly by night outfit? The large washing tub which was supported by a set of cast bronze bulls now became permanent on a stone base. The Sabbath canopy, a religious symbol of the day of rest, together with the royal entryway, not to be used by just anybody, was removed. Interestingly, these actions were taken "in deference to the king of Assyria." Without a doubt that was brought about, at the very least, by a passing comment by Tiglath-Pilezer to the effect that such "exclusiveness" offended him.
Ahaz, as so many others since then, changed direction in the area of management. God was meant to be the regent and manager of His People, Israel. But instead, Ahaz took his problems to Tiglath-Pilezer, whose only interest in him was the fact that he, too, felt threatened by Rezin and Pekah.
He changed direction in his view of money. God's perspective on money is that it is to be used to honor Him and to help others. But Ahaz used money to buy help and show subservience to Assyria.
He changed direction in his view of ministry. After seeing the altar in Damascus, Ahaz must have thought "There's no way we can compete with this with our li'l ole portable altar" and "the Temple is getting somewhat rundown--I'm sure there are believing Israelites who are ashamed to worship in such dingy surroundings. We need to remodel--besides, it will be much more acceptable to Tiglath-Pilezer."
I got to thinking... When I am in a tight squeeze, do I go to God for help, or do I bring it to a friend, a banker, a doctor who will be glad to take $2-300 from me without necessarily helping at all. Do I see spreading money around as the solution to my problems and those of my church, missions, family life, etc. Is it easier for me to buy "rice Christians" than to tell others of salvation in Jesus Christ?
Am I a devotee of "architectural evangelism". I like things nice, don't I? I actually heard one gentleman speak of church building design as his contribution to "architectural evangelism"
Am I substituting physical food for spiritual food?

Just some thoughts...

Who is my neighbor?

It seems that the Lord works in my life by bringing an idea to mind and then having the same idea come to mind through the messages I hear during the next week or two.
On my way home from work the other day, I heard most of a very good message on the subject of my duty toward my neighbor.
Speaking from Luke 10, the parable of the Good Samaritan tells us much about our personal response to need around us.
May I say in passing, that I have always admired the Amish for their loyalty within the family and their community. I have also admired the Mennonites and a few other groups for their care for the needy and those who have been struck by a natural disaster.
It is interesting that the lawyers of Jesus' day were conscience stricken at some of Jesus' teaching, and tried to knock Him down in other areas (logic, application, etc.) in order to justify their own lack of action on behalf of the ones who could not protect themselves.
It was on such an occasion that Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. The setting is that of a person who has been attacked, robbed and left for dead (not exactly one who is able to do for himself). Jesus tells of the reaction of three different people when they see this terrible scene.
The first, a priest (equivalent roughly to a preacher in our day) saw the scene, crossed over to the other sidewalk and continued on his way. Today it might mean moving over several lanes on a highway in order to avoid doing something about someone in an accident, or moving to another neighborhood in order to avoid seeing the sights altogether. He may even have had the cleanest of motives, such as the need to keep himself available to the people he was headed to minister to. God forbid he should be laid up for a week until he could be cleansed of the uncleanness of having touched a body of someone who might just be dead. This would have interfered with his schedule. Or maybe he was already running late, and he figured someone else would take care of him, a layman, perhaps?
The second, a levite (roughly equivalent to our deacons and trustees) whose job was to take care of the business of the temple. His response="Not my JOB". Once again, he may just have had the interests of the temple in mind, and felt his job there was of utmost importance, and therefore he could not spare the time and effort.
The third, a Samaritan, despised by the Jews for being a half-breed, product of an interracial marriage, and not a follower of God as prescribed by the Law.
His response was amazingly simple: "Here's a man in need... here I am... I've seen the need... I'm able to help... I will help... "
The speaker pointed out that there are several negatives this man had to overcome to do this.
1) The person in need was Unknown. The idea that we are only responsible to our family is not biblical, for we are challenged to care for our family first, and then others, especially those who are part of the family of faith.
2) The person in need, if able to, would have been Unkind. He was going from Jerusalem to Jericho, so it can safely be assumed that he was a Jew who resided in Jerusalem, and had business to do in Jericho.
3) To help this man was Inconvenient as he, too, had business to transact, or he would probably not have been out on the road exposing himself to the weather and the possible attack of highwaymen.
4) To help this man was definitely Unprofitable. His reaction could have been very different. He could have said "I should do something about it? I don't work for a Non Profit Organization!!" In stead he put his own personal time, money, and provisions into the act of helping a person in need.
I'm sure the Samaritan was no more excited about seeing a person all covered with blood, lacerations and bruises than I would be, but Scripture tells us that he "had compassion on him" that is, he cared about him, felt for him. Then he did something about it. After disinfecting them with wine, and soothing them with oil, he bound his wounds, then he lifted him onto his own donkey, and walked the rest of the way leading his donkey until he arrived at the local inn, where he made him as comfortable as possible and then made arrangements personally with the innkeeper to take care of the man until he could personally come back and check on him, promising to pay the difference when he arrived back from transacting his business. Then, and only then, he went on to do his own business.

Lord, help me not to lose sight of people and their needs. Keep me balanced, clinging to the truth, but also being willing to invest in others who have needs that they cannot meet.

As the song writer said "Lord help me live from day to day in such a self-forgetful way, that even when I kneel to pray, my prayer shall be for others. Others, Lord, yes others, let this my motto be: Help me to live for others that I might live for Thee."