When Even Pagans Get It Right
Wednesday (September 3)
When Even Pagans Get It Right
1 Samuel 6:2-3
And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD?” … They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.”
Let the events of 1 Samuel 6 be a lesson to us that while it isn’t a good idea to seek the counsel of false teachers and clerics of dead religions, God can speak His wisdom through whatever means He wishes whenever He wants. Even devotees to Dagon are still humans made in the image of their true Creator, with a marred but not entirely lost perception of their relationship to Him. And the reasonableness of their response here fills me with hope that behind the scenes of the written narrative, somewhere between chapter 6 and 7, even these men bow the knee to Jehovah and do away with their dumb idols for good. Say what you will about the superstitious practices of ancient pagans, but I think we sin far too easily and say “sorry” far too often. We talk about our addictions and our bitterness and our greed with ease, as if we’re shooting the breeze, and pray together in discipleship groups, and encourage each other to go out and do better, but there’s often no sting to it. Now don’t get me wrong: this isn’t a call to penance; our salvation doesn’t depend on our sacrifice, but Christ’s. But that doesn’t take us off the hook. Just because our LORD paid the debt in full doesn’t mean we shouldn’t express our remorse in real and symbolic ways. Maybe today, what you need to do is get rid of that TV subscription for a month, or fast for a few days from food, or cut off the internet service in your home, or end that impure relationship, or find a new job that doesn’t require you to compromise your ethics, or cancel that vacation you’d scheduled this weekend and spend time in prayer and consecration.
“Blessed are the pure in heart,” Christ told us. And purity doesn’t come by the ease of “Sorry” and “Thank You.” It comes through the effort of self discipline and self-denial.