2 Chronicles 30:6-12     OT p. 355 or 500

[6] So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, as the king had commanded, saying, "O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.

[7] Do not be like your ancestors and your kindred, who were faithless to the Lord God of their ancestors, so that he made them a desolation, as you see.

[8] Do not now be stiff-necked as your ancestors were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce anger may turn away from you.

[9] For as you return to the Lord, your kindred and your children will find compassion with their captors, and return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him."

[10] So the couriers went from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun; but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.

[11] Only a few from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

[12] The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the officials commanded by the word of the Lord. [NRSV]

INTRODUCTION:

I think I may have told this story before but here goes anyway. A woman purchased a new vacuum cleaner a short time before Christmas. The demonstration at the department store had convinced her that this was indeed the vacuum cleaner for her. It was a technological wonder. It did everything you could imagine a vacuum cleaner could do - and more.

However, when she got it home, she was not quite as impressed. There must have been a short in it or something. Because the crazy thing kept going off and on. Off and on. She'd vacuum like crazy for a minute and then the stupid thing would go off. The more she vacuumed and the more she fiddled with everything, the madder she got. She wasn't a happy camper.

She called the vacuum cleaner salesperson and complained about the piece of junk he had sold her. "Here I just bought a brand new vacuum cleaner, and it's already on the fritz!" After describing what it was and wasn't doing, the man was unable to explain what was wrong. So he finally agreed to come to the house and look at the vacuum cleaner, assuring her that he would either fix it or replace it.

Within one minute after the salesperson had arrived, the problem with the vacuum was solved. It seems that in her haste to use her new technological marvel, the woman had plugged the vacuum cleaner cord into the Christmas tree blinker outlet. Unfortunately, vacuum cleaners don't work well that way. (1)

Vacuum cleaners don't work well that way and neither does a relationship with God.

In our readings from Chronicles over the last couple of weeks, there was a growing trend. The further we got from David and Solomon in history, the further the people got from God. They remind me of that Ronco infomercial for the Rotisserie. You probably know the one I'm talking about. They show how easy it is to use and after each demonstration they say: "You just set it and forget it." Over and over again, ad nauseum, they say, "Just set it and forget it."

Well that's the way the Kings after David and Solomon seem to handle their relationship with God. Some "Got it." Some "Forgot it!" And it seemed that more "Forgot it!" than "Got it!"

Rehoboam "Forgot it."

Abijah and his son Asa "Got it."

Ahab "Forgot it."

Jehoshaphat "Got it."

Jehoram "Forgot it."

Ahaziah "Got it."

Joash "Got it." but then "Forgot it."

Amaziah "Forgot it."

Uzziah "Got it." but then "Forgot it."

Jotham "Got it."

Ahaz "Forgot it."

Hezekiah "Got it."

Manasseh and Amon "Forgot it."

Josiah "Got it."

Jehoahaz didn't have time to "Get it." or "Forget it." remember Egypt defeated them and put his brother in charge.

Jehoiakim and his sons Jehoiachin and Zedekiah all "Forgot it." And Jerusalem fell to the Chaldeans where many were exiled to Babylon.

They "Got it," and then "Forgot it," Again and Again and Again. Just like a yo-yo.

Our lives are like that too at times. Our faith journey can be compared to the Chronicles of the Kings. One day it's up, next day it's down. Some days we "Get it." And some days we "Forget it." We run hot and cold. We don't like to admit it but it happens. We come to the revival or a special program or a retreat and something clicks. We meet God.

We have a God moment or a close encounter with God and our lives are changed. We're set on fire for God and the work of God. but after a week or two or a month or two, it begins to wear thin. And the next thing you know we're right back where we started from. We slip into the old ways and the close encounter with God, that God moment that we thought would define the rest of our lives is only a memory instead of a driving force.

For whatever reason, we're just like the kings Chronicles. We "Get it," and then "Forget it." Again and Again and Again.

As we look at this passage and explore why and what we can do about it. I want us to look at THE CAUSE, THE CALL and THE COVENANT.

I. THE CAUSE:

A. NEGLECT: What happened? Why did they turn away? Why do WE turn away?

Well one of the reasons is NEGLECT. We have this encounter with God and it fires us up for service. We pray like crazy for the first day or two. We even read our Bible every day. But then, as the days go by we become less and less diligent in our devotional and prayer time. We put it off until evening and then after awhile we put it off completely. Then we're embarrassed and we don't want anyone to know, so we come with a ton of excuses for not going to Church. And pretty soon, we've fallen completely out of the habit.

B. WRONG DECISIONS: Another reason we turn away is WRONG DECISIONS.

In Friday's comics, the character Spooner is driving along with the top down on his sportscar. He thinks to himself: "THIS is the life!"

All of sudden his car starts sputtering and acting up. In the last panel, the hood is up and Spooner is under the car thinking: ". . . just not the right one." (2)

Haven't you ever felt like that? You made one wrong decision and now you're stuck with the consequences. You're embarrasses and don't know where to turn.

C. LAZINESS: Then there's LAZINESS. We simply don't make the effort. This is easiest one to fall into. It's easier to sit and watch TV and be a couch potato, or sit in the pew and be a pew potato than to really get involved. It's easier to let somebody else do it. If we use a football team as an example of the Church, then there are quarterbacks, halfbacks, and fullbacks. But some teams have a few drawbacks, too. You become a drawback if you're lazy.

D. ATTITUDES: Next is our ATTITUDE. Sometimes, even after a major encounter with God, we take the attitude that it's too early to get ready to go to heaven. Comedian Flip Wilson was asked about his religion one time and said: "Oh, I'm a Jehovah's Bystander. They asked me to be a Jehovah's Witness, but I didn't want to get involved."

We're all like that at times. We want to "enjoy" life a little more before we commit to anything. Unfortunately, with that ATTITUDE we're missing the REAL JOY of life; a fulfilling, meaningful, rewarding relationship with God.

E. FOOLISHNESS: Sometimes we we're just FOOLISH. Our pride gets in the way and we just make fools out of ourselves through our ignorance. Sort of like the battered old man who got up one night during a revival and said: "Brothers and sisters, you know and I know that I ain't been what I ought to have been. I've stolen hogs, and told lies, and got drunk. I was always getting in fights; cussing and swearing. I liked to shoot craps, play poker and run with fast women. But I thank the Lord there's one thing I ain't never done: I ain't never lost my religion." Sometimes all we have to do is open our mouths and we sound foolish.

II. THE CALL:

So what are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to break this cycle of "Get it," and "Forget it.?" Where do we turn? Who do we turn to? That brings us to THE CALL.

The answer is here in the Scripture. We are called to "return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he may turn again to . . . you. . ." [vs. 5] "yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God." [vs. 8]

Return, yield, serve. Simple instructions from God and a simple call from King Hezekiah to his people. "Return! Yield! Serve! Return! Yield! Serve!"

Again and Again and Again, God calls out to the Israelites. Yet Again and Again and Again they "Get it," and then "Forget it." And again God calls, "Return! Yield! Serve!" That's the call to each of us from God.

We are called to return to God and then we're called to persevere.

When he was seven years old, his family was forced out of their home on a legal technicality, and he had to work to help support them. At age nine, his mother died.

At 22, he lost his job as a store clerk. He wanted to go to law school, but his education wasn't good enough.

At 23, he went into debt to become a partner in a small store.

At 26, his business partner died, leaving him a huge debt that took years to repay.

At 28, after courting a girl for four years, he asked her to marry him. She said no.

At 37, on his third try, he was elected to Congress, but two years later, he failed to be re-elected.

At 41, his four-year-old son died. At 45, he ran for the Senate and lost.

At 47, he failed as the vice-presidential candidate.

At 49, he ran for the Senate again, and lost.

At 51, he was elected president of the United States. His name was Abraham Lincoln, a man many consider the greatest leader the country ever had. (3) That's perseverance.

But we don't always persevere. Sometime we crater at the first rattle out of the bag. Well, despite the fact that the cycle of "Get it," and "Forget it," continues. Despite the fact that we continue to blow it and we continue to fail. Despite our shortcomings and our tendency to jump in, get all cranked up and then run out of gas. God continues to be our God and continues to call.

Why? Why does God continue to put up with us? Why did God continue to put up with all the idiot Kings and their faithlessness?

III. THE COVENANT:

A. That brings us to THE COVENANT. Scripture tells us about the Covenant. The author reminds the reader that, "The Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him."

That's a pretty good covenant, don't you think? I do. What a promise. God will not turn his face from us. God will not desert us. God will not leave us to our own devices. God will not leave us orphaned. That's what this covenant is all about. God promises to be faithful to us if we will return to Him.

And the great news is that God wants us back, no matter what.

B. Watch this short video advertisement that will be part of an upcoming National Campaign for the Untied Methodist Church: Love Letters.

That's the point. Again and Again and Again we fail and fall away. But Again and Again and Again God calls us back. That's God's promise. "I will be your God and you will be my people." That's what God says. God loves us and wants us back, no matter how many times we fail or fall away. God wants you back. That's part of God's Covenant. And that's why Christ came, that's why He gave His life on the cross, to lead you back.

CONCLUSION:

One of the devotionals I use is called Daily Wisdom To Go. Friday the devotional title was Controlled Fire. I want to share it with you.

They stood spread out along the edges of the wooded area, along roads and trails. They watched as the fire spread throughout the area. This was no ordinary fire. It was one set by the people watching it. To keep the fire under control, they would have to keep the fire contained within the boundaries they had set before they ignited the fire.

The fire spread rapidly at times and slowly at other times. It was controlled by the wind, but other small, barely-noticeable factors also controlled what the fire did. As long as the people followed certain precautions and did as they were taught, the fire remained under control.

But if they became either lazy or egotistical, they would lose control. When this happened, the fire jumped outside of the safe perimeters and started other blazes that would spread rapidly.

The people had to use most of their energy and strength to get these fires under control. They learned quickly that it was wiser to keep a watchful eye on the fire while it was under control than to let down their guard and let it get away from them.

Ever watching over them was the fire chief, the one who knew how to control the fire. If they had questions, uncertainties, or doubt, they could go to the fire chief for answers and directions. He not only knew how to control the fire, but how to get it back under control once it got outside of the safe perimeters. He gave the people a sense of calm in a dangerous situation, just by knowing that they could go to the fire chief anytime and he would be there for them to guide them.

How long has it been since you have talked to the Fire Chief?

Just remember this, whatever THE CAUSE for not having talked with God, whatever THE CAUSE for the separation, if you listen you'll hear God's CALL and reminder of THE COVENANT.

God is calling Again and Again and Again. Can't you hear THE CALL.

1. The Pastor's Story File (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), December 1998

2. Spooner, Ted Dawson, 6/8/2001

3. Taken from Leadership, Vol. 4, #1, p. 83.

4. Daily Wisdom To God, http://www.gospelcom.net/gci/dw/2001/06/08/