Doing What is Right

Scripture

 Judges 21:25

²⁵ In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes. (NRSV)

Devotion

 My church will spend a good bit of this summer learning about the 1 & 2 Samuel.  These books tell the story of a time of radical social change as the ancient Israelites transform from a marginal group of tribes that rely upon judges to lead them during times of crisis to a centralized state constantly headed by a king.  As the people transition from one form of government to another, they continue to struggle with what it means to be faithful to God.  What happens, for instance, when human kings don't follow the will of the Divine monarch?  How do people's personal lives and foibles overlap with the affairs of state?   How does God continue to work behind the scenes when it plans go awry and even our most trusted leaders fail us?  The Samuels unpack all these questions and more.  This blog will spend a good portion of July and August focusing on some of the stories that aren't covered in our church's 8 week sermon series.

1 Samuel picks up where the Book of Judges ends.  Judges ends on a somber and hopeless note, saying that without a king to guide them, the people who made up the 12 tribes of Israel "did what was right in their own eyes."   Considering how sinful and easily misguided people are, it should be no surprise that what was right in ancient Israelites' eyes was rarely what what was right in God's eyes.  The second half of Judges includes stories of idolatry, backstabbing, human sacrifice, abuse, rape, and inter-tribal slaughter.  The further the people fall into sin, the more the text implies that is what happens when people don't have someone to guide them; this is what happens when you don't have a king.

What the people have forgotten is that while they may not have a human monarch, God is already their divine king.  Any guidance the people may need can be found in Torah--the sacred list of God's instructions to the people that covers everything from what to eat and how to handle physical ailments to provide for widows, orphans, and foreigners.  Torah's ethics of care stresses treating people justly, providing mercy for those who are marginalized/oppressed, and always walking humbly with God.  At its basic level, Torah teaches that if we are to follow the edicts of our Divine Ruler, we are to live in ways that show love for God and one another.  Any action that does not live into God's love is to do what is right in our own eyes...and that always goes horribly wrong.

The conclusion to Judges is bleak; but before we cast any stones at these people, we should take a hard look at our own lives.  Are we people who truly follow the King of kings..or do we tend to do what seems right in our own sinful eyes?  Do we follow Torah's, the prophets', and Jesus's instructions to aid the oppressed, downtrodden, and marginalized; or do we say that God helps those who help themselves?  Do we give our second shirt to the person who has no shirt and our extra food to the person who has no food (Luke3:11), or do we hoard our resources while saying that God helps those who help themselves (a statement that is not found anywhere in the Bible)? Do we welcome the stranger and treat them as one of our own (Leviticus 19:34), or do we erect barriers between ourselves and others?   Do we seek to love and pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44), or do we search for ways to justify our fear, disdain, and hatred of them?

Most (if not all) of us consistently ignore God's teachings and instead think, say, and do what is right in our own eyes.  Just as in Judges, our decisions to act as if we have no divine king result in pain and devastation wherever we turn.  It is time to turn our eyes back to Jesus and ask him to straighten out our twisted, human values.  May the mandates of our holy, just, and merciful ruler inspire us to lift up those we would otherwise push down.  May we follow God's call to embrace those we want to push away.  May we give when we would rather take.  And may we love when we would rather hate.  These are the values that our scriptures constantly lift up.  These are the instructions God expects us to follow. 

Beloved, the Good News is that we have a king.  Now let's act like it.  And may all the world come to know the joy of submitting to the rule of King Jesus's divine love. 

Prayer

God, you are my true king.  Untwist our values and lead us in right paths, so that we may do not what is right in our human eyes...but what is right in yours.  Help me to trust in you always, for you are my Sovereign and my Savior.  Amen.