June 19, 2025
The time is about 1100 BC, give or take a few decades. Long before Israel will become a unified country, it is now no more than a loose confederation of tribes. There is no capital, only a smattering of regional shrines and holy places. The most important of these is at Shiloh, in southern Israel, because it holds the Ark of the Covenant, or the Ark of God. Built during the time of their wilderness wanderings, the Ark is understood to be God’s home. To stand in front of the Ark is to be in the presence of God.
The events of today’s text take place in SW Israel, near if not in the Gaza Strip (where Israel is presently fighting a war). The Philistines who live there have attacked the Israelites and dealt them a major defeat. The Israelites respond by sending men to Shiloh to bring back the Ark of God. When the Ark enters the Israelite camp, the army is so excited they cheer until the ground shakes. Victory is assured!
But instead of the victory they expect, the Philistines rally and deal the Israelites a stunning defeat. Many Israelites are killed, including the two priests attached to the Ark. Most devastating of all is that the Ark of God is captured by the Philistines and carried off in triumph.
The Israelites have learned a very important but costly lesson. God is not a magical cannon who can be trundled out to blast our enemies. God is not confined to a thing or a place. God will shape history in many and various ways and from anywhere God chooses.
You and I are unlikely to ever have to battle any Philistines, nor do we have ownership of the Ark of God. Nevertheless, the Israelites’ experience can still resonate with us today.
A few years ago, I served a church in WI as their interim pastor. Some 10-15 years before I arrived, the church had suffered a devastating fire. What had once been an important, downtown church, covering most of a city block, became nothing more than a heap of smoldering rubble.
At first, as you can imagine, the church was devastated. Their symbol of God’s presence was gone. The sign of God’s favor had gone up in flames.
But before long, the church rallied. Praying as if it all depended on God, and working as if it all depended on them, they salvaged what they could and then looked to the future. They bought land on the edge of town. They built a building suitable to their size, but which would allow for expansion and was much easier to maintain than their former building. They also built a huge, easily accessible parking lot. Something that was also lacking in their downtown home.
My WI congregation learned what the Israelites learned. God is not a mighty talisman who will magically solve all our problems. The size of our choir, youth program or mission giving will not woo God to us nor can we use them to bargain with God.
These are good lessons for all churches to store in the back of their mind for that time when disaster strikes, as it always eventually will. Now is the time to let it sink in that God is God and God will shape history in many various ways from anywhere God chooses.
May God’s peace be with us all, Pastor Ken.