Touching the Ark by Thomas Mackie

Thomas was awoken early one morning recently and it led him to write down these thoughts as he spent time before the Lord. I wanted to share them with you ...

It’s hard for me to say whether or not I’m in God’s will on a day to day basis. Sometimes I “feel” very close to Him and other days I am certain that I have wandered away again. Two things about God: He is Holy and He does not change. He is I AM.

In 2 Samuel Chapter 6 when Uzzah and the congregation of worshippers is escorting the Ark back from its’ unlawful keepers, something drastic happens. Uzzah touches the Ark. Uzzah means well by reaching out to steady the ark when the ox pulling it stumbles when the cart it is being carried on is jolted. However, this is several steps in the wrong direction already by the time Uzzah is smote for touching it. So much is said about handling the Ark that it could not have been a simple “error” on anyone’s part how it was being cared for.

The first question asked by my two young boys when we discussed the story is “why did God kill him for doing that? He was just trying to keep it from falling!” I agree to some extent. But the sure thing mentioned above about my King is – He is Holy and He does not change.

To bring His people closer to Himself, God gave instructions about sin and the consequences of it. He made a place where His people could approach Him and He made a way for things to be reconciled. He did all this with precision and care to ensure that the Israelites knew when they had made full and proper sacrifice for sins committed. He also gave instructions for how the Ark was to be made and with meticulous detail as to how it was to be cared for and by whom. The sin committed by the worshippers in 1 Samuel is not like a ref making a bad call in a game and having all the viewers shouting “why the flag?”. Uzzah had committed a flagrant personal foul and everyone there knew the rules.

But now it seems that we as His Church have gone down the road again with the ox cart. Having been given the right to be called children of God, and having the desire to worship him in recognition of His love we seem to be foolishly dancing down the road with the whole worship band (2 Samuel 6) doing things our way.

On Christmas day A.D. 00 the King left his throne and in place of it he laid in a sheep pen. He gave Himself in love for us as a ransom not too many years later. And on Pentecost, we were given the Holy Spirit - the “deposit” on life with Him now and forever. And in some mysterious way we carry His presence with us. He has given Himself to us and upon acknowledging Him and our need of Him, we are His temple – Holy and blameless in His sight because of who He is and what He has done.

*This next part will seem harsh – kind of like justice for Uzzah that day.

But now life for the most part inside the church and outside the church in the U.S. in 2007 looks pretty much the same. Don’t misunderstand - I’m not calling for us to shun society and all become Amish though it may be the way for some of us. But when the divorce rate is the same inside and outside the church it gives me pause. When the “Christian” book selection shuffles to what’s “new” or “anointed” this week, it just looks the same as secular media. When the chorus of religious zealots comes unglued over the next popular outrage or loss of our “religious freedom” (by the way, have you noticed that the places where “religious freedom” don’t exist are the places where real lives are really being transformed?) Or when the snappy sermon or Christian entertainment has to look, sound and smell just like everything pagan to be significant we have strayed. Like Uzzah and the congregation, the presence of The Almighty God was there but the experience of being His people instead of the experience of being with HIM was desired most. All the while our King was all we needed.

Who or what are our ears listening to? Attendance numbers and tithe tallies do not represent hearts of flesh, softened by God. Another building campaign, another popular program and one more godly experience where “I felt it!” does not symbolize the prodigal returning home to the Father.

Recently I read something that puts a fine point on it. To paraphrase, the writer said that if it’s not explicitly the pre-eminence of Christ that’s being exulted then it’s a loss. I am confident that King David meant well in celebrating the return of the Ark. I am sure the congregation was sincere in what they believed to be right. I am even sure that in following someone like David in this task, Uzzah meant well.

But it’s not about good intentions. Someone said once that “good” is the enemy of “best”. And since the Creator of the universe doesn’t make mistakes, we can only learn again from Uzzah - who we are more like than we would probably admit. What else could we need to build, to say or to do for God when He has already given – freely given to the ones that he loves, lavishly all things in Christ Jesus.