August 26, 2015

“When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. The anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there because he reached out his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God.” 2 Samuel 6:6-7

“In the worldview of that time a sacred object could bring good and harm. It was not meant to be touched by a common person and when this occurred as with Uzziah, he died because of God’s anger and the punishment of death was for his breach of etiquette. It reminds me a little of the incredible outburst by the British papers when Paul Keating (then Prime Minister of Australia) touched the Queen on the back. The outburst was as though God had struck him dead.

We have to remember this was the understanding of the time. Now we eat what is sacred (the body and blood of Christ) and it is meant to be life-giving not a means of death. Since the advent of Christ we see a compassionate God who would not act in this way towards people. We still treat certain objects with due reverence, but it is not a matter of death if by accident it gets dropped or used for another purpose.” Anna Grant-Henderson “Old Testament Lectionary” (Uniting church website)

There are the stories that we hear as Seminarians about dropping chalices of wine during communion, or dropping bread on the floor while distributing the “body of Christ”. It is one of the biggest fears I have in handling the elements during Holy Communion, but it is going to happen once in a while. Thank goodness G*d will not strike me dead if in fact this kind of accident takes place. We read the story of poor Uzzah who simply tried to keep the ark of the covenant from toppling over, and we are shocked by the reaction from G*d. But G*d made a distinct separation between the Holy and the Profane — the sacred and the secular — and poor Uzzah crossed the line. So what is the purpose of the story?

Today, the sacred is meant for life — not for death. We need to remember that there are things that are sacred to G*d and therefore need to be treated with utmost respect. The sacred leads to eternal life — things like G*d’s Word, the sacraments of Holy Communion and Baptism, and sacred space like where-ever two or three gather in the name of Jesus. No longer does G*d smite those who mistreat the sacred, but we still need to teach that the sacred is devoted to G*d, and therefore needs to be treated with reverence.

Pastor Dave