Read today’s texts first: 2 Samuel 6; 1 Chronicles 13; Psalms 68; Matthew 17
We can be ourselves with God; He knows us better than anyone….When it comes to God’s presence,
passion is more important than protocol!
Today is the last day to file our taxes and, coincidentally, today we read about Jesus paying His. He notes the irony; technically, he is the King of Kings but here He is required to pay taxes to an earthly king (17:24-27). What is remarkable about all of our readings today is how the miraculous presence of God is lived out in the mundane matters of life.
In our OT stories we read about David bringing the Ark of God’s Presence back to where it belongs - Mt. Zion, the eventual location of the Temple. When God is taken for granted, things will not go well, as Uzzah learned the hard way (6:6,7 - hopefully he wasn’t an ancestor of the Buzza clan). But when God’s presence is accepted gratefully and respectfully, as Obed-Edom and his family discovered, God’s blessing is poured out (6:10-12).
When some may consider certain behavior or dress (or undress) inappropriate in God’s presence (eg. Michal, David’s wife - 6:17,20), David showed us that passion is more important than protocol (6:16,21,22). He said, I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes (6:21b-22a). Attitude is everything. When we truly love God and are genuinely grateful for His presence in our everyday life, we don’t have to be stuffy or uptight. I say this to help those who tend to judge fellow parishioners based on the way they dress and act in church. We can be ourselves with God; He knows us better than anyone!
Our NT reading illustrates the same thing. It starts with a glorious revelation of God’s presence on what became known as the Mount of Transfiguration and ends with Jesus and Peter filing their taxes. Notice that Matthew, the former tax collector, is the only gospel writer to include this story. He obviously had a special appreciation for the way Jesus, King of Heaven, dealt with terrestrial trivialities. Even in that very ordinary moment, the extraordinary, miracle-working power of God was present (17:27).
“Lord, as I send my tax returns in today, I know that You are with me. You know me and care about me even in my most mundane moments. I say with David, Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah (pause and think about it!) (68:19).”
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