(II Chronicles 29:1-11)

Tomorrow millions of African Americans will take time to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King. The theme each year is "Keep the Dream Alive." The dream of racial equality that was Dr. King's was addressed in his stirring words on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in our nation's capital. That address was punctuated with the phrase, "I have a dream today." When Dr. King was assassinated some six years later it seemed that the dream might die. Yet millions still have burning within them the dream that freedom might ring from the hilltops of New Hampshire to the molehills of Mississippi. That sacred fire and passion still flames in freedom's light.

It is as well that one week from today Christians of all races and denominations in our nation resolve to keep the flame of passion alive for the sacredness of human life. We choose to remember that all human life is sacred born or unborn, healthy or diseased. All human life is precious because it reflects the image of God’s creative power. All of us, as the Psalmist David said are "fearfully and wonderfully made". It is imperative that the passion for this reality is kept alive in every human heart.

Keeping the passion aflame for any cause, no matter how worthy, is never easy. That is especially true when it comes to spiritual things. Somewhat like a cell phone, we can be in circumstances where we are constantly discharging and never charging. Discharging spiritually without being recharged spiritually can result in a loss of spiritual passion. When you discharge spiritually and do not recharge spiritually over a long period of time then the flame of spiritual passion dies. Where once there was a heart white hot for Christ, now there is nothing but the cold memories of a distant relationship with Jesus.

Losing your spiritual passion can happen to all of us. It is a particular danger to those who are dealing with spiritual things all the time. How about you? Can your spiritual passion stand some reviving? Have the things that once caused you to be alive to God's Spirit become merely scrapbook memories.

To find some help to revive your spiritual passion I want us to look at an Old Testament story. The story is about a young king of Judah named Hezekiah. The story is an actual account of some specific things he did to reform the worship of God in the nation of Israel around 700 BC. There are though some parallels between what he did and how we can revive our own spiritual passion. What I want us to do is to hear the story retold. Then I want us to make some comparisons between our need for reviving spiritual passion and the choices Hezekiah made.

I want us to start by examining Hezekiah’s passion for spiritual revival. The scripture simply tells us that Hezekiah became king when he was 25 years old. We often think of all the biblical characters as old men with long white beards. The reality was that Hezekiah was a young man facing a terrific task of trying to govern a nation that had been sold out to the nation of Assyria by his own father, Ahaz. Assyria was the super power of that time and ruled with ruthless control the areas we now know as southern Turkey and northern Iraq and Iran. They sought to bring every other nation under their dominance.

During his father's rule, Ahaz had compromised the integrity of every institution with Assyria. Every area of life was now dominated by their influence and control. He did this to save his own life with little thought for principle or conviction. The depth of the compromise was felt even in the Temple. Ahaz, in order to comply more fully with the control of Assyria, eagerly placed the different gods and goddesses of the Assyrians in the Temple. In fact, II Kings 16:7-20 records Ahaz sending off to Assyria, as a bribe, the gold and silver objects that were dedicated for worship in the Temple.

Hezekiah was reared by a man who would stop at nothing to comply with a foreign government. You would have thought that when he became king that the same policies would go into effect. Instead, it was just the opposite. As soon as Hezekiah became king he began to make changes and do everything necessary to revive the spiritual life of the nation.

Where did he begin? Well, he began at the place most obviously associated with the Jews themselves-----the Temple. The Temple was a beautiful structure built by King Solomon about 200 years before Hezekiah. It represented to the Jewish people the center of their religious life. Originally, in the very center of the structure was a place called the Holy of Holies in which the Ark of the Covenant was placed. It was there when the Temple was dedicated that God so powerfully revealed Himself that the priests could not even come near because His glory had been so mightily displayed.

Now, years later, those events were not even remembered. The idols of other nations, not just human representations but even carvings of sexual prowess, were occupying the places where once God's Spirit ruled. There were no sacrifices offered to God, no incense burned in worship, no songs sung in praise to God. In fact the doors of the Temple itself were shut because there was no reason for anyone to go there. Like some attic in an abandoned house, so God's house had become a worthless relic of the past.

What did Hezekiah do? Well he cleaned house! Literally! During the first month of his reign he went to the Temple to open the doors and let the light in to the darkness. He called the religious leaders together and instructed them to remove the things that didn't belong in God's Temple! He recounted to them the history of the faithless actions of his predecessors and determined that it was stopping today. He told them that the reason for the problems in the nation was because the people had forgotten their relationship to God. There was something in his heart that compelled him to restore the nation's focus on their relationship with God by starting with cleaning up the Temple.

That is exactly what happened. In fact the writer gives a great amount of detail as to what they did and how long it took them. It took them sixteen days. It took them eight days alone to just reach the porch. It then required another eight days to finish the job. Anything that didn't belong in God's house they carried out and dumped it in the garbage. Can you imagine the shame and gasps of people as they carried out day after day the objects and trash that had been allowed into God's Temple? Regardless of how long it took it all had to go because they knew God's presence wouldn't occupy a place filled with the objects of other gods.

When it was done they celebrated for several days. Every sacrifice that they had known in the past they now offered once again. Every song they could remember they sang to God. When all of it was done the scripture simply says, "So the service of the Temple of the Lord was reestablished. Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people because it was done so quickly" (II Chronicles 29:35-36).

One young king knew where to begin to revive the spiritual passion for his people Now when people looked at night to the Temple they no longer saw a dark, cold structure silhouetted against a moon-lit sky. They saw, instead, night and day the light of the fires of sacrifices once again burning wholly to God. They saw people making their way to worship and they knew that life, spiritual life, was returning to God's people once again.

What does this story of 2800 years ago have to say to us about our personal spiritual lives? Well, I believe there are some comparisons we can make from the example of Hezekiah to our own need to revive our spiritual passion. What are they? First, it's evident that just as reviving the spiritual passion of the people was an urgent priority for Hezekiah it must also be for us. We, unfortunately, imagine that our spiritual needs are somehow not as urgent as other needs in our lives. We are concerned about our money, our grades, exercise, who we are dating, a friend, our kids, and many other areas of legitimate concern. Yet when it comes to our own personal spiritual passion for our relationship to Jesus we don't think it's all that urgent. Here's the problem with putting off our need to revive our spiritual passion---it only gets worse. Delaying spiritual renewal can begin to take on a life of its own. It will eventually cause us to wake up one day without the resources to face the critical needs in our life or someone else's.

It's like the story about a man who met a farmer who had a leaky roof on his barn. A heavy rain had been falling as a man drove down a lonely road. As he rounded a curve he saw an old farmer surveying the ruins of his barn. The driver stopped his car and asked what had happened. "Roof fell in," said the farmer. "Leaked so long it finally just rotted through." "Why in the world didn't you fix it before it got that bad?" asked the stranger. "Well, sir," replied the farmer, "it just seemed I never did get around to it. When the weather was good, there weren't no need for it, and when it rained, it was too wet to work on!"

Excuses for a lack of spiritual passion are worthless when the roof of our world has caved in on us. Don't try to beat the odds. Make reviving your spiritual passion an urgent priority.

Another comparison is that reviving your spiritual passion should be intentionally directed where it is needed. Hezekiah was very deliberate in the direction he took to restore the spiritual passion of the people. How do we know where reviving our spiritual passion is needed?

Let me suggest four places: Our spiritual passion needs reviving when we are neglecting our commitments. What spiritual commitments have you made that are now forgotten? You used to feel guilty that you didn't follow through but now you don't even do that. Things you once were committed to are now like they were a part of someone else's life. Where once you could be counted on now you are counted out--that's a place where your spiritual passion needs reviving.

Our spiritual passion also needs reviving where we are deliberately resisting God's leadership. The Spirit of God has marked off some boundaries in your life or given you a clear direction and you have stepped over the line or gone the opposite way. God has said "no" in some area of your life but you are willfully saying, "Hide and watch!" There is a place your spiritual passion needs reviving--the passion to obey.

Another area where our spiritual passion needs reviving is where we are ignoring the things that keep our relationship with God strong. Ignoring worship and Sunday School, ignoring reading God's word for your own spiritual nourishment, ignoring personal times of private prayer, and ignoring opportunities to demonstrate our devotion to Christ through witnessing, giving or serving. When our passion weakens in any of those areas it's not long before we discover we are out of touch with God.

Finally, our spiritual passion needs reviving where it's evident we are ineffective. You can only fake being spiritual so long. Sooner or later you are put in a situation where it all catches up to you. You once had a clear ability to influence others spiritually but no longer. No one listens, no one is interested and no one cares. When you finally realize you are faking it others have known it long before. Are these some places where your spiritual passion needs reviving?

One last comparison I find in this story is the way Hezekiah went about doing this spiritual restoration. It started at the center of spiritual life, removed what didn’t ' t belong there and didn't stop until it was finished. It's the same for us. Reviving our spiritual passion begins in our heart. Down deep within our most private selves there is where the renewal must start. The reality is only God's Spirit can go there. You can dress it up on the outside but down deep is where it begins.

To get to your heart God will point out some things that must go. What has to go or be removed are the things that don't belong. What have you allowed to settle down in your heart that has to go? You never meant for it to take over but it has. Before you can experience the freshness of renewed spiritual passion there are some things that must be taken out of your heart.

As my wife says, "A job half done is a job not done." You can't stop the removal until it's finished. Anyone who has ever battled cancer knows that the most threatening sentence a surgeon can tell a family is, "We couldn't get it all." The reason is the fear that it will only grow back. It's the same spiritually, where you leave the job of cleaning "half done," there is the threat that what's left will only grow. You soon discover you are right back where you started. You can't stop the process until it's finished!

Reviving your spiritual passion starts in your heart, removes what doesn’t belong and won’t stop until it's finished. The bottom line is if you know your spiritual passion is lifeless then it needs reviving today.

I have discovered something though and it's this: You can measure my passion for Jesus Christ by the depth of my gratitude for my debt of sin being paid by His death. The secret of a passion for God is the greater the realization of debt, the greater the devotion.

G. K. Chesterton wrote: "It is the highest and holiest of the paradoxes that the man who really knows he cannot pay his debt will be forever paying it. He will be forever giving back what he cannot give back, and cannot be expected to give back. He will be always throwing things away into a bottomless pit of unfathomable thanks." The fire of passionate devotion draws its fuel from our looking to the cross and saying over and over, "Thank you." How long has it been since you said, "Thank you"? Then let reviving your spiritual passion start there, today.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org