Dear Friends,

In the last week of Old Testament readings in the Daily Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer 2019, we hear of the faithful leadership of King Hezekiah and King Josiah of Jerusalem. And in their lives and in their very different responses to the prospect of God’s judgment on their nation, I see lessons for both young people and older folks as we face the challenges of our culture, which has lost its way.

First, a lesson for older generations:

Hezekiah was a faithful king, who sought to renew and restore the worship of the people. He trusted God and the Lord delivered the nation miraculously from the armies of the king of Assyria. But late in Hezekiah’s reign, the prophet Isaiah brought to him a word about the coming judgment of God: “Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD.” Even some of Hezekiah’s own sons would be taken away (2 Kings 20:17).

But in spite of this dire prophecy, Hezekiah reassured himself because it would not happen to him. He said to Isaiah, “‘The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?’” (2 Kings 20:19).

Contrast that complacency with that of his great grandson, King Josiah, who offers a lesson for younger generations:

Josiah is described as being the most godly king in Israel’s history: “Never before or after Josiah was there a King like him who turned to the Lord as he did, with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength” (2 Kings 23:25). And this extraordinary reign began when Josiah was just eight years old. When he was 15 he began to seek God, and when he was still a teenager he launched one of the greatest reform movements in the history of Israel, purging Jerusalem and Judah of the “high places” of syncretistic worship and idolatry (2 Chronicles 34:3).

As workmen were repairing the Temple at this direction, they found the Book of the Law of Moses, which had been neglected so long that it had been lost. Josiah had the Scriptures read to him and when he heard how God’s people had so grievously violated God’s Word, he tore his clothes in repentance. He sent the high priest to a prophet named Huldah to hear what the Lord would say to them. She prophesied that the Lord would bring disaster upon the people in judgment for their idolatry. But because Josiah had humbled himself before God, this disaster would not come upon the land until Josiah had died in peace (2 Kings 22:14-20).

But Josiah did not believe that, because he himself would be spared, he could be complacent about the coming judgment on the nation. Instead, still in his 20s, he gathered the priests and prophets and all the elders of the people and he read to them God’s Word and led the people in renewing their covenant to keep the Law. Then followed a great purifying of the nation, as all the objects associated with the worship of Baal and other false gods were destroyed and the Passover fully and rightly celebrated.

Josiah shows us how God desires to use young leaders to turn a nation back to him. In fact, many church historians assert that nearly every major revival in the history of the Christian church was sparked by young people getting radical about following Jesus.

As we confront the great challenges of proclaiming Christ in a culture that seems increasingly to turn away from him, all of us can learn from Hezekiah and Josiah.

For young people, the temptation is to think, “I can’t make a difference.” But Josiah shows that God can work through you in powerful ways. For older ones, the temptation is to give up and think, “I don’t need to make a difference.” But Hezekiah shows that you should not find false comfort in withdrawing from the world.

Hezekiah and Josiah show us that when hearts are turned back to the Lord and to his Word, transformation—even of an entire nation—can follow. Let’s resist the lure of hopelessness and complacency and rise up in prayer for God to move in power to renew both the Church and our society.

Faithfully yours in Christ,

The Rt. Rev. John A. M. Guernsey