Legacy of a Lukewarm Heart: 2 Chron. 25
Homiletical Idea: A lukewarm heart left unattended will ultimately become cold
1. Introduction: How is it with your soul?
While at seminary, I had the opportunity to meet many wonderful Christians from all over the country and all over the world. There is one brother there from India who startled me one day with what I soon discovered was his usual way of greeting people. I am so used to the typical American question, "How are you doing?" usually asked by a questioner who doesn’t even slow the pace to hear the answer. But this man stopped, looked me in the eye and asked, "How is it with your soul, sister?" That opens up a whole different train of thought, doesn’t it?
As we look at our Scripture passage today, I would like to ask you a similar question: How is it with your heart, sister? How is it with your heart, brother?
Let’s turn to 2 Chronicles 25. We will only be reading through verse 20, for the sake of time, but I promise will tell you how the story ends. I will also be making a few comments as we read through, so it might be easier if you do have a Bible to follow along.
2. Amaziah does what’s right
Our passage this morning takes place a little over 200 years after the reign of David. The kingdom of Israel has been divided for well over a century. It’s a little tricky to keep track of the two resulting kingdoms, mainly because the Southern kingdom, which is called Judah, has all the things we would associate with Israel: Jerusalem is there, the Temple is there, the kings are the descendants of David. The northern kingdom, which has none of those things that we would associate with the nation of Israel, retains the name "Israel."
The Kingdom of Judah has been through a rocky time. King Amaziah takes the throne after his father is assassinated. In fact the last 3 rulers before Amaziah were murdered, and so he comes to the throne with some very legitimate concern about how to secure his own power. He has his father’s murderer’s executed, but does not execute the sons of these assassins, a tactic commonly used by monarchs as a "security measure." In obedience to the Law of Moses, Amaziah does not punish the sons for their father’s sins. He did what was right in God’s eyes.
Next, we see Amaziah mustering the forces in preparation for an attack on the nation of Edom. In order to "beef up" the army, he hires an extra 100,000 mercenaries from Israel: big, tough guys, professional warriors. The problem was that Israel had become unfaithful to God. His favor was not with them. The OT consistently teaches God’s people not to make alliances with other nations. To make an alliance with a foreign nation was to fail to trust in God’s ability to help his people. That’s why it was wrong for Judah to make a military alliance with Israel. But when prophet comes and says, "You can’t use these guys. Get rid of them or you’re God will make you fall on your face in this battle," Amaziah obediently gets rid of them. He gives up a quarter of his army and thousands of pounds of silver. He did what was right, at no small cost to himself.
When he goes into battle against Edom, he wins decisively. His victory is a result of God’s fighting for him, and it is a sign of God’s favor, of His honoring Amaziah’s obedience.
We seem to have a portrait of a good king, one who is obediently following God, is being rewarded by God, and receiving favor from God. But then he does something that jolts us: He takes the idols from Edom and sets them up, apparently in their own little shrine, and worships them. He has just had a victory in battle, which came so obviously from God’s hand. He has every reason in the world to be praising God, and God alone, but instead he turns to idols. It is a blatant rejection of the God who had given him victory. He was running good race -- then without warning, he makes a U-Turn.
3. Amaziah turns to other gods (The about-face)
Not only is it appalling, but as the prophet points out to him, it’s downright stupid. If your army beat their army in battle, doesn’t it seem to be proof positive that your God is better than their god? How foolish to worship those gods that couldn’t save Edom from Amaziah’s hand. What could they possibly offer him that God could not?
It was thought in those times, when a nation lost a battle, it was not because the victor’s gods were stronger, but rather, because the loser’s gods had abandoned them and fought on the winner’s side. Removing the gods of a defeated nation was commonly done by the winner to symbolize that abandonment.
But removing them was one thing: David took the gods of the Philistines when he defeated them -- but he had them destroyed. Worshipping them was another. By worshipping them, Amaziah was thanking them for "helping out" with the victory, as if God alone could not have done it without them. He probably did not stop worshipping the true God, but just added the Edomite gods in with Him. But one of the great themes of the Books of Chronicles (as well as the rest of the Bible!) is that we must worship God ALONE, trust in God ALONE.
Idolatry occurs when we put something else in God’s rightful place. Often it is not a conscious attempt to "take God off the throne," but an attempt to squeeze that thing we idolize onto the throne with Him. We may think that as long as we are "giving God his due" (however we have defined that), we can serve some other Master along with him: money, success, prestige, looks, you can name your own favorite. But God will not share His throne. There are only two choices: serve God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength, or don’t serve Him at all.
What is frightening about Amaziah’s fall into idolatry is that one minute he was serving God, and the next he was prostrating himself before an image of silver or gold. What makes a person turn like that? Have you seen it? The friend or even mentor you had so respected spiritually? A young Christian, maybe even someone you’ve been discipling, who seems to be going great guns and then suddenly decides to bag it all? It frightens me whenever I see it happen, partly because I’m afraid maybe I will be the next casualty.
If we hope to avoid the path Amaziah took, we need to figure out what happened. I believe the answer is in verse 2: "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly." Even when he was doing what was right, his heart just wasn’t in it.
Obedience is important, but it is not enough. God is after a heart which is fully devoted to him. Amaziah did what was right -- but he never put his whole heart into it. He had faith, but it was a flabby, lukewarm faith -- not the kind of stuff that can handle victory without giving in to pride or defeat without giving in to despair.
4. Amaziah blows his last chance
By this time in the history of Israel and Judah, no one can plead ignorance of God’s commands against idolatry. Had God wiped Amaziah out on the spot, no one need have been surprised. But God proves his patience and his mercy by sending a prophet. Even after Amaziah has committed this appalling sin, this shameful reproach before God, he gets an "out," a chance to repent.
But Amaziah blows his last chance. He growls a death threat. He is hostile towards God’s prophet, God’s grace and God’s word. He has no intention of accepting correction.
We have to say one thing for Amaziah, he is no longer "halfhearted," is he? He has moved from lukewarm obedience to ice cold rebellion. He has deliberately turned his back on God; he has threatened the life of the prophet so graciously sent by God to warn him. It is shocking when we see how quickly and easily it happens. Lukewarm hearts, left unattended, always become cold. And so it is with Amaziah.
It is a short trip to move from Idolatry, putting something else in God’s rightful place, to Pride, putting one’s self in God’s rightful place. It’s been said that "Pride, the idolatrous worship of self, is the national religion of hell." It is the religion to which Amaziah becomes wholeheartedly devoted.
Amaziah’s pride leads him to foolish and even reckless behavior. He challenges Israel to battle. He gives no reason for this, but presumably he wants to get revenge for the damage done by the Israelite mercenaries. The real reason that God allows such foolishness is because He has determined to destroy Amaziah for his rebellion.
Jehoash, king of Israel, while no saint himself, is able to recognize Amaziah’s behavior for what it is when he says, in vs. 19 : "You say to yourself that you have defeated Edom, and now you are arrogant and proud." Amaziah refused to give God alone the glory for his victory, seeing it as his own accomplishment. He thinks that he, and his Edomite gods, are invincible. He is unfazed by Jehoash’s warnings, or his superior military strength. Israel and Judah go to war.
5. The End of the Story
The battle is predictable. Without God’s help, Judah is gets whipped. The "mighty men" turn tail and run. Amaziah is captured, but instead of killing him, they take him back to Jerusalem, his own capital, no doubt forcing him to watch as they tear down 200 yards of the northern wall of the city, leaving them defenseless and symbolizing their helplessness against the superior power of Israel, the Northern Kingdom. They plunder the temple, they plunder the palace, and they take King Amaziah as a prisoner to Samaria, the capital of the North. Judah is left without defense, without a leader, and with their place of worship in shambles. His sin and pride have cost him, and his country, dearly.
After 10 years, he is released, and lives another fifteen. Eventually, he is chased from his own palace, hunted down and assassinated by his own people.
It is a tragic story. One we might prefer to ignore. But Amaziah’s story is like those "rumble strips" they put into the road: it is intended to "rattle" us out of sleep or complacency when we begin to veer off, to save us from careening over the edge. Amaziah heard the "rumble" through the prophet, but he chose to keep driving off the road until it was too late.
6. Wholehearted Devotion
So what is the lesson we can learn to avoid Amaziah’s mistakes? "Above all else," Proverbs says, "guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." (Prov. 14:23)
Amaziah teaches us that a lukewarm heart is a dangerous thing, and if left unattended, it will ultimately become cold.
When we talk about the "heart," we usually just think of our feelings. But when the OT talks about the "heart," it includes not just our feelings, but our mind, our will, our spiritual nature. It embodies the whole life of a person. To serve, or to love or to seek God with the "whole heart" means "with all that we are, and with all that we have." It is more like the NT phrase, "with all you heart, soul, mind and strength."
One who is wholehearted in devotion will have integrity: saying what they mean, doing what they say.
How they treat the grocery clerk, their fellow
workers, their family;
How honest they are in their dealings, even when nobody’s looking;
How they handle their time, their money, their gifts and their talents.
will all reflect that devotion
One who is whole heartedly devoted to God will seek to make every aspect of their life pleasing to Him.
In Amaziah, we have seen where halfhearted devotion can take us. It’s not a pretty sight. But wholehearted devotion has perks.
The first perk is joy.
That great saint and missionary pioneer, Hudson Taylor said, "The real secret of an unsatisfied life lies too often in an unsurrendered will." Halfhearted obedience satisfies neither us, nor God. If you were to flip back a few pages to 2 Chronicles 15, you would see a very different picture than Amaziah. God’s people join together in a "covenant to seek the Lord... with all their heart and soul... All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them." A vibrant, fulfilling, joyful Christian life only happens when we serve God wholeheartedly.
Another perk to wholehearted devotion is found in 2 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." What a great picture: The Lord is seeking the wholehearted, in order to strengthen them. Have you ever looked at a Christian you admire and thought, "I would like to be like that person, but I’m just not strong enough." But do you see, that God strengthens those who commit their hearts fully to Him. Give Him your heart, your life, and He will give you the strength.
7. Application: So what?
As I prepared this sermon, I thought about two kinds of folks.
The first are folks, many of you I know, who work so hard, maybe in full time ministry, or at your jobs, with your families. You are so diligent and devoted in your service to God. But perhaps you need to ask yourself, "How’s my heart? Do I remember why I’m working so hard? Where’s the joy?"
For you, I suspect what you may need most is to take long walks with God and pour out your heart to Him even as you put it back in His hands. Remember that God doesn’t need all your hard work. A loving Father who lets his little child "help" him with the chores doesn’t get the work done more efficiently. God allows us to work with Him that we would know the pure joy of being with Him in what He is doing. If you find your heart is lukewarm, tend to it now. Don’t let it go cold.
Some of you are in a very different place. You may come here on Sundays because you like the music, the preaching usually not too boring, and it’s big enough that you can remain anonymous. When you walk out of that door, God really doesn’t matter very much. You don’t take Him with you into your world. I would challenge you, too, to ask yourself, "How’s your heart?" If the answer is "Lukewarm, and getting cooler" then it’s time to ask God to light a fire under you. Seek him with your whole heart, and He will be found by you, and you, too, will find a place
