Scripture:

2 Chronicles 30: 18-20
18 For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, May the good Lord pardon everyone
19 Who sets his heart to seek and yearn for God—the Lord, the God of his fathers—even though not complying with the purification regulations of the sanctuary.
20 And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah and healed the people.

Observation:

Under King Hezekiah, the temple is repaired and many idolatries and other violations of God's law are being corrected, but it has been so long that many seem to have forgotten (or lost the discipline of) how to fully honour God through the keeping of the law and proscribed sacrificial system. So it is that many have answered Hezekiah's call to return to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast without proper preparations to purify themselves. Hezekiah sees this happening and intervenes through prayer for the people (including many of the priests). "And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah and healed the people."

Application:

Sometimes I encounter folks who hesitate to partake of the Eucharist because they feel they have not properly prepared. In fact, in many Christian traditions, Holy Communion is celebrated infrequently and only after a lengthy period of self-examination, prayers, confession and the like. Even within our own tradition (Evangelical Lutheran) there has only recently been a move back to the older tradition of celebrating the Lord's Supper on a weekly basis. Many resisted this move, and some still do.

I can appreciate this impulse. It follows the logic, "anything worth doing is worth doing right." What I like about it is that it takes seriously the depth and breadth of the miraculous thing that happens as we commune with the Living God. The problem is, in my view, that it doesn't take quite seriously enough the pervasiveness of the Sin in which we are all (and always) mired. Martin Luther, for much of his life took both of these things to heart: the inescapable nature of sin this side of the grave; and, the awesomeness of God's grace on offer at the LORD's table. This great tension almost drove both he and his confessors crazy.

I have been learning a slightly different approach to the big things of our faith over the last couple of years. In place of "anything doing is worth doing right" we can say, "anything worth doing is worth doing poorly for a while." I like this take. It seems to hold together both our deep need of God's grace at all times and God's desire that we should grow through long term exposure to this grace. And, I think, it describes well what Hezekiah seemed to have learned so long ago.

How about you? 

Is the belief that God requires perfection manifesting in your 

halting participation in the Kingdom today?

Prayer:

May You, Lord, who alone can be called perfect and good,
pardon everyone who sets their heart to seek and yearn for You even though not complying with the purification regulations required to withstand exposure to your holiness … even us … especially me. Amen.