Approachable

What do you think about the scripture from 2 Samuel 6:6-7, which reads:

When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.

I think we read this passage, and we come away with the feeling that God delivered a very harsh judgment against someone who was acting with good intentions. The scripture calls what Uzzah did “irreverent” -- “lacking proper respect or seriousness.” The Message version of this passage uses the word “profaned” – “to treat (something sacred) with abuse, irreverence, or contempt. Desecrate” (definitions from Merriam-Webster online).

I don’t particularly want to explore the scripture itself this morning. I want to draw attention to our reaction to the scripture. Justified or not, I come away from reading this passage with the feeling that God punished Uzzah when it was not warranted. Why do I feel that way?

In the Jesus I Never Knew, Yancey asks the question, “What do we learn about God from the first Christmas?” One of the answers Yancey suggests is that we learn that God is approachable. He says, “In most religious traditions, … fear is the primary emotion when one approaches God.”

The birth of Jesus taught us that God does not desire for us to consider him as “unapproachable.” What is more approachable than a baby? They literally cry out to be touched, to be held, to be rocked and soothed. I don’t think you can carry that analogy very far – God is not an infant – but I think he does want us to feel that pull that we feel when we see a baby.

Think about the life of Jesus. He was approachable. He didn’t do his ministry alone. He had friends. He knew he needed them to “get the job done.” They saw him as rabbi, but I imagine that they also considered him to be “touchable.” Think of the woman in Mark 5 who touched Jesus’ cloak out of faith that she would be healed. He told her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.” Jesus called God Abba, and I think he invites us to do the same.

Has God changed? No, I don’t think so. Consider Job. What is God’s response to Job’s questions and challenges? He comes to speak with Job. God’s attitude isn’t one of sympathy, but he does make himself approachable. In the garden of Eden, prior to sin, God takes pleasure in walking with his children. Abraham bargains with God to try to save Sodom.

What I think has changed is our perception of God. God has, thankfully, revealed himself through his Son. We know now that God wants us to be in relationship with him. We expect him to be approachable, and when we read about Uzzah, we don’t understand it. At least, I don’t understand it.

God wants me to touch him, and, amazingly enough, he wants me to touch him. Father and child.
As a sidenote, how did David react when it happened? Verse 8 says, “David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.” Consider that as you read last night’s very late post. Consider that David had just seen a man struck dead by God for touching the ark. That’s full-wattage God – mighty power up close and personal. What is David’s reaction? He’s angry. In the next verse, his anger turns to fear, but at first, he’s angry “because of God’s deadly outburst against Uzzah.” (The Message). It isn’t the fear that arrives first; it’s the anger, and it seems to me to be directed against God, and yet David was not struck dead because of irreverence.

Image: The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo