Readings:
1 Chronicles 13-15
Sirach 3
James 5

1 Chronicles 13-15

Here we read the story of David returning the Ark of The Covenant from it’s almost forgotten place in the hill country from when it was returned by the Philistines after they had captured it in battle. This story is also found in 1 Samuel, but there’s a slight difference in todays reading.

1 Samuel offers the same facts, but because the books of chronicles supplement Samuel and Kings, we get an extra detail here. It’s almost an editorial comment on what happened.

David is bringing the Ark on a cart, and when it hits a bump one of the men walking beside it reaches out and touches the Ark to keep it from falling. He is instantly struck dead because he wasn’t one of the Levites that were ordained to touch the sacred objects, especially the Ark.

After that they leave the Ark in this small village outside Jerusalem for three months, likely because they were afraid to bring it into the city and possibly have crowds who haven’t seen it in decades come over and touch it. And here’s where we get to the extra bit in Chronicles.

2 Samuel tells us that David gathers up some Levites and they go and get the Ark and bring it into Jerusalem. But 1 chronicles explicitly states that David realizes that they didn’t follow the instructions of God in how to move the Ark of the Covenant, and for that the man was struck dead. So he gets Levites and they make a procession into the city, complete with animal sacrifices and all.

David, unlike Saul, realizes his fault and sin, and takes steps to rectify the situation and bring himself back into alignment with the laws that God laid out. David is a “man after God’s own heart” and he doesn’t want to do things his own way, he wants to do them God’s way.

James 5

James warns those who’ve become rich at the expense of others. In the ancient world there was no such thing as middle class. Most people lived in various levels of poverty and then there were the ultra rich at the top, and many if not most of them got to that level through nefarious means. It just added insult to injury when someone already massively more wealthy than the average citizen then defrauded that citizen of his justly earned wage, and by doing so could potentially endanger his life because everyone lived hand to mouth.

James isn’t railing against wealth so much as ill gotten money and outright fraud. Also the sin of omission comes back into play here, because those of us who are not poor should be helping those that are. It’s our duty to take care of the needy, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked and so on.

James also gives us the scriptural basis for one of the seven sacraments in his closing if this letter. He says if someone is sick they should call the elders of the church, be anointed with oil and then pray and they’ll be raised up and forgiven. The healing isn’t always physical with this sacrament, because sometimes the person dies anyway, but his soul will be healed and be with the Lord where there is no more sickness and death.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
1 Chronicles 16-18
Sirach 4
Philemon 1