August 11 - Preserve knowledge

August 11 - Preserve knowledge
Malachi 2:7

“For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction – because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty.”

The goal for each of our intrepid travelers through the kingdom of Oz was to get to the Wizard. Once they found him, everything would be set right.  What a shock it was to them to discover he was nothing more than a con man and all of the glories of the palace were simply smoke and mirrors.  He was just a little man behind a screen.

After they managed to rid the kingdom of the Wicked Witch, he finally told the three residents of the kingdom what they needed to know – they had their heart’s desire in the grasp all along, they just needed assurance.

But, he failed Dorothy. He was so caught up in his own needs that he didn’t actually act as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  He proved himself to be as common as the next person.

These words from Malachi describe the role of a priest, who has responsibility for others, given to him by the Lord.

The words of his mouth should preserve knowledge and should offer instruction to others.

That’s kind of an important task!  Messengers of the Lord had come to the people in the form of prophets and angels, but the priests were with them always. It was their task to interpret the Law correctly and guide the people of Israel. It was always necessary for them to remember their role as the connection between God and his people.

We have that task now.  We are sent out into the world as God’s messengers.  We are entrusted with the knowledge of his Good News to humanity.  We have to be more than con men, we have to know in our hearts the truth of this message so we don’t appear to be simply smoke and mirrors.  When people pull back the curtain of our hearts, will they find God, or will they find a weak, little man operating levers and using a sound system to make himself sound bigger than he is.