Catching the Wind

Acts 2:1-21

1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 “‘In the last days, God says,/I will pour out my Spirit on all people./Your sons and daughters will prophesy,/your young men will see visions,/your old men will dream dreams.

18 Even on my servants, both men and women,/I will pour out my Spirit in those days,/and they will prophesy.

19 I will show wonders in the heavens above/and signs on the earth below,/blood and fire and billows of smoke.

20 The sun will be turned to darkness/and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

21 And everyone who calls/on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

 

We often refer to the “Trinity” in the church in an attempt to understand how God can exist as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time. Is God three or is God one? Of course, the answer is yes…which isn’t always that helpful.

However, I believe that we Mennonites often fall into the category of “binitarians.” We love Jesus and we seek to be his disciples. We praise God for his glory and splendor. But the Holy Spirit? What do we do with that?

I’ll tell you what we do with the Holy Spirit. We have a word study sermon! That’s right, I’m going to walk you through the Bible, both Old Testament and New, to get a better look at this aspect of who God is. Unfortunately there is no way that I could touch on all of the times that the word spirit is used in the Bible, so we are going to look at a few of my hand-selected favorites today.

We here at Staunton Mennonite have our occasional “high spit” kinds of sermons. Today the chance for spit is extremely good with a high likelihood of slobber. This is because today we are looking at not one, but two of the biblical languages. That’s right, you’re going to learn both Hebrew and Greek. And since I know everyone enjoys repeating the words that I teach you, I brought with me today a little bit of protection. I have my son’s umbrella. Unfortunately for you, I don’t have one for everybody.

The first word that I want to teach you today is one that I have shared with you before. It is the Hebrew word “ruach.” Ruach is a word that we find in the Old Testament and it is often translated differently according to its context. Ruach can be translated as wind, breath, or spirit.

You do not have to read very far into the Hebrew Bible before you come to the word ruach. Genesis 1:2 says, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” The Elohim ruach, the wind, breath, Spirit of God hovered over the waters before God spoke the world as we know it into existence.

If we then turn one page to the right in your English Bibles (to the left in the Hebrew) you will find that same wind, breath, Spirit of God is put to a new use. In Genesis 2:7 we find: “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

The word translated here as “man” is the Hebrew word “adam,” which sounds a lot like the Hebrew word “adamh,” which means earth or soil. What laid there on the ground was ground itself. It was a lump of soil until God used his spirit to breathe life into that lump of clay. God’s breath became Adam’s breath. God’s spirit entered Adam.

I believe that this story is why we have a word in English that is a little bit confusing. The word that I am thinking of is “inspire.” When we hear this word used in every day English it is often in the context of someone inspiring us to do great things. For instance, in less than a month my wife’s place of employment will be hosting an annual event called the Wheelchair Games. The Wheelchair Games draws athletes from around the region to participate in athletic events such as archery and track and field. When I see events like the Wheelchair Games, I am inspired by all of the hard work and dedication put forth by these athletes and their families. Their spirit is contagious.

But that isn’t the only way to understand the word “inspire.” From a biological perspective, to inspire means to breathe in. When you fill your lungs with air, you inspire. When you release that air back out into the atmosphere, you expire.

This is important because when God breathed his breathe into Adam, he did more than just fill him with air, God caused Adam to inspire. Adam was filled, not only with oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. Adam had the very spirit of God breathed into him.

This is what seems to separate human beings from the rest of creation. The earth, the trees, the water, the animals, all of these things are created by God and said to be “good.” But only human beings are said to be created in God’s image and only human beings are said to have the breath of God within them.

God’s ruach is more than just the breath of life. God’s ruach also bring new life. In Ezekiel chapter 37 we find the story of the prophet entering a valley filled with dry bones. These people were not just dead, they didn’t just stinketh like Lazarus had after a few days in the tomb. There was no life in them, no flesh, no tendons, no muscle.

God then speaks to Ezekiel and asks if these bones can live. Ezekiel replies, “Are you kidding me?” Actually, he is a little more tactful and says, “Only you can know, Lord!”

We find this in verses 5-6, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

God’s ruach can breathe life into a new human being, and God’s ruach can breathe new life into dry bones.

Those dry bones were symbolic of the people that God had chosen to work through to bring his message to all the world. During the exile, the Israelites felt like they had failed to be the people that God had called them to be, or perhaps even worse, that God had failed to use them as he had promised. But that ruach that God first breathed into Adam had never gone away. The people just needed a fresh breath, a fresh wind from God to call them back to their purpose.

This relationship between breath, wind, and spirit continues into the New Testament era. The New Testament was written in Greek and the Greek word for breath, wind, and spirit is pnuema. Pneuma isn’t a high-spit kind of word, but more of an I-just-ate-a peanut butter-and-honey-sandwich kind of word. Your tongue just sticks to the roof of your mouth for a little bit too long.

Pneuma is where we get the word pneumonia, an infection in the lungs, and pneumatic, having to do with air.

When Jesus is baptized in the Synoptic Gospels, the Spirit of God descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove. This is the pneuma tou theou, or the pnemua to hagion, the Holy Spirit.

This pneuma, this wind, breath, and spirit is the same as the ruach of God in the Old Testament. This same spirit is said to have descended upon the prophets, like in Ezekiel 2:2, to empower them to speak.

Finally, let’s look at John chapter 20. John 20 begins with the empty tomb on that first Easter Sunday and quickly moves to the resurrected Jesus presenting himself to Mary Magdalene. Later in the chapter Jesus also presents himself to the disciples as they are huddled in the Upper Room. Jesus gives them a blessing and a commission in verses 21-22, “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

This passage seems to emphasize the connection between the breath and the spirit. This Holy Spirit that descended upon Jesus at his baptism is now being passed on to the disciples. And he passes it to them by blowing in their faces. He passes the Holy Breath to equip his disciples to continue the ministry of reconciliation that he began.

So we come to today’s passage, which is the giving of the Holy Spirit to the disciples on Pentecost. Pentecost is a Jewish festival that is observed every year, 50 days after the Passover celebration.

Our text emphasizes that there were Jewish people in Jerusalem from all surrounding nations. Pentecost is one of the holidays that Jews would travel to Jerusalem for. Acts two tells us that the disciples of Jesus were gathered together on the day of Pentecost when they heard a loud rush of wind. Keep in mind the connection between the wind, breath and spirit. Because that wind that they heard was the Holy Spirit coming upon them. Instantly these believers began talking in other languages, and this is clearly God equipping them to share Jesus’ message of new creation with people of every tongue, tribe, and nation.

There is a bit of a debate as to how many disciples were given this gift of speaking in tongues. If we go to the previous chapter we read that the number of believers had grown to about 120 people. Then in chapter two we read that “they were all together in one place.” Is that “all” a reference to all 120 believers or all 12? I don’t know. But what is clear is that among those that received the Holy Spirit and the ability to speak in different languages were eleven of the original disciples and Matthais, who was added to replace Judas.

So here is my question: When did the disciples really receive the Holy Spirit? Did they receive it on Easter as we read in John’s Gospel when Jesus breathed on them? Or did they receive the Spirit on Pentecost when the Spirit came upon them like tongues of fire?

I believe that different people have different levels of the Holy Spirit. I realize that I am just not as in tune with the Spirit as some others are. But that doesn’t mean that I am completely devoid of the Holy Spirit, either.

If we go way back to the creation of Adam when God breathed life into a lump of clay, we find that simply having been given the breath of life means that we have a bit of God’s spirit within us. You didn’t have to do anything to earn it. You were created in God’s image and given the breath of life. That breath is God’s ruach, God’s pneuma.

But there are clearly times when an extra portion of God’s Spirit is poured out on individuals or on groups. This was the case for the prophets of the Old Testament and Jesus at his baptism. Jesus and the prophets were clearly more in tune with God’s mission than most living, breathing people. And this extra portion of the Holy Spirit does not have to all come in one dose. The disciples received doses of the Spirit along the way. When they were sent out two-by-two, they performed miracles and healed the sick. That’s not normal. They required an extra dose of the Holy Spirit. Then they got a little more on Easter, which helped them maintain the ministry of Jesus for fifty days. But it wasn’t until Pentecost that they were gifted in exceptional ways by the Spirit to continue his mission.

This still seems to be the case today. There are times when people simply need more empowerment from the Holy Spirit to continue Christ’s ministry. There are times when situations arise when we simply do not have the skills or the experience to make good decisions. Those are the times when the Holy Spirit shows up.

But the Spirit does more than just empower us for mission. The Spirit is to be our guide in discernment. One of the Bible verses most frequently used out of context is Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

My question has always been Isn’t Jesus with me when I am alone?

This passage is about making tough choices, or to use a churchy phrase, “spiritual discernment.” Matthew 18:20 is a promise that when we come together to make difficult decisions, the Holy Spirit will be there with us to guide us in the process.

This past weekend I spent a lot of time in meetings with the Virginia Mennonite Conference Council. VMC is currently going through a lot of changes, including a significant overturn in staffing. On top of that, there are some challenging issues surrounding some theological and ethical issues. The decisions that we were facing as Conference Council were not to be taken lightly. So I was glad that I heard mentioned in prayer and in conversation the need for guidance from the Holy Spirit on these matters and the invitation to the Spirit to be with us.

The Spirit of the living God is all around us, all of the time. It is as close to us as the wind that blows past us and the breath that is within us.

I want to come back to the umbrella that I began with today as my only line of defense against your spittle. Umbrellas can be used for a number of things. We most commonly think to use them as ways to keep the raindrops from falling on our heads. But if you go to the beach, even on a very sunny day, you will see umbrellas up and down the shoreline. Umbrellas can provide shade. This is because umbrellas provide a barrier between us and the elements. We can isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. You can even use an umbrella to block the wind.

However, if you turn an umbrella around, it becomes pretty good at capturing things. You can collect the rain, sleet, and hail. Or, like Mary Poppins, you can gather the wind and fly.

As the wind blew through Jerusalem on Pentecost almost 2,000 years ago, some used their umbrellas to deflect the Holy Spirit. They didn’t believe the things that were happening and they accused the disciples of having a little too much to drink a little too early in the morning.

But there were others who used their umbrellas to gather the wind. They harnessed the power of the Holy Spirit to guide them, to equip them, and to help them discern God’s will. It is my belief that this Holy Spirit is still here among us today. All we need to do is turn our umbrellas around.

Love is Bigger

2 Samuel 18:24-33

24 While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone. 25 The watchman called out to the king and reported it.

The king said, “If he is alone, he must have good news.” And the runner came closer and closer.

26 Then the watchman saw another runner, and he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look, another man running alone!”

The king said, “He must be bringing good news, too.”

27 The watchman said, “It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.”

“He’s a good man,” the king said. “He comes with good news.”

28 Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Praise be to the Lord your God! He has delivered up those who lifted their hands against my lord the king.”

29 The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

Ahimaaz answered, “I saw great confusion just as Joab was about to send the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was.”

30 The king said, “Stand aside and wait here.” So he stepped aside and stood there.

31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, “My lord the king, hear the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you.”

32 The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.”

33 The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”

There is something about airplanes that makes an extrovert giddy and an introvert a little bit queasy. Oddly enough, it is the same thing: sitting next to a captive audience for hours at a time.

On a recent flight I sat next to an older woman who was returning from a visit with her grandchildren. From the moment we sat down she went on and on about what they liked, how great they were at sports, their grades, and their career ambitions.

After two hours she must have realized that I was losing interest, so she said, “Well, look at me. I’ve talked the entire trip. Surely you have something that you would like to say. Tell me, what do you think about my grandchildren?”

Perhaps you have been in one of those awkward situations where a proud parent takes you to their refrigerator to show off their child’s most recent artwork, or maybe you have been invited to hear someone’s child sing in a school program and the father corners you afterward and asks rhetorically, “That daughter of mine sure is something, isn’t she?!”

“Yes, that was something, alright.”

There is love, and then there is unconditional love. The kind of love that a parent or grandparent has for their offspring doesn’t depend on how well they can stay within the lines when they color or how well they can kick a soccer ball or sing a song. All that matters is that they are your child, adopted or by birth, they are awesome.

Parents and grandparents see their children with a different set of lenses. And believe me, it isn’t that we don’t get angry or disappointed when they do something that they shouldn’t. But when we love someone unconditionally, we are quick to correct and forgive when our children do wrong.

There are a number of strange stories in the Bible, and this is clearly one of them. You may think that your family has its problems, but if you put your family next to David’s, David’s family will probably make your family look like the Cleavers. Incestuous rape, murder, banishment, and a plot to overthrow the king, who just happens to be the family patriarch. This would make a good soap opera, but it is real life!

What I want you to notice today is that in spite of all the things that David’s children do to one another and to him, he still loves them. As we finish our series today on the life of David and ask one more time How was David a man after God’s own heart, it is clear that we have saved the most important story for last. Because David, like God, shows unconditional love for his children. It is a story that we have heard countless times before, and it is a story that we can never hear enough.

David lived in a different time, and it was normal for a person of wealth and power to have multiple wives (and concubines, but I don’t wish to comment on that now). So David had many children with different women. The children that shared a father, David, yet had different mothers would then be half siblings to one another.

One of David’s sons, Amnon, had a crush on his half-sister, Tamar. He devises a plan to get her into his bed. And after he rapes her, he loses all interest in her.

Now I mentioned that David lived in a different day and that some practices that we consider wrong today were acceptable in his day. Amnon’s actions do not fit that category. What he did was and is wrong on a number of levels. Tamar had been shamed and Amnon had sentenced her to a life as an outcast. It was her full brother, Absalom, who took her in and cared for her.

From that time, Absalom plotted to kill his brother Amnon and it took him two years to actually commit the murder. Absalom then flees from the city, fearful for his own life. And he stayed away for three years before returning to Jerusalem.

Something I find interesting in this text that helps us to understand the mind of David is that even though his daughter is defiled and one son kills another, David never seeks vengeance. He does not look to kill Amnon or Absalom. The text says that he was angry, for sure. He is not happy about what has happened and he is in no way endorsing such behavior. But he does not seek an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The text says that he mourned when Amnon was killed. But we are never told that David was looking for a way to make his children pay for their offenses against one another.

But David’s children do more than just hurt one another. They hurt him as well. We are told that when he returns from his period of exile that Absalom intends to overthrow his father and take his throne. He uses his good looks and his charm to win the hearts of the people, eventually becoming king of Hebron. Absalom then leads a rebellion, a group of people seeking to make Absalom the king of Israel.

What is David’s response? He flees for his life. He runs from his own son. He knows that Absalom is willing to kill him to become the king of Israel. The next couple of chapters involve David running for his life and it reminds me of the way that David had to run from Saul when Saul was trying to kill him. You soon have to wonder if there is something about David’s personality that causes so many people to want him dead. Maybe he just rubs people the wrong way, I don’t know. But I think a better question is why wouldn’t David just fight?

Here is the big, powerful king of Israel, running from his son and a misfit army of rebels. David is no longer the little shepherd boy running from Saul and his big army. David now has the upper hand. But he refuses to fight to hold on to his throne, his crown, and his kingdom.

I believe the fact that David chooses to flee rather than fight shows just how much he really loves his son. David would rather sacrifice his kingdom than lose another child.

Unfortunately for David, the leader of his army, Joab, does not feel the same way. Joab knows that it is his job to protect David and the kingdom. Chapter18 tells us that one day as Absalom was riding his donkey through some thick trees, his hair gets caught in the branches. The donkey kept walking, leaving Absalom hanging from the tree by his hair. He was now held captive by the great oak, and when he was found, he was put to death by Joab.

Our text for today is David receiving the news that Absalom has been killed. It is amazing to me the way that people go out of their way to tell David that his “enemies” have been killed. They want to break the “good news” to him that Saul, Ishbosheth, Abner, and now Absalom have been dealt with. And each time they seem to be surprised because David does not hear their message and begin to rejoice. Each time he mourns the loss of these enemies including Absalom, his son.

In verse 33 we read, “The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: ‘O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!’”

Five times in that one verse David refers to Absalom as “my son.” David doesn’t care that the war is now over. It doesn’t matter that Absalom killed one of David’s sons. It isn’t even important that David had to run for his own life out of fear of Absalom. What mattered in that moment is that David’s son was dead. David even states that he wishes that he could take Absalom’s place. That’s love, unconditional love.

So David loved his children, even when they hurt one another, and David loved his children, even when they tried to hurt him. He did not seek revenge; he did not seek to hurt them. And God is at least as loving as David.

We hurt one another. We hurt one another all of the time. Perhaps not to the extent that David’s children hurt one another, but I think it is safe to say that each one of us has been hurt either physically or emotionally by someone. And we have probably all hurt someone else as well. Not only that, we fail to be honest, true, and faithful to God. And what does God do about it? He comes to earth as Jesus to get right in the middle of it all.

I believe that the violence and hatred that we commit against one another makes God mourn just like the violence and hatred that David saw in his own family made him mourn. But neither God nor David chooses to use violence to try to solve violence, hate to solve hate. Instead, God’s plan to solve violence and hate, idolatry and abuse was the incarnation.

And here lies a big difference between David and God. While David says “I wish I could take my son’s place, I wish it was me that had died,” God does die in the place of his children. God died on that cross. 1 Thessalonians 5:10 tells us that he died so that we might have life.

There are two ways to think about this, and I believe that both are correct. God died in the person of Jesus so that we might have eternal life, life in heaven where rust and moth do not destroy. But Jesus also died so that we can have life here and now.

When David said that he wished it was him that died so Absalom could live, he wasn’t saying that he wanted to die so that Absalom could live forever. He simply wanted Absalom to be able to live the best and most fulfilling life possible on earth. This a wish that any of us would have for our children.

Something that I have said before, and is not original to me, is that God is at least as loving as I am. I am a loving person, but I don’t love perfectly. The same could probably be said for the average person you meet walking down the street. We love, but we don’t love as well as God does.

So when I consider the love that I have for my children, I assume that God loves us at least as much as I love my children. When we consider the love that David had for his murdering, treacherous son Absalom, we can assume that if David can love Absalom in spite of all of his issues, then surely God can love me, you, and everyone else in spite of their failures. And like Jesus on the cross, sometimes love requires sacrifice.

My children can make life quite challenging at times. Our three-year-old has recently been going through a stage where he wakes up every night around midnight to go to the bathroom. I really don’t like getting up in the middle of the night, but I also don’t like having to wash the sheets in the morning. I do appreciate a full night’s slumber. So what should I do? Make him sleep in a diaper? Maybe sleep outside in nature? No, we make sacrifices for our children. And believe me, 15 minutes of sleep is nothing compared to some of the sacrifices that others have made for their children. We do these things because love is bigger than sleep.

I have a friend who has had a pretty challenging life, mostly because of his own choices. He is a part of a lovely family with great parents, wonderful grandparents, and super siblings. But about 15 years ago when he was first out of high school, he went through a really rough patch of life. He was abusing alcohol, not working, and looking to obtain money any way that he could.

This friend’s grandfather passed away one summer so he was spending some time with his grandmother in another state, keeping her company during this difficult time. But he “needed” money. One day he found grandma’s checkbook so he took several blank checks and he forged them. He attempted to steal a significant amount of money…from his grandmother…while she was mourning.

Not surprisingly, he was caught when he tried to cash the forged checks and he was arrested. He had to spend the night in jail. But who do you think was there first thing the next morning to bail him out? Grandma. Grandma came down to the police station in her cape dress and head covering to bail out the young man who had just attempted to steal from her.

Oh you better believe that grandma was disappointed, and I am sure that she shared her disappointment with him. But when they got home, they went to the kitchen and cooked lunch together, ate together, and lived together for a few more weeks. And I am glad to say that he turned his life around. Yes, this relationship required some sacrifices on the part of the grandmother. But love is bigger than money.

David mourned the death of his son Absalom. That doesn’t surprise me. But David also mourned the loss of the man who killed his son and tried to kill him. David mourned the death of the person who wanted to overthrow him and take his crown. That’s because no matter what Absalom did to David, he was still David’s son, and David loved him unconditionally. David had to make some sacrifices. He sacrificed his pride, his comfort, and he sacrificed his “right” for revenge. But love is bigger.

If David, a flawed human being, loved his children in such a way, how much more does God love us? Regardless of what you have done to hurt others, God, or yourself, you are loved with an unconditional love. The question then comes back to us, How will I respond to God’s unconditional love?

On this Mother’s Day, as we consider the love that we have for our family, let us remember that God loves us even more. More than our faults and failures. More than our successes and triumphs. Love is bigger.

Confrontation, Accusation, or Illumination

2 Samuel 12:1-14 (NIV)

1The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”

It is spring. If you are like me, you own at least one pair of shoes that has a permanent green stain around the bottom edge. These are our lawn mowing shoes.

Love it or hate, spring means yard work. And if you don’t love it, just remember that there are Midwestern states that experienced record snowfall for the month of May last week, all from one storm. How much snow does it really take to make a record snowfall in May anyway? Regardless, I would rather mow my yard than shovel my walk.

As I was mowing my yard this past Friday I started thinking about how I would probably need to mow it again by Monday. And this brought me back to a conversation that I had a few years ago with a friend who we will call Fred.

Fred had a beautiful yard. There were always flowers in bloom, the shrubs were neatly trimmed, and the birds flocked to the bird feeders. It was a yard right out of Better Homes and Gardens.

As I sat with Fred in the middle of this beautiful yard one day, he began to complain about all of the hard work associated with keeping up this yard. Being spring, he complained about how often he needed to mow the grass. “It seems like I’m mowing every three days or so,” said Fred.

So I said to Fred, “Fred, you really do have a beautiful yard. Can you tell me, what kind of fertilizer do you use?”

Fred replied, “I use nothing but the best. Scots turf builder plus.”

“How often do you apply the fertilizer?” I asked.

“Oh, I like to put it on a little heavier than the directions call for in the fall and the spring.”

There was a pause in the conversation as I let him think about it for a second. Then I asked him, “Do you think that might be why you have to mow so often?”

The point is, if you don’t like to mow the grass, you probably shouldn’t apply fertilizer.

I could have told Fred that he was contributing to his own problem in a different way. I could have used a derogatory name that called his intelligence into question. I could have posted it online or announced it to a lot of friends. But I engaged him one-on-one as a friend trying to help a friend. And I did it in what I believe to be a creative way allowing him to come to conclusion rather than forcing it down his throat.

For the last few weeks we have been looking at the life of David and asking how he was a man after God’s own heart. To better understand what attributes David shared with God we placed him side-by-side with the fullness of God revealed through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. But today we are doing something a little different because it isn’t David who shows Christ-like qualities in this passage. It is the prophet Nathan. So we want to see how Nathan, like Jesus, opens David’s eyes to his own mistakes in a creative and effective way.

Let’s run through the context to set up today’s passage for us. David is the king of Israel, and Israel is at war. This means that a lot of the men of Israel are out in the battlefield while their wives are back home. Oh, and so is the king.

David enters into an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, who is married to a solider, Uriah the Hittite. Bathsheba becomes pregnant with David’s son and David tries to trick Uriah into believing that the child is his own. This is an attempt by a former shepherd to pull the metaphorical wool over Uriah’s eyes.

But Uriah is a noble man and the author of 2 Samuel really pushes the contrast between David and Uriah. Uriah refuses to go to his home while his fellow soldiers are out in battle and instead sleeps at the palace gates with the king’s servants. David, on the other hand, has been staying in the palace while his men have been living in a field. It is kind of hard to convince Uriah that the child his wife is carrying is his own if he doesn’t even see her. So David tries again, and this time alcohol is involved. He gets Uriah drunk and tries to send him back home to his wife, but again Uriah doesn’t feel comfortable going to his home while others are out in battle. It has been noted that Uriah drunk is more noble than David is while sober.

So finally David has Uriah sent into a dangerous situation in the heat of the battle, knowing very well that Uriah will be killed, making it “okay” for David to marry Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. Or as the text says, to take Uriah’s wife as his own.

David is a coveter, an adulterer, a manipulator, a deceiver, and a murderer. Walter Brueggemann notes that David knocks out close to 1/3 of the Ten Commandments in this one story. And David seems to be okay with that.

This brings us to today’s passage from 2 Samuel 12. Our passage tells us that the Lord sent Nathan to David. Two things I want you to notice here: Nathan and David had an on-going relationship. This is not their first interaction. David seems to be the go-to prophet for David, as we find a previous interaction in 2 Samuel 7. This isn’t some stranger approaching another person to point out their sin. He isn’t standing on a street corner, accusing people of all sorts of sin and telling them that they are going to hell. No, he knows David. They have a personal relationship.

If they hadn’t had a personal relationship, David probably would have blown off Nathan’s accusations. Perhaps he would have said, “Don’t judge me; you don’t know me.” Regardless, this confrontational method isn’t overly effective.

The second thing is that verse one says Nathan goes to David. It does not say that he goes before David and his council of leaders, his family, or even his servants. This is a one-on-one time between David and Nathan.

Sounds a lot like Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 18 on pointing out to brother or sister that they have sinned against you. Jesus says to “go” to them, point out their offense, and to keep it between the two of you if you can.

What happens when we are criticized in public? We get defensive. We make excuses. We may do these things when confronted in private as well, but I think that we tend to be more open to criticism when people approach us in private. If you accuse me of something in front of someone else, my first response is to try to convince that third person that I didn’t do what you are accusing me of doing. I know you already believe I did it, but they might be persuaded otherwise.

Approaching someone in private makes it a lot easier for them to hear what you have to say. Sure, people will still put up their defenses, but perhaps they will also listen.

So we have made it through the first half of verse one and so far we have been told to go to the person and speak to them one-on-one. That’s the hard part. Now it is time for the creative part, which can also be difficult.

Nathan begins to tell a story, which is much like the parables that Jesus tells to convict his listeners. He says that once there was a city where two men lived. One was a very rich man who had everything that he could ever want and need. The other was a very poor man who had next to nothing. But what he did have he loved dearly, that is, is little ewe; a female sheep.

This poor man treated the lamb like it was a member of his family. The lamb ate at his table, drank from his cup, and even snuggled into his chest to cuddle. Nathan says that this poor man loved that sheep just like it was one of his own daughters.

One day the rich man was entertaining a traveler and rather than slaughter a sheep from his own herd, he took the poor man’s one and only sheep, and cooked it up for supper.

When David heard this, he became outraged. He says in verse 5, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die!”

David’s reaction illustrates just how perfect Nathan’s parable was for the situation. Remember that before he was king, even before he was a soldier, David was a shepherd. He spent days and nights with his father’s sheep. They probably played together as he looked to pass the time. They probably snuggled in close to keep warm during the night hours. Perhaps they drank from the same brooks. They were his only companions, his only friends. It is possible that he loved them just like he would love his own children.

I find it quite interesting that David automatically associates himself with the poor man. And again, this is part of the brilliance of Nathan’s story. Here is the most powerful man in all of Israel, reaching back into his memory bank to retrieve data that he hadn’t accessed in years. David could relate to this story, and it hit home for him.

Then comes the big reversal. Nathan wasn’t talking about sheep. He was talking about wives. David, the rich and powerful king, had multiple wives. But he saw someone else’s wife and he took her for his own pleasure, not even considering how it might affect Uriah the Hittite.

Think of how gutsy of a move this was on Nathan’s part! He is showing the king where he has gone astray. The king. A person who could have him killed with the snap of his fingers, no questions asked.

Verse 13 says, “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ Nathan replied, ‘The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.’”

The light goes on in David’s head and he realizes what he has done. You get the idea that he never even understood what had taken place until Nathan lays it out for him. And God forgives David, though we know that there are still going to be consequences for David’s decisions. His repentance isn’t going to bring Uriah back from the dead and make all of his problems go away. But you must wonder how his life would have gone if he had not realized his mistake and repented of it. That line “You are not going to die” seems to suggest that without repentance, he would have.

Remember that Saul, too, was the Lord’s anointed leader of Israel. When Saul made mistakes, he failed to repent. And we know how things turned out for Saul. It is David that is remembered as the great king of Israel, a man after God’s own heart. I think that a lot of that comes down to Nathan’s decision to not confront or accuse David, but to illuminate him to his ways.

I think that mutual accountability is an unpopular thing today that we as the church cannot allow to die. As I have said before, if you see me doing something destructive in my life or something that is hurtful toward another, I want you to come to me and tell me. No, it isn’t pleasant for me to hear it and it shouldn’t be pleasant for you to tell me. But if it saves my marriage or keeps my children safe, I want to know. If there is a better way to live to give glory to God, I want to know.

That is one reason that I appreciate a small church setting. We are all up in one another’s business, and I think that is a good thing as long as it doesn’t slip into gossip. (Can you believe what a gossip Agnes is?) In a mutually accountable relationship you are aware of the decisions that I make and I am aware of the decisions that you make.

When we have a baptism or receive new members, we always have a line in our vows about being willing to give and receive counsel. When we dedicate children we have a line about helping one another raise the children. I take that seriously.

Our goal is and should always be reconciliation. David could not be reconciled with Uriah, but he did repent. And no, David was not perfect following this episode with Bathsheba. But when he sins in 2 Samuel 24, he repents again.

I can’t say for sure if my friend Fred is still dumping on the fertilizer and complaining about how fast his yard is growing. But what I do know is that there are things that we do that cause us pain and can hurt others as well. Sometimes we don’t even realize that the choices we make are hurting us and hurting others. It is times like that when we need someone like Nathan to tell us. We need to be in community with others where we know them personally, can go to people one-on-one, and tell them in a creative, loving, and illuminating way that their decisions are problematic. Let us build the kinds of relationships where our friends can tell us when we have been putting on too much bull…fertilizer.

My friends, we have seen far too many bad examples of Christians calling out other people’s sins. To these individuals Jesus says to first remove the plank from their own eye before addressing the speck of saw dust in the eye of another. There are healthy ways to show people where they are hurting themselves, hurting others, and hurting their relationship with God. Nobody likes to be called out. But there are better and more effective ways to illuminate others, to show them where they are missing the mark. In doing so we seek reconciliation, reconciliation with God and with others.

Let us follow the teachings and examples of Nathan and Jesus. May we build the kinds of relationships with others so that they can tell us when we are off track. May we have the courage to return the favor. Let us build the kinds of relationships where our friends can tell us when we have been putting on too much bull fertilizer.

Bosheth no mo…sheth

2 Samuel 9:1-13

David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

2 Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

“At your service,” he replied.

3 The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”

Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”

4 “Where is he?” the king asked.

Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”

5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.

6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.

David said, “Mephibosheth!”

“At your service,” he replied.

7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”

8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”

9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.

12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.

 

The children were filing through the lunch line one day in the winter and things were moving especially slow. The flu was going around and the cafeteria was short on workers. So next to a basket of apples there was a sign, which read, “Please take only one. Remember, God is watching.”

As the children reached the end of the line, one little boy was seen loading his tray up with cookies. When a friend asked him why he was doing this he said, “It’s okay, God is watching the apples.”

I really like lunch. It is among my three favorite meals of the day. However, I remember a time when lunch was a lot more stressful. That’s right, even more stressful than today, trying to feed a picky 3-year-old son and a 13-month-old daughter who insists that she use a fork to feed herself. Lunch was a very stressful event back in high school.

You surely remember how this went down in your school. You wait in line, pick up your tray of tater tots and green beans, and then you look around. You look to see if there are seats available with the jocks. You look to see if there are seats with the cute girls. You look to see if there are seats near the cool kids. But the only seat available is next to the kid who smells like diesel fuel. However, you don’t want to sit by Dusty the Diesel. One reason is that you never know if that kid is just going to spontaneously combust. Another is that there is also a chance that you might smell like diesel by the time lunch is over. But most importantly, you are afraid to sit by Dusty because to sit by the stinky kid means that you are not cool.

Who you eat with has always been a marker of one’s social status. Do you dine with royalty or do you dine with the common folks. Are you invited to a royal banquet, or are you sitting at home alone making frozen pizza like I was earlier today. In this world, across national boundaries and social structures, with whom you eat with says a lot about who you are.

We have come to the half-way point in our sermon series on the life of David. Today we continue to answer how David was a man after God’s own heart by comparing certain aspects of David’s life to the life, death, and resurrection of the full manifestation of God, that is, Jesus of Nazareth.

Today we turn our attention to Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, not to be confused with his uncle Ishbosheth, who we looked at last week. And no, Bosheth was not their last name. Bosheth is the Hebrew word for “shame.” Ishbosheth was probably not even his given name as “ish” is the Hebrew word for “man.” It would not make sense for Saul to have named his son “man of shame” because he would have only been a baby at the timeJ.

Mephibosheth literally means “from the mouth of shame.” This also isn’t a very appealing name and I am guessing that it too was not his given name. I believe that both Ishbosheth and Mephibosheth were nicknames given to these men, for reasons we will look at shortly. I think that it is important to keep the meaning of these names in mind as we consider how David exhibited Christ-like love to Mephibosheth.

Our passage for today beings with David sitting around, very bored, with nothing to do. The life of a king must be pretty sweet! He seems to have the kingdom in good order because he has the time to ask out loud if there is anyone from Saul’s family who is still alive.

On one hand you might expect that David is looking out for his own wellbeing by asking this question. You know the saying, “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” But the text never gives any reason to think that David is worried for his life or his throne. It simply tells us that David is looking to show “kindness” to Saul’s relatives that are still around for Jonathan’s sake.

However, I think that our modern translations don’t do this verse justice. The word that David uses here that is translated as “kindness” is the Hebrew word “chesed.” Chesed is considered by some Jewish philosophers to be the primary virtue of Judaism and it closely resembles the Greek word agape. Elsewhere in the Old Testament chesed is translated as “steadfast love.”

So David isn’t just looking to do a random act of kindness to some random member of Saul’s family. David is looking for a descendant of his dear friend Jonathan so that he can show his steadfast love.

Remember that David made a covenant with Jonathan in 1 Samuel 20:14-15a, where Jonathan says, “But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family.” Again, the word that is used in this passage is chesed, agape, or steadfast love.

David sends for a man named Ziba, who had been a servant in Saul’s house. Ziba informs David that indeed there is a living member of Saul’s family. He is actually a son of Jonathan’s and his name is Mephibosheth. Ziba also makes sure to point out that Mephibosheth is crippled, lame in both feet.

But Mephibosheth had not always been lame. There is a brief reference to Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 4:4: “Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth.”

I think that it is important for us to remember that people with disabilities were not always viewed in the same way we view them today. Leviticus 21 lays out a number of rules pertaining to people with disabilities and their limitations in acts of temple worship. We know that the offerings that the people made in the temple were to be “without blemish” and those making the offering were to be free from any disability as well. Other passages suggest that disabilities were God’s curse upon those individuals. And when we get to New Testament, we find passages like John 9 where the question is asked of Jesus, “Who sinned that this man was born blind, him or his parents?”

For Mephibosheth, no such question would have been asked. He was born with two working feet. They were injured when he was a boy. Mephibosheth was not permitted to participate in certain acts of worship. He was believed to be a sinner, cursed by God in the form of two bad feet.

Now the “bosheth” makes a little more sense. Because he was assumed to have committed some great sin, Mephibosheth was a shame to his family, his friends, and himself.

When David hears that Mephibosheth is still alive he sends for him. They meet and Mephibosheth is understandably a little frightened. This is the king, the man whom his grandfather had tried to kill. What could he want with Mephibosheth, this man of shame? Was David going to kill him to wipe out Saul’s lineage?

Nope. David restored all of Saul’s land to Mephibosheth and his family. He puts Ziba in charge of tending the land, and David tells Mephibosheth to join him at his table…every night.

Giving back the land to Mephibosheth seems a little silly to me if David is just going to feed Mephibosheth every night. But remember, David wasn’t just looking out for Mephibosheth. He was looking out for — offering chesed to — the descendants of Jonathan and Saul. The land could be passed down from generation to generation, feeding the family of Jonathan for the foreseeable future.

David did not see Mephibosheth as a man of shame. No, David reached out and cared for, offered steadfast love to Mephibosheth because he was a part of Jonathan’s family.

One of the metaphors that we find in the Bible for what Jesus accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection is that he took away our shame. We find this in the Suffering Servant passage of Isaiah 53. We read it again in Romans 10:11. Jesus was beaten, stripped naked, and put on display as a sign to everyone of what would be done to anyone who dared to oppose Rome.

Death on a cross was not simply painful. It was shameful. And when you consider that Jesus was the only perfect person to ever walk the face of the earth, it becomes all the more shameful to consider what was done to him. Somehow, through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus took our shame upon himself.

But I want to draw your attention back to my high school years, sitting with Dusty the Diesel at lunch. I get the feeling that Jesus wouldn’t have searched for a seat with the jocks, cheerleaders, cool guys, or anyone else. I think he would have received his tray of tatter tots and went right for Dusty.

Jesus was always dining with those who society deemed “shameful.” But he did more than dine with them. He broke all sorts of rules. Not only did he eat with the outcasts, he touched the lepers, risking getting cooties. He even interacted with women of ill repute.

When Jesus is in the home of Simon the Pharisee a sinful woman anoints Jesus with an alabaster jar filled with perfume. The Pharisee says in Luke 7:39, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

Jesus says, “Oh, I know.”

I think of the woman at the well that Jesus meets in John 4. Jesus strikes up a conversation with her and asks her for a drink. She says in verse 9, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)”

It is almost like she is saying, “Do you know who I am? I am a Samaritan woman. Jewish men do not talk to Samaritan women.”

Jesus says, “Oh, I know.”

I come back to David. When he first inquires of Ziba as to if there are any more descendants of Saul alive, Ziba mentions Mephibosheth and he emphasizes that Mephibosheth is lame. It is like he is saying, “Yes, there is one son of Jonathan remaining. But you don’t want anything to do with him. He is lame in both feet; obviously a sinner.”

David says, “Oh, I know.”

And when we look at verse 13, the end of this story, the author sums things up by saying, “And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.”

Bosheth no mo sheth. That shame is gone. This guy is eating with the king.

This is the point that I want to make: your status is not determined by if you sit with the jocks or the cheerleaders. It is not decided by the car you drive, the clothes you wear or the style of your hair. It doesn’t matter who you know or how many friends you have on Facebook. Your past victories and past failures are all insignificant. That shame is gone. Because today to are invited to sit at the table of the King of kings, Lord of lords. Your significance is found in Christ.

We were created without a sense of shame. The Creation Narrative in Genesis tells us that Adam and Eve were naked and they felt no shame. I believe that through Jesus we are called to get back to that point. Not that we need to walk around naked, but to feel no shame. There is nothing that you have done that Jesus doesn’t already know about. There is nothing that you have done that others haven’t done as well. And if you try to use what you have done as a reason to not eat at the table with Jesus, don’t worry, he already knows. And he is motioning you over to his table. He is scooting over to offer you a seat. Your shame is gone. He took it and nailed it to the cross.

The Politics of David

2 Samuel 1:1-17

1 After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days. 2 On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him honor.

3 “Where have you come from?” David asked him.

He answered, “I have escaped from the Israelite camp.”

4 “What happened?” David asked. “Tell me.”

“The men fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”

5 Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

6 “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” the young man said, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and their drivers in hot pursuit. 7 When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, ‘What can I do?’

8 “He asked me, ‘Who are you?’

“‘An Amalekite,’ I answered.

9 “Then he said to me, ‘Stand here by me and kill me! I’m in the throes of death, but I’m still alive.’

10 “So I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.”

11 Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them. 12 They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

13 David said to the young man who brought him the report, “Where are you from?”

“I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite,” he answered.

14 David asked him, “Why weren’t you afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”

15 Then David called one of his men and said, “Go, strike him down!” So he struck him down, and he died. 16 For David had said to him, “Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’”

Yesterday my wife sent me to the grocery store with a list of items to pick up so that she could prepare some goodies for a bake sale at work. The list looked like most any other grocery list. It included things like milk, flour, sugar, and eggs. I was glad that we went over the list before I left home because I noticed that she also wanted me to pick up some butter. I have purchased enough butter in my days to know that all butter is not created equal. So I asked, “Do you want salted or unsalted butter?”

When I got to the dairy case I knew that I was to pick up unsalted butter. The problem is that there are more than just two choices for butter. First you have to know if you are looking for butter, margarine, or one of the many other partially-hydrogenated options. Then you come to the salted or unsalted options. So far, so good. But among the unsalted offerings are sweet cream butter, olive oil and herb butter, and clarified butter. That’s six different kinds of “butter” and we haven’t even gotten to the European varieties yet.

It was so much easier to get the M&M’s for the monster cookies. There were only two options: with or without peanuts. I chose both.

The thing that helped my butter selection process was the fact that all of the butter is stored together, side by side. If I was running back and forth, up and down the aisle, comparing butter, I would have just grabbed the cheapest one and been happy with that. But the butters were together, because though they were not identical, they were at their most basic level, the same.

If there are six different varieties of butter, there are six thousand different varieties of people. And the way I see it, if the butter can all get along, we can, too. More so, as followers of Jesus, we are called to unity.

Unity does not mean agreeing on everything all of the time, and it does not mean that everyone is right. It means that we chose to love one another in spite of our differences (even when we know we are right and someone else is wrongJ).

Today we are continuing our series on the life of David and how he was a man after God’s own heart. I think that David, like God, is one who seeks unity among the people and today I want to look at some of the ways that David brought the people of Israel together.

I rarely have anything good to say about politics. The word itself has a negative connotation in our English language. But the Greek word “polis” literally means city, so politics is simply the art of how to “tick” off an entire city. No, the word politics actually refers to the wise leading of a city or nation-state.

So when I talk about the politics of David, I do not mean to say that David is being less-than honest or that he has only personal gain in mind. As I talk about the politics of David today I wish to show that David was a wise manager, planning his moves in such a way so as to bring unity to the kingdom of Israel.

I want to begin by reminding you that when the Israelites came into the Promised Land they settled the area according to their particular tribe, their ancestral line. Asher settled in the northwest, Judah in the south-central, and so on. There is a fair number of differing opinions on just how united these tribes ever where. We often say that Saul was the first king of the united kingdom, but whether the rest of the tribes fully recognized him as king is debatable.

David was born and raised in Bethlehem, which is in the northern part of the land of Judah. So David was a descendant of Judah’s. Saul was a descendant of Benjamin. I don’t know of any major quarrels between the two family groups, but they were distinct and separate groups.

David seems to be working at unifying the kingdom long before he is even made king. In a monarchy it is usually the offspring of the king and queen that rise up to take the throne when the king and/or queen pass away or can no longer lead. So it was surely expected, especially by the people living in the north in the region of Benjamin, that one of Saul’s children would be the next leader of the Israelites. But we know that Samuel anointed David in the home of his father as the next king. So how can David overcome this issue and simultaneously bring some sense of unity to the kingdom? By marrying Saul’s daughter.

In 1 Samuel chapter 18 we find the story of David marrying Michal. It was a political move for David, a descendant of Judah, to marry Michal, a Benjamite. Not only did he help bring the families together, but as kin to Saul, David now had a legitimate claim to the throne.

But as we read through the narratives of 1 and 2 Samuel, we find that after the death of Saul and his son Jonathan, David is not named the king over the entire kingdom of Israel. David is anointed as the king of Judah, his home land. Ishbosheth is anointed king of the northern kingdom of Israel.

Civil war actually breaks out and there is fighting between those who call David their king and those that claim Ishbosheth as king. This is anything but unity. And as anyone who lived in the USA in the years following the Civil War can tell you, the sense of disunity can continue for generations after the war is over.

This war continues until Abner, who was Ishbosheth’s right-hand man, does something that causes Ishbosheth to become quite angry with Abner (let’s just leave it at that), leading Abner to switch sides and cut a deal with David. Unfortunately for Abner, not everyone knows this, and Abner is killed by one of David’s men, Joab. Joab isn’t about to let Abner get away and so he kills Abner.

Ishboseth is later killed in a way that closely resembles his father’s death, killed by some foreigners looking to gain favor in David’s eyes. Eventually, David becomes the king of the unified kingdom in 2 Samuel chapter five.

If we look at David’s ascension to the throne, we can see that he was careful all the way along to make sure to not push the other tribes of Israel away. David does not kill Saul, Jonathan, Abner, or Ishboseth, even though doing so might be beneficial to his gaining the throne. Surely David chose not to kill these men for other reasons as well, but I think he was being very politically savvy in keeping his hands clean.

But David still isn’t done. He continues to do things to bring the people back together. They are just coming out of a civil war and there are relationships that need healing.

When the Israelites took to Promised Land, there were a number of shrines that were established as places of worship. Shiloh was the site of an often-referenced shrine and a few weeks ago we noted that David ate the showbread from Nob. But there really wasn’t a centralized place for worship.

We also know that the city of Jerusalem was not a part of the original land that the Israelites took. It wasn’t acquired until after David became king. David then establishes Jerusalem as the “kingdom seat” and makes it a centralized location for worship. And he does this by bringing in one of the most revered objects in all of the Hebrew tradition: the Ark of the Covenant.

The ark has been in Abinadab’s house for the last 20 years (1 Sam. 7), and it takes another three months to get it to Jerusalem. But when it arrives, the people rejoice and dance. Even the king himself does a little jig, much to the embarrassment of his wife.

Jerusalem is now the central location for Hebrew worship. David tries to build a magnificent temple there, but that won’t happen for another generation. But notice where Jerusalem is located. It is on the boarder of the regions of Benjamin and Judah. Don’t try to tell me that this was not a political move in attempt to unify the nation of Israel, to bring healing following the years of civil war.

David, like the God manifested in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, looked to bring unity in spite of differences.

This past week we as Americans came together in a way that gives me hope for humanity. Christmas doesn’t bring us together anymore because we are all too concerned with getting the best deals on the latest gadgets. Thanksgiving and Easter have just become days to gorge ourselves on too much food. But any time an act of terrorism occurs in our backyard, we slow down and come together. Black and white, young and old, on April 15^th, we were all Bostonians. Even allegiances to our favorite baseball teams were set aside and we saw New York Yankee fans standing side-by-side with Boston Red Sox fans.

I would never wish for terrorism to hit anyone or anywhere, but it is clear to me that events like 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombing brings us together as a country and we focus on what matters the most. People hug their children a little longer, call their friends and family members that they haven’t spoken to in years, and many go back to church to seek answers to the questions that they have. To put it succinctly, we reprioritize our lives.

However, I was listening to a talk show on the radio this week and there was an Indian-American man sharing about his experience following September 11^th. He was walking with his white friend one evening when they were approached by a couple of angry men. These men called him names, cursed at him, told him to go back to Iraq, and threatened his life. He was a Hindu and had been living in the United States all of his life, but that really didn’t matter to these people. All they saw was someone who looked different.

This man shared as he was interviewed on the radio that as he heard the story of the bombing in Boston unfolding, one of the first things that ran through his mind was, “Please, don’t let the bomber be a brown-skinned man.” He knew that if the bombers looked like him, he might be in danger again.

I think that these tragedies bring us together, and that is a good thing. But unfortunately, as has been quoted many times, nothing unites a people like a common enemy.

As I look at the life of David, I see him trying to bring the people together through his marriage, through his respect of the other tribes and their leaders, and by bringing their focus back to the God who led them out of Israel.

I keep thinking on Philippians 4:2-6 which says, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

I don’t think this is a message that we need to forget our differences and just all hold hands, sing kumbaya, and blow bubbles. I think you all know that I enjoy theology and ethics. I have made it my career to seek to better understand and articulate who this God is that we serve. And I can be pretty passionate about the things that I believe. But that doesn’t mean we don’t still love and support those who believe differently than we do.

A friend of mine, let’s call him Fred, shared recently that he has been really digging into an issue that he previously hadn’t really considered. And this is a pretty divisive issue in the church right now! There is a person at Fred’s church who is a Messianic Jew and has taken a very strong pro-Israel stance on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Fred also has a brother that works for a progressive relief organization who has a very strong pro-Palestinian stance on the same issue. Both men are very committed Christians, but they are on opposite ends on this issue.

Up until now Fred has really avoided the topic with both of these friends. But he felt that just ignoring the division wasn’t really doing him any good. So he has read some of the writings on both sides of the issue. He has gone back to the Bible and really dug into the text. He has prayed about it and he has spoken with his pastor about the issue. And do you know where Fred came out on this issue? He is still undecided.

Perhaps one day soon Fred will pick a side or perhaps he never will. That’s not the point. The point is that he is taking both sides seriously and both sides feel like they have been heard and cared for, like their opinions matter. And even if Fred decides that he disagrees with one of these friends, the fact that he put the work into understanding the other’s perspective should mean something. This is what I think we are to be doing in our work for unity.

David did a lot of things to make the kingdom of Israel come together as one. I assure you that they did not agree on everything all of the time, but they learned to live together in peace. The letter to the Philippians says to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit. David was so set on this that it may have influenced who he married. I’m not saying you need to do that, though.

Like the many varieties of butter in the supermarket, we need to learn to exist together. We need to listen and learn from one another, growing together in unity. Even if at the end of the day we don’t agree on everything, we need to continue to hear one another. It is okay to disagree with one another. It is not okay to let these things keep us away from loving God and neighbor.

Powerful Promises

1 Samuel 24:1-7

1After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.

3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 4 The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” 7 With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

There are times when things just come together and you have to admit that God had something to do with it. I sometimes think the things that people credit God for doing are just coincidences. But this is a God thing.

Today we are beginning a drive to collect a much-needed item for the Valley Mission, our local homeless shelter. We have collected this item before because it is something we all need and it is easy to pick up a little extra when you go to the store. Today we are starting our second toilet paper drive. Could there be a better day to start this endeavor than on the day we talk about Saul going into a cave to poop?

Seriously, folks. I could not have planned it like this.

We are continuing our series on the life of David as we look to see how David was a “man after God’s own heart.” We know that David was not perfect, but there were some aspects of David’s life that obviously reflected the personhood and heart of God. So to better identify these areas we are juxtaposing the lives of David and Jesus, the one who did show us exactly how God is.

Our text for today has been called a turning point in the story of Saul and David. Ever since David returned from killing Goliath and Saul heard the chants of the people, cheering on David, Saul has looked for ways to have David killed. David is seen as a threat to Saul’s role as king, so Saul seeks to eliminate this threat.

There are times when Saul attempts to have David killed in battle by offering David his daughter’s hand in marriage at the price of 100 Philistine foreskins. There are other times when Saul is a little less secretive in his assassination attempt, such as in 1 Samuel 18 when Saul throws a spear at David while David is playing the lyre. Not once, but twice.

It is no wonder that from chapter 18 through chapter 23 we find David running for his life. He barely escapes Saul’s men when they are sent to kill him in his own home. David eludes Saul in the wilderness. He flees from town to town.

But something a little out of place happens in chapter 18. In 1 Samuel 18 we read that David, in the midst of running from Saul, made a covenant with Jonathan. Covenant is just a churchy word for promise or agreement. So here David is, out of breath from running for his life, and he stops to make a promise to Jonathan. But chapter 18 doesn’t really spell out what this covenant is. Thankfully, this is a theme that comes up a number of times throughout the next few chapters.

Chapter 20:14-16a quotes Jonathan saying, “‘But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.’ So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David”

Jonathan knew that David would be the king, not him. So he and David made an agreement that David would show kindness to Jonathan and his family. Please don’t cut off my family, even when the Lord has cut off your enemies. It is interesting to me that Jonathan places his family and David’s enemies in the same breath. He must know that David isn’t too fond of having spears thrown at him.

For all of you Hebrew nerds out there, remember that the word we translate as “made” when we read about making a covenant in the Hebrew Bible is literally the word “cut.” Jonathan literally says, Please don’t cut off my family when the Lord cuts off your enemies. Instead, let’s cut a covenant. So they did.

But really, what did David have to lose? Saul is the big powerful king; David is the little shepherd boy. Saul seems to have an endless supply of spears and access to an entire army; David has a slingshot. So David says, Sure, Jonathan, I’ll make a promise to you that I won’t hurt you and your family. Who am I to threaten the king?

But something is happening as David runs. As he goes from town to town looking to stay one step in front of Saul, David is building a following; David is gaining power. Remember that David is reaching out and caring for society’s rejects, and he is building up a bit of an entourage. By chapter 22, David is said to have 400 followers. I don’t even have that many friends on Facebook.

So we come to today’s passage, and we begin to see the first signs of a role reversal. The powerful King Saul is chasing after this lowly shepherd boy in the wilderness of En-gedi. David and his men are hiding in a deep, dark cave, and I can only assume that not all 400 of his followers were in the same cave. As they are standing in the shadows, trying to not make a sound, in walks Saul.

Saul is simply looking for some privacy to do what comes naturally, and yes, he is doing exactly what you think he is doing. This must have been a pretty large cave because there is some conversation going on and Saul doesn’t hear it. In this conversation David’s men are encouraging him to kill Saul while he is in a very vulnerable position.

But David isn’t about to kill Saul. Instead he takes his knife and cuts off a corner of Saul’s robe. I assume that Saul had taken off his outer robe and laid it aside as he went to do his business. And just cutting off a piece of Saul’s robe made David feel guilty! Why was that?

One reason can be found in verse 6: “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.”

David obviously had respect for Saul. He knew that God had chosen Saul for the role of king. And even though Saul was out to get David, David wasn’t going to repay evil for evil just to save his own skin, which also sounds a lot like Jesus.

But there is more. You see, David was a man of his word. He had made a promise to Jonathan not to harm Jonathan’s family. Saul might be the biggest threat to David right now, but he is also Jonathan’s father. And now, even though the roles have been reversed and David has the upper hand and all of the power, he still keeps his promise to Jonathan.

It is indeed easy to make a promise when you have nothing to lose. The challenge is in keeping a promise when you have nothing to gain.

I don’t think we need to go into all of the times that God makes covenants in the Old Testament, as the word “covenant” is used 295 times in that part of the Bible. But I found it interesting that the New Testament only records Jesus using the word “covenant” once. There are many times that he makes promises, and assures people by saying “verily, verily, I say unto you” in the KJV. Such phrases are really the same thing as making a covenant. But the only time that Jesus uses the word covenant is at the Last Supper.

Matthew 26:27-28, “Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

The covenant that Jesus introduces here is for the forgiveness of sins. With that in mind, as we consider the covenant between David and Jonathan, I wonder, wasn’t that covenant also for the forgiveness of sins?

David promised not to harm Jonathan and his family, but why would Jonathan be worried that David might do such a thing? Because Jonathan knew that David had been wronged by Saul. For David to make a covenant to not hurt Saul, David was making a promise to forgive Saul. David, like the God revealed to us through Jesus, is a keeper of promises.

Promises are made all of the time. Far too often, they are not kept. During the election season we hear all kinds of promises which are quickly forgotten when an official is in office. A child may promise to clean their room when they want a new toy at the store, but they are quick to forget when they get home. I thought I sold my Volkswagen the other day and had to tell a potential buyer that someone else had promised to come back with the money on Saturday if only I would hold it for him. Promises are made, and promises are broken.

It is indeed easy to make a promise when you have nothing to lose. The challenge is in keeping a promise when you have nothing to gain.

We hear the laments of people that say “I remember the day when a person’s word meant something” and “It used to be that a handshake was a binding agreement.” Now even a contract doesn’t hold up in court unless you have it notarized with an official, raised-seal embossment.

We need to do better. If we are to be the hands and feet of Jesus, if people are to see us as the living embodiment of our Lord, we need to be people who keep our promises.

Matthew 5:35-37 invites us to be the kind of people who keep our promises. Don’t swear an oath, but yet your yes be yes and your no be no. You shouldn’t have to swear an oath and you shouldn’t have to have a contract notarized. If you say you are going to do something, do it. If you say that you are not going to do something, don’t do it!

I remember walking with a friend of mine through the local city yard sales when we were in the seventh grade. This was one of the biggest events of the year in that little town. I remember coming up to the house of my friend’s sister. She was quite a bit older, married, and had children of her own.

When we got to her house we saw that she had parked her car on the street where many people were walking past, going from one yard sale to the next. And I remember seeing something sitting on top of her car. She had set her wallet on top of the car and forgot about it as she got her children out of their car seats.

So I grabbed that wallet, checked it for money (just kidding), and went to find her. When we did find her she was so appreciative that she promised me right then and there before God and all the yard sale-ers to bake me a dozen of my favorite cookies. Again, I was in the seventh grade.

I soon forgot about those cookies, and I assumed that she did as well. I didn’t see her very much over the next few years, especially as my friend and I kind of grew apart. But on my graduation day, five years after making that promise, she gave me a dozen chocolate chip cookies. It was indeed a good day.

She kept her promise and I respected her so much because I knew, even then, that not everyone does.

I’ve come to the conclusion that there is a really easy way to keep from ever breaking your promises: don’t make any. If you don’t make any promises, how can you not keep them? However, I don’t think that is good advice. Unfortunately I find myself hesitating to make promises all of the time, not because I don’t think that I can keep them, but because I don’t want to have to keep them.

But if we are truly following Jesus, who is truly the full revelation of God, and if David was truly a man after God’s own heart, I have to think that we aren’t supposed to not make promises just so we don’t have to worry about breaking them (triple negative?). We serve a God who made promises and we too need to make promises. We need to be proactive in guaranteeing people that we will see through the things that we have been called to do as a witness to the kingdom of God.

That is why I am hoping that today we can make a promise. Last year we gave 800 rolls of toilet paper to the Valley Mission. That was pretty impressive! They were very thankful and you can rest assured that each roll was put to good use. This year I want to go into quadruple digits. If we sent 800 rolls last year, why not try for 1,000 this year?

Sending 1,000 rolls of toilet paper to the Valley Mission is a good goal. But we aren’t talking about goals today. We are talking about covenants; we are talking about promises. A goal is good, but if you fail to reach your goal, no biggie. Let’s make a promise. Let’s promise the Valley Mission that we will send 1,000 rolls of toilet paper by Memorial Day.

I invite you to bring your toilet paper and stack it up front and fill the platform. Make some obstacles for me to weave around as I pace back and forth. Having the toilet paper stacked up front will do more than just provide a tripping hazard for me each week. It will serve as a reminder, a reminder of the promise that we have made.

When David makes this promise to Jonathan, it isn’t just assumed that David is going to always remember. It comes up time and time again. Chapter 18, 20, and 26 are all reminders of the promise that David made to his friend Jonathan to show kindness and mercy to his family.

Then we get all the way to 2 Samuel chapter nine where David is well established as the king. He has united the kingdom and they have continued to be a strong nation. In verse 1 we read, “David asked, ‘Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?’”

How many years later and David is still keeping his promise to Jonathan, a man who has long since passed away. He has gone from a poor little shepherd boy with nothing to lose to a big powerful king with nothing to gain. David kept his promise, but he needed reminders.

When Jesus made the new covenant with his disciples, he invited them to participate in an act of remembrance as well. “Every time you eat this bread and drink of the cup, remember me.”

I’m still in surprised that my friend’s sister remembered the cookies that she had promised me five years earlier, especially because I had forgotten and sure hadn’t given her any reminders. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be people of our word, people who make promises and follow through with them. We make covenants because we serve a covenant-making God.

Religious Rituals and Real Relationships

1 Samuel 21:1-7 New International Version (NIV)

1 David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

2 David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”

4 But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women.”

5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.

7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd.

This week we are beginning a sermon series on the life of David. I taught a class at a local church on this subject where we looked at various characteristics of David and how he personified certain aspects of God. I am planning to adapt these lessons into sermons, but just as a bit of a warning, they still fall into the genre of teaching and not preaching. Get caffeinated if you have to.

For the next six weeks we are going to take a look at how David is “A man after God’s own heart.” I’m going to try to avoid some of the better-known stories about David. We are going to skip his anointing and his defeat of Goliath. We will probably look at one of the better-known stories — David and Bathsheba — because that is a very powerful story. Today, however, we are going to study the story of David and the priests of Nob. That’s right, please stay calm and try to control your enthusiasm. We are talking about Ahimelek today.

This is a rather obscure story that most of us probably only know because Jesus references this in the New Testament, and we will get to that soon enough. But the story of Ahimelek and David teaches us an important aspect of who God is and what God expects of us, so we do not want to skip over it too quickly.

Let’s begin by looking at my hermeneutical approach and read Colossians 1:19: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.”

Is this a reference to David? Did God’s fullness dwell in David? No, David was not God incarnate. This is a reference to Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect life and lived according to God’s will. David made mistakes. He sinned. The Bible does not say that God’s fullness dwelled in David, but it gives a different phrase that we often associate with this leader.

1 Samuel 13:14 is a part of a larger narrative of the prophet Samuel telling Saul why he will not be the king of the united kingdom of Israel forever. “But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

We know that the person who succeeded Saul was David. He wasn’t actually anointed as the next king until chapter 16. But it is clear to us reading this text after the fact that when David says that the Lord has chosen a man after his own heart, he is talking about David. This is confirmed by the good Dr. Luke in Acts 13:22, which says, “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’”

God says that David will do everything God wants him to do. I would add that David also did a few things that God didn’t want him to do.

David is not perfect; he is not Jesus. The fullness of God does not dwell within him. But there is something about him that makes God call him a man after God’s own heart. So to better understand how David is a man after God’s own heart, I want to compare some aspects of David’s life to the life of the one in whom the fullness of God did dwell.

Interestingly enough, we find in our text for today that the first time David opens his mouth, out comes a lie. Ahimelek is a little uncomfortable having David show up out of the blue, and asks why he is there and not with the rest of the king’s army. So David tells Ahimelek that the king sent him on a special mission; nobody else knows about it. And that special mission is to find and bring back bread for his soldiers.

I don’t know why David thought that he had to lie. Perhaps he figured that if he was on a mission from the king that Ahimelek would be more inclined to give him what he was looking for. But David wasn’t on a special mission from the king. David was fleeing for his life from the king. Regardless, Ahimelek didn’t have any regular bread. All he had was the showbread, or the consecrated bread. And that bread wasn’t just for anyone to eat.

We find the story of the showbread in Leviticus 24:5-9: “Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf. Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. By each stack put some pure incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the Lord. This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in the sanctuary area, because it is a most holy part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord.”

Two stacks, each six loaves high. That right there tells me that this bread was not like the bread that we have in our home. To stack bread six loaves high it would have to be thin and flat; likely made without yeast. It would be more of a cake, and a large cake at that. Two-tenths of an ephah is about four quarts of flour, which comes out to about seven pounds. These were big, flat, dense loaves of bread.

We need to remember that everything is symbolic. Everything is meant to remind the people of God and what God has done for them. These big, flat loaves of bread may have been meant to represent the bread that the Hebrew people made during the Passover, when they had to pick up all of their possessions and get out of Egypt so quickly that they didn’t have time to let yeast rise.

Even the number of loaves of bread seems symbolic. Two stacks of six requires a little bit of math. But with the help of a calculator we find that two times six is twelve, and twelve seems to me to represent the twelve tribes of Israel.

Everything is symbolic. Nothing is done without a reason. If we back up to Leviticus 23, we find Moses receiving instruction on how to observe several holy days and festivals. There are instructions on observing the Sabbath, the Passover, the Offering of the First Fruits, the Festival of Weeks, the Festival of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Festival of Booths. All of these holy days, festivals, and observances had a purpose. And most of them focus on remembering what God had done for the Israelites.

The showbread was no different. It was there as a reminder of what God had done for his people. And the law specifically said how it was to be handled and that only Aaron and his sons could eat this bread.

Notice that there is no hesitation from Ahimelek in giving this bread to David. Okay, maybe just a slight hesitation. He says that they can have the bread as long as they have kept away from women. I don’t wish to comment on that today.

The interaction between David and Ahimelek shows the importance of caring for one another. I think we can even say that this story prioritizes relationships over religious rituals.

When I say “religious rituals” I am not saying that we are called to prioritize our relationships with one another over our relationship with God or our devotion to God. The Bible gives a name to elevating something, anything, above God: it is called idolatry. That’s a pretty big no-no in the Bible. I am also not saying that this is a call to elevate relationships above religious convictions. What I mean here by religious rituals are the routines that are often a part of our worship practices.

David prioritized real relationships and real needs over religious rituals. Is this a way that David is a man after God’s own heart? Let’s consider the person in whom God fully dwelled.

Mark chapter 2 and Matthew chapter 12 both tell a story of Jesus and his disciples walking along a field of grain with their stomachs growling. So the disciples reach out and pluck a few heads of grain, probably roll them around in their hands, and eat the grain.

I would probably be a little upset if I saw the disciples doing this today because it would seem to me that they are stealing grain. But this is actually a lawful act. The problem isn’t that they were “stealing” anything. The problem, at least in the eyes of the Pharisees, is that they were doing this on the Sabbath. They were “harvesting” grain on the day of rest.

The Sabbath was and is still a very important part of many religious traditions. It is a day set aside to focus on worshipping God and to avoid the idolatry of worshipping the almighty dollar. And by Hebrew tradition, the disciples were breaking the law.

So what did Jesus, in the fullness of God, have to say to the Pharisees and their critique of this Sabbath work? “He answered, ‘Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.’” (Matthew 12:3-7)

Jesus doesn’t make any effort to suggest that they were doing anything but breaking the Sabbath law; he actually highlights the fact that David and his men were breaking the law when they ate the showbread. But the Law is intended to bring someone into a closer relationship with God and if those people die of hunger, they aren’t really going to be able to grow any closer.

In Romans 13:10, Paul even goes as far as to say “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Love is what God was going for all along with the law.

The challenge for us all today is to ask ourselves if we put as much effort into building real relationships as Jesus and David did. Are we focusing on the needs of our friends and neighbors or are we neglecting those around us. And even worse, are we using God as an excuse to neglect the very people that we have been called to love?

This story of putting others before our religious rituals reminded me of a story that had not crossed my mind in some time. I was living in Harrisonburg, about a 35 minute drive away from Staunton, and it was either my first or second year at this church. Sonya and I would rush out the door every Sunday at about 8:45 so that we could get to church in time for Sunday School and the normal socialization.

Sunday mornings are intense for a pastor. I am up early, looking through my notes and making final adjustments and preparations for the worship service well before the sun comes up. Back in those days Sonya always drove to church so I could read through my sermon one more time. My mantra was: practice, read, refine. Practice, read, refine.

One Sunday just as I was walking out the door, the phone rang. I debated even answering it, but I did anyway. It was someone that new I would be traveling from Harrisonburg to Staunton that day and they were wondering if I could provide a ride for a friend of theirs to the train station. They wanted me to go to her house, pick her up, and drive her here. All before church, all while trying to practice, read, and refine.

I really wasn’t interested in giving a ride to someone I didn’t know who happened to be a friend of a person that I barely knew. I had to get to church on time and I had to make my final preparations.

I am pretty sure that I made the wrong choice that Sunday. So what if I had been a little late for Sunday School that week? I don’t think I would have been fired for that. So what if my sermon was not as refined as I would have liked for it to have been? I’ve probably given worse!

One of the ways that David was a man after God’s own heart was that he put real relationships before religious rituals. He knew that it was more important to feed the hungry than to follow all of the religious expectations to the letter. And these relationship-building efforts worked for David.

If we look quickly at 1 Samuel 22:2 we read: “All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.”

I’m pretty sure that Jesus built some relationships with those in distress, in debt, and discontented in his day as well. Relationships matter.

I’m giving you all a pass today. If you ever find yourself in a situation where helping someone might make you late or cause you to miss church all together, please help that person. If you have a chance to help someone I don’t want you here! I want you there!

David and Jesus after him never imply that religious rituals, like attending church or observing religious holidays, are a bad thing. No, they both participated in things like the Sabbath and various holy days. But when we put these reoccurring religious rituals before real relationship, when people go hungry or without help because we think we need to do something to better connect with God, we are missing the point. God puts people in our paths to help us connect better with both God and humanity. Relationships come before rituals.