Human Weakness, God's Power

(Illustration by Lika Tov)

“Comfortable congregations prefer to hear tame sermons about mustard seeds and lilies of the valleys rather than be disturbed by the genuinely human behavior of David and his court.”

(Rolf Jacobson. “Preaching the David Story”, Word & World)

The opening words of the reading from 2 Samuel (11:1-15) remind me of a saying I once heard that “In the spring of the year a young man’s heart turns to love, or to what the young lady’s been thinking about all year round.”  Actually, “in the spring of the year” isn’t what the Hebrew text says.  The meaning is “at the turning of the year”, when kings went to battle.  That David is taking his afternoon nap, while his generals are out on the battle-line is, in itself, a telling fact in the story. Sauntering about on his roof, probably bored, David, now in his young manhood, must’ve cast a virile figure because even as a young sheepherder the Scripture writer in 1 Samuel 16 couldn’t help but noting: “Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome.”  Almost makes you wonder if the writer wasn’t a woman! At any rate, David can’t help but notice below in the courtyard of an adjacent villa the beautiful and undoubtedly naked body of a woman who is bathing there. She is, in fact, ritually purifying herself, the Scripture says, after her period.  David dispatches an underling to get a profile on the woman who turns out to be Bathsheba, wife of one of his top 37 warriors, Uriah the Hittite, and granddaughter of his royal counselor, Ahithopel.  David, as decisive in his wants as he is in battle, wastes no time: “...he sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.”  A very human situation.  Husband is off at war.  Woman is lonely.  A studly king summons her, simply because he can. She doesn’t or can’t resist.  And the rest is history.

Time passes, and Bathsheba sends the “oh-oh” message to David that she’s pregnant.  No question who the father is.

In light of our ongoing and frequent experience of hearing about political figures and star celebrities being caught up in sexual scandals, thinking they’re invincible, we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that King David also plays “the fool”, in the words of Psalm 14, for that is really what sin is: the folly of selfishness.  David figures he can utilize his spinmeisters to veil and downplay his culpability in this situation. Exercising his regal power, he hurriedly summons Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, direct from the battlefield, on the pretext of getting a status report from Uriah on how Commander Joab and the troops are faring.  The thought may have crossed Uriah’s mind that he was being tested for one  reason or another.  In the meantime, David suggests that Uriah take some R & R, kick back, go down home, and “wash your feet”. David didn’t have in mind for Uriah to kick off his military boots and take a probably much-needed bath. “Washing the feet” would have been a familiar Jewish euphemism for having sexual intercourse with his wife. Unexpectedly, Uriah, military man that he was, decides to “go by the book” and resists the suggestion, even though it comes from the king. He sleeps on David’s doorstep with all the servants, because that’s what disciplined soldiers did, abstaining from “that” sort of thing while on duty.  

The next day David finds out about this. He questions Uriah, who protests his utter loyalty to the king and to God: “The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the [other soldiers] are camping in the open field...As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.”  So, David is forced to set in motion Plan B. He invites Uriah to dinner the next evening and gets him so tanked that he’s sure that now Uriah will head down the hill and jump in bed with his wife.  But, again, no luck: Uriah again ends up on the porch with the servants.

David is now feeling a little desperate. Taking his foolishness to the next extreme, which is really what sin is, he writes an order for Joab, having the gall to send it with Uriah’s as he returns, since he certainly trusted Uriah’s complete loyalty by now. He instructs Joab to put Uriah on the frontline in the thick of combat, and then to draw back so that Uriah will most certainly be killed.  “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’...all are corrupt and commit abominable acts...every one has proved faithless...[they] eat up my people like bread and do not call upon the Lord...”  David has, in a sense, eaten up Bathsheba, then Uriah, “like bread”.  David isn’t filled with the bread, that is, the wisdom of God, but with his own self-seeking power.  Today’s reading ends here, but there’s much more to the story.

2 Samuel continues: “¹⁶As Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant warriors. ¹⁷The men of the city came out and fought with Joab; and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite was killed as well. ¹⁸Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting; ¹⁹and he instructed the messenger, ‘When you have finished telling the king all the news about the fighting, ²⁰then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, “Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹Who killed Abimelech son of Jerubbaal?^* Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?” then you shall say, “Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too.’” 

22 So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell...²⁵David said to the messenger, ‘Thus you shall say to Joab, “Do not let this matter trouble you, for the sword devours now one and now another; press your attack on the city, and overthrow it.” And encourage him.’

26 When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. ²⁷When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son.

“But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord, 12 ¹and the Lord sent Nathan to David...”  Nathan the prophet confronts David in no uncertain terms, though David at first tries a coverup snow-job on Nathan.  Nathan puts David’s sin right up in his ruddy face and in front of his beautiful eyes.  There will be consequences, he tells him, even though David has a “come-to-Jesus” moment and , at least, admits and laments his sin.  Nevertheless, Nathan says:  “Why have you despised the word of the Lord?...Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house...Thus says the Lord, ‘I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house...’”   The firstborn son of David and Bathsheba later becomes very ill and dies.  David is shattered.  Bathsheba conceives again and bears Solomon, who is destined to be a great, mostly faithful king.  Another son, Amnon, commits incest with his sister, David’s daughter, Tamar who ends up, “a desolate woman”, according to Scripture, living with their brother, Absalom.  Absalom bides his time for two years, then murders Amnon in an ambush, before going on the run for several years.  At length David forgives him, but the ingrate Absalom, playing the fool very much like his father, usurps the throne, driving David out of Jerusalem.  Upon the advice of Ahithopel, grandfather of Bathsheba and royal counselor mentioned above, and who has now turned on David, Absalom, in an ultimate “dissing” of his father, David, goes “in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel”.

David is forced to flee, and he eludes all of Absalom’s supporters.  Ahithopel, having been outsmarted, goes home, sets his affairs in order, and ingloriously hangs himself.  David sends three army groups to pursue Absalom, who’s again on the run, but with very public and specific orders not to harm Absalom when they arrest him.  Absalom, in a hasty retreat, gets his coif caught in the branches of an oak tree and is, so to speak, left hanging! Joab, David’s commander, in a deliberate and wanton violation of King David’s order, not only hurries to do Absalom in, but thrusts three spears into Absalom’s heart, while ten of Joab’s young warriors surround Absalom and deliver the coup de grace.  Thus, the results of the utter foolishness of sin and of misguided human power multiply, and David’s misery along with it, proving once again that “God is in the company of the righteous...[the wicked’s] aim is to confound the plans of the afflicted, but the Lord is their refuge...”

What a stark contrast the example of Jesus offers us in the 6th chapter of John’s Gospel.  The point of this section of John’s Gospel is to counsel hearers and readers to abide in the word.  At the Last Supper Jesus had taught the disciples: “If you remain/abide in my word...you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”  John is saying that this is what’s possible for us.  In fact, he structures his Gospel so that rereading it over and over will help us get the point.  

In today’s Gospel selection (6:1-21) John recounts two major events, both so important to the early Christian community that they’re repeated in all four Gospel accounts: the story of the feeding of the 5000 and the incident of Jesus walking on the water.  In the first the feeding takes place in the context of Passover; in fact, John refers to it three times.  John’s version of the story has Jesus himself distributing the bread and fish to the people.  Later, in verse 35, Jesus states very clearly: “I am the bread of life.”  Jesus’ words and actions are inseparable, for he himself is the nourishing and sustaining Word which is the bread of life for all.  

In the incident which follows this feeding sign, John differs from Mark’s story of the boat in the storm which we had several Sundays ago.  Here Jesus isn’t in the boat with the disciples, and though the sea is rough and a wind is blowing, there’s not the desperation of Mark’s version.  Here Jesus is “revealed” by appearing, walking on the water towards them.  They’re “terrified” of that, true, but all Jesus has to say is “Here I am; don’t be afraid.”  For John “I am” verbalizes the very name and nature of God.  It describes who Jesus is: the power of God acting, to bless and multiply bread and fish, the power of God acting, to accompany and comfort people safely through life’s storms, and to allay their fears.

St. Paul knew all about the foolishness and consequences of relying on one’s own selfish power, as so graphically depicted today in the story of David and his family.  In Paul’s letters to the Corinthian Christians, he eloquently teaches them and us who is really the Lord of all life.  Paul says: “...We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word...we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord...But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us...” (2 Corinthians 4:1-2; 5; 7)

Mary of Magdala: The One Who Loved Much

"'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?' Mary is asked the cause of her sorrow so that her desire may increase, for as she names the one she seeks, she discovers herself burning with yet greater love for him. 'And Jesus said to her: 'Mary'. First of all, he called her 'woman', the common address at that time for one of her sex, and she did not recognize him. But now he calls her by her own name, as if to say: 'Recognize the one who recognizes you.' You will remember that the Lord had said to Moses, 'I know you by name, as if saying 'I do not know you in some general way, I know you personally.' In the same way, addressed by her own name, Mary too recognized her creator and immediately calls out 'Rabboni', that is, 'teacher'. Outwardly, it was he who was the object of her search, but inwardly it was he who was leading her to search for him." 

(From a homily of St. Gregory the Great, in Celebrating the Saints, p. 249)

SS. Joachim & Anna, Grandparents of Our Lord

Prayer of Thanksgiving for Grandparents/Elders

God of Abraham and Sarah, grandfather and grandmother in the faith

God of all generations: We thank you today for those who are grandparents

to us - those who are grandparents by blood relationships, and those 

unrelated but older than we who generously share their love and wisdom, 

their time and traditions so that we have roots, stories, and hope. 

We bless you for the gift of grandparents, and we ask your blessing upon 

them, that their days may be filled with delight in their grandchildren.

May their giving and grace toward younger generations bring

fulfillment to them and may they be a blessing to all they love

and call grandchildren, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

(Daniel Benedict & Taylor Burton-Edwards,

General Board of Discipleship, 

The United Methodist Church)

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Living In Hope

“The great question is whether our hope in God makes it worthwhile to contribute what we have to offer at any given moment, even if we feel quite sure it will not be enough. Hope is a central Christian virtue. The alternative, much of the time, is passive defeatism. Hope is the expectation that the goodwill we have experienced from God in the past is not exhausted, that God will continue to work with us even under the most difficult of circumstances. Such a hope makes it possible for us to act, too...” (L. William Countryman, Scripture professor at CDSP)

We acknowledge in today’s Collect that God “know[s] our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking...”, and we pray that God might “mercifully give us”, through the worthiness of Jesus, “those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask...”   If our prayer is honest, then you and I can surely identify with and relate to those sheep, of whom Jeremiah speaks in the first reading (Jeremiah 23:1-6): destroyed and scattered and unattended; with those “called ‘the uncircumcision’”, those aliens and strangers “having no hope and without God” of whom Paul speaks in the Epistle (Ephesians 2:11-22); and with the crowd coming to Jesus who “were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:30-34; 53-56).

 Perhaps we feel this way, particularly, in light of the horrific massacre this week of 12 people and the wounding of 58 others in a movie theater in Aurora, CO. As if it weren’t enough already to be feeling the pinch of a receding economy, the inane antics of one-ups-manship among currently gridlocked political parties and the bickering of Presidential candidates and their constituencies, and the loss of safety nets, perhaps among our own family or friends, and among the poor, the homeless, the disabled, those without health care, and those losing their homes to foreclosure.  

The question which the Scriptures pose for you and me today is this: aware of and acknowledging all of these realities, are you and I willing to trust God when called upon to respond to these needs with hope, peace, justice and righteousness, and the selfless compassion of Jesus?

Mark, whose Gospel we’ve been following for several Sundays, continues to remind us through his stories that the opposite of faith isn’t unbelief, but fear.  Over and over in these stories Jesus counsels us to not be afraid, to take the risk of hope, and to do that primarily by reaching out beyond ourselves to minister to others.  “...you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.  In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into...a dwelling place for God.”

What better teaching example for this could we have than Mark’s Gospel reading for today? Jesus had sent his disciples out by two’s to missionize the surrounding villages.  They had done so, and Mark notes that it’d been rather successful.  The apostles return and gather about Jesus, excitedly sharing “all that they had done and taught.”  Jesus, always one to keep priorities straight, listened attentively, then said “Come away [now] to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest awhile.”  You and I can’t minister to others effectively unless we take time off: to rest, to pray, to keep things in proper perspective.  Mark adds, as if to justify Jesus’ proposal, “...For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat...”

So off they go, in a boat, to a deserted place.  Or so they think.  As so many of us have experienced, I suspect, just when you’re about to have some alone time, someone recognizes you, sees where you’re going and beats you there ahead of time.  Jesus and the apostles are no exception.  Jesus comes ashore, Mark tells us, to find not only a crowd , but a “great crowd”, waiting: “like sheep without a shepherd”.  And Jesus “had compassion for them,... and began to teach them many things.” [The RCL reading stops here, but Mark goes on to tell the story of the feeding of the 5000, responsibility for which Jesus handed off to -- guess who?? -- his disciples.  Mutual ministry is Jesus’ customary way of doing things!]

Notice several things: Jesus and the apostles had plans to kick back and rest.  But those plans were interrupted, both here on the shore and later in Gennesaret, by a crowd of needy, ailing, spiritually and physically hungry, men, women and, undoubtedly, children.  In every instance, Jesus set aside his own preferences in favor of others‘ immediate needs:  “...he had compassion for them...”  He and the apostles didn’t even have at hand all the things they needed to address these needs. “All we have are five loaves of bread and two fish.”  Yet Jesus wasn’t about to leave these folks hopeless or despairing.  

Jeremiah today speaks of the hope God gives the people in God’s promise of “a righteous Branch” of David who will reign as king and deal wisely, and administer justice and righteousness.  Scripture scholar Matthew Skinner says: “...to talk about the righteousness of God is to indicate God’s commitments to deliver and preserve God’s people.  Righteousness summarizes all of God’s salvific activity...the Lord’s unswerving commitment to ensure the welfare of God’s people.”  That is always Jesus’ priority agenda, and ours as his followers: to take care of those who need it, even if it disrupts our plans, even if the timing isn’t the best, even if, at first, we can’t imagine how we’ll go about filling all those needs.

This all became very real to me on a very personal level about two years ago.  My son, Andrew, had just had a recurrence of a major illness, which had nearly leveled him nine years earlier and from which he’d undergone an almost two year recovery process. After a long hospitalization in Florida, during which he almost died several times, he came back home to California to have test run at UCSF.  At that time he was essentially confined to a wheelchair, had serious breathing problems, some memory deficit, periodic seizures, etc.  Because of his illness he had to give up his apartment and many of his possessions in Florida, his car was repossessed, and through all this he had no health care insurance.  No insurance company would touch him because of his previous illness. After his return to California he had several relapses and hospitaliztions.

During one of these, I happened to visit him at the hospital in Sacramento, aware that he could be discharged soon, presumably to a skilled nursing facility temporarily.  While I was there a discharge team of a social worker, physician and therapist unexpectedly marched in and asked Andrew what his “discharge plan” was.  Having tried, without success, for several days previously to get someone to come and discuss this with him, he acknowledged that he had no plan.  The alternatives, it was then explained, were family, which wasn’t feasible in the long term; a half-way house at $500-1000/week; or an “intermediate care center sponsored by the Salvation Army”.  When I asked what the latter was, the response was: “a shelter where he’ll have a cot and a pillow”.  I don’t often get really angry, but I confess to God and to you that I was beside myself with rage! I helped Andrew pack and brought him straight to my home in Cotati where he stayed for a month and a half.  

Was it scary to make that decision? You bet. Was I afraid of the outcome? Most definitely.  Was it inconvenient? Yes.  Did I have any inkling how I was going to manage it? Not really. But a phrase kept rolling around in my mind and heart, from 2 Corinthians 12: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”  That carried me through the weeks ahead.  And we made.  Andrew began to improve, and during that time Social Security approved his application for disability.  When God calls you and me to care for the other, even if it isn’t timely, or disrupts our convenience, or challenges our ingenuity and resourcefulness, God’s presence and grace is sufficient for us, for God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. 

   

I leave you with a few other words from Fr. William Countryman, whom I quoted at the beginning: “...We do not have to resolve all the problems or produce the perfect solution. What is important is to offer what we have in the hope that God will make use of it to do more than we ourselves could imagine. Christians should not be living as if there were no hope in this world. We should find ourselves at the rash edge of expectation, if necessary, rather than submerged in despair. Perhaps it is still possible to retrieve the vision of "one new humanity" in Ephesians—at least for a little while here in the place and time that we inhabit. Perhaps it is still possible to build highways for returning exiles, to renew human communities riven by conflict, to step beyond ancient ways of defining one another—but not unless we try, in whatever fumbling and inadequate yet hopeful way we can offer.”

Bartolomé de Las Casas (1484-1566)

Eternal God, we give you thanks for the witness of Bartolomé de las Casas, whose deep love for your people caused him to refuse absolution to those who would not free their Indian slaves. Help us, inspired by his example, to work and pray for the freeing of all enslaved people of our world, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

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