Reflection for Sunday 2nd August 2015

Proper 13B/Ordinary 18B/Pentecost 10
August 2, 2015

2 Samuel 11:26 - 12:13a and Psalm 51:1-12 • Ephesians 4:1-16 • John 6:24-35

Some thoughts on this weekend’s readings are being written very last minute, but I think there is something here timely and important.

From St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we read, Ephesian 4:1-3 “therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

In the last few weeks I heard someone speak about a group of people and that they’d like to “weed out” some of the difficult personalities.  This was immediately following a discussion about how the most important thing to the heart of God is our “relationships”. 

It is completely understandable and logical, that we will have some people that we are able to get along with more than others, but this doesn’t mean we should be so “wise in our own eyes” (arrogant), as to think that there is no merit in these other people.

One thing that I have observed through my involvement in one particular organisation, that of Street Chaplaincy, is that everyone has their gifts.  There are people on the street that I am not going to be able to connect with, so I thank God that I work with a team and I celebrate our differences… most of the time J 

I have also noticed that some people think that if you disagree with their ideas that you are “against” them.  We can’t ever live in true freedom if we think that liking someone, being their friend and even loving them, means that we must agree and approve of all that they think, do and say.

How wonderful it is, that God gives us families to grow up in.  Families have personalities that, if they were to choose, or we were to arrange it, they’d be placed with other more like minded types.  But families are the perfect example, and learning place for our lives in community.  Sadly, families can be just like the community and reject differences instead of embracing the learning opportunity of accepting differences, celebrating them and still loving unconditionally.

Speaking of family; our first reading for this weekend is the story of Bathsheba coming to live with King David and the story told by the Prophet Nathan to make clear to David just exactly what he had done.  Bathsheba was called to David, became pregnant and so David tried to cover up his act by calling her husband back from the war.  It didn’t work and so David organised for the husband to be placed on the frontline where he was killed in battle.

We are not told how Bathsheba felt about being called to David.  He was the King; therefore, did she have any say in the matter? 

The story or parable that the prophet tell to King David was about a poor man with a pet lamb – just one.  A rich man had a need to feed a visitor, but didn’t want to sacrifice his own flock and so he took the poor man’s lamb.

We always think that the poor man is referring to Bathsheba’s husband.  Indeed it is, but when you think about it, the innocent that was killed was the husband…. This puts the one most hurting to be Bathsheba.  Bathsheba was taken, fell pregnant as a result, lost her husband and then was taken to be just one of the King’s many wives.   The stories over the years have suggested that maybe Bathsheba was deliberately parading for the King to see her naked and these slights on her character, I suspect, would most certainly have been there from the very start – but are they warranted? 

We know that Bathsheba was beautiful.  We know that she was without her husband home.  This brings to mind a film that a friend told me about, “Malena”.  You can read the summery on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mal%C3%A8na

The film is set in the war and Malena is a beautiful woman whose husband has gone to the war… sound familiar?  I have not seen the film and don’t think it is one that I’d advise but the story goes that this woman was hated and rejected.  Why?  Her only crime was that she was very beautiful and men and young boys fantasised about her. 

Towards the end of the film the townspeople lash out at Malena, believing her to be something of a whore and they beat her and shave her head.  Did she do anything deserving this?  She was beautiful.

A beautiful woman such as Malena was safe while happily married, but as soon as her husband was away there was trouble.  Now, an interesting conversation was had during one of my tutorials at university; Many of us were single mothers and we realized that something we all had in common was that, as single women, we were never invited to the BBQs or social events of “friends”.  I can vividly remember the first time that anyone other than family invited me to a BBQ and I think I cried…. Didn’t end up going, but I was so touched at the genuine friendship and a gesture that hadn’t occurred in so many years.

But why do I tell you this?  I believe that Bathsheba was hurting.  She was the brunt of accusations… she was the reason her husband was killed… she was the one who lost her husband, her dignity, the respect and acceptance of the community… she lost everything… and she would also lose the child she was carrying.

So often, we look at others and perceive them to have things….  Others would have looked at Bathsheba and been so jealous… she was so beautiful and now she was the Kings wife, living in the lap of luxury.  Can’t you just hear the gossip? 

I recently came across a book, “Have you filled a bucket today”.  It says that we all carry invisible buckets.  When your bucket is full, you are happy and confident.  When someone says mean things it empties your bucket.  We need each other to fill our buckets, and we do this by supporting and encouraging. 

Some people are bucket dippers.   They are the gossips and bullies who might have empty buckets themselves and seem to think that they can feel better by emptying someone else’s bucket, but that just makes two empty buckets.  You fill your own bucket more when you are encouraged, but also when you actively fill someone else’s.

The message in the story of King David is not just about the sin that he committed but it is for us all to reflect on how we might also be “taking the poor man’s lamb”.  

Are we taking from someone else’s bucket, erroneously thinking that they have more than they deserve? 

Are we getting in the way of the gifts that God has given to another person because we are jealous and think that this person or that person already has so much? 

We need to actively let go of controlling situations because we feel that someone has something we want.  In the end, all we are doing is emptying both their bucket and our own….  What we do need to do is to set our minds on a bigger focus and that of the Kingdom of God

John 6:27- 29 “ Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal."  Then they said to him, "What must we do to perform the works of God?"  Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."