Reflections for 12th July 2015

July 12, 2015  Proper 10B/Ordinary 15B/Pentecost 7

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19  Psalm 24  Ephesians 1:3-14   Mark 6:14-29

It seems to me that it is time to get back into writing reflections on the readings.  There have been many lately that I wish I had gotten around to writing about, due to the way those verses and stories have impacted and clarified my life.  Sometimes my life has actually enabled me to understand them at a different level also.

This week we look at stories of conflict.   There are people doing God’s will and people who want to kill, humiliate, denounce and even crucify those people.

Our Psalm begins with the facts;
Psalm 24: 1-5 “The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers.
Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?  Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.  They will receive blessing from the LORD, and vindication from the God of their salvation.”

King David was someone who understood, accepted and proclaimed the facts about God.  He understood that the Ark was something precious and sacred and that to have it was a sign of God’s blessing…. Actually it was a sign that God was real, mighty, and had chosen His people… the Israelites.  They were the chosen race and the Ark was the sure sign of that relationship. 
Our story tells of a happy day, of people celebrating their relationship with God and praising God… and their leader, King David, was leading the way.  He was dressed in the simple garments that were worn by the novice priests and not his normal royal attire.  In this way he was an example to the people of humble, servant leadership.  King David was a leader who willingly humbled himself before the people to serve and praise God.  And when anyone stands up as a leader there are an abundance of critics who will try to be the voice of doubt and disillusion and criticism, and the fly in the ointment was personified in this case by his wife, Michal.  She was the daughter of the previous King, Saul. 

Michal’s are everywhere.  They are the ones who tell you not to get involved, and they will always have a very good and logical reason.  The very best (and most dangerous) ones, are those whose reasons will even appear to be spiritual and scriptural.   I recall the story of the prophet, only identified as a man of God who proclaims one of, what I think to be, the Bibles most forthright prophecies.  1 Kings 13:1-3 “By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’ ” That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.””.

Now the reason I tell you the story about this amazing prophet, is that after that amazing encounter with King Jeroboam, where the altar split and Jeroboam’s hand was withered as he tried to seize the man, the man was enticed to disobey God’s directive to him by another man of God.  And he died as a result!!! 

 The prophet was told to return home without eating or drinking, but another man of God informed him that God has said that he should eat and drink at his place.   Oh dear, what a dreadful deception is that of the well-meaning Christian who believes that they speak for God but have never heard His voice!

This very strongly brings to mind the many people who proclaim “Christianity”, by asking the question, “Are you sure that you are saved”?

I hear it so often and what it really means is that they are preaching to Christians and feeding them fear and doubt about their salvation.  There have been others in my life who’ve said things like, “but you can’t really be a Christian if you are divorced.”  Oh and there are many others.  They are Michal’s.  They belong to the church, they therefore have some kind of authority, and we listen to them because of it, and that makes them very dangerous.   What are we to do?

It was the relationship with God that made David dance before the Lord.  It was the Ark that embodied that relationship which declared and even proved that the Israelites were the chosen people of God.  What do we have today that marks our relationship as the chosen people of God?

Our reading from Ephesians tells us about our adoption into the family of God.  It states that we were chosen before the foundation of the world.  How can anyone make us doubt?  We are God’s and we belong to him, and were we chosen on the condition of any good deed or act?  According to Ephesians it is according to the good pleasure of God’s will. 

The “Ark” for the Christian is the seal of the Holy Spirit:  Ephesians 1:13-14 “In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.”

The Holy Spirit not only assures us that we belong to God, but it is the Holy Spirit that enables us to discern what is good and what is not, however, we need to practise discerning and pray.  If an incredible prophet could be fooled into listening to the wrong person then we can too. 

On the flip side, we need to have confidence that in the end we will figure it out if we are like David and willing to be humble and submit all to God.

We look now at Herod.  Herod actually had a lot of respect for John the Baptist and it appears some hope in Jesus.  He didn’t actually put anything into action, but he did listen to John and obviously contemplated his words.  But in the end Herod thought more of his position than he did of God and of even his own conscience.   Herod was the opposite of Kind David.  He didn’t want to humble himself in front of his guests by saying to Herodias’s daughter, “You can have anything, but not the head of John the Baptist”.    So he valued his position and reputation more than he valued doing what he knew to be right.  He grieved, but he had John killed.

And when we give credence to those voices in the church that cause doubt and fear where there should be faith and peace, we are being Herod. 

We have quite a responsibility as the church.  I read in a small booklet that was distributed at our Church’s recent Synod gathering that our mission  is to Proclaim the Gospel, nurture believers, care for those in need, protect creation and transform unjust structures in society.   I looked at it and I wondered if we really do nurture and care, and whether we really would get our hands dirty in transforming unjust structures.    At the moment I’m facing some issues of bullying and I notice that in our “caring” we seem to advise walking away… ie.. Letting the bully have what they want.  Is this transforming unjust structures?

Now these are just my thoughts, but it seems that we have a choice; David or Herod.  Which king’s example will we follow?   Choose wisely or you may find yourself inadvertently beheading a prophet.