The fall and the call... Pentecost 10 proper 12 year B 28th July 2024

 2024  07  28  Pentecost 10 proper 12 year B2 

Samuel 11.1-15; Psalm 14; Ephesians 3.14-21  ; John 6.1-21

 Today we read about some of our favourite Bible stories.  These are stories filled with excitement. In the midst of these very significant stories, we have a Psalm that says; “They have all gone astray; they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one.”

 

When we look out at the world today, we can easily give a nod to this psalm and agree.  However, if you were to go out on the street or into the schools to ask people if they were good people, they would all tell you that were.  Some even do some amazingly good things.  We have a town that has produced a multitude of incredible people... some are Olympic athletes and others have gone on to work and influence so many people… especially when we think of our voice of Siri and navigation systems is a local who learnt dancing with my sister.  And there are people here who have initiated programs to support the poor and plenty who support programs that help others.

 

So many good people, but at times, let’s face it… we all fall.

We’ve had a number of stories about King David in our readings over the last number of weeks.  He was a different kind of King… a shepherd King.  He was one who was honourable and put himself between danger and the people.  He was a mighty warrior who claimed victory, not in his own strength, but by the power of God.  David was a good man.

 

In our reading about David today, we read these words from the soldier Uriah; "The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing."  These are the words of an honourable man.  They are the kind of words that David would previously have spoken and they are those of a culture that HE, David, cultivated by being that kind of example himself.  Sadly, these words stand in stark contrast to the actions of David in that Spring time.  David allowed his people to go to war, but he stayed home.

 

Where are we in this story?  Are we Uriah, who will not sleep easy in his bed because he is in solidarity with those who are on the front line?  For us the battle is not physical, but we are in the Lord’s army.  Our call to arms is to fight the spiritual battle, perhaps in the prayer room.  They say that this is where all battles are truly won.  Our particular call, may be to work with the poor, in giving or working in op shops etc…., or even working with the poor in spirit who need our love and friendship while they battle the illness of themselves or their loved ones.  Or are we like David, allowing others to fight for us?  Sitting comfortably in the church is like David sitting comfortably in the palace… the place where he fell to great error.

 

David had taken off his armour.  When we put down our weapons and the armour of faith, is when we get into trouble.  Our weapon is prayer.  The Bible tells us about the armour of faith – the shield of faith, the belt of truth.  However, I think we can be confident to say that David was neither wearing his physical battle armour or spiritual armour at this time.  This story is the one that shows the weakness of King David and the mercy of God.  

 

King David was described as being a man after God’s own heart.  He was usually such a good, compassionate and honourable man, but he fell from that standard rather monumentally.  It is interesting to read the Gospel reading in the light of this story of David’s fall.  That multitude of 5000 were the people of God and Jesus came with compassion and love for them all.  He died to save all, and this includes those who fall… and those who fall monumentally.   Jesus cared for them as a shepherd King, but when they wanted to make him King, he slipped away.  He wasn’t their idea of King and refused to be made into that image….. King David fell when he acted as that image of King as opposed to shepherd King.  When King David allowed others to go to war without him, he Lorded it over others.  Jesus always served God’s purposes, but King David, though he was a person after God’s own heart, was merely a man and prone to fall…. Like us all.

 

Among those 5000 people who were hungry, there were many we’d consider unworthy.  Many who we’d consider downright despicable.  All of them were divinely nourished, both physically and spiritually.  How it can be that God lavishes His good gifts on all, both good and bad and somewhere in between, is something hard to comprehend, but important.  Saint Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, tells us; “I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

 

What would that look like; The love of God that surpasses Knowledge so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God?  The fullness of God is love beyond comprehension.  Saint Paul understood this because he had been persecuting Christians – to the point of death.  But God reached down and dramatically chose him and saved him.  The slave trader, John Newton, understood this… God saved him and he completely changed his life.  These are the fallen who found the unfathomable love of God…. But King David already knew God and he had already been chosen…. Then he fell.

 

A wise man once said, “While I’m in this body I am still vulnerable to sin, and will continue to be so, until the Lord calls me out of this body.”  One thing for certain, God does not give up on us.  He knows us, and just like those multitude, he still chooses to nourish us both physically and spiritually.  This understanding of God needs to inform the way we treat each other.

 

After Jesus feed the multitude, he asked that all the left overs be gathered so that nothing is lost.  The crowd…. And especially the disciples witnessed a big miracle that day, and the crowd had enough to have some discarded food.  I imagine that the disciples were blown away in that act, as they pondered just how much food came from such a small amount.  That act of gathering the left-over blessings, drew their attention to God’s blessings.  We are naturally prone to not counting our blessings.  In fact, we tend to diminish all the works of God in our lives and often fail to see his hand at work.

 

We live in a physical world.  Jesus physically fed the people, but he also fed them spiritually.  It is a bit like the story of the man whose sin Jesus forgave.  Jesus said is it easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven or heal” – and Jesus proved his authority to forgive sin by healing physically.   Those things that we can’t see, we can say we believe, but it is in our actions that they are proved true.   Jesus performed miracles, but when he performs the next one people are again amazed.  They disciples witnessed the food multiplication, but thought they were seeing a Ghost instead of Jesus walking on the water.  We constantly underestimate what God can do and wants to do in our lives.

 

We are a church, with fewer numbers than previously, and not so many resources, but just look at what Jesus did with 5 loaves and 2 fish!  Some time ago I listened to a speaker talk about this passage.  He came up with this conclusion;  human resources, however limited, willingly offered and divinely blessed are more than adequate to achieve God’s purposes.

 

In the light of our readings today, I’d like to take this conclusion a little further.  We the church are to continue the ministry of Jesus.  Our resources are not just for our good, but also for the good of our community…. For the good of that multitude of people… good, bad and all others in between.   We are called to bring the love and nourishment of God to all – physically and spiritually.   You and I are soldiers in the Lord’s army.  We can sit comfortably in the royal palace, knowing that God loves us, but we can do more than this and God can do more with us.   We need to step up to the battle.  But who are we?  We have little to offer… nothing more than some loaves and fish….!!! 

Today, let our vision be bigger for what God can do in our lives, and through us reaching out in love to others.

Stand and be counted - We are the people of God. 14th July 2024 Pentecost 8B Proper 10B

 2024  04  14  PROPER 10 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

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

 

The Gospel reading today reminds me of that show on the ABC, “Horrible Histories”.  We read that King Herod joins in the conversation of those who are trying to figure out where Jesus fits in the story of their life.  Was he John the Baptist come back to life?  Was he Elijah or another of the prophets?  King Herod was voting for him being John the Baptist, perhaps to ease his conscience for having had John beheaded, but I’m not sure that he actually had much going on in the way of a conscience.

 

King Herod had Jesus beheaded because John spoke out about the King being married to his brother’s wife.  John told him that it wasn’t right.  John was free to voice his opinion and King Herod actually didn’t mind those opinions, as much as his wife did.  It was the wife who put the daughter up to asking for John’s head.  King Herod had offered her anything… up to half the kingdom! Unfortunately, he did this in front of his guests.  The king didn’t think she’d ask for John’s head, and then he didn’t want to lose face in front of his guests by refusing her. 

 

To some extent, the readings today are about this; the opinions of others and whether we will make what is the right action and God’s will, a priority or whether we will instead, make people’s opinions of us the priority over what is right.   People’s opinions give power to bully’s who use weak people who care about what people think of them, to gather power over others.  It isn’t always an easy thing to reject as it sneaks in as subtle as a serpent in a garden.  We all want to be accepted and belong.  It is great to be part of the “In” crowd…. But at what cost?

 

In our Gospel reading we notice that there was a buzz about Jesus.  Who is he?  And what gives him the power to perform miracles?  The Jews believed in resurrection and, in particular, they believed that it would happen when the Messiah came.  They had asked John if he was the messiah and John clearly declared that he wasn’t.  However, not everyone got the memo, so they naturally thought that Jesus could be, John resurrected, and that this resurrected status was what gave Jesus the power to perform miracles.  

 

This buzz about Jesus, gave rise to many opinions.  Everyone had an opinion about who Jesus was, and whether who he was, and what he was doing was “as it should be” or not.  From last week, you might recall, his home town largely rejected him, saying, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?”   As people who had grown up with him and his parents, they formed an assumption about who he was based on themselves, their town and the role that Jesus family played as the local carpenter.   

 

These assumptions are the same beliefs that can keep us all from reaching our potential.  For example; I’ve heard more than one person telling me that they didn’t follow a career path because they grew up with gifted older siblings who told them that they were stupid – and they believed them.  It reminds me of an S club 7 song, “Reach for the Stars” in the bridge are these words; “Don’t believe in all that you’ve been told… the sky’s the limit, you can reach your goal.  No one knows just what the future holds.  There ain’t nothing you can’t be, there’s a whole world at your feet.”

 

Jesus was aware of what people were saying about him.  He didn’t stop his ministry because people had an opinion about him being a carpenter’s son.  Jesus also didn’t stop his ministry for fear of Herod or the many other opinions about him.  He knew who he was in God and that was his real identity.

 

King David was also one who didn’t back down because of public opinion.  King David was an extraordinary king.  In our first reading, did you notice that little sentence in the middle about his wife Michal, she despised the king.  Michal was the daughter of King Saul.  She knew how a King was supposed to behave with dignity…. Or at least, that was her understanding of how a king should be.  Her experience of the king was one who was a bit of a tyrant… King Saul gave her in marriage to David as a prize when he defeated Goliath… and then gave her to someone else when David fell out of favour with the king.  Michal didn’t understand King David at all.

 

Our story about King David is a chapter where the ark of the covenant was being brought up into the city of David.  There is a whole huge back story here about the ark being taken in battle, but causing havoc at that place and so it was given back, but only got so far, because a priest reached out to stop it from falling and was killed by the power from it.   Then David left the ark there because he was afraid of God and his power.  Our story is full of rejoicing before God, but with sacrifices and reverence. 

 

Throughout history there has been a tension between reverence and rejoicing.  Even now, some churches would perceive others as being irreverent due to their use of drums in church.   Surely the pipe organ is the only God ordained instrument!  (I jest – please excuse).   David danced with all his might before the Lord and he was girded with a linen ephod.   Later his wife declared this as being undignified, dancing in his underwear in front of his people.  It begs the question; is the anything that we consider undignified or improper that God actually delights in?

 

A little research on the linen ephod and David’s wearing it, reveals that David was making a declaration.  Only priests were supposed to wear the ephod… which is pretty much the Alb that priests wear today.  David was king.  He was of higher standing than the priests, but David, in his act of wearing the epod and dancing before God, was declaring that he was in submission to God and at the mercy of God.  It was also a declaring of commitment to God first… and it was an act of humility before God.

 

David declared his priority; God was king and David was his servant.  This should cause us to reflect; who is most important and who do we need to please?  Can we make that same declaration as David?  Do we live to please people around us, or do we live to please God?  It can be scary to stand as a Christian, living for the approval of God alone, and we may be rejected by some because of it, but Psalm 24 reassures us: “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”

 

More than this, our letter to the Ephesians tells us that God … “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.  He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,”.

 

In these last few weeks, our readings have picked up different aspects of being called by God.  Today, as we notice the question about Jesus’ identity, and his steadfastness and knowing his own identity, we are reminded of our identity;  We belong to God and he has chosen us, blessed us with every spiritual blessing, and sealed us with his Holy Spirit.  We are his and we have a purpose.  We mustn’t become side tracked by the opinions of people and we must not become discouraged by those who might put us down for this faith.   Where would the kingdom of Israel have been if King David listened to his bitter wife who discouraged him from putting God first?  Where would we all be if Jesus accepted the opinions of those in his home town, that he was just a carpenter’s son?

 

Are we living in ignorance, or a false reality where we have been accepting these kinds of negative statements about ourselves and who we are in Christ, rather than the truth of what God has declared to us?  God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.  Just what does that imply about our lives?  For me, I believe that I have accepted a whole lot of limitations that God didn’t put there, and I’m betting that this is the same for every one of us.  Today, let’s commit to change that.  Let’s be brave and open to being the person that God has declared us to be and walk… not in a mere identity as a Christian… but in the reality that we are born of God!  We are born of the spirit of God and belong to him.  We will walk in this world bringing his blessings, because we are blessed with every spiritual blessing.  There is a whole destiny ahead of us that is bigger than any of us has imagined.  Let’s now thank God that we are His, and ask Him to help us remember and live in this reality.

Anointed! 2024 July 7th Proper 9B Pentecost 7B

 2024  07  07PROPER 9 (14) Seventh Sunday after Pentecost Year B

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10 and Psalm 48  •  2 Corinthians 12:2-10  •  Mark 6:1-13

Our story about David picks up after the time when King Saul and his son Jonathon, had been killed in battle.  Many years earlier, the prophet Samuel, had anointed David as king, but David waited patiently and respectfully for the time when this promise would come into effect and he refused to take part in any treachery toward the current king.   At every turn, David sought to serve God and also King Saul honourably.  Yet David had been anointed by the Prophet Samuel many years earlier as God’s anointed King.  This death of King Saul and his off-spring left the throne open, and the people then united to anoint David as king.

 

We are told that at the original anointing of David, these words were proclaimed from God, “It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel."  You might remember that at the time of this anointing, David was very young and his job was as shepherd of his father’s sheep.  David understood what it meant to be a shepherd, and the difference between that job description and the understanding of the role of King, was significant.

 

The shepherd cares for the sheep and protects them.  Does a King do this?  Or is a king more likely to be the one protected by the people?  A king is protected by his people, but the shepherd serves the sheep and places himself between them and danger, and maintains their well-being of the sheep. 

 

David was anointed and chosen by God to be a different kind of leader – a kind that fore-shadowed the leadership and Kingship of Christ.  We are told that David became greater and greater for the LORD of hosts was with him.  Many great leaders have come and gone, but the reason that David was great was not because of his fighting ability, good looks, his wisdom, his charisma or anything else, but he was great due to this very important aspect; GOD was with him.

 

King David was the kind of King who was like a shepherd over the people, and his King was God.  David lived in submission to God and God was with him.  King David relied on God and knew by heart that the victory was won, not by might, nor by power, but the Spirit of God.  And it is this same understanding which is clearly in the mind of Saint Paul, as we read of him speaking about his weakness.

 

Saint Paul could have boasted about many things.  In one of his letters, he explains how much he had achieved in both society, position, and religion prior to his supernatural meeting with Christ.  He was faultless and admirable in so many ways and yet he sought to kill the Christians, not realizing that in this, he was fighting against God.  Later, after his encounter with Christ, we witness Paul declare that he will not boast in anything in himself, but he proclaims that it is in his weakness the power of God is evident.

 

What message of glorious hope is there in this for us?  Greatness and victory is not in might or power, but by God being with us.  And, in our weakness the power of God is evident.  In our modern society the weak are often overlooked.  None of us desires to have weakness and neither did Paul.  When he prayed to God about it, he received this very important answer:  “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness."

 

In our own lives, do we see our weaknesses as larger than the power of God?  Sometimes we might feel that we need to have everything in order and be “stronger”… whatever we might imagine that to entail…, before we can be of any use to God.  But here we find that this is NOT the case.  When Saint Paul thought he was strong and capable, was when he had everything wrong…. But in his weakness, God’s power was perfect.

 

We might naturally consider that before being any use to God, we need to be better….  have a good grasp of theology and eloquent apologetic arguments all perfected and committed to memory, but this is simply not the truth.  The disciples of Jesus didn’t understand so, so many things and yet Jesus gave them authority over demons and sent them on a journey of outreach.  They were to proclaim that all should repent, and this is what else happened on that journey…. they anointed the sick with oil and they were cured! 

 

There are some principles in this sending out that I really love.  Firstly, no one went alone.  They went in twos.  There was an understanding in the culture of Jesus, that two witnesses are more reliable than one. So, when two of Jesus' disciples proclaimed the presence of the kingdom, they would be more likely to be taken seriously.  Also, the scriptures tell us that two are better than one… if one falls down the other can help them up.  We need each other.  I wonder how much better the church might have fared if we had continued with this understanding.  Instead of having one person in charge of an area of ministry we always had two, working side by side.  Saint Paul spoke to his friend Timothy about being abandoned at one point of his ministry; he said, “At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the lion.…”  Rest assured that if all else fails, we are never actually alone.  God is with us.

 

In Street Chaplaincy, we have a team of four on each night and the team breaks into twos.  We don’t preach or proclaim the message of God in words -however, we actually do – just not in words, but with our actions – and our message is God loves you and cares about you.  So often we might be faced with things that are daunting, but having a second person with us means we have access to a whole different skill set and a reassurance that we are working together… we are not alone and together we can face whatever comes our way – More than this, we believe that God will equip us for whatever we face, but he equips us through the gift of each other.   The implication here is that all of us are needed and need to step up and be part of the team working with God.

 

The message the disciples proclaimed was to repent.  It is a word we hear and we think we know what it means, but do we understand it the same way as those who heard it from the mouths of those disciples?  It literally means to change your mind and go back the other way.  In other words, turn from following your own way and go in the direction of God’s way.  To turn back to God.  This is actually a very simple message….  Acknowledge or remember that God is God and knows so much more than us.  Trust in God….

 

King David trusted in God and relied on God rather than putting his hope in anything earthly.  God was with him – this is why he achieved so much.  To urge people to repent is simply to remind them that God can make the difference.  It was God who mightily rescued and delivered Israel, so many times, and God rescues and delivers us, but we, like them, forget so quickly.  We need to be constantly reminded to turn our mind back to trusting in God.

 

The disciples were given authority over unclean spirits and also anointed the sick with oil and cured them.   This wasn’t something that they could do in themselves.  They were obedient and did what they were called to do, but God was with them, and so people were cured.

 

When we turn our minds back to God and trust God, we are reminded that God is with us.  He is the one that makes the difference – not us.  We don’t have the power to make ourselves great, nor the power make our church great.  We can strive and try, and we can put on programs and use fancy technology, but nothing will work in and of ourselves, but God who is with us, makes the difference…. When we repent – That is, acknowledge that all is in God’s hands, and obediently step out do that to which we are called to do, then God’s purposes will be achieved.

 

What we are called to do is not beyond any of our abilities.  We are called to remind each other to turn our minds back to God, trusting in him and his call to us.  As a church, he has called us to continue the work that was given to the disciples and to go into all the world and make disciples.

 

King David was anointed by God.  We too, were anointed by God at our baptism.  We have been sealed as belonging to God and set apart as a holy people.  This is who you and I are… Like David, we are the anointed of God.  Let’s take a moment to talk to God… thanking him that he has chosen us, anointed us and called us.  Let us remember that He is God… and we belong to him.  We acknowledge that we can do nothing by ourselves , but he can do everything… and he is with us.