Living in the Spirit
June 22, 2015
Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan. (He ordered that The Song of the Bow be taught to the people of Judah; it is written in the Book of Jashar.) He said:
Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!
Tell it not in Gath,
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon;
or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,
the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult. –2 Samuel 17-20
David never lost his respect for his nemesis Saul, who had once valued David for the skills in which he excelled, but turned violently against him when Saul felt threat to his own power and status, when the people seemed to prefer David to Saul. At Saul’s death on the battlefield, David mourned even as he assumed the role of King.
We live today in communities of faith that are divided within and among each other. We have differing interpretations of what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ and in some instances it seems those differences are more important to us than Jesus Christ himself who called us to be one. There are no winner and losers in the Kingdom of God. We would do well to follow the example of David in his treatment of Saul.
Paul spent most of his ministry sorting out differences of opinions between Jewish Christians and gentile Christians, much of it related to cultural differences and much of it related to whether the gentiles were required to follow Jewish laws. Paul was able to move the development of the church forward by his total and absolute commitment to putting Christ crucified first. Everything else fell into place when he started with this perspective. This is a good role model for all of us to follow.
Prayer: Lord, help us to turn our eyes upon you, look full in your wonderful face, so that the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of your glory and grace.* Amen.
*Adapted from the chorus of Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus by Helen H. Lemmel. See at http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Turn_Your_Eyes_upon_Jesus/
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.