Tag Archives: Saul

Respect

david_griefLiving 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.

 

Children of the One True God

privilegeAdvent
December 19, 2014

Scripture Reading: Romans 16:25-27

Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen. —Romans 16:25-27

What must it have been like on that road to Damascus when the light suddenly dawned on Saul that all people were the one true God’s children? He said it himself that he had been as good a Jew as anyone could have been. He followed all the rules, did all the right things unlike those heretics who were followers of the now dead man called Jesus. They were even saying this prophet was the long awaited anointed one, the Messiah. Could such a one come out of Nazareth? The impact of this Damascus road experience was so dramatic that Saul even changed to using his Roman name, Paul. He had become a new creation and led the way to spreading the good news of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.

It is ironic today that we, who call ourselves Christians, are being challenged to welcome this same truth that all people are the one true God’s children and we are to love them. Those of us who find ourselves living in what can only be considered privilege by much of the rest of the world’s standards are so used to that status that we take it for granted and, perhaps, even innately believe that for some reason we are more deserving than these others.

Yesterday I accompanied another member of my Sunday school class in delivering Christmas presents to a young single mother with two children, one of whom is tutored by a member of our class. The mother was, I think, a little overwhelmed, but very gracious. After we left I could not help but long for a world where she had the resources to provide for her own family. Where she could earn a living wage, her children could excel at school, and our knowing one another would be based on mutual friendship as children of the one true God. I have no problem with meeting immediate and remedial needs of people, but we are called to take the next step and assure that those needs are not the result of economic injustice. Is that not the light this baby Jesus brings to us today?

Prayer: God of all, shine your light on us. Open our eyes to see the world as you would have it be and show us the ways we can work to make that reality. Amen.

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.