Posted by Chris on August 2, 2009 under Sermons
David: Free Agent (27)
- David resides in Philistia
- Protection from Saul
- Goes to Achish, King of Gath (1 Samuel 21:10-15)
- Ziklag – becomes a royal city
- David becomes a raider
David: Double Agent
The Bible mentions the Kenites as living in or around Canaan as early as the time of Abraham. (Genesis 15:18-21.) At the Exodus the tribe inhabited the vicinity of Mount Sinai and Horeb. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses was a Kenite, (Judges 1:16) as was his wife, Jethro’s daughter, Zipporah. (Exodus 2:21.) Elsewhere, however, Jethro is said to have been “priest of Midian” (Exodus 3:1) and a Midianite (Numbers 10:29), leading many scholars to believe that the terms are intended (at least in parts of the Bible) to be used interchangeably, or that the Kenites formed a part of the Midianite tribal grouping. The Kenites journeyed with the Israelites to Canaan (Judges 1:16); and their encampment, apart from the latter’s, was noticed by Balaam. (Numbers 24:21-22.)
Amalekites – Exodus 17, 1 Samuel 15.
Israel vs Philistia (28)
- David is dismissed
- Achish’s commanders do not trust David
- Saul seeks spiritual help
- God is silent
- Consults a medium to conjure up Samuel
Leaders in Crisis
- Saul: Turns to a medium (28)
- David: Turns to the ephod (30)
- David vs. Amalekites – Victory and Rescue
- Saul vs. Philistines – Humiliation and Defeat
Who is King in Israel?
- Saul and his sons are dead
- Israelite Army is scattered
- Israel is occupied by the enemy
- The pagan gods are honored, Saul is humiliated
- David is away in Ziklag
- Who leads Israel now?
Posted by Chris on under Sermons
We believe that God’s mission has a church. We believe that this congregation, this church is part of God’s mission. That mission unfolds here in many ways, but if we had to name four ways that it is being worked out on a large scale then I would say, as we’ve said before, it is Campus, Kids, Healing, and Hope.
It is this last one that I want to call your attention to: Hope. What does hope look like among a people who strive to live out God’s mission in this world? What is hope? What does it do, what does it feel like? Is hope something more than a political slogan or campaign buzzword (like change)? Is hope anything more than wishful thinking?
To appreciate what hope means, we need a word of wisdom about our human condition that is more ancient than our American culture in the 21st century. We need a word of wisdom that is much deeper than our reductionist reading of Bible. We need a word that truly speaks what we feel rather than what we think we should feel.
There is such a word in the Psalms. We find it buried beneath the sweet and comforting glow of Psalm 23. We find it on the lips of Jesus as he suffers on the cross. It is a word familiar to God’s children, but unfortunately we haven’t always felt comfortable discussing it. It’s like on of those family secrets that everyone knows, but no one can ever verbalize it.
But this Psalm was written down for all generations. It was set to music and arranged to be sung in worship. It became the earliest Christians’ scripture for understanding Jesus. Unfortunately we have given this Psalm to Jesus, applied it to Jesus, but never owned it ourselves. If we are going to take up our cross and follow him, then we need to open this Psalm up. For as raw, ugly, and seemingly irreverent as this Psalm may seem, it is a key that unlocks the meaning of hope.
Read Psalm 22.
- Crying Out for Help: What do you say when God seems Silent?
- There are times when our rote prayers just don’t seem to have any meaning. Sometimes it is easy or even comforting to shout praises – to declare God is Great, God is Good. We should and ought to give thanks. We should and ought to pray, “Our Father in Heaven, Holy is your Name!”
- But sometimes, we cannot because we feel like we are shouting into an empty darkness. Let’s be honest, there are times that we want to say, “God, where are you?”
- This Psalm (and many others) gives us permission to ask the questions that may seem inappropriate or irreverent. After all, God doesn’t want a relationship with people who don’t have any expectations of him (Do you want that sort of relationship?).
- On the cross, Jesus doesn’t pray “Our Father who art heaven hallowed be thy name.” Rather he is verbalizing a question that he dare not ignore – a question from deep within his soul – “God, why are you so far from me?”
- Jesus takes this whole thing very personally, because Jesus isn’t a Pharisee. He’s not a hypocrite. With the Pharisees, God is all business. When something goes wrong, well God didn’t mean anything by it. It’s not personal. But for Jesus, this is Father and Son. And if it is for Jesus, then it is for us.
- We have expectations for God – we remember how he has helped other people in times of trouble. We can read stories about the mighty things he has done. And rather than give God an excuse not to help in case God doesn’t want to (or can’t? [gasp?]), the Psalmist holds God’s feet to the fire.
- This is more than just a prayer – something religious to say so that we can remind ourselves and others that we are believers – this is a plea.
- If it seems irreverent or sacrilegious to make such a plea and accuse God of being away from his post, then let me explain why this matters: 1) We are going to feel like this no matter how often we lie to ourselves and others. 2) If we dress up our prayers and lie to God, then what have we lost? We have lost our expectation that God will do anything. We are essentially numbing ourselves to the pain and suffering and all of our prayers are saying – “Whatever.” There’s no hope there.
- Psalm 22 is a deeply reverent prayer – It affirms that God should be God. It remembers how God helps those need it. It has high expectations of God and calls God out. High expectations lead to hope. It’s not enough to accept that God can do what he has done before – we must hope that he will. Expect it and call out for it!
- God is Near:
- The Psalmist reflects on God’s presence. God was there when he was born. God was there when he was just a nursing child. God is present in the little things. In the smallest, most common efforts at survival. God is there not removing it from us, but working in it.
- Now all the more since this Psalm is spoken by Jesus on the cross, the experience of pain and suffering in this world is changed. It isn’t that pain and suffering are really different, but there is new perspective. God doesn’t run away from our suffering. He doesn’t abandon us.
- Pain and suffering may come about because of our poor choices, but God doesn’t abandon us. It isn’t always divine retribution. How can we say that?
- The cross and the words of Jesus show that God identifies with the weak and suffering. He participates in it. It is radical to suggest that God suffers.
- Suffering is not a sign of misfortune. Nor is God trying to teach us a lesson. Remember that Jesus made this personal. God isn’t a dispassionate divine despot experimenting on us poor humans. He is in the trenches with us. He has risked something in order to make a difference.
- Hope feels like the experience of v. 24. God doesn’t ignore or abandon those who suffer. (v. 24)
- Celebration and Suffering: Hope promises to praise God.
- The Psalmist fixes Hope on the anticipation of telling the story of God’s help. – There is an expectation in the goodness of God. Somehow, someway when this is over the story of God’s help will be told. It will be sung.
- Notice the setting for the praise – the assembly! Others will hear it. Generations later will tell it and sing it. (v. 25-31). Like evangelism it is going to be told everywhere.
- But I have to ask: Do we give a place in our assemblies for people to bear witness? Do we permit ourselves the opportunity to praise God for his help. Not just in general, but the real stories. Can we name the pain and suffering that we feel? Not just the surgeries and sicknesses, but the depression, the fear, the pain and sickness of heart. Dare we name our brokenness like the Psalmist – like Christ?
- In our culture we spend a lot of time and effort on ignoring suffering and pain. It is good that we have treatments and therapies that have been unheard of in ages past, but our attitude of secrecy and our advertising of solutions has implied that if you are hurting or suffering, then something about you must be abnormal. Furthermore, we get the idea that if life isn’t always glamorous, exciting, perfect, and snappy, then something is really wrong. If boring and sad are problems for our culture, then how much more is suffering and pain a problem. Our efforts to ignore pain and suffering are stressing us out.
- When I say culture, I mean us in the church too. Can we be different enough to allow our Psalmist to tell what God has done? Is our assembly a time and place that allows the afflicted to fulfill their vows to praise God (v. 25)?
Imagine our assembly and our community as a place of Hope. Like God we do not hide our face from those who suffer. Like God we do not despise or abandon those who feel forsaken. The praises of those who have received help, strengthen those who cry out for it.
Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles
“Decide????? You mean there are decisions involved in being a Christian? I have to decide? I thought the only decision involved was to say you believed!”
Me, I am an automatic man! I love machines that take the work out of tasks. I do not enjoy the experience but the results! Automatic cameras, automatic transmissions-automatics are my machines! I love good decisions made without my having to choose!
It is so simple to become a Christian that we regard it to be a convenient machine. We express a desire to be baptized. We are asked if we believe that Jesus is the son of God. We are baptized for the remission of sins. We make a congregation our church home. We attend that congregation several times a month. We may or may not get involved in the congregation’s activities. We say (when asked) that we attend “X” congregation.
It is done! We are members! We are Christians! In fact, we are insulted if anyone questions that we are Christians. After all, we attend most of the time. We are on the congregation’s membership list. Our contact information is on the database. Our picture is in the directory. Why would anyone question our Christianity?
Please, do not mistake the point! We are a congregation of men and women who were baptized for the remission of sins because of faith in Jesus as God’s son. We seek to be a community of believers who wish to be known to and contacted by our spiritual family.
However, there is more to being a Christian than baptism, declaring membership, attendance, and involvement in church activities. It is a spiritual growth commitment. Increasingly, it involves who we are, how we behave, what kind of single person we are, what kind of spouse we are, what kind of parent we are, how we interact with people, what kind of employee/employer we are, what kind of neighbor we are, etc.
There is no automatic version of Christianity. Yes, faith involves personal decision making! The more spiritually mature we become, the more decisions we make!
