Reflections on 'Living the Dream" I Kings 3: 15-28

I had fun preaching this sermon.  Because we had a Young Adult Volunteer from the church sharing about what she has been doing in the last year and what she will be doing in the next year, I considered it a "live" illustration the congregation would receive after the sermon.  I think that worked well holistically for those gathered for worship.

I really liked the "listening heart" insight Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann.  It changed how I approached and understood the text, and allowed me to build on the image of God as the one who cares for the widows, orphans and powerless and sends us to care for them.  

The reference to a comedian and a script writer worked better in my mind than it seemed to work for the congregation.  I could have told a joke about three wishes and a genie, but all the jokes I know like that seemed to stereotype women/men or husbands/wives in ways I decided I did not want to do from the pulpit!  If I had found a good joke to use, it might have worked better.

“Living the Dream” August 19, 2018, SAPC, Denton; I Kings 3: 15-28; Richard B. Culp

I Kings 3: 15 Then Solomon awoke; it had been a dream. He came to Jerusalem where he stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. He offered up burnt offerings and offerings of well-being, and provided a feast for all his servants.

16 Later, two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. 18 Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together; there was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house. 19 Then this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your servant slept. She laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, I saw that he was dead; but when I looked at him closely in the morning, clearly it was not the son I had borne.” 22 But the other woman said, “No, the living son is mine, and the dead son is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead son is yours, and the living son is mine.” So they argued before the king.

23 Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; while the other says, ‘Not so! Your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” 24 So the king said, “Bring me a sword,” and they brought a sword before the king. 25 The king said, “Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other.” 26 But the woman whose son was alive said to the king—because compassion for her son burned within her—“Please, my lord, give her the living boy; certainly do not kill him!” The other said, “It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it.” 27 Then the king responded: “Give the first woman the living boy; do not kill him. She is his mother.” 28 All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute justice.

Introduction:  We began the summer with Samuel, the last great judge, who anointed Saul and David to be king.

We spent most of the summer dealing with those two, particularly David.

Now, we will finish the summer in Samuel and Kings with a couple of weeks of Solomon.

Under Solomon’s leadership, Israel reaches perhaps its greatest heights as a world power.  

And, as the opening verse of the first reading today noted, Solomon was recognized as loving the Lord (although do not miss that we are also told that Solomon “offered incense at the high places,” which was a huge religion sin.

Bottom line - Solomon, like his father David, is a powerful, successful king (at least by the world’s standards), who was also a flawed person.  

Move 1:  In many ways, Solomon’s power begins with a dream.

a.  Solomon’s political power may have come from marrying right and his leadership skills, but Solomon’s moral authority and theological foundation came from a dream in which God offers him a wish.

1.  If i were a comedian, it would be more like three wishes from a genie; the wishes would be about the person and his or her predicament in life; and it would end with a funny punch line.

2. If I were a script writer, it would be like the Disney’s version of “Aladdin” and a story would unfold as the three wishes were played out. And, of course, the three wishes would be about the person and what would benefit the person (to read more about Solomon’s request and the Aladdin story see  http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/sermon-starters/proper-15b/?type=old_testament_lectionary; Stan Mast)

3.  But, alas, I am but a preacher, so the story sticks to the biblical texts, there is one wish for Solomon, and instead of asking for his something that will give him wealth, or power, he asks for an “understanding mind.”

4. We often equate that with “wisdom,” since when Solomon puts it to use he makes what others observe is a wise decision, but Solomon literally asks for a “listening heart”(https://www.huffingtonpost.com/walter-brueggemann/i-kings-2-10-12-3-3-14-who-will-be-americas-next-leader_b_1776777.html; Walter Brueggemann)

b.  A “listening heart.”

1.  The request fits the context - Solomon’s request is modeled after the the God who hears the cries of the people; the God who rescues those in need; the God who has special concern for the powerless.

2. the God who again and again shows a listening heart is asked by Solomon to give him a listening heart to use in his role as king.

3.  As Solomon discovers, the blessings he receives far exceed a listening heart.

4.  Solomon will again and again look to all his riches and power and see them as blessings from God, but the first gift from God is a listening heart.

5.  Put that part of the story in your memory banks - the first gift was a listening heart.

Move 2:  This story also highlights how Solomon acts on the dream.

a.  Solomon does not just ask for a gift and then forget about the gift God gives.

1. he uses his gift from God.

2. We see it in his decision when two women approach.

3.  Arguing over whose baby it is.

4. Solomon comes up with a brilliant way to determine who the actual mother is.

5. Everyone applauds his wisdom and takes great pride that their king is so wise.

b.  But maybe instead of applauding Solomon’s wisdom, we should see in his decision a his listening heart.

1. the decision is not just wise.

2. Solomon hears the cry of the mother whose child could be cut in half.

3. Solomon is moved by the love of a mother who will give up her child, instead of having her child killed.

4.  Solomon reveals a wisdom that grows out fo a listening heart.

c.  Do not miss that Solomon uses the gift God gives him.

1. Think about your own life - have you ever asked God to give you an ability or a gift?

2.  or evaluated your life and noted the gifts God has given you? 

3. How are you doing putting those gifts, those blessing to work?

d.  For our Minute for Mission today, Laurie Lamonica is going to share about the Young adult Volunteer program of the Presbyterian Church.

1.  As she went through the process, I know she prayed for God’s guidance and for God’s blessing.

2.  Then, she acted when God answered.

3. Part of our church’s responsibility is to provide opportunities for people to put their gifts to use, to help them live out the calling to which God has called them.

4.  And, of course, as disciples of Christ, we are continually challenged to step out in faith and use the gifts  God has given us.

5. Solomon asked for a gift from God and used the gift from God.

Move 3:  What if the dream becomes a nightmare?

a.   if we read Solomon’s story to the end, we discover his dream turns bad.

1.  The biblical text will tell stories of palace intrigue; 

2.  conscripted labor that turns the people against Solomon; 

3. Too many foreign wives; 

4.  Perhaps the greatest of all sins from a theological perspective, worshiping other gods in the high places.

b.  Solomon amasses riches and power, but somehow loses the dream from which he started.

1.   I suspect if he had paid more attention to listening heart had heard the cry of the widows for justice, and the orphans begging for love, and the sinners crying out for forgiveness, the powerless asking for grace, he might been focused less on his power and more on God’s desires (read more about this concept at https://www.huffingtonpost.com/walter-brueggemann/i-kings-2-10-12-3-3-14-who-will-be-americas-next-leader_b_1776777.html; Walter Brueggemann)

2. we, of course, can see Solomon’s flaws because we recognize them as our own.

Conclusion: Solomon began with a dream of using God’s gift to serve God’s people.

A dream worth living.

Reflections on "Grieving" 2 Samuel 18: 19-33

I have preached sermons on grief, but had never preached this text.  I found David's words about Absalom to be very powerful.  As a side note, last night as I was working on this sermon we were watching "The Miracle Season," a movie about the death of high school volleyball player.  Watching her father grieve in the movie added to my sense of David's grief.  

I had  a couple of comments about the sermon being so serious or a "downer," but I also had comments bout it being a powerful sermon.   

“Grieving” August 12, 2018, SAPC, Denton; 2 Samuel 18: 19-33

2 Samuel 18: 19-33 When Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Let me run, and carry tidings to the king that the Lord has delivered him from the power of his enemies.” 20 Joab said to him, “You are not to carry tidings today; you may carry tidings another day, but today you shall not do so, because the king’s son is dead.” 21 Then Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran. 22 Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said again to Joab, “Come what may, let me also run after the Cushite.” And Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, seeing that you have no reward[e] for the tidings?” 23 “Come what may,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Plain, and outran the Cushite.

24 Now David was sitting between the two gates. The sentinel went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and when he looked up, he saw a man running alone. 25 The sentinel shouted and told the king. The king said, “If he is alone, there are tidings in his mouth.” He kept coming, and drew near. 26 Then the sentinel saw another man running; and the sentinel called to the gatekeeper and said, “See, another man running alone!” The king said, “He also is bringing tidings.” 27 The sentinel said, “I think the running of the first one is like the running of Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” The king said, “He is a good man, and comes with good tidings.”

28 Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, “All is well!” He prostrated himself before the king with his face to the ground, and said, “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.” 29 The king said, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent your servant,[f] I saw a great tumult, but I do not know what it was.” 30 The king said, “Turn aside, and stand here.” So he turned aside, and stood still.

31 Then the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, “Good tidings for my lord the king! For the Lord has vindicated you this day, delivering you from the power of all who rose up against you.” 32 The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” The Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up to do you harm, be like that young man.”

33 [g] The king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

Introduction:  This is a particularly dark part of Israel’s history, full of betrayal and and treachery - brother against brother, or half-brother; father against son; Israelites against God.

A time when it’s hard to find many redeeming qualities in anyone.

but this sordid plot is interrupted by the death of Absalom, King David’s son and David’s grief.

Move 1: Grief overwhelms and impacts us, no matter the circumstances.

a.  Absalom and his father king David have had a difficult relationship, to say the least.

1.  Rooted in the rape of Absalom’s sister and Absalom’s revenge because he did not believe his father dealt with it, not to mention the usual lust for power, Absalom has turned against his father.

2. In fact, Absalom’s warriors have chased David and his army out of Jerusalem. 

3.  David has been working to defeat Absalom.

4.  Although when David gives the pep talk to his army as they do into battle against Absalom’s army, he  does that they not kill his son.

5. then, in a bizarre scene, Absalom dies.

6.  when David hears the news, he utters perhaps the most gut-wrenching words we have in Scripture: “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

7.  Each time David utters “my son,”  he reveals his regret; his guilt; his anger; his grief.

8.  Even when David is a war with his son, he griefs his death.revealing 

b.  A reminder - none of us can escape grief.

1.  rabbi Lewis, in his sermon on his looming death, tells the story of the minister who begins his sermon by announcing, "everyone here in this parish [congregation] is going to die."  A man breaks out into a smile, which causes the minister to stop and ask him, "Why are you smiling?"  "I'm not from this parish [congregation].  I'm just visiting today." Mitch Albom, Have a Little Faith:  a true story (231)

2.  None of us will escape death or dealing with the death of friends and loved ones.

c.  Even our faith does not shield us from grief.

1.  As Christians, we still experience death and loss that lead to grief.  

2.  Even the most faithful among us, will grieve.

3. Everyone, regardless of their faith or lack of faith, will experience grief.

4. To live means to participate in the cycle of life and death.

Move 2:  Grieving is personal

a.  in my role as minister, I have held hands with family members as their loved one died; 

1.  I have been the one to tell someone their family member has died; 

2.  I have walked the journey of grief with many people.  

3.  I have dealt with the death of close friends and other relatives.

4.  Many of you have done so as well.

b. But, when I found myself grieving the death of my father and sister, it was different.

1.  It was personal.  No one could know exactly what went through my mind, or what memories kept filling my dreams. 

2.  No one, not even my brother, who I suppose would have the most similar relationship with my father to mine, knew exactly what I felt and thought.

3.  I can tell you both from the theoretical of studying grief; from the real-life experience of having watched others grieve; and from the personal experience as one who has grieved, that grief is personal.  

c. that is not to say that others cannot share with us from their own grief and help us based on their own experience of grief.

1.  We know the grief and despair of our own loss, so we can offer great comfort to others out of our grief.

2. comfort that comes from sharing in a similar sense of grief, but still not knowing exactly what the other person feels as she grieves.

3. one of the powerful roles a community of faith brings is comfort

4. From Stephen Ministers who visit those in grief to cards sent to those grieving to the warm hug to someone who sits with you when you feel alone in church, the church community can play a critical role as we grieve.

Grief is personal, but we need support.  

Move 3:  We need to grieve, and grief plays an important role for us.

a.  “all those years I fell for the great palace lie that grief should be gotten over as quickly as possible and as privately.  But what I’ve discovered since is that that lifelong fear of grief keeps us in a barren, isolated place and that only grieving can heal grief; the passage of time will lessen the acuteness, but time alone, without the direct experience of grief, will not heal it.”  (I found this qoute with my sermon illustrations, but it had no reference.  It was with several other Ann Lamott qoutes from her book Traveling Mercies, so it may be from there.)

b. I can say with certainty that we must grieve when people we are close to die.

1. we can put it off - I have had people face death and tell me that they are going to put off their grief until some particular point in the future.  But, the plan to put off grieving never seems to work very well.

2. We can run away from it.

3. But grief will find us one way or the other.

4. and that's a good thing.

          5.  Until we grieve and move through our grief, th grief controls us.  

         6.  As we grieve, we open ourselves up to new possibilities and the hope God gives to us.

Move 2:  Grieving brings us back to God.

a.  Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann writes about David’s story and the whole of Israel’s story during this time of life and death in the 10th century.

1.  he notes that David’s experience is paralleled by Israel’s experience.

2. That is, David, the king with all the power and the heart for God is looked to as someone who can give life, but instead, David is the bringer of death, instead of giver of life (Journal of the American Academy of Religion; 40 no 1 Mar 1972,  96-109; Walter Brueggemann; “Life and Death in Tenth Century Israel;” 106).

3. David, who is arguably the greatest of all the leaders of Israel, even David is surrounded by death.

4.  Likewise, Israel, which seeks powerful leaders to give it new life, instead discovers death and destruction again and again.  

5.  The only place David and Israel can look to find hope and new life is God.

6. As David cries out, “O Absalom, my son,” the only one who can answer his cry is God.

b.  Facing death and going through the grieving process brings us face to face with the questions about life and death that matter.

1.   In other words, death and grief send us back to God.

2.  Grieving can call into question who we are and whose we are.

c.  we Christians have a word to speak about God in the face of death.

1. I hear lots of things said to people in their time of grief.  I had lots of things said to me as I stood in line and greeted people.

2.  Much of it is well-meaning.

3.  some of it has theology that I do not think is true to the God we discover in the biblical text.

4.  But we have a word of hope.

5. Hope grounded in the love of God - the God who created us out of love; the God who loves us every day of our lives; the God who sends Christ to join us in our death; Christ whose death saves us; the God who resurrected Christ to offer us hope in the face of earthly death.

6.  Frederick Buechner writes this about David:  ”If David could have done the boy's dying for him, he would have done it. If he could have paid the price for the boy's betrayal of him, he would have paid it. If he could have given his own life to make the boy alive again, he would have given it. But even a king can't do things like that. As later history was to prove, it takes a God.” http://www.frederickbuechner.com/blog/; August 6, 2018;Frederick Buechner blog

It takes God.

Conclusion:  David cries out, “O my son, Absalom, my son, my son Absalom…”

To which God replies, “O my son Jesus, my son my son Jesus - he has come to give life, even life after death.

Amen.

Reflections on "Looking in the Mirror" 2 Samuel 11: 26 - 12:13

A few weeks ago, I had preached on Nathan's role in David's life, so I knew that would not be the topic (I did include a brief mention of Nathan's role as a truth-teller) of this sermon.  

For some reason, I was free-lancing from the sermon text quite a bit Sunday,s o those listening heard a sermon not as closely aligned to the following text.  Not sure why I was free-lancing so much on Sunday.  Sometimes it's because I am not as prepared as I would like, but that did not fell like the situation on Sunday.

The sermon mirrors (pun intended) the Samuel text by moving to repentance really quickly.  In both cases, it feels a little abrupt to me. 

Not sure why the "mirror, mirror" bit came to my mind, but it seemed to add to the sermon.  It certainly helped my Time with Young Disciples to have the mirror as a visual aid (thanks to Melanie for pulling it out of her purse on the first hymn for me to use since I forgot to bring a mirror).

2 Samuel 11: 26 - 12:13 When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. 27 When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord, 1 and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds; 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; 6 he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; 8 I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. 11 Thus says the Lord: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun. 12 For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.” 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan said to David, “Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die. 

“Looking in the Mirror” August 5 , 2018, SAPC, Denton; 2 Samuel 11: 26 - 12: 13

Introduction:  King David has it all.  Or at least he can get it all if he wants. 

His power has expanded.  He can do anything he wants.

He spies Bathsheba beautiful woman across the way, he can send for her and seduce her. (As a note, while this action may have been routine for a king in David’s time, it seems particularly inappropriate in our time with so much emphasis on abuse of power in sexual relationships).

When Bathsheba gets pregnant and David wants to hide her pregnancy, he can summon her husband home from the battlefront to spend the night with her.

When that fails, he can send her husband back to the battlefront with instructions for his commander to put him in the most dangerous situation so that he will be killed in battle.

go back and read the story - even the way it is written reveals David’s power.  he wants something, he commands, and it happens.  

Imagine when David looks into the mirror.

Mirror, on the wall, who’s the handsomest of them all?

You are, King David.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, whose the greatest king of all?

You are, King David

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, whose the most powerful man of all

You are, King David

Until, until God is displeased with David and sends Nathan to tell David a story, to readjust David’s mirror, if you will. 

the story goes like this:  there is a rich man with many sheep and poor man with just one little lamb, who he can for greatly.

A traveler stops at the rich man’s house, and as custom dictates, he has to provide a feast for his guest - the rich man will have to kill one of his many sheep.

Except the rich does not want to waste one of his many sheep on the guest, so he takes the one little lamb from the poor man.

David recognizes the abuse of power.  Find this man, he demands, and I will punish him.  He deserves to die (and David can make that happen, because he is the all powerful king).

Nathan’s response:  You are the man!

A few thoughts.

a.  We all need a Nathan - part of the sermon a couple of weeks ago, but we are reminded of it again this week - we all need truth-tellers in our lives.

b. As Eugene Peterson points out, “God’s word always ends up direct and personal” (Eugene Peterson, 184, First and Second Samuel). 

1. If you read God’s word and it does not connect to your life, read it again.

2.  If you read God’s word and you cannot figure out how it calls you, not everyone else, but you, to change your life, read it again.

3. I would even go so far as to say, if you read the story today and think God is calling you to be Nathan to everyone else in your orbit, read it again.

4. God’s word is direct and personal - sometimes a word of comfort, sometimes a word of challenge, always a personal word of hope.

c.  Power

1. David’s story is one of unbridled power, and his abuse of that power.

2.  he recognizes the abuse of power in someone else, but misses it in himself.

3.  When we have power, it is easy to forget, or ignore, or dismiss all that power affords us.

4.  It is easy to begin to see the world as our place to live out our power.

5.  If you can command something to happen, and it does; it becomes easier and easier to make commands with little regard for those involved.

c.  Collision of God’s story and our human story.

1.  The story this morning is about David, David, David, until Nathan confronts him.  

2.  the story is the collision of narrative - a narrative of worldly power vs. God’s narrative (Theology Today, 224, William Willimon, july 1, 1993, “A Peculiarly Christian Account of Sin”)

3.  William Willimon reminds us that Karl Barth, the 20th century Reformed theologian, says that that only Christians can sin because Christians have he framework to understand sin.  The framework does not begin with the idea of sin as a human condition, but begins with the God of redemption who desires to save us.  As we come to know the God of redemption, we recognize our sin.

4.  when our narrative of human power and earthly desires collides with God’s story of redemption, we recognize our sin and the God who redeems us.  (Theology Today, 222, William Willimon, july 1, 1993, “A Peculiarly Christian Account of Sin”)

d.  which leads to my final thought - David repents and seeks God’s forgiveness.

1.  Psalm 51.

2. David recognizes that when he sins against Bathsheba and Urriah, he sins against God.

3. All abuse of power is contrary to God’s desires.

4. And David repents; he will suffer for his actions, but he will also know God’s forgiveness.

5. The final answer is not David’s abuse of power, but God’s power to forgive and redeem.

Conclusion: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who am I? Tell me it all.

You are a sinner, an abuser of power, who deserves condemnation.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who am I? Tell me it all.

You are a child of God.  Repent and know God’s forgiveness.