codysandahl

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First Reading = Mark 9:2–8

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and  led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was  transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us  make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

Introduction

This is the final week of our series looking at the Gospel According to David. Last week we heard that David lived life to the fullest. Next week we’re going to try something a little different. We’re going to try a “stump the pastor” Sunday! This is like an “ask me anything” for church. So email me a faith question by this Friday, and I’ll draw them out of a basket and address them right then to the best of my ability. So email me a question – cody@fpcl.org by Friday August 28 to be included.

But for this final week in our series about David, we’re going to look at one of David’s defining characteristics: his commitment to relationships. Jesus had this same characteristic. And we often talk about how we want our church to be defined by a commitment to relationships as well.

In our main text today, we’re back in 1 Samuel – before David was king. This text marks a transition for David. Before this, he was married to Saul’s daughter Michael. He was best friends with Saul’s son Jonathan. He had fame and respect after defeating Goliath. He was an honored part of the king’s household. But then Saul realized that David might become king instead of his own son Jonathan. So Saul decided to kill David while he still could. Listen to how David’s commitment to relationships change the course of events.

Main Reading = 1 Samuel 19:1-24

Saul spoke with his son  Jonathan and with all his servants about killing David. But Saul’s son  Jonathan took great delight in David. 2Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is  trying to kill you; therefore be on guard tomorrow morning; stay in a  secret place and hide yourself. 3I will go out and stand beside my father  in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you; if I  learn anything I will tell you.” 4Jonathan spoke well of David to his  father Saul, saying to him, “The king should not sin against his servant  David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds  have been of good service to you; 5for he took his life in his hand when he attacked the Philistine, and the Lord  brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced;  why then will you sin against an innocent person by killing David  without cause?” 6Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan; Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” 7So Jonathan called David and related all  these things to him. Jonathan then brought David to Saul, and he was in  his presence as before.

8Again there was war, and David  went out to fight the Philistines. He launched a heavy attack on them,  so that they fled before him. 9Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing music. 10Saul sought to pin David to the wall  with the spear; but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the  wall. David fled and escaped that night.

11Saul sent messengers to David’s  house to keep watch over him, planning to kill him in the morning.  David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not save your life tonight,  tomorrow you will be killed.” 12So Michal let David down through the window; he fled away and escaped. 13Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed; she put a net of goats’ hair on its head, and covered it with the clothes. 14When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15Then Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves. He said, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16When the messengers came in, the idol was in the bed, with the covering of goats’ hair on its head. 17Saul said to Michal, “Why have you  deceived me like this, and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?”  Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go; why should I kill  you?’”

18Now David fled and escaped; he  came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He  and Samuel went and settled at Naioth.

Divisions

I don’t know about here in Colorado, but in Texas there is a time-honored tradition. Many fathers of high school-aged daughters have a ritual they perform before every one of their daughter’s first dates. The details differ, but the basic goal is to provide the high school boy with some …disincentives for certain behaviors on the date. Some dads who are hunters take the boy to their room showcasing all of their kills. Others are cleaning their weapon while talking. Others are more subtle. I don’t know if that’s a thing everywhere, but in rural Texas it was definitely a part of the culture.

Now I share this, because I think Saul in our text today got things a little backwards. I mean, he gave it a good try. He threatened David with a spear. That would’ve gotten my attention before a first date! But he didn’t threaten David with a spear until after he had already married Saul’s daughter Michal. I think the horse has left the barn already, Saul!

I mean, you might think your family has some dysfunction. But Saul is on a whole other level, right? Our text says, “Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear; but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall.” And our text tells us that the source of his murderous intent is fairly simple: David keeps winning battles and getting the credit for it. Saul is jealous of how the people see David, pure and simple. He also sees the writing on the wall for his own lineage. If David is alive when Saul dies, he knows that David will wind up on the throne instead of his own son Jonathan. Jealousy. Fear of losing power. That’s a dangerous combo. Those are some serious divisions.

In fact, there are quite a few divisions that are or could be present. David would be well within his rights to strike back at Saul for trying to pin him on the wall with a spear. Jonathan would be well within his rights to undermine David as a potential rival. For Michal, it would be easy to see her side with her brother and father and her clan instead of her newly minted husband. At the end of the text, Samuel could easily have sided with Saul – who was Samuel’s own pick to be king – instead of David – who was God’s pick rather than Samuel’s.

Jonathan cares more about his deep abiding friendship with David than holding onto his own power. And in his dialogue with his father, he appeals to doing what’s right instead of doing what’s expedient. He was united with David in more important ways than he was divided.

Michal is in a tight spot. But she finds a way to help her husband without abandoning her father. She sees that she is united with David and Saul in more important ways than she is divided.

David had opportunities throughout the stories we’ve read in this series to kill Saul. But he never did. He was committed to the Lord, committed to Israel’s ability to defend itself against the Philistines, committed to his friendship with Jonathan. Those things were more important to him than the divisions between himself and Saul. Now, David was no fool. He ran away rather than sticking around for some more spear-throwing sessions. But he believed in certain things above and beyond the divisions between himself and Saul.

One of the biggest questions embedded within this text and indeed embedded within David’s life is simple to ask but hard to answer: do our reasons for being united outweigh our reasons for being divided? Or do our reasons for being divided outweigh our reasons for being united? On balance, are we more united or more divided?

David had to answer that question with someone who was literally chucking spears at him. And, interestingly, he decided he was more united with Saul than he was divided. Why? What on earth could be more uniting than a spear is dividing?

The Most Important Things

Well, some of that answer isn’t on earth. I’m pulling from other parts of David’s life, but when he spared Saul’s life multiple times, David called Saul “the Lord’s anointed.” David saw their shared faith as the greatest source of unity. And he repeatedly refused to change God’s timing. He saw his faith – which he shared with Saul – as the most important thing. Everything other division paled in comparison to the unity they had in their faith.

And yes, I think we can say that David had a much more real and meaningful faith than Saul did. Saul was very self-centered. Saul tried to use God for his own purposes. But he still worshiped the Lord instead of someone else. That was enough for David to see himself as being on the “same side” in many respects as Saul.

We see in our text today that David is willing to continue fighting against the Philistines – even after getting some pointy objects thrown at him by the king. After their shared faith, David also saw their shared nationality as a great source of unity. There were some things just naturally important to all Israelites, and sometimes that meant he had to put down his hurt feelings and put down the internal divisions so he could support those bigger, shared things.

We also see in our text today that David saw his deep and meaningful relationships as more meaningful and durable than the divisions that might push them apart. He was more committed to Jonathan as a friend than he was committed to getting his own way.

So David found unity in things that he saw as more important than the divisions. He found unity in his shared faith. He found unity in his commitment to relationships. And at a more base level he found unity on some things with all Israelites – even the one who was chucking spears at him.

The question then turns around to face us: do we find more reasons to be united or more reasons to be divided? Some of that depends on where we are placing our focus.

The comedian Emo Philips tells of a time when he saw a guy laying down in the gutter, looking completely distraught. Worried that he might harm himself, Emo went up to him. Here’s how that conversation went.

“I said, “Tell me what’s wrong!” He said, “Nobody loves me.” I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?”

He said, “Yes.” I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?” He said, “A Christian.” I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?” He said, “Protestant.” I said, “Me, too! What franchise?” He said, “Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?” He said, “Northern Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”

He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.” I said, “Me, too!”

Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.” I said, “Heretic!” And I pushed him back down into the gutter.”

That may be a joke, but it also hits pretty close to home. In theory, Christians everywhere should feel far more united than divided. We share an eternal destination. We share an unfathomable and undeserved love. We have been adopted into the same family through Jesus.

But that’s just the theory. Historically, we as Christians have not been all that great at seeing what unites us. Wars have been fought over church structure. People have been executed for having different views of Communion. When I was in seminary, one of the professors warned us that you can jeopardize your role as pastor of a church if you change the color of the carpet in the sanctuary. Incidentally, that’s one of the things we’ve looked at as part of our building renovation plan, so maybe my days are numbered here! The royal blue camp is going to have my head if I favor the forest green option!

Jesus himself framed this pretty directly. In John 13:34-35 Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” We are commanded by Jesus to love one another AS HE LOVED US! That’s a VERY high bar! Our love for one another is supposed to be our #1 witness to the world.

That has historically not been the case within Christianity. But may it be true of us! Maybe love for one another is not true elsewhere, but MAY IT BE TRUE OF US RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW! May they know we are Christians by the love we have for one another.

We have been a church where people don’t all think alike. We have been a church with a diversity of thought. That’s not easy to find these days, and I can tell you that it’s not easy to maintain these days. Our church leadership articulated this as one of the values of our church: to “demonstrate the love of Christ at all times, even when politics or theology might divide us.” May that be true of us.

We have a significant number of people in our church who will vote on opposite sides in this election cycle. Nevertheless, may they know we are Jesus’ followers by the love we have for one another.

We have a significant number of people in our church who focus on different parts of the Bible to come to different theological stances on the hot button issues facing the global church. Nevertheless, may they know we are Jesus’ followers by the love we have for one another.

We have a significant number of people in our church with completely different takes on how safe it is to worship in-person right now during COVID-19. Nevertheless, may they know we are Jesus’ followers by the love that we have for one another.

Christianity hasn’t been great historically at demonstrating love despite our differences. Many churches and many Christians right now aren’t demonstrating love despite our differences. Nevertheless, may they know we at First Pres Littleton are Jesus’ followers by the love that we have for one another. May that be true of us!

This is not an easy task. But David stuck with his bigger values even when he had a spear chucked at him. Are we made of that kind of stuff?

Walking away from each other is easy. Seeing our differences as greater than our shared faith in Jesus is easy. Turning on each other is easy. Only talking with those who agree with you is easy. But Jesus didn’t call us to “easy.” Demonstrating the love of Christ isn’t easy. In Matthew 7, Jesus told us, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” May we find the narrow gate together here at First Pres Littleton. May the narrow way be our way. May it be true of us.

As most of you know, the New Testament was written in Greek. You might have heard before in your life of sermons that the Greek word for fellowship is “koinonia.” It’s the word used to describe the life of the early church. And it very literally means “a relationship among fellows.” But it is only possible if you can see others as your “fellows.” There must be something or some things that form a common bond larger than the things that might divide you. The early church was the fellowship of Jesus. Jesus was the one thing that united the wealthy widow patrons, the wandering refugees, the craftsmen, the slaves, the thinkers, and the outcasts. Those people wouldn’t mix and mingle with each other in a thousand years without their faith in Jesus. But through Jesus they became “fellows” and became part of a world-changing “fellowship.” May that “koinonia,” may that “fellowship” be true of us here at First Pres Littleton.

Summary

Sisters and brothers, David was committed to his bigger values even when Saul was chucking a spear at him. Even then, he saw their shared faith in the Lord, their shared status as Israelites, and their shared relationships outweighing the divisions between them.

Jesus said that the world would know we are his followers by loving one another AS HE LOVED US!

Does our shared faith in Jesus outweigh the spears we might want to throw at one another? I believe it does. But I hope that we don’t just think that. May it be true of us right here and right now. Amen.

Watch the Sermon

First Reading = 2 Samuel 11

11In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. 3David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house. 5The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

6So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. 8Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?” 11Uriah said to David, “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.” 12Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, 13David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

14In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.” 16As Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant warriors. 17The men of the city came out and fought with Joab; and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite was killed as well. 18Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting; 19and he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling the king all the news about the fighting, 20then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21Who killed Abimelech son of Jerubbaal? Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too.’” 22So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us, and came out against us in the field; but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall; some of the king’s servants are dead; and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” 25David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter trouble you, for the sword devours now one and now another; press your attack on the city, and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.” 26When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. 27When 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,

Introduction

We are still in our series about the Gospel According to David. David demonstrated, received, and desperately needed the grace of God just as Jesus’ disciples did so many years later. Last week we heard how David demonstrated unmerited grace and favor to someone who was heckling him. We were encouraged to choose someone who was pestering us or getting under our skin and choose to show them unmerited grace for one week.

As I promised, this week we are looking at how we need and receive the grace of God. And David demonstrates this in spades in our text today. In our first text, we heard the depth of David’s sins. You probably already knew that David had an affair with Bathsheba. But David was just getting warmed up!

He tried to trick Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah the Hittite. And the text notes how Uriah, a foreigner, was faithful to the Lord while David, the king of Israel, was trying to get away without getting caught in his sins. He then sent Uriah back to the army carrying his own death sentence in a sealed letter. To carry out David’s instructions to kill Uriah, the commander of Israel’s army had to send several soldiers to their deaths.

Just to add a little spice to the story, as if it needed more spice, Uriah was one of David’s Mighty Men. We heard about them last week. They were his most loyal soldiers and each of them, including Uriah, were famed for their prowess in battle.

This would be like Jason throwing away the lives of his Argonauts to save face. This would be like Odysseus killing some soldiers who went with him on the Odyssey to avoid being embarrassed. Or imagine if an American general had sacrificed an armored platoon to cover up some of his own shady dealings. How would that go over once it was discovered?

And that’s where our main text picks up the story. David thinks he got away with murder…literally. But there’s one person you can’t ever hide from… This is a bit of a long text, so try to hang with me.

Main Reading = 2 Samuel 12:1-25

12and 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. 2The rich man had very many flocks and herds; 3but 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. 4Now 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.” 5Then 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; 6he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” 7Nathan 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; 8I 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. 9Why 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. 10Now 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. 11Thus 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. 12For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.” 13David 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. 14Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.”

15Then Nathan went to his house. The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became very ill. 16David therefore pleaded with God for the child; David fasted, and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17The elders of his house stood beside him, urging him to rise from the ground; but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, “While the child was still alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us; how then can we tell him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” 19But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, he perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” 20Then David rose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord, and worshiped; he then went to his own house; and when he asked, they set food before him and he ate. 21Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while it was alive; but when the child died, you rose and ate food.” 22He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’ 23But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” 24Then David consoled his wife Bathsheba, and went to her, and lay with her; and she bore a son, and he named him Solomon. The Lord loved him, 25and sent a message by the prophet Nathan; so he named him Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

Accepting the Rebuke

I was just on the outskirts of a small Texas town. I was parked on the side of the road. I rolled down my window with a grimace on my face. “Did you know that you were doing 55 miles per hour when the speed limit was 30?”

“Well, officer, I knew I was going 55. I didn’t know the speed limit was 30. I thought it was still 55. I must’ve missed the speed limit sign,” I said venomously.

Unmoved by my explanation, the officer replied, “I need to see your license and registration.”

At this point, I realized that my anger was being a bit misdirected. So I took a deep breath to calm down, and I told the officer, “I’m sorry that I’m coming across as angry. I’m angry at myself for missing the sign, I’m not angry at you for doing your job.” He nodded to me and said, “I appreciate that.”

Now a really great ending to this story would be that he converted my sizable speeding ticket into a warning. But that’s not my story.

He decided to only write me up for going ten miles per hour over the speed limit instead of 25. That’s a big difference on the fine, let me tell you! And if you ever find yourself in the car with me…don’t worry, this was not a recent event. I’m twice the age I was when this happened.

Have you ever been called on the carpet to answer for something? Maybe it was a traffic ticket. Maybe it was a botched project at work. Maybe you let a secret slip and a friend confronted you. Maybe it was a family conflict – those are the biggest powder kegs of all.

If you’ve ever been called on the carpet to answer for something, how did you respond emotionally? Did you lash out at the other person? Did you deny it? Did you accept it right away, or did it take some time like me interacting with the police officer?

When I was trained in restorative practices, I learned that there are generally four automatic, knee-jerk reflex reactions when we’re called out like that. Some of us attack others. Some of us attack ourselves. Some of us avoid the problem and try to sweep it under the rug. Some of us withdraw and try to get away from the confrontation. Since it’s a reflex, the definition of a “healthy” reaction is based on how long you spend in your reflex versus how quickly you can get back under control.

We don’t know what David’s face looked like when Nathan cried out, “You are the man!” We don’t know what David was doing while Nathan delivered his message of rebuke from God. Maybe David was reaching for his sword to cut down Nathan. Maybe he was looking around for somewhere to hide. We don’t know.

But we do know how he replied at the end of Nathan’s message. It’s simple. It’s direct. “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Now, let’s imagine that Nathan and David had lived inside of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. There’s a scene where Sampson bites his thumb at Abraham as a sign of disrespect. Abraham says, “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?” “I do bite my thumb, sir.” It goes on like this for a while until they draw swords and fight each other over the “dishonor” of a rude gesture.

David could have done that to Nathan. But he didn’t.

How many rulers would accept that public criticism and admit their failure? How many kings would sit there and take it instead of killing the audacious prophet standing in front of them? How many bosses or co-workers or family members or friends have you had who would raise their hand and say, “You’re right. It was me. I’ve sinned against the Lord.”? Not many, I bet. Some would get there eventually, but that was David’s first reply.

So let’s give David a little credit here for being willing to accept the public rebuke. Most people aren’t quite that composed when they’re called onto the carpet to answer for their sins.

Has someone been trying to tell you something, but you haven’t been willing to hear it? Is God trying to tell you something, but you haven’t been willing to hear it? If so, I encourage you to listen as David did to Nathan’s message from the Lord.

Consequences

So we gave David his credit. But admitting your fault doesn’t usually get you out of adultery, abuse of power, misuse of the the army, callous disregard for the lives of soldiers, and – lest we forget – murder. In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the knight Lancelot charges into battle to rescue a supposed damsel in distress. In his wake lie dozens of people in their finest clothes. A man shouts at him, “This is a wedding! You killed eight wedding guests! You killed the father of the bride, that’s all!” And Lancelot replies, “Very sorry. You see, I didn’t mean to…Is he all right?”

Sometimes, “Sorry” doesn’t cut it!

And sometimes, even admitting, “I have sinned against the Lord” doesn’t get rid of all the consequences of our actions. Sometimes when God forgives us and restores us, God says to us, “I still love you, but I’m not going to save you from the dominoes you started knocking down.” Just as the police officer reduced my fine but didn’t eliminate all the consequences of my unintentional speeding, sometimes we have to face the music.

That’s what happens to David in our text today. Nathan summarizes it well, “Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.” And Nathan also shares that God will raise up trouble from within David’s own household, and violence will pervade his family.

If you remember last week we talked about the rebellion of David’s son Absalom. That rebellion essentially fulfilled much of what the Lord foretold today. David prevailed, but at the cost of several members of his family and he lost the respect of many in Israel.

In a similar way, I know families who have had to tell a child or a spouse with an addiction, “I love you and I’ll be there for you, but I can’t have you in this house. It’s too dangerous for everyone else to have you here.” That’s gut-wrenching for all involved, but sometimes it’s necessary. Love can restore a relationship, but it doesn’t always get rid of the natural consequences of someone’s actions. God demonstrates that with David in our text today.

Receiving Grace

So to recap, David gets a little credit because he accepted the rebuke and admitted that he “sinned against the Lord.” But, like Lancelot wiping out the wedding guests in Monty Python, sometimes, “I’m sorry” doesn’t cut it. God did not abandon him, but God also made David face the consequences of his actions.

Now for the good news part of this sermon. Are you ready for that switch? I am. There are two very big pieces of good news.

First piece of good news. When I was a child, I could have the greatest day. I could go to an arcade, get ice cream, and somehow convince my parents to buy me a cheap plastic sword at the toy store. But then when that plastic sword inevitably broke, I would bluster, “I’m just having a bad day!” All the good didn’t matter, because something bad happened!

In our text today, bad things happened. Lots of bad things happened. Let’s move our focus away from David and ask Bathsheba to recap her year. She had an adulterous relationship with the king. Her husband was murdered by that king. Her child born out of wedlock died. That’s a bad year for Bathsheba – even by our crazy 2020 standards!

But the bad news didn’t get the last word. The bad news – and it was very bad news – wasn’t the end of the story. Like Jesus’ death on Good Friday, Bathsheba’s terrible year wasn’t the end of the story. There was new life, new grace, to be experienced. God wasn’t done with her yet.

Her next child with David was Solomon. Out of David’s many, many children, do you know who became the next king? Solomon. This wasn’t grace toward David. This was grace toward Bathsheba, in my eyes. She who had been lowered so far was elevated in the end. That’s the first piece of good news. The bad news doesn’t get the last word with our God. Friday isn’t the end of the story, because Sunday is coming. You may be in the middle of bad news – real, very bad news. Your relationship with Jesus doesn’t make that bad news good somehow. Instead, your relationship with Jesus helps you see that your bad news doesn’t define you and it isn’t the last word on you or your life. Jesus defines you. Jesus gets the last word on your life. And that word is “Loved,” not “Condemned.” If you’re in the midst of bad news right now, hang on to that piece of good news for dear life.

Confession

Now for the second piece of good news. As a pastor, I pretty regularly hear from people that they don’t know if God can forgive them for something they did. I pretty regularly hear from people that they don’t believe that God will still want to hear from them or see them because of something they did. Maybe you’ve felt that way before. Maybe you know someone who feels that way.

Consider this. We see in our text today how God speaks to David through Nathan, “Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die.” So David was granted forgiveness and even grace. The vast, vast majority of us have never done anything from a human perspective that even approaches what David did in our text today. I mean, David could be facing the death penalty in some states if he were to do these things today! I’ve messed up a lot in my life, but I haven’t done anything that could get me the death penalty. Most of us haven’t. But we see that even if our actions approach the level of David’s abhorrent actions, God can still restore us to right relationship with him.

The consequences usually don’t go away. But our relationship with God isn’t destroyed even by such terrible actions as David’s. As long as we can say, like David, “I have sinned against the Lord.” If we can admit that, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is available. That’s good news.

If you are willing to receive the Lord’s honest reply and the Lord’s unending love, if you have those two things, then you can’t out-sin Jesus’ forgiveness and grace. Let me sit there for a second. If you are willing to hear the Lord’s honest evaluation of your actions and you are willing to let Jesus love you, then you can’t out-sin Jesus’ forgiveness and grace.

So are you willing, like David, to receive God’s honest thoughts about your actions? Are you willing to say, “I have sinned against the Lord?” And are you willing to let Jesus love you? Are you willing to say, “I don’t understand it, but I trust that Jesus loves me?” If you are willing, God is willing. Your sins cannot outpace the love of Jesus Christ. So even if you are the source of your own bad news, Jesus still says, “Loved” instead of “Condemned.” That’s pretty good news.

Many years ago, I interviewed at a church where they didn’t have a time of confession and assurance of pardon during their worship services. I asked the pastor about that, and he told me that confession didn’t really gel with the culture of the area. That’s when I knew I couldn’t go to that church.

Because confession isn’t about what “gels” with our culture. And confession isn’t about ensuring that we feel properly bad about all of our mistakes. That’s a common misconception.

No, confession is about claiming the shocking freedom that is found in Jesus. Just about every other religion in the world requires people to earn their way into their god’s favor.

But Jesus takes our weakness and replaces it with his strength. Jesus takes our sin upon himself and replaces it with his right standing with God. Jesus takes our lies and our failings and our missteps and replaces them with his love. Confession isn’t about feeling bad about things so that Jesus will forgive you. Confession is about opening the windows of our souls and letting the love of Jesus blow in some fresh air. Confession is like ventilation. Confession is a cross-breeze. It’s a breath of fresh air – the very breath of God.

I was once working on a project in our basement. I was trying to figure out how to turn discarded plastic bottles into feed stock for my 3D printer. And I learned something that day. Some plastics have to be treated very carefully when they’re recycled. If you don’t handle them properly, they have this unfortunate tendency to explode and catch fire. After I learned this lesson, my entire basement smelled like burned plastic. The fumes were also very toxic, but who’s counting?

Would it have been useful for me to pretend that the fumes weren’t toxic? Would it have been useful for me to pretend that the basement didn’t smell like burned plastic? “No honey, I can’t smell that! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” When the basement stinks, you need to get some fresh air. That’s confession. In confession, we acknowledge what stinks so Jesus can bring some fresh air into our souls.

So to close today, I’m going to give all of us a chance to let in a little fresh air – to breathe some of the breath of God in our souls. I’m going to give you 30 seconds – it’ll feel like an eternity, but it’s just 30 seconds – to consider what stinks and ask Jesus to ventilate that part of your soul. What do you need to confess? Whatever it is, you can’t out-sin Jesus’ love. Take the next 30 seconds to bring in that fresh air.

[PAUSE 30 SECONDS]

Sisters and brothers, our bad news doesn’t get the last word. Jesus gets the last word. And he says, “Loved,” not “Condemned.” That’s the grace of God. And like David, we all need it. Receive it today. Amen.

First Reading = 2 Samuel 4:4, 9:1-13

4Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled; and, in her haste to flee, it happened that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

9David asked, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and he was summoned to David. The king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “At your service!” 3The king said, “Is there anyone remaining of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?” Ziba said to the king, “There remains a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” 4The king said to him, “Where is he?” Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” 5Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. 6Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, and fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, “Mephibosheth!” He answered, “I am your servant.” 7David said to him, “Do not be afraid, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan; I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you yourself shall eat at my table always.” 8He did obeisance and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon a dead dog such as I?”

9Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson. 10You and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him, and shall bring in the produce, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat; but your master’s grandson Mephibosheth shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so your servant will do.” Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons. 12Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants. 13Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he always ate at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.

Introduction

We are continuing our series looking at the Gospel according to David. In this series, we are looking at how David receives, grants, and desperately needs the grace of God – just like Jesus’ disciples. Last week we heard how David had a strong sense of calling – he knew his purpose as defined by God. This week we are watching how David responds when he has opportunities for vengeance. In our first text, we heard how he honored Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth out of his great friendship for Jonathan – even though Mephibosheth and his family could be seen as threats to his own rule since they were descendants of the previous king.

In our main text today, we are jumping way ahead in the story. David is returning after one of the darkest periods of his life. His son, Absalom, led a rebellion and David was forced out of Jerusalem and into hiding. As David was leading his loyal army out of town, various people took the opportunity to kick him while he was down.

One such heckler was Shimei son of Gera. He was from the same tribe as Saul, the previous king, and he was steaming mad that David had taken the throne. Shimei saw David’s retreat as evidence that God had turned against David. And, interestingly, David does not dispute this interpretation.

So we’ll watch Shimei give David some good old-fashioned heckling, and then we’ll jump ahead several chapters to David’s return. David eventually emerged victorious over Absalom, and the second half of our text is David’s return to power. He went right back up those same streets he had used to flee Jerusalem. He saw the same people, but now he was riding high instead of slinking away. Let’s see how David responds to Shimei in both instances.

Main Reading = 2 Samuel 16:5-14, 19:16-23

5When King David came to Bahurim, a man of the family of the house of Saul came out whose name was Shimei son of Gera; he came out cursing. 6He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; now all the people and all the warriors were on his right and on his left. 7Shimei shouted while he cursed, “Out! Out! Murderer! Scoundrel! 8The Lord has avenged on all of you the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, disaster has overtaken you; for you are a man of blood.” 9Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.” 10But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’” 11David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “My own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite!

Let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord has bidden him. 12It may be that the Lord will look on my distress, and the Lord will repay me with good for this cursing of me today.” 13So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went, throwing stones and flinging dust at him. 14The king and all the people who were with him arrived weary at the Jordan; and there he refreshed himself.

[Now we’re jumping ahead to chapter 19 where David is returning to Jerusalem after defeating the rebellion.]

16Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite, from Bahurim, hurried to come down with the people of Judah to meet King David; 17with him were a thousand people from Benjamin. And Ziba, the servant of the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, rushed down to the Jordan ahead of the king, 18while the crossing was taking place, to bring over the king’s household, and to do his pleasure. Shimei son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was about to cross the Jordan, 19and said to the king, “May my lord not hold me guilty or remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem; may the king not bear it in mind. 20For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore, see, I have come this day, the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.” 21Abishai son of Zeruiah answered, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord’s anointed?” 22But David said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should today become an adversary to me? Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?” 23The king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king gave him his oath.

Grace or Judgment

Well I have two main memories of my English literature class at the University of Texas. First, I got hooked on a 12,000 page novel series during that semester and decided to read my novels instead of the assigned readings for the entire semester. I read plenty of English literature, just not what the professor thought I should read. And second, I vividly remember this exercise in my breakout group.

We were each handed a series of short essays. Each essay was from a real student’s application to the University of Texas. Identifying information was removed, of course. And after we read the applications, the TA asked us to decide the fate of each student’s application based on their essay. And then we had to share our reasons with the breakout group.

I was willing to let all of them in if they met the other requirements for entry. Some of my classmates had a bone to pick with one or another of the essays. And then the last guy to share his thoughts told us in a very ominous tone, “I wouldn’t let any of them in! The University of Texas is a prestigious university, and I don’t believe any of these are up to our standards!”

I don’t think he would’ve liked my application essay, either. I tried to be funny. That’s not very prestigious.

What an interesting exercise, though, right? It reveals so much! Some of us were just making sure someone could clear the established minimum bar. Some had a few buttons that could be pushed. And then that guy, who clearly saw his role as a gatekeeper. A kind of judge on someone’s worthiness. “You get what you deserve! Good people like me get good things, and bad people like you get bad things!”

Let us contrast that mentality with what David does in our text today. I mean, you’ve gotta hand it to Shimei. He’s shouting and cursing David, who, even though he’s retreating, is still at the head of an army that includes a group known as “the Mighty Men.” Verbally attacking the Mighty Men seems…unwise. Shimei has some chutzpah for insulting the Mighty Men! And one of them, Abishai, wants to make that point. Literally. “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.”

But what is David’s reply? “Let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord has bidden him. It may be that the Lord will look on my distress, and the Lord will repay me with good for this cursing of me today.”

And lest we think that David is only showing grace when he’s afraid of God’s judgment, let’s see the exchange between Abishai and David on their triumphal return. When Shimei begs for forgiveness, Abishai says, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord’s anointed?” But David says, “Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?” And David gives Shimei his oath that he will not kill him.

Now, David’s no fool. When his son Solomon succeeds him as king, David gives him a warning to watch Shimei like a hawk. But given two very easy opportunities to take out his frustration on Shimei, who was absolutely tempting fate by insulting an army, David decides to grant him unmerited grace. He doesn’t just forgive him, David grants Shimei an oath not to kill him. That’s above and beyond. That’s not just forgiveness, that’s grace.

And the Mighty Men can’t believe it. “Shimei doesn’t deserve forgiveness, let alone grace! Shimei doesn’t deserve to live,” as Abishai makes clear. They have a hard time understanding David’s forgiveness, and they are completely dumbfounded by this extra step of grace.

The Gospel of Grace

This reminds me of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, during his betrayal by Judas. Peter grabs his sword and chops off the ear of one of the people who came to seize Jesus. But Jesus stops him and heals the ear of the man who has come to arrest him. Jesus didn’t just forgive those who arrested him, he went above and beyond to heal one of them. That’s unmerited grace.

That same Peter denied Jesus three times, and yet Jesus personally restored him after Jesus’ resurrection. That’s not just forgiveness. That’s unmerited grace.

Jesus on the cross prayed for those killing him, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And Stephen mimicked Jesus when a crowd was stoning him to death. He prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Praying for those who are killing you unjustly? That’s unmerited grace.

Next week we’ll talk about needing and receiving grace ourselves. But this week we’re talking about showing grace to others. This is at the very epicenter of our faith. Jesus told us that if someone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek. If someone places a burden upon you for one mile, carry it another mile. Jesus told us to pray for those who persecute us, to bless our enemies. Jesus wants us to demonstrate the Gospel of grace, just as David did with Shimei in our text today.

Not just forgiveness, but unmerited grace and favor. This is hard to accept. This doesn’t feel right. This doesn’t feel proper for such a prestigious establishment as ours. We should be able to punch back, to get even, to take the Shimeis in our lives and let Abishai have his way with them! Bring on the sword for such insolence!

But that’s not the Gospel. That’s not Jesus. That’s not grace as Jesus showed us and taught us and expected us to demonstrate. If you want to follow Jesus, you’re going to run into this difficult concept of demonstrating grace.

D.A. Carson imagines this as our internal desire for our faith.

“I would like to buy about three dollars worth of gospel, please. Not too much – just enough to make me happy, but not so much that I get addicted. I don’t want so much gospel that I learn to really hate covetousness and lust. I certainly don’t want so much that I start to love my enemies and cherish self-denial…I want ecstasy, not repentance; I want transcendence, not transformation. I would like to be cherished by some nice, forgiving, broad-minded people, but I myself don’t want to love those who are different from me – especially if they smell. I would like enough gospel to make my family secure and my children well behaved, but not so much that I find my ambitions redirected or my giving too greatly enlarged. I would like three dollars worth of gospel, please, three dollars worth of gospel.”

You see, grace sounds great. Until there’s a Shimei hurling insults at us. Grace sounds great. Until we’re stuck inside for months and it’s starting to get on our nerves. Grace sounds great. But you won’t believe what he said…, or you won’t believe what she did…, or you won’t believe what I read today…

Grace sounds great. Until it demands more than three dollars worth of gospel from us. Grace is difficult in the best of times, and we are not in the best of times. And I’m using “we” here very intentionally. I need to hear this, too. My fuse is shorter. My patience is thinner. My awareness of shortcomings is much greater. Grace during this time takes far more than three dollars worth of gospel.

Summary

So here’s my challenge for all of us this week. Pick one person – just one person – to be your Shimei this week. No matter what they say. No matter what they do. No matter how they insult you. No matter what they deserve. Grant them unmerited grace. Unmerited favor. Like David to Shimei, like Jesus to so, so many, like Stephen to the crowd who were killing him, demonstrate unmerited grace to your Shimei this week. Who would that be? Think about that for a moment.

A quick side note, here. In our text today, Shimei couldn’t actually hurt David. David was a warrior surrounded by warriors. Shimei was basically throwing his shoe at a soldier. He couldn’t actually hurt David. So if there’s someone who’s actually hurting you, that’s not a Shimei. That’s a situation where you might need to retreat like David. Shimei couldn’t hurt David, so he showed him grace. Absalom could hurt David, and so he retreated. Keep that in mind. A Shimei isn’t someone who is physically hurting you. A Shimei is someone who annoys you or gets under your skin. Keep that in mind when you pick your Shimei this week to show unmerited grace.

Sisters and brothers, demonstrating grace to the Shimei’s in our lives requires far more than three dollars worth of gospel. How much gospel do you want in your life? And will you demonstrate that gospel – even to the Shimei’s of the world? Amen.

View the Sermon

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First Reading = 1 Samuel 16:1-13

16The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” 4Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” 7But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 12He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

Introduction

We are continuing our series looking at the Gospel According to David. In this series we’re seeing how David demonstrates, receives, and desperately needs the grace of God – just like Jesus’ disciples. Last week we heard how David lived a life of guidance. He let God set the direction rather than asking God to help his own personal direction.

This week we are going to the most famous story of David – his battle with Goliath. But we’re not really going to talk about the battle, so here’s a spoiler alert: David wins! Instead, we’re going to focus on what David said and did leading up to the battle.

For a little context, Goliath was a giant champion of the enemy Philistine army. He challenged the Israelites to send their best warrior over to battle him in single combat. That single combat could be a proxy for whose deity was really stronger. But Goliath did not state it quite as nicely as that. He hurled insults at the Israelites and at God. But no one was confident enough to go toe-to-toe with Goliath. And it would have been toe-to-toe, because you can’t go eye-to-eye with a giant!

When David heard about this, he asked his brothers and other Israelites soldiers if anyone had the faith to battle this Philistine. His bravery and apparent faith in God’s presence got the attention of King Saul, and that’s where we pick up the story.

Main Reading = 1 Samuel 17:31-40

31When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul; and he sent for him. 32David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, 35I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. 36Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37David said, “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you!” 38Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. 39David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.” So David removed them.

40Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

Confidence in Provision

As most of you know, our older son developed seizures when he was about two-and-a-half. We were living in Pennsylvania at the time, and I vividly remember one afternoon a little after we realized that he had seizures. He loved playgrounds – still does! And on this afternoon, he was crawling around like a spider-monkey on the playground, just like normal. And I was pretty close by. I was watching him very closely. But it wasn’t like I was standing in spotter position beneath him at all times.

All of a sudden I had the very intense conviction that he was about to have a seizure, and I needed to move to a specific spot. Not where he was at the moment, but a few feet over. I’ve learned to listen to those promptings, so I quickly stepped over to that spot and raised my arms. Just then, our son had a seizure, which made him stumble forward and fall off the pretty high playground equipment. Right into my outstretched arms. I’m not making this up!

What happened there? Well I see two possibilities. Option #1. Perhaps my brain’s subconscious pattern matching saw something in our son’s face or body position that tipped me off to a potential seizure. Perhaps my brain simulated possible outcomes and realized he would stumble forward instead of backward or to the left or to the right or just plop to the ground. If that’s the case, yay subconscious brain! But, frankly, I don’t have that much confidence in my subconscious pattern matching abilities.

Which brings us to Option #2. Perhaps the Holy Spirit gave me a heads up. Perhaps God gave me a warning and a very simple set of instructions: get to this spot quickly! I think that’s actually a better and more likely explanation for what happened. I strongly believe that was a powerful, timely example of God’s provision.

Have you ever experienced God’s provision? Maybe it was a word of warning. Maybe it was a simple set of inexplicable instructions. Maybe it was a vague feeling. Maybe it was much more tangible!

In our text today, we see the transforming power of God’s provision. David says he had battled lions and bears as a shepherd protecting his flock. Think about that for a moment. Because, maybe this disqualifies me from being a good shepherd, but if I were armed with a sling and one of my flock got carted off by a lion or bear, I would tip my cap to the carnivore and move along. But David went after the lion and bear. And he said he would catch them by the jaw when they tried to attack him, which I have to believe isn’t easy or normal, and then he would beat them then and there. So there’s that.

But interestingly, he doesn’t give himself credit for these amazing feats of strength and battle prowess. And he doesn’t say, “since I can kill a lion I can kill this Philistine.” No, he says, “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” David had experienced God’s provision, God’s deliverance. And that experience of God’s provision gave him confidence that this was another of those God moments. Not every moment is a God moment when it comes to provision, but David was confident that this moment was definitely on God’s radar.

That’s the power of God’s provision! When you have experienced something that can only be explained by divine intervention, and when you learn to sense God’s presence, whole new possibilities are open to you. They aren’t open to you on your schedule. These possibilities are only available when God is ready to provide. If you miraculously survive jumping out of an airplane without a parachute, you should still pack a parachute next time! Or, you know, stop jumping out of airplanes. Either one. God doesn’t work on demand, made-to-order, and always the same! But there are times when you can sense God’s presence and provision.

Have you ever experienced God’s provision in some way? How did you recognize it? Do you have the ability to discern, to notice when God is very near and very ready to act through you? David had that sense.

Wearing the Wrong Suit

And he needed that sense. He needed that confidence. Because no one else believed in him, and no one else believed that God would work through him.

But, in all fairness, David had a couple of strikes against him. We know from other texts that David played the harp for Saul when he was troubled and upset. We don’t know for sure, but it looks like David was Saul’s therapeutic harpist before his battle with Goliath.

So let’s put this in modern terms. Imagine that the heavyweight boxing champion, Tyson Fury, challenged the world to come and fight his 273 pounds of muscle and lifelong training. And imagine the person who stepped forward to fight him was a bit scrawny and a bit young. And you ask this erstwhile fighter for his qualifications before stepping into the right against Tyson Fury. And he replies, “Well, I grew up on a farm. And in my spare time I also write soothing elevator music.” How would you bet on that fight? Tyson Fury, heavyweight champion, against the elevator music farmer boy. That was David!

So King Saul and David’s brothers and everyone else had legitimate reasons for doubting David’s ability. Nevertheless, Saul endorsed him for the battle after their little interview. Maybe Saul was desperate for someone – anyone – to fight Goliath so he wouldn’t have to. Maybe Saul sensed the presence of the Lord. We don’t know.

But we do know that Saul tried to get David to wear the king’s own armor. Was he trying to help David? What’s going on here?

I have a theory, but it’s only a theory. It’s worth what you paid for it! My theory is that Saul did, in fact, realize that God was going to work through David. God had worked through Saul several times in the past, and I think he saw the hand of the Lord upon David. But we know from other texts that Saul was very jealous, and very self-centered. He wanted the glory himself! Stay with me here! So my theory is that Saul sensed that David would somehow win this battle. And if he wore Saul’s very distinctive armor, the Philistines would think it was Saul who had killed their champion. They would be afraid of Saul! After all, who else would have worn the distinctive armor of the king?!?

Saul’s move here reminds me of Patroclus and Achilles from the Iliad. Achilles refuses to fight against the Trojans, but Patroclus puts on Achilles’ armor and leads the troops into battle. The troops believe they are being led by their legendary leader Achilles, until Patroclus dies at the hands of Hector and the ruse is revealed.

But David had the confidence to say to Saul, “This won’t work. This isn’t me. I’m not used to this. I have to do it my way, because that’s how God has delivered me in the past.”

He could not have won the battle if he were wearing the wrong suit. He could not have won the battle if he had tried to fit the expectations of the king. He could not have won the battle if he had tried to be someone other than himself.

Have you ever felt pressure to be someone else? Have you ever felt the pressure to conform to someone else’s expectations?

I have had the privilege of working with many leaders and interns over the years, and one of them was about to give their first large group talk. This person wasn’t confidence in their abilities yet. And they said, “But I can’t say it the way you would say it!” To which I replied, “That’s fabulous! Because you need to say it the way you would say it!”

I went on to explain that anyone else trying to be me would be a poor imitation. But if I tried to be someone else, I would also be a poor imitation. We are built by God in particular ways. Some are built to wear armor. Some are built to wear a tunic. Some are built to wield a sword. Some are built to use their sling. Some are built to speak fluently, others to write, others to simply act! Some are built to rush in first, others to contemplate and plan.

David had two big secrets to his success at this point in his life. #1 he had experienced God’s provision and knew how to sense God’s presence. #2 he knew who he was and how God had designed him and he leaned into that design instead of outside expectations.

Tools

So how can we gain some of that Godly perspective? How can we gain some of that sense of calling that David had in abundance?

If you aren’t sure where God has been present in your life, let me share one tool we used in the “My Gospel” class earlier this year. I encouraged people to break their life into sections and consider the presence of God. “When I was a child, where was God? What did I think then, and what do I see now?” “When I was in middle school and high school, where was God? What did I think then, and what do I see now?” “When I was a young adult, where was God?” You get the idea. Break your life into chronological chunks, and try to see where God was present and where God was providing for you in some way. That’s a way to heighten your awareness of God’s presence and provision.

Here’s another tool to heighten your awareness of God’s presence and provision. Get a piece of paper, and on one side write down ten high points from your life. On the other side write ten hard times from your life. Looking at those ten high points and ten hard times, where do you see the presence and provision of God? It’s often in the hard times where we notice God.

If you aren’t sure how God designed you, what kind of armor to wear, we have an online assessment for spiritual gifts on our website – fpcl.org/gifts. The basic idea is to consider how God has wired you to serve – that’s your spiritual DNA. Then add to your spiritual DNA the ways you have seen God show up in your life – those are your God moments. And then add in your personality and passions. Your particular, designed sweet spot from God is when you are serving in a way that brings you life instead of draining you, when you are placing yourself in a position for God to work in you and through you, when you are doing something you are deeply passionate about, and when you are doing it in a way that resonates with your personality rather than swimming upstream. The online assessment has some of that, and you can email me if you want the rest! The key is that you want to learn when to say yes, and more importantly when to say no! If you don’t know when to say “no,” you don’t know yourself well enough yet!

Summary

Sisters and brothers, David had experienced God’s provision and he knew how to sense God’s presence. That was one major part of his sense of calling and purpose in life. David also knew who he was and how God had designed him. That allowed him to say yes to fighting lions and bears and Goliaths, and say no to wearing the king’s ill-fitting armor. How can you use these tools to better sense the presence of God in your past and in your present? And how can you use these tools to better understand how God has designed you to say yes to some things and no to others? That would give you, like David, a much stronger sense of calling. Amen.

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First Reading = 2 Samuel 5:17-25

17When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up in search of David; but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. 18Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. 19David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” The Lord said to David, “Go up; for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” 20So David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. He said, “The Lord has burst forth against my enemies before me, like a bursting flood.” Therefore that place is called Baal-perazim. 21The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them away. 22Once again the Philistines came up, and were spread out in the valley of Rephaim. 23When David inquired of the Lord, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come upon them opposite the balsam trees. 24When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then be on the alert; for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” 25David did just as the Lord had commanded him; and he struck down the Philistines from Geba all the way to Gezer.

Introduction

We are continuing our series looking at the Gospel According to King David. In this series, we’re trying to see how the Old Testament King David demonstrates, receives, and desperately needs the grace of God – just like Jesus’ disciples. Last week we saw that David continually turned to God in prayer. He lived a life of prayer. We were encouraged to spend more time in conversation with Jesus this past week. Thank you to those who sent me your prayer triggers!

This week we are seeing how David prepared for his many battles. If you noticed, I’m bouncing around between 1 and 2 Samuel for our readings. David’s story can mostly be divided between 1 Samuel, where he is a boy and young adult while Saul is king, and then 2 Samuel is where David becomes king himself. Our first text was about a battle from his time as king, and our main text today is about a battle from his time as a young adult before he became king.

In fact, during this time, David was fleeing Saul, who was trying to kill him. David had a number of men who were loyal to him and followed him into his exile. And so we tune in to see how David behaves while he’s chased, harried, and threatened. That usually doesn’t bring out the best in people, but let’s see what David does.

Main Reading = 1 Samuel 23:1-14

23Now they told David, “The Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing floors.” 2David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” The Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” 3But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 4Then David inquired of the Lord again. The Lord answered him, “Yes, go down to Keilah; for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” 5So David and his men went to Keilah, fought with the Philistines, brought away their livestock, and dealt them a heavy defeat. Thus David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah. 6When Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand.

7Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand; for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 9When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod here.” 10David said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11And now, will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, I beseech you, tell your servant.” The Lord said, “He will come down.” 12Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” The Lord said, “They will surrender you.” 13Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, set out and left Keilah; they wandered wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition.

14David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but the Lord did not give him into his hand.

Going in the Right Direction

Thomas Huxley was in Dublin, Ireland, and he was running late. He had to get across town quickly or he would miss his train. So he flagged down a taxi and hopped in. He shouted to the driver, “Hurry, I’m almost late! Drive fast!” The driver nodded, and the taxi shot out like a cannonball. Relieved, Huxley closed his eyes and actually nodded off to sleep. When he awoke, he realized they were headed in the wrong direction. He cried out to the driver, “Don’t you know where you’re going?!?” “No, sir. You never told me where to go. But I am driving very fast just like you said!”

How fast are you moving right now? Some people I know are having to move even faster than ever during this time. Some people I know are grudgingly moving very slowly, unable to do their normal routine during this time. Some people I know are relishing the doldrums of inactivity! How fast are you moving right now?

And whether you are watching the snails pass you by or you are moving but you are stuck in a low gear or you are blazing faster than any space-bound rocket, do you know where you’re going? If we are ever to take two steps forward, even if it means taking one step back, we must first know which way is forward and which way is back. Do you know where you’re going?

David has a fascinating understanding of where he’s going. In our text today, his ragtag “army” of 600 men had just narrowly escaped Saul’s much larger force. And they knew that Saul meant business, because when Saul heard that some priests had given David some food he killed them and their families. The priest in our text, Abiathar, was one of the few survivors of that massacre, and now he was on the run with David.

So, let’s try to imagine this. If you were on the run, if you were in hiding, if you were, to quote the musical Hamilton, “outgunned, out-manned, outnumbered, out-planned,” would you go pick a new fight with a new enemy? That is not a wise strategy! It seems like a dangerous distraction from their top objective: survive long enough to make David king over Israel.

But when David heard that that age-old enemy, the Philistines, were once again raiding a city of Israel, our text says, he “inquired of the Lord.” I don’t think that translation carries quite the right tone. It really implies he begged God for guidance. He didn’t ask politely for a few hot tips and maybe some stock picks, he begged God for guidance. And he did that, he begged God for guidance, because David knew where he was going. His destination wasn’t just the kingship of Israel. David’s true destination was wherever God was leading. David’s goal didn’t define his direction. God defined David’s direction.

And so he begged God for guidance. “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” Listen to the specificity of those words. “Shall I…?” Not, “Help me attack these Philistines.” “Shall I…?” Interesting and very specific choice of words.

Then he asks, “shall I go and attack…?” You see, Keilah was a walled city. He could have gone and defended. But instead he asked if he should go and attack. Interesting and very specific choice of words.

Then he asks, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” Not “all the Philistines.” Not “some Philistines.” “These Philistines.” Interesting and very specific choice of words.

And God responds to those interesting and very specific words with an affirmative reply. But David’s men don’t like it one bit. They are incredulous! “We are already afraid and on the run! Why should we take on the Philistines, too?!?” So David begs God for guidance again.

Getting It Wrong

Let’s stop there for a second. David is willing to listen to his men. David is willing to entertain the thought that he might have heard God incorrectly. He might have misinterpreted the signs. Have you ever done that? Have you ever gone in the wrong direction?

I heard an interview recently with Payal Kadakia, the co-founder of ClassPass which just reached a billion dollar valuation earlier this year. Basically they provide access to classes at boutique fitness studios around the country all in one place. And Payal told the early journey of what eventually became ClassPass. She told her boss that she was quitting to start this new company. And her boss loved the idea and gave her a $10,000 check to help her start it – while she was quitting his company! When she told her idea to her long-time friend, he asked if he could quit his job and help her launch it. They were connected with a tech startup incubator in New York City, and they emerged from that experience with a finished product and a half million dollars of funding. They were getting rave reviews from all over the tech world.

And then they finally launched the site! And as you might suspect from such a sure-fire, can’t-miss, well-funded startup…they had literally zero sales. They even tried giving fitness classes away, and no one took them up on the offer. They had clearly built a product that people in technology loved, but people who actually wanted to take fitness classes hated. They had totally missed their market despite all the good vibes! After six or seven total re-imaginings of their company, they finally found the right combo. But it took Payal admitting that several years’ worth of work and a half million dollars had been wasted heading in the wrong direction.

How do you know when you’re headed in the wrong direction? How do you know when you’ve sought God’s guidance, you thought you received that guidance, and yet you somehow heard incorrectly? David is aware that it’s possible that he got this one wrong. So he begs God for guidance again. And God confirms his earlier guidance.

This should be a great encouragement to all of us. God is generally fine if we ask him, “Are you sure, God?” I’ve taken it a step further a few times in my life. When I’m pretty sure I’m going where God is leading but it seems crazy, I actually pray, “God derail this if I’ve got it wrong!” And sometimes he has done exactly that. Other times I heard correctly even though it seemed crazy. If you’re in doubt, feel free to copy David and ask God, “Are you sure, God?”

David’s willingness to consider he was wrong actually saved his life here, too. Surely the residents of Keilah would appreciate being saved, right? Surely they would be loyal to David, their deliverer, right? Wrong! David thought to ask God if they would turn him over to Saul, and God warned him to leave. How do you check with God to see if you’ve gotten something wrong?

Getting Into Alignment

So to recap, David continually sought God’s guidance – in fact, he begged for God’s guidance. He lived a life of seeking God’s guidance. He didn’t assume he was on the right track. He checked in with God continually to see if he was on God’s right track. David was willing to double-check that he was right. David was willing to change course when God said he was wrong. David was willing to attack when God said attack, and run away when God said run away, and be sneaky when God said to be sneaky. David tried to stay in alignment with God. That didn’t keep him in alignment with God at all times. He messed up – big time. But even then he radically changed his direction when he was confronted with how out of alignment he was with God.

Being out of alignment with God is like the tires on your car being a little out of alignment. We have a Chevy Volt, and it is what I could call mostly electric. It has a gas motor as a supplement, but usually you drive it on battery power. And electric cars – even mostly electric cars – need much less mechanical maintenance. I can go a long time between visits to the mechanic for maintenance.

But that also means that my tires don’t get rotated like I do during an oil change. We have totally wrecked the tires on the Volt just by having them be slightly out of alignment and never rotating them. The car still goes where you want it to go. But it’s chewing the tires away.

When we’re out of alignment with God, we might still go where we want to go. But we’re chewing up our soul along the way. When we’re out of alignment with God, we’re burning the rubber of our souls.

So how do we get back into alignment? Well, how do you make sure a picture or mirror is hanging straight on your wall? You might eyeball it by stepping back a few steps to look. You might get a level to check it more precisely. And if it’s off, what do you do? You adjust it!

Aligning our souls with God is a process of checking and adjustment. Am I thinking more or less like Jesus over the last week? Am I feeling Godly emotions or human emotions over the last week? Is my internal monologue more or less like Jesus over the last week? Are my spoken words more or less like Jesus over the last week? Are my temptations subsiding or growing over the last week? Are my actions more or less like Jesus over the last week? Those are the check-ins. Questions like those are how you level your soul.

And then the scary questions: God, what do you want me to do about it? God, how do you need to adjust my thoughts, my emotions, my words, my temptations, my actions?

I encourage you to try to adjust your Godly alignment this week. Check in with God to see if you are trending more or less like Jesus on the inside and outside. And ask God to help you make the adjustments you need to get back into closer alignment.

Summary

Sisters and brothers, David continually checked his soul’s alignment with God. He double-checked to ensure he had heard God correctly. He double-checked to ask God where he was going in the wrong direction. He shifted his behavior when he needed an adjustment. Will you do the hard work of checking and adjusting your Godly alignment? Or are you content to just let your picture be crooked in God’s house? Amen.

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First Reading = 2 Samuel 1:17-27

17David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan. 18(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: 19Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places! How the mighty have fallen! 20Tell 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. 21You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor bounteous fields! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, anointed with oil no more. 22From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, nor the sword of Saul return empty. 23Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. 24O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with crimson, in luxury, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. 25How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain upon your high places. 26I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; greatly beloved were you to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. 27How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

Introduction

We are starting a new series looking at the life of King David in the Old Testament. For a quick refresher in case your Old Testament knowledge has been collecting dust, David lived during a transition time for Israel. After they arrived in the Promised Land, they relied on God to raise up leaders whenever they were threatened. But the people wanted a king just like the other nations, so God granted their wish after some severe warnings.

The first king was the tallest, handsomest man they could find. Saul. God was with him for a while, but then Saul forgot that he was supposed to lead on God’s behalf instead of for his own gain, and God stopped helping Saul.

Instead, God picked his own future king – a shepherd boy named David. Saul and David had a very…fraught relationship. It started off well – David killed Goliath, married Saul’s daughter, played music for Saul whenever he was upset. But as Saul perceived the threat to his own rule and that of his son Jonathan, he became violent toward David. David had to run away into hiding to avoid death at Saul’s hands. But eventually Saul was killed, and David was able to gain the throne as the true king of Israel.

David wasn’t just another king. He wasn’t some anonymous leader in Israel’s history. He wasn’t like…I don’t know…the 22^nd president of the United States. He was more like George Washington – the measuring stick of all future leaders. Side note – the 22^nd president was Grover Cleveland. I had to look it up.

And many of the prophecies about the Messiah likened that future king to King David. The Messiah was supposed to be a King David 2.0 – the upgraded and perfected version! So David was a big deal. And he was a kind of precursor to Jesus so many years later.

But – and this is a significant but – but David was far, far, far from perfect! Rather than thinking of him as a precursor to Jesus, I find it easier to think of him more like one of Jesus’ disciples. They did some amazing things. They did some stupid things. They were better than many of their peers. They were far from being like Jesus. So for this series, we’re going to look at David’s life and imagine what his Gospel would have been like. If he were making an account of the grace of God as he had experienced it, demonstrated it, and desperately needed it, what would be the highlights of that account? That’s the Gospel According to David.

In our main text today, we see David’s response to a doubly surprising message from God. David received a surprising “No!” from God when he decided to build a Temple instead of the tent that had been housing the Ark of the Covenant for so long. But he also got a surprising “Yes!” from God. God promised to build David’s house and to make his legacy last forever. David was blown away by this promise, and listen to his response to this surprising “No!” and surprising “Yes!” from God.

Main Reading = 2 Samuel 7:18-29

18Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God; you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come. May this be instruction for the people, O Lord God! 20And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! 21Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have wrought all this greatness, so that your servant may know it. 22Therefore you are great, O Lord God; for there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23Who is like your people, like Israel? Is there another nation on earth whose God went to redeem it as a people, and to make a name for himself, doing great and awesome things for them, by driving out before his people nations and their gods? 24And you established your people Israel for yourself to be your people forever; and you, O Lord, became their God. 25And now, O Lord God, as for the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, confirm it forever; do as you have promised. 26Thus your name will be magnified forever in the saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel’; and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 27For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house’; therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. 28And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant; 29now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you; for you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

Triggers for Prayer

As I have shared before, prayer is one of my lowest spiritual gifts. That doesn’t mean I don’t pray. That just means I have to work at it. Prayer is a discipline, not a gift, for me. As a discipline, I have attempted many different approaches to praying habitually. For a while, I used bedtime as a trigger for praying. When my head hit the pillow, I would pray. Easy to remember that trigger, even for me. And I certainly remembered to pray. It worked great. With one…teeny, tiny exception. I fell asleep rather than praying. Whoops. Scratch bedtime off the list.

Then I tried waking up as a trigger for prayer. If I could remember to pray when my head hit the pillow, I could remember to pray when my head left the pillow in the morning. And that also worked pretty well. I could remember that trigger. Pray before breakfast. Easy. Nothing to it. With one…teeny, tiny exception. We had children! Mornings haven’t offered me the chance at prayer ever since. I tried getting up before them, but then they just got up earlier. No dice! Scratch waking off the list.

I have a different approach at the moment. I try to regularly check in with my spirit to see if I am “in tune” with the Holy Spirit or not. Have you ever heard a piano that has a few notes out of tune? Or even more screechingly noticeable, have you ever heard an out of tune violin? Yikes! That dissonance between what should be and what is, that’s being out of tune. Usually I can just check in and notice whether I am near or far from the Holy Spirit at the moment. But I also use the Fruit of the Spirit as a checklist if I need to think more deeply. Am I being loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, gentle, generous, controlled, good? I’ll be honest, the COVID life has not afforded me a lot of opportunities to invest in how “in tune” I am with the Holy Spirit. I bet many of you can relate. But when I’m out of tune, everything is off.

So those are some of my triggers for prayer. Some worked. Some didn’t. Some worked for a while, and then stopped. What are your triggers for prayer? When do you pray? How often? What times of day? What events trigger you? Are you reminded to pray when things go well? When things go poorly?

David’s Life of Prayer

Some of our people with a high spiritual gift for prayer are wondering why someone would need to remind themselves to pray! And David was kind of like that. He turned to prayer all the time. He lived in prayer. That did not make him holy all the time. But it kept returning him to God no matter the circumstances.

In our first text today, David received news that Saul and his son Jonathan had died. This marked the transition between Saul’s reign as king and David’s attempt to gain the throne. The messenger who brought this information was elated! He thought David would be pleased to know that Saul, the man who tried to kill him, was dead. David was not pleased. The text says he “intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan.” For good measure, David then killed the messenger. Not figuratively. Literally. Remember, I said David was not perfect. Very complicated. Mercurial. Sinful. Still… he’s worth getting to know.

But what an interesting response to his sadness! Jonathan, Saul’s son, was his best friend. It’s very understandable for him to be sad about Jonathan. But he is also sad that Saul is dead, because he was the anointed leader of God’s people. David was sad personally because of his friend Jonathan. David was sad for his nation that it had been defeated and its leader killed. And in response to those two sadnesses, David prayed. He wept as he prayed. He poured out his sadness to God in word and song.

He didn’t say, “Oh, God, it’s kinda sad that Saul and Jonathan died, but you know what you’re doing so I won’t be sad.” No, he lamented! He wept! But he did it in conversation with God. Do you converse with God when you are deeply sad? If not, take a page from David’s playbook and give it a try. Shout at God! Shake your fist at God! Ask God why? He can take it.

I already gave you the backstory on our main text today. Well into his reign as king, David wanted to build God a Temple in Jerusalem. But God surprised David and the prophet Nathan by saying, “No! Your son will build it instead.” David was deeply disappointed. But then God gave him some good news as well, and David was overwhelmed with joy!

In his deep disappointment, David prayed! In his overwhelming joy, David prayed! Are you picking up on the theme yet?

No matter the situation, David continually turned to God in prayer. David checked battle plans with God. David repented when he sinned, and he sinned deeply in his life. David prayed his anger. David prayed his sadness. David prayed his thanksgiving. David prayed his hopes. David lived a life of prayer.

Simone Weil was raised in a secular, agnostic home in France. She was a teacher, a philosopher, an intellectual. But in her late twenties, something happened. Here’s what she said: “In 1938…I was suffering from splitting  headaches; each sound hurt me like a blow…. I discovered the  poem…called “Love” [by George Herbert] which I learnt by heart. Often,  at the culminating point of a violent headache, I made myself say it  over, concentrating all my attention upon it and clinging with all my  soul to the tenderness it enshrines. I used to think I was merely  reciting it as a beautiful poem, but without my knowing it the  recitation had the virtue of a prayer. It was during one of these  recitations that Christ himself came down and took possession of me.”

An agnostic intellectual came to know Jesus by accidentally praying during her migraines. When you talk with Jesus, stuff happens! Not always what you want to happen, but stuff happens when you talk with Jesus. Even accidentally! Even in pain! Even stuck at home! Even when you’re confused or angry or joyful or thankful!

Challenge

So here’s a challenge for you. Pick a prayer trigger this week. Pick some situation, or some time, or some feeling, or some one that will remind you to converse with Jesus in prayer. Pick a prayer trigger.

Maybe that’s a place where you feel out of tune with the Holy Spirit. Maybe that’s a time when you feel absolutely in tune with the Holy Spirit. Pick a prayer trigger.

Converse with Jesus in prayer this week – more than usual. Give it a try. See if it helps. Remember, Jesus won’t always do what you want him to do. But he usually does something. Sometimes he changes your situation. Sometimes he changes your heart or how you’re thinking. Sometimes he brings the right person at the right time. You never know what will happen, but stuff happens when you talk with Jesus in prayer. And I bet you won’t regret whatever does happen.

So pick a prayer trigger this week. Converse with Jesus in prayer – more than usual. It might help if you tell someone else what your trigger is. When you speak it or write it, your brain tends to remember it more. If you can’t think of anyone more meaningful to tell about your prayer trigger, feel free to email me. Maybe my prayer trigger this week will be whenever someone tells me their prayer trigger! Give me a reason to pray this week!

Summary

Sisters and brothers, David turned to God in prayer every step of the way. In his victories. In his defeats. In his spiritual connection. In his spiritual distance. In his moral triumph. In his moral failure. In his sadness. In his pain. In his joy and thankfulness. Stuff happens when you talk with Jesus in prayer. How will you pray – more than normal – this week? Amen.

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First Scripture = Mark 10:46-52

46They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” 50So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” 52Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Introduction

We are in our penultimate sermon looking at the questions that God and Jesus ask in the Bible. Last week we heard how our ultimate goal is to have Christ in us, and his presence is what gives us the hope of glory.

In two weeks we will start a new series called, “The Gospel According to David.” The four Gospels in the New Testament are the eye-witness accounts of the grace of God as seen in the person of Jesus. So the Gospel According to David is looking at how David demonstrates and desperately needs the grace of God in his life. David hints at, points to what will eventually happen when Jesus walks the earth. So we’ll look at the Gospel through the eyes of David.

This week we are with Jesus in one of the texts that makes me go, “Huh?” That’s a theological term. If I were going to script this scene for a movie, I wouldn’t have my character do what Jesus does in this text. If I were going to tell you how I wish Jesus had handled this situation, I wouldn’t pick what Jesus does in this text. But if we are going to follow Jesus, we have to follow him as he is, not as we wish him to be. Right? Right? Enough preamble. Let’s get to the “Huh?” together.

Main Scripture = John 5:2-9

2Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” 8Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” 9At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath.

Healing One Person

As I’ve shared before, I went to high school in a tiny town in Central Texas. And whenever we had a tennis match against another school, or a debate team performance, or really anything where we had to go against another school, we had to drive. And drive. And drive. Then we would stop and drive some more. And finally, we could compete against another tiny school from a tiny town in the middle of nowhere.

One such trip was in 1997, and as we looked out the windows on the right side of the bus we spotted a tornado. It was pretty far away, but even in tornado alley it’s still a “drop what you’re doing” event if you spot one on the ground. This was neither my first nor my last encounter with tornadoes, but I still remember it because of what we learned the following day.

This storm system had spun up a bunch of F3, F4, and even one of the strongest F5 tornadoes in US history. The damage from this storm system stretched from San Antonio through Austin and up to Waco. The town of Jarrel was utterly wiped off the map by that F5 tornado. At its largest point, it was 3/4 of a mile wide. As a character in the movie Twister said when he was asked what an F5 would be like, “It would be like the finger of God.”

F5 tornadoes aside, have you ever seen the aftermath of an F3 or even an F4? Hurricanes can do this, too. You’ll see a row of houses heavily damaged. If it’s an F4, the house might be sitting thirty feet away from its foundation. And after five, six, seven houses of destruction, there will be a house sitting there seemingly unscathed. I’ve seen this with fires, too, where a fire jumps from one house over the top of the second one and ignites the third house in the row.

Surveying the damage like that, I often have one question: “Why was that one spared?” Why not the one next door? Why was that ONE house spared, but not that one, or that one, or that one, or that one? Why?

That question is unanswerable and can drive you crazy. And it can drive you crazy about our text today, too. I’ve been to this pool in Israel. It’s pretty big. You can fit a fair number of people around it. And our text says there were “many invalids – blind, lame, and paralyzed.” So many people. So many injuries. So many sicknesses. So many rotten stories.

And in the midst of so many…our text talks about “one man.” Just “one man…who had been ill for thirty-eight years.” Why was that one spared, Jesus? Why was that ONE man spared, Jesus, but not that one, or that one, or that one, or that one? Why?

Let’s return to the idea of scripting this story for a movie. If I were writing this script, I would have Jesus noticing this one man and healing him. Same story so far. But then I would show all the other people. They would see this man, who had been ill for 38 years, carrying his mat. They would abandon their carefully-chosen spots near the pool of water. They would hobble over to Jesus. And he would heal them all. What a lovely scene! If you need some tissue, you can pause this and go get it. I know. It’s a touching image.

But that didn’t happen. If you keep reading the chapter after our text today, the man is actually attacked by the religious leaders. That’s not a good script. But Jesus doesn’t seem to care about good scripts, does he? He’s not the Hallmark Channel Jesus. He’s the real Jesus. Sometimes, like healing only one person, the real Jesus can trouble our hearts and minds.

How do you process this? How do you make sense of Jesus only healing that one man in a crowd of needy people? <LONG PAUSE>

Seeing One Person

When I was pretty young, my parents took me to the animal shelter. I was going to pick out a kitten to be my pet. There was a veritable sea of fuzzballs in all shapes and sizes. Their high-pitched “mews” all ran together. Out of this sea of felines, I picked up one. Out of this teaming mass of cute kittens, I only had eyes for one. Pressley. Well, she was “Paisley” at the time, but I thought that was stupid. So I renamed her Pressley.

Pressley would go on to have many unique and partially desirable features over the many, many years of her lifespan. The most entertaining to me was her propensity for hacking up hairballs in my brother’s room while almost never leaving such a gift in my room. Good kitty!

I was reminded of this as I tried to think of a positive to this strange story of Jesus only healing one person in a crowd. As I think about how I picked out my future cat from this plethora of potential future cats, something made me notice this one. Something drew my eyes to this one. They weren’t all the same. This one was special.

In the same way, I believe Jesus is able to see one, single person even in a sardine can of humanity. Jesus doesn’t see us all the same. He has eyes for the one. He has eyes for you. He has eyes for me. You aren’t just another statistic to Jesus. You aren’t “Generic Human #4,234,109.” You are a dearly beloved child of God. You are one person – noticed – spotted – seen – loved uniquely as you.

What does it mean to you that you are noticed – spotted – seen – loved uniquely as you? You aren’t a generic human. Jesus knows and sees YOU. What does that mean to you?

Do you want to be made well?

And so we arrive at Jesus’ question: “Do you want to be made well?”

“Nah, Jesus. I’ve just been chilling here for 38 years because I like the view!” Of course he wants to be made well! That would be like asking someone if they want the tornado to skip their house. Of course they do!

So what’s Jesus’ angle here? What’s he getting at?

In one of the novels I read recently, a 25-year-old girl gets hit by some weird energy and she starts aging backwards. Merlin Syndrome, they call it. Her father and mother take her back in and essentially raise her in reverse. Each day they get older and she gets younger. When she’s about 10, her mother suffers an accident and dies, so the father spends the next 10 years caring for his child who loses more memories each day and counts down to the day when she will supposedly die on her literal “birth” day.

As that day approaches, the father wonders what will come next. If she dies, what will he do? He has spent more than fifty years of his life caring for her – aging forwards and then backwards. If she is somehow healed, he will be very old, alone, and having to raise her all over again. Of course he wants her to be healed, but there are consequences that aren’t always pleasant as well.

This is true of our son, too. Sometimes when his seizures are less active, his brain functions better. That’s good. But it can also be harder for us in the moment because instead of being tired and lethargic from the seizures he exhibits the “terrible 2’s” but with an eight-year-old’s body and strength. It’s good when he has less seizures! But there are consequences that aren’t always pleasant as well.

So let’s try to imagine this man’s life up until this point. His entire life has been defined by his illness. His daily routine has been defined by his trip to this pool, hoping to catch a break. He has not worked. He has not made friendships outside of potentially other people at this pool. But how many of those “friends” were healed and never showed up again?

So for him to be healed, everything he has ever known in his life will have to change. If he were to be healed, he would wake up the next morning and not have any clue what to do, where to go, who to talk to. Everything would be different. Have you ever been annoyed when someone moves your car keys or something in your routine is off? Yeah, we’re all like that. His whole life would be redefined in a single day. That’s not easy.

So Jesus asks him, “Do you want to be made well?” Do you want to change every aspect of your life? Do you want to flip your world over and start from scratch? Healing is good! But there are consequences that aren’t always pleasant as well.

And did you notice that he doesn’t say “Yes” to Jesus’ question? He doesn’t tell Jesus that he wants to be made well.

My dad surprised my brother a couple of years ago by flying me down to Texas so we could play a round of golf together. To throw him off, my dad told him he was going to get a round with a PGA golfer to give him some tips. But I’ve already told you that what I do on a golf course is a travesty to the game of golf, so you know I couldn’t deliver any tips. Well, that’s not true. I could give my brother one fabulous tip that could shave several strokes off of his game. All he had to do was stop drinking beer while he played the round. Presto chango – lower golf scores! To which he said, “Nah, I’m good.” He didn’t want to be better if it took that kind of change!

Given the consequences, the requirements, the natural implications of what comes next, we actually don’t always want to be made well. Do you have any bad habits or conditions that you value more than the effort it would take to change them? Do you really want to be made well?

Less Obvious Healing

The man in our text today doesn’t quite say, “Nah, I’m good.” But he does point out a different, less obvious problem. “The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool…[and] someone else [always] steps down ahead of me.”

Jesus: “You’ve been here for 38 years. Do you want to be made well?” Sick Man: “Sir, I have no one…”

He’s obviously sick – probably something wrong with his legs. He’s obviously in need of healing. He’s obviously seeking healing because he’s been here every day for 38 years. But less obviously, he has no one. No family still willing to help. No friends willing to bypass their own needs to help him. He can’t pay a helper. He has no one. He feels alone. He is obviously in need of physical healing. He is less obviously in need of meaningful relationships so that he is no longer lonely.

Like I said, if you keep reading the chapter, you’ll see how this man is attacked by the religious leaders because they don’t like how and when Jesus healed him. He is still alone, but for very different reasons. And that’s when Jesus comes back to the man and invites him to be a part of Jesus’ community.

That’s my theory on this text. It’s just my best guess, so take this with a grain of salt. But my theory is that Jesus spotted this one man in a sea of humanity because this man knew he needed new relationships just as much as he needed new health. Jesus started by healing his legs, but he didn’t finish until he had brought this man into the community of Jesus’ followers.

He saw this one man. He saw what this one person needed – and how that was unique among the throngs. He saw that this was not just a generic human. This was a person worth noticing. A person with multiple needs. A person who needed to be restored in health, obviously. But also a person who needed to be restored in community. A person who needed to be restored in faith. A person who needed to be restored as a person with agency in his life.

Where do you need to be restored? Maybe that’s obvious. Maybe that’s not obvious. Maybe you have a list, like the man in our text today. Where do you need to be restored? And do you really want to be made well? Consequences and all?

I believe one of the great dangers we all face in our faith is the tyranny of OK. I’m doing OK. My relationships are OK. I think I’m doing OK with God. The tyranny of OK is looking at other people, thinking we’re doing a little bit better than them, and thus we are OK.

This man first had to admit he needed healing. Things weren’t OK. Things were obviously not OK with his body. But things were also not OK with his relationships. Things were not OK with his soul. He knew he wasn’t OK several layers deep.

Are you doing OK? How many layers down are you OK? Or is there something you’re trying to hide from God, something that you say, “At least it’s not as bad as that person over there?” If you could wave a magic wand and heal or restore something in your life, even if it’s several layers deep, Jesus sees that. He doesn’t just see you as a generic human in a crowd of generic humans. He sees you. He sees all of you. He sees however many layers deep he needs to see to notice where you need his Good News. Out of all the kittens at the animal shelter, he has eyes for you!

Will you admit what’s really bothering you – even if it’s several layers deep? And once you admit it, do you want to be made well? Jesus is the right person to ask. It probably won’t go as you would script it. Jesus doesn’t care about good scripts. He’s not the Hallmark Channel Jesus. He’s the real Jesus. So when the real Jesus looks at you and deep into your life and heart and soul… “Do you want to be made well?” What’s your reply? Amen.

View the Sermon Video

First Scripture = Exodus 20:1-21

Then God spoke all these words: ²I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; ³you shall have no other gods before me. ⁴You shall not make for yourself an idol,  whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on  the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord  your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of  parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, ⁶but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. ⁷You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. ⁸Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work. ¹⁰But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord  your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter,  your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your  towns. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

¹²Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ¹³You shall not murder. ¹⁴You shall not commit adultery. ¹⁵You shall not steal. ¹⁶You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. ¹⁷You shall not covet your neighbor’s  house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female  slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

¹⁸When all the people witnessed the  thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain  smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, ¹⁹and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” ²⁰Moses said to the people, “Do not be  afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him  upon you so that you do not sin.” ²¹Then the people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

Introduction

We’re down to our last three in our series looking at the questions that God and Jesus ask us in the Bible. Last week we heard Jesus ask his sleepy disciples, “Could you not keep awake one hour?” We were encouraged to be dependable disciples, but luckily Jesus extends us grace and encouragement for the many times we’re more sleepy than dependable.

This week we’re rewinding to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. John the Baptist is proclaiming that Jesus is the Lamb of God, someone special. And some of John’s own followers are wondering who is this Jesus? Who could be even more special than John the Baptist?

It’s interesting to see Jesus’ reaction to these two new followers. I mean, what usually happens when someone visits a church for the first time? Some churches play it cool, but most churches get a bit overexcited to meet someone new. A pastor told me about a visitor who came to his small church one Sunday. The congregation was so excited to see a visitor that the person who usually rang the bell just had to invite this visitor to ring the bell with them. Even though the visitor said “No. No thank you. Please no.” All the congregant heard was, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” So, in their enthusiasm, they forced the visitor to ring the bell. Strangely, that person never visited again.

But Jesus is definitely not falling all over himself to get new followers. He fires off a very interesting, even challenging question as they approach.

Main Scripture = John 1:35-42

³⁵The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”

³⁷The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸When Jesus turned and saw them  following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to  him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹He said to them, “Come and see.” They  came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day.  It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. ⁴⁰One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). ⁴²He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at  him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas”  (which is translated Peter).

Following Jesus

Well we’re firmly in hiking season here in Colorado, and our state has graduated from “safer at home” to “safer at home AND in the vast, great outdoors.” You know a committee probably spent five days debating between “vast outdoors” and “great outdoors,” and they probably couldn’t agree, so they decided to call it “the vast, great outdoors.”

But anyway, I am going to speak the truth here. It’s a hard truth, but I bet it’s one that many of you will agree with. Here’s the hard truth: not all trails are marked well. It’s difficult to face the truth, but now I’ve said it. There’s no taking it back, now. Not all trails are marked well.

In my life of hiking, I have found myself in the wrong cave. I have found myself a mile away from the actual trail. I have found myself looping back to the same spot inexplicably. I like to try new trails, but not all trails are marked well. And I can just be talking or thinking, or – and this is even more dangerous – thinking and talking, and suddenly I’m not where I should be. Have you ever done that?

So now, I have a solution to the hard truth of poorly marked trails. I cheat. I have an app where I can download the trail map onto my phone (because there’s usually not Internet access on the trail), and it can pull in my GPS coordinates and show me where I am relative to where I should be. Can you say, “God send?” It’s fabulous! I think it annoys my wife sometimes, but whenever we’re going on a new trail or a trail we’ve only done once or twice, I whip out my phone to double-check our location whenever we come to a fork or a meeting of trails. I can’t trust my instincts. I’ve proven that time and time again. But I can trust the map and GPS coordinates!

But after we’ve done the same trail a few times, I don’t have to rely on the map anymore. With enough practice, I know how to follow the trail even when there aren’t good signs to follow.

It takes practice to follow the right path – especially when not all trails are marked well and there’s a fork up ahead!

In our text today, Andrew senses a fork in his trail. He has been following John the Baptist. Maybe, like John the Baptist, Andrew was wearing uncomfortable robes. Maybe, like John, Andrew was subsisting on locusts and wild honey. As we’ve said before, John the Baptist was kinda weird. Andrew was following John, so he was probably kinda weird, too. It stands to reason.

But Andrew heard John say something that stuck with him. John looked at Jesus and said, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” That phrase, “Lamb of God,” was one of many phrases associated with the Messiah. Intrigued, Andrew and his friend started following Jesus. Literally following Jesus. Like, twenty paces back, there’s Andrew and his friend. If it were dark outside in a big city, they would’ve looked really sketchy following someone like that.

But as I said before, Jesus didn’t fall all over himself with exuberance over these two new kinda sketchy followers. He didn’t make them ring the bell in his excitement to have them. No. He asked them a very pointed question: “What are you looking for?”

Not easily daunted, Andrew and his friend have a pointed reply to Jesus’ pointed question. “Rabbi (Teacher), where are you staying?” By implication, Andrew and his friend told Jesus that they were looking for a great teacher, and they wanted to spend so much time with that great teacher that they would sleep wherever he slept.

Now, when I was a freshman in college, our dorm flooded in the middle of the night. The University of Texas told us we couldn’t go back into our dorm, and we were welcome to find our own place to sleep for a while. So, out of desperation, I’ve slept in some less-than-ideal places. As a result of that experience, my first thought is, “Andrew, you might wanna check out Jesus’ sleeping arrangements before offering to spend the night there.”

But Andrew and his friend were willing to follow Jesus. They were willing to go to his house. They were willing to sleep where he slept. They were willing to learn what he taught. They were willing to do what he did. No qualifiers. No excuses. No “as long as it’s up to my standards.” Nope. Just, “Rabbi (Teacher), where are you staying?”

So when Jesus asked them, “What are you looking for?” They essentially replied, “We want you! We want to follow you wherever you go.” That’s a pretty good answer to Jesus’ question. John the Baptist told them they had arrived a fork in the trail. With this answer, they took the new trail and they knew that as long as they were with Jesus, they were headed in the right direction. They didn’t ask how well the trail was marked. They just needed to walk with Jesus. They didn’t know if it would be a pleasant stroll or a gravity-defying sheer cliff face. They just needed to be with Jesus.

If Jesus asked you, “What are you looking for?” what would your response be? When you go to a church on Sunday, “What are you looking for?” When you watch this online worship service, “What are you looking for?” When you read your Bible or pray or go for a hike and meditate… “What are you looking for?”

Andrew didn’t say that he was looking for fulfillment. He didn’t say that he was looking for an energy boost after a draining week. Andrew didn’t say he was looking for guidance for his fishing business. He said he wanted to be as close to Jesus as possible. Full stop.

A while back, I went to a concert by the Christian band Rend Collective. And one of the songs really got to me. I was almost overcome with emotion. It was very powerful. But our faith isn’t about the really powerful emotion when the right song hits at the right time. That’s good, but that’s not the goal of our faith. That’s not what we’re looking for.

Sometimes I am spent. I have nothing left. And in the midst of my nothingness, Jesus gives me a spiritual pick-me-up. That’s good. But the goal of our faith isn’t the spiritual pick-me-up. That’s not what we’re looking for.

Sometimes I discover something new in the Bible or in my life. I have a eureka moment! That’s good. But the goal of our faith isn’t a profound insight. That’s not what we’re looking for.

Sometimes I find the deepest connections and relationships at the church. I have had profound moments in my small groups and Bible studies over the years. Deep relationships are good. But the goal of our faith isn’t good spiritual friendships. That’s not what we’re looking for.

We’re looking for Jesus. Full stop. We’re looking to go where he goes. We’re looking to speak what he says. We’re looking to sleep where he sleeps. We’re looking for Jesus. Full stop.

Sometimes when we’re with Jesus, we experience a powerful emotion. Sometimes when we’re with Jesus, we experience a spiritual pick-me-up. Sometimes when we’re with Jesus, we experience a eureka moment. Sometimes when we’re with Jesus, we experience profound relationships. But those are the side effects, not the goal. Those are the background of the painting, not the subject of the painting.

In basketball, there are some players who are accused of being stat-chasers. Points are good. Assists are good. Rebounds are good. Steals are good. But some players chase those stats even if it’s hurting the team’s chances to win. If you’re missing 90% of your shots, maybe you should pass instead of chasing the points, right?

In the same way, chasing the experience or the pick-me-up or the eureka moment or the profound relationship as goals in and of themselves is like chasing stats instead of chasing wins. The goal of the game is to win, not improve your personal scoring average. The goal of faith is Jesus. Full stop. There are some nice side effects, there are some nice stats. But if we chase those side effects we can miss the goal.

Following Takes Practice

So how much practice do you have at following Jesus’ trail – no matter where it leads? If it takes practice to follow a poorly-marked trail in the mountains of Colorado, how much practice does it take to follow Jesus wherever he goes, whatever he says, whatever he does? Do you need my trail app and GPS coordinates to make sure you’re on Jesus’ trail? Or do you have enough practice with his trail that you know if you’re close to him or not right now?

You see, I believe many people drift away from Jesus precisely because they have more practice at seeking the side effects than they have practice following him. If you seek a pick-me-up, there are simpler ways to get it than following Jesus. They probably won’t last as long, but there’s always another way.

If you seek relationships, there are simpler ways to find those than following Jesus. Over the years, my basketball groups were far easier to maintain than my Bible study groups. The demands were far lower to play basketball, and it was almost always fun!

If you seek good music, there are simpler ways to listen than a church service. My younger son streams exceptional classical music from the Internet all the time. Yes, it’s from Star Wars soundtracks, but it’s the London Symphony Orchestra!

I think this is very important. We all have a lot of practice at finding music we like. We all have a lot of practice at finding ways to be entertained. Many of us have a lot of practice feeding our minds with interesting knowledge. Many of us have a lot of practice at relationships. Maybe not always good practice, but practice nonetheless.

If we are seeking the side effects instead of the goal, we can always find simpler, easier, quicker ways to get those side effects. Jesus is not the easiest or most direct path to any of those things. Your faith or your church might provide you with those nice side effects. That’s great! But what happens when you hit a dry spell? What happens when Jesus heads down a difficult trail instead of the pleasant one? What happens when Jesus is on a cross instead of crowned in glory? If we have defined our faith as the pursuit of those nice side effects, that’s when we’ll drift away toward the easy and quick solutions.

So what are you looking for? Are you looking for the nice side effects? Or are you looking for Jesus…full stop? Are you trying to find a specific trail? Or are you trying to walk whatever trail Jesus walks?

Christ In You

If this whole “following the trail” image isn’t working for you, especially since Jesus isn’t physically visible to us, then let me offer another way to approach this question. Colossians 1:27 sums up our goal pretty nicely. It says that the rich and glorious mystery of our faith is this:“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The goal is to have Christ in us. Full stop. That’s the goal. As Christ is in us, we then have hope for other things. Those are the side effects.

Some of you know that I like to write. I have published a Bible study, a book of sermons, and a children’s book. But my very first stories were science fiction. I still have my sci-fi short stories dating back to fourth grade. And I recently returned to that genre. I have been reading and studying the best sci-fi books of all time. How did the author approach world-building? What kind of character development arcs were present? How did the author hint at the plot and yet surprise in its implementation? And I put all of that knowledge into a sci-fi short story that I submitted to a global competition for new sci-fi authors. The results were recently announced! I got nowhere close with my short story. It was about as good as I could write it, but it was nowhere near what the judges thought was the best story. I did everything I could, and I still came up short. I am probably never going to write one of the greatest works of sci-fi.

Similarly, no matter how well you know iambic pentameter or Elizabethan English wordplay or rhyming couplets, you’re not going to be Shakespeare.

And no amount of Bible study or personal growth goals or accountability partners or prayer warriors will make you into Jesus.

But unlike the great science fiction authors, unlike Shakespeare, Jesus can actually be inside of us. Jesus can actually work in us and through us. “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The goal is not to just be “like” Jesus. That’s a goal you’ll never reach.

The goal is not to know and believe what Jesus taught. You’ll never know everything Jesus knew. That’s a goal you’ll never reach.

The goal is to have Jesus in us. That’s a goal we can achieve, because Jesus himself said it was possible. At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, he said, “Remember I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

So today I’m not going to tell you how you need to will yourself to being more like Jesus. I’m not going to tell you how you need to do more Bible reading or special prayers or daily devotions. Those things can be helpful, but they’re not the goal. I’ll start talking about those things again in a week or two, but they’re a means to an end, not the goal in and of themselves.

The goal is to have Christ in us. Jesus said he would do that. It’s attainable. And once Christ is in us, everything else changes.

So this week, I am encouraging you to pay attention to where Jesus is already at work within you. Where is Jesus staying? Come and see what he’s doing and saying inside of you. Practice noticing Jesus’ presence within you. Practice checking how far your heart is from Jesus within you. Ask yourself those questions. That’s good practice.

And even if you have followed Jesus for twice my lifetime, it’s still good practice.

I started flying airplanes when I was fourteen years old. I amassed twenty-five hours of flight time in my log. But the last entry was over twenty years ago. If we’re on a Boeing 777 and the pilot and co-pilot somehow pass out and they need someone to land the plane…you better hope someone else is on board! I’m way too out of practice! Not to mention I only practiced on a tiny Cessna 172 four-seater!

Noticing Jesus is like flying a plane. I can’t remember the pre-flight checklist after twenty years. Use it or lose it! Noticing Jesus is like a muscle that gets weaker when you don’t use it. If you don’t practice, it atrophies. Use it or lose it!

So how can you practice noticing the presence of Jesus within you? Christ is in you! That gives you the hope of glory. Amen.