DAY 102

COARSENING

1 Samuel 19, 20 & 21 and Luke 11:29 – 54   

I want to encourage you to “dig into this story”; the story of Saul and David with all the supporting players. It is a powerful story of two people anointed by God to be king over his people. It is a story that will weave you up and down the mountains of Judea as you live the highs and lows of their lives. Today we read another part of the story. Today we come to a low point; a low point for both of them.

There is “coarseness” to today’s readings, both Old and New. Save for Jonathan we will read little of grace, mercy, and tenderness. It starts with Saul.

Why on earth would Saul want to kill David? We read he had a “spirit” come upon him. How might we understand that? Certainly we might understand it literally, but we also note that Saul runs “hot and cold” regarding David. It is easy to track that every time David is successful (on behalf of Saul) Saul gets crazy.

Into this mess comes Saul’s son Jonathan. Jonathan truly cares for David and intercedes and protects him a number of times. Saul becomes so distraught he seeks to use his daughter against David. The degree of Saul’s obsession is hard to overstate. We can certainly read and judge Saul; we might also ask what areas do we border on obsession over?

In chapter 21 we read of David’s actions in regard to Saul’s pursuit. David and his men flee and find themselves starving. To gain nourishment they eat the Holy Bread. Jesus will refer to this when he is challenged (Mark 2:25-26). The intersection of David eating Holy Bread, retrieving Goliath’s sword and then seeking refuge in the city the Goliath was from, Gath, is remarkable. David acts insane and you have to love the king’s response, “Do I lack madmen…?” (Ever had a day like that in your life?) Yet don’t miss the depth of this moment: an anointed King of Israel is forced to eat the Holy Bread of God, commandeer one of his greatest opponent’s sword, and then act insane in order to have a king of the mortal enemy of his nation protect him…pretty low.

Sin does this to us. Whether we are the ones involved in the act of sinning (Saul), or whether we are the ones that are in the path of the sin (David, Jonathan, et. al.).

Sin consumes and destroys. Saul is consumed by his obsession with David and you will read the painful story of how it destroys him, and those around him.

Sin…the word is strong…it simply means not following God or God’s direction…and while it is that simple to understand…we often fail to understand how serious God is regarding it. Jesus today gives us a glimpse into God’s anger over sin.

Read Jesus’ words, “This generation is an evil generation…” He calls a Pharisee “a fool” and says “Woe” to them, all culminating in charging them with the blood of all the prophets from Abel to Zechariah (we have not read about this Zechariah yet, but we will cf. 2 Chronicles 24:20-21). It may seem that Jesus is really pushing the point and He is in fact driving it home.

It might be important to note where we are in Luke’s narrative. Jesus since chapter 5 has been demonstrating his authority: His authority over demons, disease, defilement (leper), defectiveness (paralytic), the despised, (call of Matthew) and more. His ministry continues in chapter 7 through 9 by healing the sick, raising the dead, calming storms and all along the way teaching.

With all this what is the result? “Give us a sign” they say! Jesus is exasperated. He will give them a sign. It will be the Cross and the Resurrection showing again God’s disdain for sin and His love for humankind.

It is important we don’t get confused. Our salvation is not about our behavior (curiously the more we understand this the more our behavior will change.) The point of the readings today is that they reveal to us the coarsening effect sin has on the human experience. We see it in Saul, in David, in the Pharisees…and I see it in myself.

May God lead us and protect from all temptation and sin.