God's Story, Not Ours
Commentary
These three scriptures are very different, but at their core they are all God’s story, not ours. David used the Ark for his own political purposes, instead of remembering the Ark is God’s throne.
The Ephesians see gods in everything -- the emperor, deep mysteries revealed only to initiates, and the goddess Artemis -- but Paul reminds them there is one God who has made us one people, and God’s one plan is meant to bring us all together.
Herod Antipas thinks that somehow the great things associated with the ministry of Jesus are about him and his part in the death of John the Baptist, but the good news of the kingdom is bigger than local rulers and their own exploits. It is about the changing of the world. This is God's story, not Herod's. Not ours either.
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 and Psalm 24
This is an appalling story. It is so unfair. Uzzah does what any one of us would do in the same circumstance.
When King David unified the northern and southern kingdoms he conquered Jerusalem and determined to make it his own District of Columbia. It would be the capital of his new kingdom. And so, with great pomp the Ark of the Covenant was placed on a cart for the journey to Jerusalem. When the sacred processional neared the threshing floor of Nacon it began to tip over.
Uzzah put out a hand to save the Ark. Who wouldn’t put out a hand to protect the Ark?
And for that he was struck dead.
It seems to me that this was really David’s fault. In 1 Chronicles 15 it is clear that David had ignored the biblical instructions for transporting the Ark. Levites should have been involved with the transport. This is all David’s fault.
It was a lot like when we read of a drunk driver who escapes unharmed from an accident they caused which takes the life of an innocent person. David failed to drive the Ark safely to Jerusalem the first time and Uzzah paid the price.
God is good, but it’s not always safe to approach God, in the same way that electricity is dangerous. Sometimes we act like we’re just chummy with God without showing the respect we ought.
Uzzah died in the service of God, taking on the sin of another. It’s not the worst thing that could happen. Uzzah touched the holiest thing in the world at that time and died. We could all do worse.
David was forced to examine himself. His reactions match the classic five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
David was angry because the LORD had come forth with an outburst upon Uzzah (anger); so that place is called Perez-uzzah, to this day. David was afraid of the LORD that day (depression?); he said, "How can the ark of the LORD come into my care? (bargaining)" So David was unwilling to take the ark of the LORD into his care in the city of David (denial); instead David took it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite (2 Samuel 6:8-10).
Acceptance, the final stage, arrived when David received the news that Obed-edom had been blessed. Stripped of his illusions, freed from his desire for security, having passed through the fire of deathwork, David confronted his failures, accepted forgiveness, and more important, he lived it. He danced wildly with abandon as he led the parade into Jerusalem, so much so that his wife Michal made fun of him. David responded, “I will dance.”
How many of us say we’re forgiven, but act like we’re still bearing the full weight of guilt. How many of us act like we really believe in God’s forgiveness?
Ephesians 1:3-14
Ephesus was an important trade center located in the mouth of the Cayster River. It was the center for many faiths, including emperor worship, mystery religions, and home to the temple of the hunter goddess Artemis, or Diana. The Ephesians had a fierce, nationalistic pride in this goddess. At one point Paul’s ministry in Ephesus was so successful that many people burned their books of magic. Artisans worried that their livelihood selling copies of the Temple of Artemis was endangered, so they took advantage of the hostility between Jews and Gentiles to foment a riot. Paul eventually left Ephesus, but later wrote to the house churches of that city to encourage them to remain faithful to the One God, who they have come to know through faith in Jesus Christ.
Mystery religions involved secret knowledge. Initiates were drawn into deeper and deeper circles of mystery, but in this passage Paul assures the Ephesians that the true mystery is no mystery at all -- God’s hidden design is now out in the open -- God’s plan is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This is what all history has been aiming for. God is making this salvation available to all people. That's God's story, which has nothing to do with worshiping our modern day emperors and idols. We are the inheritors of this great gift.
Mark 6:14-29
The arrest of John the Baptist, mentioned in the first chapter of Mark, did not end God's work. It was only the beginning of the great work of Jesus Christ. As the disciples take up the task of proclaiming and healing many begin to speculate about who Jesus is. Herod, who like many rulers thinks he is the center of the universe, thinks it’s all about him. Jesus must be John the Baptist, who Herod executed, back from the dead.
Mark then focuses on the ministry of the Baptist in the prison. John condemned Herod for marrying his brother’s wife. His brother was quite alive at this point. This wife, Herodius, saw a better opportunity and jumped from her first marriage into this new union which provided her with access to more power. John condemned the two for what they had done. This infuriated Herodius, but Herod himself was fascinated by what the Baptist had to say, even though he himself was condemned by these words. Perhaps like many rulers who are surrounded by yes men, the fact that someone was brave enough to tell him the truth even when it is unpleasant is an intriguing experience for the king.
Mark then tells us the sordid story of how Herodius got her way. It is very creepy that Herod is so taken by the dancing of his wife’s daughter that he offers to give her anything short of half the kingdom. Had this daughter simply asked for the kind of bauble she wanted then we would not have heard this story, but she made the mistake of asking her mother what she ought to request. What young woman would ask for the head of her mother’s enemy on a plate when she could have had some delightful treasure to wear of own?
I hope none of us have ever wasted time imagining the downfall of a rival when we could be about the business of proclaiming and healing. The safest course is to focus on God's story, not our own.
The Ephesians see gods in everything -- the emperor, deep mysteries revealed only to initiates, and the goddess Artemis -- but Paul reminds them there is one God who has made us one people, and God’s one plan is meant to bring us all together.
Herod Antipas thinks that somehow the great things associated with the ministry of Jesus are about him and his part in the death of John the Baptist, but the good news of the kingdom is bigger than local rulers and their own exploits. It is about the changing of the world. This is God's story, not Herod's. Not ours either.
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 and Psalm 24
This is an appalling story. It is so unfair. Uzzah does what any one of us would do in the same circumstance.
When King David unified the northern and southern kingdoms he conquered Jerusalem and determined to make it his own District of Columbia. It would be the capital of his new kingdom. And so, with great pomp the Ark of the Covenant was placed on a cart for the journey to Jerusalem. When the sacred processional neared the threshing floor of Nacon it began to tip over.
Uzzah put out a hand to save the Ark. Who wouldn’t put out a hand to protect the Ark?
And for that he was struck dead.
It seems to me that this was really David’s fault. In 1 Chronicles 15 it is clear that David had ignored the biblical instructions for transporting the Ark. Levites should have been involved with the transport. This is all David’s fault.
It was a lot like when we read of a drunk driver who escapes unharmed from an accident they caused which takes the life of an innocent person. David failed to drive the Ark safely to Jerusalem the first time and Uzzah paid the price.
God is good, but it’s not always safe to approach God, in the same way that electricity is dangerous. Sometimes we act like we’re just chummy with God without showing the respect we ought.
Uzzah died in the service of God, taking on the sin of another. It’s not the worst thing that could happen. Uzzah touched the holiest thing in the world at that time and died. We could all do worse.
David was forced to examine himself. His reactions match the classic five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
David was angry because the LORD had come forth with an outburst upon Uzzah (anger); so that place is called Perez-uzzah, to this day. David was afraid of the LORD that day (depression?); he said, "How can the ark of the LORD come into my care? (bargaining)" So David was unwilling to take the ark of the LORD into his care in the city of David (denial); instead David took it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite (2 Samuel 6:8-10).
Acceptance, the final stage, arrived when David received the news that Obed-edom had been blessed. Stripped of his illusions, freed from his desire for security, having passed through the fire of deathwork, David confronted his failures, accepted forgiveness, and more important, he lived it. He danced wildly with abandon as he led the parade into Jerusalem, so much so that his wife Michal made fun of him. David responded, “I will dance.”
How many of us say we’re forgiven, but act like we’re still bearing the full weight of guilt. How many of us act like we really believe in God’s forgiveness?
Ephesians 1:3-14
Ephesus was an important trade center located in the mouth of the Cayster River. It was the center for many faiths, including emperor worship, mystery religions, and home to the temple of the hunter goddess Artemis, or Diana. The Ephesians had a fierce, nationalistic pride in this goddess. At one point Paul’s ministry in Ephesus was so successful that many people burned their books of magic. Artisans worried that their livelihood selling copies of the Temple of Artemis was endangered, so they took advantage of the hostility between Jews and Gentiles to foment a riot. Paul eventually left Ephesus, but later wrote to the house churches of that city to encourage them to remain faithful to the One God, who they have come to know through faith in Jesus Christ.
Mystery religions involved secret knowledge. Initiates were drawn into deeper and deeper circles of mystery, but in this passage Paul assures the Ephesians that the true mystery is no mystery at all -- God’s hidden design is now out in the open -- God’s plan is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This is what all history has been aiming for. God is making this salvation available to all people. That's God's story, which has nothing to do with worshiping our modern day emperors and idols. We are the inheritors of this great gift.
Mark 6:14-29
The arrest of John the Baptist, mentioned in the first chapter of Mark, did not end God's work. It was only the beginning of the great work of Jesus Christ. As the disciples take up the task of proclaiming and healing many begin to speculate about who Jesus is. Herod, who like many rulers thinks he is the center of the universe, thinks it’s all about him. Jesus must be John the Baptist, who Herod executed, back from the dead.
Mark then focuses on the ministry of the Baptist in the prison. John condemned Herod for marrying his brother’s wife. His brother was quite alive at this point. This wife, Herodius, saw a better opportunity and jumped from her first marriage into this new union which provided her with access to more power. John condemned the two for what they had done. This infuriated Herodius, but Herod himself was fascinated by what the Baptist had to say, even though he himself was condemned by these words. Perhaps like many rulers who are surrounded by yes men, the fact that someone was brave enough to tell him the truth even when it is unpleasant is an intriguing experience for the king.
Mark then tells us the sordid story of how Herodius got her way. It is very creepy that Herod is so taken by the dancing of his wife’s daughter that he offers to give her anything short of half the kingdom. Had this daughter simply asked for the kind of bauble she wanted then we would not have heard this story, but she made the mistake of asking her mother what she ought to request. What young woman would ask for the head of her mother’s enemy on a plate when she could have had some delightful treasure to wear of own?
I hope none of us have ever wasted time imagining the downfall of a rival when we could be about the business of proclaiming and healing. The safest course is to focus on God's story, not our own.
