SERMONS

I Samuel 24: 1-7; Romans 12:9-18
Reverend Angela Ying

How often in your life have your been asked to choose sides?

Pick a side, we are told.
Between one friend and another.
Between one child and another.
Between one team and another.
Between one race and another.
Between one country and another.
Pick a side, we are told.
Or you are not patriot.
Or you are not faithful.
Or you will not belong.
It is tempting for any church to work in absolutes.

For we in community need to be able to see and be comfortable with the grey and even with not knowing — to be able to embrace a both/and.

It is tempting for any congregation to work in either/or.

For we in the community need to be able to confess the complexity of not being able to see the whole picture, only a part, our part of the puzzle — to be able to embrace a both/and.

God made a man of faith, named Abraham the father of many nations.

God did not do it using instant gratification.

In fact, Abraham and Sarah got tired of the false starts and waiting for God.

And believe it or not, they really made a mess of things because they took other people and their lives into their own hands. And some have not recovered from their actions since.

No, God is not into immediate gratification for you and me and the community of faith — no matter how much God loves — even if we demand it.

Took God until Abraham was 100 years old to begin the process of birthing a father of many nations.

Took God until Sarah was barren and God had spoken with Hagar in the wilderness before the process of birthing was blessed.

The father of Judaism. The father of Christianity. The father of Islam.

You wonder how people of faith can think of working in absolutes and either/or — choosing sides as Jews, Christians and Muslims even with the same roots from the same tree and genealogy.

I am sure it saddens God to see God’s own people working against each other.

Remember our Bible stories from last week.

David and Goliath.

David the shepherd boy bringing food to his brothers only to find himself facing Goliath the towering giant of the Philistine army.

And with no armor and no bronze helmet, only a shepherd’s staff and five smooth stones, David confronts Goliath.

And yet, no sooner than David and the Hebrew community of faith have the chance to build community without fear when in the following chapter we hear that Saul of the Hebrew community is jealous.

Jealous.

Jealous of what?

Isn’t David on the exact same side of Saul?

That is what David thought. That is what we thought. Until we begin to see that King Saul is on King Saul’s side.

For if Saul were on the side of the community, there is no reason to be jealous of someone else in your own community. There is reason to rejoice and give God thanks.

But unfortunately, as the scriptures reveal, this does happen.

David saves the people from being oppressed and taken over by the Philistine army and Saul from his own community turns on David and seeks to kill David.

Bible story, yes.

The sad reality is that this happens every day by individuals who are more into themselves than being with God.

As David the shepherd discovers the hard way, it is not some outside enemy — but rather someone broken on the inside of the faith community who will cause havoc.

Yes, Saul is in pursuit of killing David because Saul cannot stand when the people in the community joyfully sing “Saul has faced thousands. And David has faced tens of thousands.”

When you can face thousands — rejoice!

When someone else in the community faces tens of thousands — rejoice!

But Saul cannot seem to do this.

Because it is all about him.

He cannot see beyond the past.

He wants to win. He needs to win. He wants to be the very person to face tens of thousands.
And because of this, Saul is blind — to what the community as a whole is able to do together.
Jesus who came from the lineage of Abraham and of David saw the Pharisees and scribes in the community experience the same thing when Jesus preached good news.
Whenever Jesus healed the poor, the lame, the sick and the blind — the church leaders — known as the Pharisees and scribes — looked on and became jealous of Jesus and wanted to kill him.

So much brokenness. So much fear.
And yet, in today’s scripture passages, God seems to shed light on another way.

One that does not come automatically or even by second nature.

One that must we learned and relearned over and over through love and forgiveness.

Saul is in hot pursuit of killing David.
Remember, someone who cannot see beyond themselves is not willing to see the whole picture.
Had Saul been given the chance, it is certain he would have killed David.

Strangely enough though, when David is given the chance to hurt and even kill Saul — David does not do it.

Some of those with David saw it as a chance — and yet, David did not do it.

Just cutting a corner of Saul’s cloak brought pain to David afterwards because — and this is key as we grow a church that helps people have a faith of doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God as our mission —-

David says, “God forbid that I should do this thing to Saul — one of God’s anointed — to raise my hand against him — for he too is God’s.

How did David refrain from taking revenge on one who was going to kill him because of his fear and jealousy?
Perhaps, David, unlike Saul who embraced the ways of empire — David believed deeply in God’s earth community.
Earth Community — when the question is not — is God on our side (or even is God on MY side) — rather —

How can you and I be with God on God’s side?

To actually pray that we be with God on God’s side.

Which means we are looking to God and not ourselves on what that means to be with God.

Because let me share with you — sometimes we will not know. Sometimes we as people of faith, must live with the unknown for a time.

We may think we know one day and yet, tomorrow we find is another day that God can shed new light on us, once more.

Could this be the way David could resist the temptation, even with encouragement from his friends, to hurt Saul when Saul wanted to hurt David.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu writes as he reflects on the apartheid in South Africa. “There is no future without forgiveness.”

And he did not say it would be easy — only faithful.

After all “forgiveness, reconciliation and reparation are not the normal currency in political discourse where it is more normal to demand satisfaction to pay back in the same coin, to give as good as you get, for it is more common to have the ethos of “dog eat dog” in the jungle of the world of politics.”
And yet, we as a community of faith are not called to be “of the world.”

Not called as community to condone and follow empire.

Rather to be an earth community — which is not easy. And yet, with God, is possible.
To be an earth community where the question is not — is God on our side — rather — How can we be with God on God’s side.

Listen to the words of the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans on being with God as a Christian.
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve God. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to stranger.
The apostle continues: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in peace with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thoughts for what is good in the sight of all. If possible, live peaceably with all.

Could this be a way to authentic earth community as we dare to first change ourselves and our lives in seeking to be the change in the world?

This week two children at school got dressed up for Super Hero Day. One dressed as Hermione Granger with the great power of the wizard’s robe, wand, and her Gryffindor scarf. The other came fully dressed as Cat Girl, with a black dress, mask, cat ears and long tail.

The only thing was that when the two children arrived at school, the child, dressed as Hermione, suddenly went quiet.

I wondered what had happened to the power of the child’s joy.

And then I saw why.
Aware of everyone and everything around her — she realized at that moment that she with her mother had the wrong day and that Super Hero Day was tomorrow — the following day.
Today at school was “Inside Out Day” as looking around, many of the students were wearing their clothes inside-out.
What to do.

The child dressed in Cat Girl was happy to see her friend dressed as Hermione and still took no notice that no one else was dressed as a super hero. Cat Girl was happy swinging her tail.

Seeing the pain and struggle in the child dressed as Hermione’s face, the parent said that it was easy enough to take the robe and scarf off and to turn one’s clothes inside out to fit into the situation.

But for some reason, this child did not do this. She wanted time to think about the situation.
How could she and her mother have gotten the days wrong?

She needed time to grieve and ground herself.

As the two children walked towards the classroom, the child kindly asked her mother to ask and confirm with the teacher what day it really was.

“It is Inside-Out Day,” the teacher replied.

Looking at the child, the parent stood by her child dressed as Hermione — waiting to see what her child would choose to do.

During this time, the other child dressed in Cat Girl finally came to the realization that indeed it was not Super Hero Day, and that she had nothing else to change into.
The child dressed in Cat Girl stood at the doorway of the classroom while other stared. Cat Girl child looked at her friend dressed as Hermione.

“What are you going to do?”
And then, I watched and witnessed as the child, who could have very easily taken her robe and scarf off, and put away her wand and owl — instead…

Took hold of her friend, Cat Girl’s hand and courageously walked into their classroom with robe, scarf, wand and owl — together.

Thank you — I whispered looking up. Knowing how easily children can hurt other children, especially if they too have been hurt.

And as I was leaving the school, I heard the teacher say, “Today, we have two Super Heroes in our midst.”
They may have wanted to be Super Heroes by getting all dressed up that day. And yet, what the two children discovered, by the grace of God, was that to be a super hero — they, as we, first have to be there for each other.

As we move towards being an earth community daring to ask the question, “How can we be with God on God’s side” — we will see as the hymnist once shared:

“We are pilgrims on a journey, we are travelers on the road.

We are here to help each other go the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ light for you in the shadow of your fear;

I will hold my hand out to you — speak the peace we long to hear.”

Thanks be to God!