Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Dancing with David: An Awful Mess


August 9th, 2015                           “An Awful Mess”                       Rev. Heather Jepsen
Summer Sermon Series: Dancing with David
2 Samuel 18:5-15, 31-33 with Psalm 130
          This morning we continue our summer sermon series, “Dancing with David.”  We have been studying the story of David for several months now.  From his anointing as a young shepherd boy, to his brave defeat of Goliath, to his rise to power and prominence, the story of David is an inspiring one.  It is also a tragic one as we studied David’s arrogant taking of Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah.  Last week we discussed the punishment for David’s sin, and this week the tragedy continues.
          When the prophet Nathan confronted David with his sins, he promised that the Lord would raise up trouble for David from within his own house, and that the sword would never depart from him.  The chapters leading up to this morning’s reading fulfill that promise, and they seem like the script for a soap opera or even an R rated Hollywood tragedy. 
          David enjoys military success against the Ammonites but things at home begin to fall apart.  His first born son, Amnon, develops an incestuous attraction to his half-sister Tamar.  They have different mothers but they share David as a father.  Amnon cannot restrain himself, arranges an opportunity, and then forcibly rapes his sister.  He is distraught afterwards and casts her out.  Tamar has a full brother, Absalom and he is understandably upset about what has happened to his sister.  David, when told of the sins of Amnon, refuses to pass judgement.  Amnon is the first born, beloved son, in line for the throne, and while David is a strong military leader he is a weak father.
          Absalom is incensed at the complete lack of justice, so he arranges a little justice of his own.  He invites his brother Amnon to a party, gets him drunk, and then commands his servants to kill him.  When news arrives that Amnon is dead, David is upset and Absalom flees Jerusalem to avoid capture.
          With the death of Amnon, Absalom is now the oldest son and is next in line for the throne.  After several years pass he is invited to return to Jerusalem.  David, though, withholds his love and treats Absalom coldly.  Unwilling to wait for his turn in the throne, Absalom begins to stir up rebellion.  He spends time hanging out near the city gates, telling folks what a better king he would be than his father.  And before long he has enough men behind him to engage in a real military coup.
          Hearing word that Absalom threatens Jerusalem, David flees the city and heads to the countryside to hide out.  Absalom takes over the palace and rapes David’s concubines on the roof as a show of his power and might.  Battle begins on the outskirts of the city and even though David knows Absalom is a military threat, he cannot let go of his fatherly love for his son.  And so our reading begins, with David hoping for military success, while at the same time pleading for the life of his son.
          In our reading we find Absalom riding into battle through the forest.  It is a bit of a strange picture as his hair gets caught in a tree.  Absalom was a vain man and earlier in the text we read about how famous he was for his long heavy hair.  It is a poetic scene as Absalom is hanging helpless, trapped between heaven and earth.  His position is the essence of vulnerability, will he live or will he die?  Will he be treated with the arrogance and cruelty he showed others, or will he receive grace and mercy?
          Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann makes some insightful observations of this text, noting that Absalom’s suspension between heaven and earth reflects the tensions in which the narrative itself now stands suspended.  He writes, “Absalom is suspended between life and death, between the sentence of a rebel and the value of a son, between the severity of the king and the yearning of the father.”
          At first it appears as if Absalom might be spared.  A man from David’s troops sees him hanging in space, but leaves him alone as David has commanded.  Joab, David’s good friend and right hand man, thinks better of it though.  He is sure the king is wrong, the rebellion must be stopped, and so he takes it into his own hands to kill Absalom.  While it is certainly violent, it is also certainly an act of loyalty to the kingdom.  Even though David cannot see it, Joab knows that Absalom must be killed for the rebellion to be stopped.
          With the death of their leader the rebellion is over.  Runners come to tell David the news and though he is eager to hear of victory in battle, he is afraid to hear of the death of his son.  When he realizes that Absalom has been killed David is overcome by his grief.  In one of the most moving scenes in our scriptures, David crumples to the floor weeping, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom!  Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”  
          David is undone by the death of Absalom and unable to act as king.  In the chapter beyond this morning’s reading Joab once again encourages David to do the right thing.  The father can mourn, but the king needs to lead.  There has been a military victory and David’s job is to stand out front and greet the victorious troops.  If he cannot muster the courage to do it, Joab warns David that he will not be king for much longer.  Eventually David swallows his grief, rises and takes his place as king, to welcome home the warriors that have killed his son in battle.
          In today’s story we find David’s sins fully come home to roost.  It is a tragedy of epic proportions and it is an awful mess.  It is also a story that is extremely relevant in our own lives today.  From the ways that children seem to echo the sins of their parents, to the deep parental love that defies all logic, to the complicated roles of grace and justice; all of the pieces in today’s story are alive and well in our own world.
          We talked last week about how the sin that we commit, though forgiven by our Lord, still has consequences in our world.  Like dropping a stone into a pool of water, our own arrogant and sinful behaviors reverberate in the world around us.  David has sown the seeds of arrogance and violence in his family.  His sons have seen his behavior and though they have also witnessed his suffering, they are well aware of his ability to argue his sin away.  It is no wonder that they follow his example of arrogance and violence. 
          David’s inability to act as a king in this story is also very understandable.  His desire to switch places with his son is keenly felt by all parents who watch their children suffer.  Even children who make poor choices and bring suffering upon themselves are loved in this way.  How many parents would willingly take the place of a child who has set themselves on a self-destructive path?  Such is the deep love that David has for his sons Absalom and Amnon.  Throughout the story David fails to rule as king because he is so wrapped up in his grieving as a father.
          Finally there is the question of justice.  Like the reality of our own lives, there are no easy answers in this story.  The behavior of David’s sons is a natural consequence of David’s own actions.  When David refuses to deal with Amnon and secure justice for Tamar, it is up to Absalom to make things right.  Arranging the murder of his brother may not have been the best choice, but is David’s willingness to ignore the rape of his own daughter a better option?
          The same goes for the role of Joab in the story.  Is he a callus murderer as he takes the life of Absalom, hanging vulnerably in the balance?  Or is he a faithful and loyal general, doing the best thing for his country when his king is not strong enough to take action?  In the mess that David has made, it is hard to find a clear right and wrong.  It is hard to find an easy answer.
          So often I hear people tell me that they Bible has little relevance in their own lives.  I think they just don’t read the Bible!  Our story of David and his sons is a very modern tale.  So many of our lives reflect the elements of this story.  So many of us turn around at some point and wonder, “How did I get in this awful mess?”  And so many of us find ourselves in a place where there is no black and white, and the answers of life are not clear.
          When I imagine David weeping over the death of his son, I imagine he is also weeping in grief for his own actions and his own responsibility in the story.  In fact, I can also imagine him weeping for the whole of humanity.  For this is the world we have created, this is the way we treat each other.  Read the newspaper any morning and you will find arrogance and violence come home to roost on a global scale.  Like David, I weep for all of humanity.  What an awful mess we have made.
          So where does that leave us?  There is little mention of God in the story, and in fact God has been left out of today’s reading entirely.  Like much of our own lives, God is simply a silent figure in the shadows of the mess that is David’s life.  Thankfully we have another voice to add to the story this week; the voice that we find in Psalm 130.
          Tradition holds that many of the psalms were written by David, and whether that is true or not, I imagine that this psalm could have been written on the very night David hears of the death of Absalom.  Out of the depths the psalmist cries to God, “O Lord, hear my voice!”  The psalmist is clear that his sins are many, and is also clear that he hopes for forgiveness in the Lord.  Though it feels like the end of the world, the psalmist continues to hope for God to make things right.  “My soul waits for the Lord . . . O Israel, hope in the Lord!”
          When we reflect on the mess of our own world; and the messes in our own families, in our own lives, I would counsel us to heed the words of the psalmist.  Wait for the Lord, hope in the Lord.  For surely with God there is steadfast love, surely with God there is forgiveness and redemption.  Surely with God there is a way to clean up the awful mess that we have made.
Today we gather at the communion table.  This is an excellent opportunity to be reminded of our hope in the Lord.  This is a chance to remember the promises of Jesus Christ of new life and redemption.  This is the time to experience the presence of God with us, nourishing us, even when our lives are in the depths, even when we are in an awful mess.
          It has been a long summer following the ups and downs of our king.  Next Sunday we will complete this series, and we will find the grace that we so long for this morning.  For unlike his brothers the next king to reign in Israel takes after his father in a good way, a king who has a heart for the Lord.  Amen.

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