It is not always true that we are in the right place at the right time. However every now and then we are. This seems to be one of the truths in today’s scripture. In 1 Samuel, David is put forth as a hero and Godly man. He is a confident of his abilities, a good musician, loyal to Saul, and an excellent soldier. I cannot help but wonder if he was not also somewhat self possessed though there is no such statement yet. We will see that later when he steals another man’s wife. For now he is simply viewed as a hero anointed secretly to take Saul’s place.
Saul on the other hand is insecure of his position. He bears the title, king, but is out of favor with the prophet Samuel and thus God or vice versa. He is threatened by David and Saul's acts of treachery are seen in these passages as an evil spirit put on him by God. I find this an odd understanding but perhaps it comes from the notion that a King serves at God’s pleasure and falls by the same.
Repeatedly Saul’s plans of treachery fail. Both Jonathan and Michel give away the planned treachery so that David may flee. Both are the children of Saul and show a loyalty to a moral code of protecting the more innocent here. It is not so much that they speak truth to power as it is that they scheme in the background for the preservation of good. They are understood to be moral agents here.
The Book of Acts shows a similar thwarting of monarchical power. Herod is historically known to have been mostly about self preservation. He killed his own children to preserve his thrown. What is James or Peter to him? They become inconvenient to his reign, a trade off for loyalty and some civic peace. The moral agent is an angelic figure who sets Peter free from Herod’s grip. Peter will only visit for a moment the home of Mary, mother of John Mark (the author of Mark’s Gospel). He thus informs them that their prayers have been answered. He will not stay and thus threaten them with Herod’s actions.
We have here a quiet passage that reminds us that faith comes at significant cost, one dead, one freed, all threatened perhaps. Yet that is often the trade off for a faithful and moral life. In order to experience a spiritual and moral existence one will trade. We may not all agree on the full content of such a life, but we learn quickly that to stand for some ethic is to stand against its lack in some realm of power. Herod will lie, cheat and kill for power. Peter will take his lumps for the claim God has on him and he on God.
The model for this we see in Jesus in the Gospel. He is an arena of wholeness. Where he shows up, healing happens. Even roofs are opened to let the needy in and the light out. The usual cultural religion struggles to take this in. Part of this healing is the absolution of sin, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” The usual cultural religion understands only God forgives sins. So what does it mean when this forgiveness comes in our flesh? Has God erupted among us? If God has erupted among us, what does that mean? “We never saw anything like this before.”
Well yes and no. The moral fiber of Michel and Jonathan are this to a lower degree. Peter’s concern not to endanger his friends is another. Moral fiber always is.
The greater degree in Jesus in the Gospel is the full setting right of those perceived to carry cultural sin, the paralytic for one. Here at the very beginning of Mark we are invited to watch the effect of not just good, but a higher degree which will change our understanding. The question is not simply left at who has sinned. It becomes, how does wholeness come into our midst? How do we align with it? Might it have to do with aligning with the power to forgive?
No comments:
Post a Comment