Archive for the ‘1 Samuel’ Category

The kingdom of God is like a weed

June 16, 2018

Pentecost 4 – 2018

Mark 4:26-34

Marian Free

In the name of God, creator of the universe, source of all life and love. Amen.

Mustard

 

 

 

 

A story that I used to read my children goes like this:

There was once a father and a mother, six handsome little boys, five lovely little girls and a chubby baby who lived in a house in the middle of town. “I’d be a happy man,” said the father, “if I had a house the right size for my family.”

The mother baked all day in the kitchen.

The boys fought on the verandah.

The girls played “shops” in the parlour.

And the baby crawled all over the place.

 

“There’s no room to move in my house,” the father said to the mayor. “What can I do?” “Ask Grandma to come and stay,” said the mayor. “That’s what you can do.”

Grandma came. Straight away she began washing in the laundry. Grandpa came with her. Straight away he began to mend his car in the garage.

The mother baked more food in the kitchen.

The boys fought on the verandah.

The girls played “shops” in the parlour.

And the baby crawled all over the place.

 

“There’s no room to move in my house,” the father said to the mayor. “What can I do?” “Ask Uncle John to come and stay,” said the mayor. “That’s what you can do.” Uncle John came. Straight away he sat down by the fire and put his feet on the mantelshelf. His dog came with him. He lay down on the mat by the door.

Grandma did more washing in the laundry.

Grandpa kept on mending his car in the garage.

The mother baked even more food in the kitchen.

The boys fought on the verandah.

The girls played “shops” in the parlour.

And the baby crawled all over the place.

 

“There’s no room to move in my house,” the father said to the mayor. “What can I do?” “Ask Aunt Debbie to come and stay,” said the mayor. “That’s what you can do.” Aunt Debbie came. Straight away she washed her hair in the bathroom and made her face beautiful. Her cat came too. It chased Uncle John’s dog.

Uncle John sat by the fire with his feet on the mantelshelf.

Grandma did even more washing in the laundry.

Grandpa kept on mending his car in the garage.

The mother baked more than a lot of food in the kitchen.

The boys fought on the verandah.

The girls played “shops” in the parlour.

And the baby crawled all over the place.

 

“There’s no room to move in my house,” the father said to the mayor. “What can I do?” Ask your cousin’s children to come and stay,” said the mayor. “That’s what you can do.” The cousin’s children came. There were six lively boys and six sweet girls.

The six lively boys played football with the boys on the verandah.

The six sweet girls played hide-and-seek with the girls in the parlour.

Aunt Debbie washed her hair in the bathroom and made her face beautiful. Her cat chased Uncle John’s dog.

Uncle John sat by the fire with his feet on the mantelshelf.

Grandma did even more washing in the laundry.

Grandpa kept on mending his car in the garage.

The mother baked even more than a lot of food in the kitchen.

And the baby crawled all over the place.

 

“There’s no room to move in my house,” the father said to the mayor. “What can I do?” “Send all the visitors home,” said the mayor. “That’s all you need to do.”

 

The cousins went home.

Aunt Debbie went home. She took her cat.

Uncle John went home. He took his dog.

Grandpa went home. He took Grandma with him in his car.

The six handsome little boys stopped playing to wave good-bye.

The five lovely little girls stopped playing to wave good-bye.

The mother picked up the baby to wave good-bye.

The father waved good-bye, then sat down in his favourite chair. “I’m a happy man,” he said. “My house is exactly the right size for my family.”[1]

The bible is far too serious to include stories like this that are both absurd and humorous – or is it?

I think that we often overlook the humour in our scriptures because we have been brought up to believe that scripture is the word of God and that God is a humourless being. God, the creator of heaven and earth is far too majestic a figure to have sport with mere human beings – or so we think. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, if we are open to the possibility we will see that the bible makes it very clear that God has a wonderful and robust sense of humour. Think of today’s Old Testament reading – God sends Samuel off to choose a new king. First of all God tells Samuel to engage in deceit – to lead the elders of Bethlehem to believe that he has come to offer sacrifices. Then when Samuel makes Jesse produce all his sons, one by one, God rejects them all in turn. Finally Samuel makes Jesse bring David, the youngest in from the field and God reveals that he is the chosen one. Then there is the story Jonah who is swallowed by a giant fish, or the last chapters of Job in which God appears to take delight in reciting all the wonderful things that God has done. I could go on and on. The bible makes such good reading because its writers have used hyperbole and comedy to get our attention and to make the stories inviting and repeatable.

Today’s gospel is one such example. “The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed,” Jesus says. Now no Palestinian in their right mind would plant a mustard seed. Mustard was a common weed. It sprang up everywhere, spread like wild fire and was difficult to eradicate. The kingdom of God is like a weed – that must have brought a smile to those who were listening. But it doesn’t end there. Jesus goes on to suggest that this common, scrappy weed grows to be the greatest of all the shrubs with large branches that provide shade in which the birds can nest! No doubt Jesus’ audience laughed out loud at this point – the image is so absurd – birds sheltering under mustard – impossible! (Matt Skinner )

Why not compare the kingdom of God to the great cedar of Lebanon – that would have made more sense? Mustard – the kingdom of God is like a common mustard bush – that’s just ridiculous.

Jesus uses humour to grab the attention and to subvert the expectations of the listeners. The absurdity of the imagery will not only make them laugh, it will also serve to move them to a new way of viewing God’s kingdom. Contrary to their expectations, the kingdom of God will not come with a shout and a bang. Its coming won’t be dramatic and showy. Like an unwanted weed the kingdom will simply spring up all over the place and quietly and gradually it will take over. Before we know it, the kingdom will be everywhere.

Jesus pairs this parable with a second comparing the kingdom to another ordinary, unexceptional event – that of a seed growing. Just as mustard spreads and takes over without any help from us, so a seed once planted, quietly does its own thing with or without our interference. We don’t have to worry about the kingdom – God has it well in hand.

So you see, we don’t always have to take the gospels seriously, we don’t always have to find deeper meanings or make the texts fit our pre-conceptions.  Sometimes we can simply take the texts at face value – simple stories about simple facts. Mustard is a weed that grows prolifically; seeds have their own mechanisms for shooting and growing.

The point is this – the kingdom of God is not necessarily a grand affair heralded by trumpets, adorned with magnificent buildings and filled with important people. It is as ordinary and insignificant as a weed, quietly taking over, pushing its way into unlikely and unexpected places and growing inexorably until it spreads throughout the world and it does all this without our help.

We need to take our scriptures less seriously and perhaps more importantly we need to take ourselves less seriously.  The kingdom does not depend on us. God has it all in hand, we can relax, have a laugh and leave it all to God.

[1]A traditional tale, re-told by Jean Chapman in Tell me a Tale: Stories, songs and things to do. Hodder and Stoughton, Australia, 1974, 86-89.

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Uneasy childhoods

December 26, 2015

Christmas 1 – 2015

Luke 2:41-52

Marian Free

In the name of God whose unconventional choices transform the world. Amen.

The readings from 1 Samuel and from Luke tell the stories of two young boys – Samuel and Jesus – whose childhoods are anything but conventional. Two boys – born generations apart whose stories are remarkably similar and yet vast different. Both were conceived in miraculous circumstances, both were separated from their family, both were found in the house of the Lord, both were doing God’s will and both were destined to play significant part in the life of God’s people. Two boys who stories coincide, but whose experiences, personalities and roles are entirely different.

Samuel is the son of Hannah and Elkanah. Samuel’s mother, Hannah was her husband’s second wife. Elkanah already had children and he loved Hannah even though she was childless. However, Hannah was desperate for children of her own – both to remove the sense of shame that she felt and also to remove the disdain in which Elkanah’s first wife held her. Hannah was desperate and, in the house of the Lord, she prayed fervently for a child. As she prayed, she made a commitment to God that if her prayer was answered she would dedicate her son to God’s service.

According to the story, it is only when the child is born that she tells Elkanah of her promise. Elkanah accepts her decision but asks that the child remain at home until he is weaned.

Even so Samuel can have been no older than four when his parents took him to the house of the Lord and abandoned him to be raised by a complete stranger who was old enough to be his grandfather. Apart from a yearly visit, Hannah and Elkanah have no more to do with the raising of Samuel who seems to accept and to adapt to his new life and to obedient to his surrogate father Eli. Hannah has three more sons and two daughters as a reward for her gift to God.

This is the bible, so we are led to believe that Hannah’s behaviour is perfectly acceptable, that Samuel is perfectly acquiescent and that he experienced no long-term negative consequences as a result of his being deserted by his parents at such a young age and did not resent his siblings who presumably stayed at home with their parents). Samuel goes on the play a significant role in the life of Israel. He oversees the transition from priestly to kingly rule and it is through him that the first two kings of Israel are appointed and anointed.

Jesus’ story and Jesus’ character is completely different to that of Samuel. Jesus was, if you like, imposed on his parents rather than sought after. His parents did not abandon him he abandons them. Jesus did not willing accept his family obligations nor did he comply to societal expectations. He consistently strained against the real and perceived restrictions and limitations of living in that time and place.

In today’s gospel, Jesus is in Jerusalem. It is apparently not his first visit. His parents have brought him every year for the Passover festival. Jerusalem was a small town by our standards and no doubt as a twelve-year-old Jesus and his friends have had a degree of freedom to roam the streets. All the same, he would have known that his parents were returning home yet he chose to remain behind, oblivious to or selfishly disregarding the anxiety that his remaining would cause them. When Mary and Joseph finally discovered Jesus after days of searching the teenaged Jesus was any but apologetic, in fact, he was disrespectful to the point of being callous. He showed no compassion for his parent’s anxiety. Instead, he behaved as teenager would, by expressing surprise that they had been worried. Worse, when Mary says: “your father and I have been searching for you”, Jesus responds by saying: “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Joseph’s feelings and is role in Jesus’ life are completely ignored as his precocious son redefines his responsibilities and commitments. Jesus separated himself still further when, as an adult, he claimed that it was believers, not his natural family who were his mothers and brothers and sisters.

Again, this is scripture. The story of Jesus’ defiance is told in such a way that we are led to believe that Jesus’ behaviour in the Temple is an aberration or that it is an illustration of his recognition of his role and of his obedience to God. From now on at least until adulthood, Luke tells us that Jesus was obedient to his parents, to Mary and to Joseph.

Two stories of two very different boys chosen by God, to do God’s will – one willingly given up, the other reluctantly let go, one compliant, accommodating and obedient, the other non-compliant, non-accommodating and rebellious – both chosen by God to fulfill God’s purpose: for the people of Israel and for the salvation of the world.

The childhood stories of Samuel and Jesus remind us that God is not conventional and does not operate according to human standards. God can and does choose unusual people and unexpected situations to work out God’s will in the world. God’s chosen may or may not behave in conventional ways and may or may not conform to the expectations of the world in which they find themselves.

We would do well to withhold our judgement and suspend our expectations of others, for God in them, may take us completely by surprise.

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Flawed but chosen

June 16, 2012

Pentecost 3 – 2012

Mark 4:26-34 (1 Samuel 15:34-16:3) http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=

Marian Free

 In the name of God who chooses very ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Amen.

During the week I was talking to the moderator of the Uniting Church about today’s gospel. To her, it spoke about vocation. She equated the secret growth of the seed with the seed that God plants in our hearts and which quietly grows until it comes to maturity and we recognize what it is that God is asking us to do with our lives. You may recognize that seed in your life as the quiet tug of conscience, a sense of disquiet about the way your life is going, the conviction that you must change your career, get a new job, take on a role in the Parish or community and so on. Sometimes, this sense of call (or purpose) comes as a blinding flash of insight, but even then God will have laid the groundwork. The seed will have been sown some time before. The sudden experience of God may come as a shock, but when we look back over our lives we will probably be able to identify the ways in which God has been trying to get our attention.

The series of meditations to mark the twentieth anniversary of the ordination of women as priests (http://20thanniversarywomenpriests.wordpress.com/) in this country reminded me of my own sense of call and also gave me an opportunity to learn about the journeys of other women – ordained and lay. Many of the participants expressed a belief that God had been quietly working in their lives for some time, so that when they came to accept their vocation they could look back on their lives and see how God had been leading or prompting them until they finally acknowledged their call or responded to a more dramatic event which they could not ignore.

Today’s reading from the book of Samuel tells the story of God’s choice of David as King. As we heard last week, the people of Israel had demanded a king to rule over them so that they could be more like the neighbouring countries. The first king – Saul – was not only mad, but he also rejected God and failed to trust God so that God was determined to take the throne from him and from his heirs. Unlike the situation in Europe where royal families are often related to each other, there was no obvious family from whom to choose a replacement future king, so God sends Samuel off to find the man of God’s choice – a son of Jesse. Jesse has eight sons, all of them appearing to Samuel to have the bearing and character of a king. However, one after another they are rejected by God. The seven elder brothers pass by Samuel but not one is chosen. The youngest son is not even present. No one imagines that he is of any importance. However, despite his youth and his inexperience, David is the one whom God has chosen to be king over Israel.

Samuel had thought that of the eight sons, Eliab was the obvious choice for king, and if not him, then Abinadab or Shammah, or any one of the older sons but, despite what Samuel sees, none of them are acceptable – for God sees what we do not see. God does not judge by outward appearance, but by the heart.

Over and over again, in both the Old Testament and in the New we can see that God’s choice is not determined or limited by human standards. God chooses the younger, slyer Jacob over his brother Esau, Jacob’s second youngest son, Joseph, is the one out of the twelve brothers who is set for greatness. Moses, who by his own admission is no orator, a selected to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Ruth – the Moabite – is chosen to be the forebear of Jesus and so it goes. God chooses the most unlikely people to do

God’s work in the world.

God does not choose the good, the brave, the rich or the powerful – just the opposite. Very often God chooses the unscrupulous (Jacob), the cowardly (Jonah), the proud (Joseph), the vulnerable (David), the sinful (Moses), the outsider (Ruth) and the sulky (Elijah). Our Old Testament heroes are deceivers, murderers and adulterers – hardly the sort of people whom you would expect to have held up as exemplars of the faith and certainly not the sort of people whom we would want to set up as role models.

In the New Testament, the disciples are slightly more conventional – that is, so far as we know they do not include people as flawed as Jacob and David. We don’t think that they were murderers or adulterers. However, they are not exactly hero material either. They compete with one another to be Jesus’ favourite, they try to talk Jesus out of his mission when it gets dangerous, they push people (including children) away from Jesus and they fail to trust in him and in his sense of purpose. Peter denies him and when Jesus is arrested and crucified, the disciples are nowhere to be found. Paul, the imposing figure of the early church, is the last person you would expect to be chosen by God. He was so convinced that Jesus was a fraud that he actively persecuted those who believed and yet, without his passion and enthusiasm it is possible that the church as we know it simply would not have come to be.

All these frail and very human figures were chosen by God to do God’s work. These most unlikely heroes formed the people of Israel and ensured that the memory of Jesus lived on in the generations that were to come. These broken and very human characters were chosen because God knew what was in their hearts and of what stuff they were really made. God knew that despite their very obvious flaws, these would be the people who would be able to carry and spread the faith and, that in many cases, it would be their very frailty that would enable them to depend on God and to allow God to work through them to achieve God’s purpose for them and for the world.

God’s choice is the most extraordinary thing and not something that we can easily comprehend because God is not bound by human expectations or confined by human conventions. God chooses those who can carry out God’s purpose and God chooses them regardless of their strength, their influence, their appearance, their stature or their state of perfection.

So it is with us. We are not necessarily set apart by our piety or our goodness, but by our frailty and brokenness and our belief that despite all our imperfections, God has chosen us, God loves us and perhaps most amazing of all, God can use us to achieve God’s purpose in the world.

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