Monday, February 22, 2010

Visions From Our Story: Success Can Get in the Way of the Promise

The wisdom of King Solomon (the king who followed David) was legendary. He expanded the kingdom's borders and secured trade which enriched the nation. He built the Temple in Jerusalem. Even today his name still evokes images of wealth and power (the movie King Solomon's Mines is just one such example). One would think then that Solomon's tenure as king would have been the time when the promise, even if it was not fulfilled, would have become evident in the lives of God's people. Unfortunately, once again, that would not be the case. Instead Solomon, for all of his wisdom began to see the promises of God as his personal possession intended to benefit him alone.

Solomon's beginnings were in many ways a mixed bag of both death and discernment. On the one hand he became king through the machinations of his mother Bathsheba (Solomon was not the oldest of King David's sons…but Bathsheba was David's favorite wife) and others close to his father King David. Solomon then had his rivals and their supporters either executed or exiled (I Kings 1-2). On the other hand one of his initial acts as king was to pray not for wealth or power but for wisdom (I Kings 3:3-9). The Bible tells us that God was so pleased with this prayer that God granted Solomon the power and riches for which he did not pray along with a large dose of long life.

It would be easy at this point to buy into the carefully crafted image that Solomon was the most wise and benevolent ruler by which God's people were ever privileged to be governed. That image was crafted by telling stories of his wisdom at work (the famous "cut the baby in two pieces" story…I Kings 3), the awe of other rulers at his wealth (the visit by the Queen of Sheba…I Kings 10) and ultimately by his building of the Temple in Jerusalem (I Kings 6-9). The claim that he wrote the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes additionally enhances the picture of Solomon as the perfect ruler.

There is however a second tradition which tells a different story. In this tradition Solomon became the epitome of the kind of king against which Samuel the prophet warned the people (I Samuel 8). How so? To begin with Solomon conscripted his own people without pay in order to build all of his famous cities (essentially making them short term slaves). He forcibly recruited others into his service at the palace. He taxed the people at extraordinary levels in order to pay for his excessive lifestyle. Finally and most importantly he married the daughters of foreign kings and allowed them to bring their gods with them into the palace (I Kings 11). Eventually Solomon began worshipping these other gods. That act would ultimately set the stage for the undoing of all that Solomon and his wisdom had accomplished.

It has often been said that success can be an organization's worst enemy. Success can cause an organization to lose its way and focus. This is what happened to Solomon. He saw his success as his success and not as God's blessing. Our challenge then is to be wary of our own success (more members, meeting the budget, serving the community) in such a way that we are continually asking, how are we being faithful to God's calling to be releasing, renewing and restoring the world? True wisdom is not measured in the bottom line, but is measured in our faithfulness to God's vision for our life together.

John

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Visions From Our Story: the Past Was Never Perfect for the Promise

They had it all. The nation of Israel was independent. Their enemies were defeated. There were no great world empires to contend with. David, who was "a man after God's own heart", was acknowledged as king by all of the tribes of Israel. There was a national capital at Jerusalem which housed not only the king's palace but the Ark of the Covenant…the icon of the nation's religious identity. In addition God gave, through the prophet Nathan, a promise to King David that one of his descendants would rule the nation for ever. (II Samuel 7). This then should have been the moment when the promise of God to release, renew and restore the world ought to be unleashed on the world. Yet it was not. So what went wrong?

In some ways we might simply say that the time was not right. The nation itself though living under King David was, as we will discover, still very much divided by its ancient tribal allegiances. The people of God still were not at a place where they could see themselves as a single, coherent community. While there was political stability, it would prove to be temporary.

A second reason why this would not be the time of God's blessing flowing to the world is that David, though a mighty warrior was rather incompetent when it came to ruling his nation or running his family. David had the ability to motivate people to great deeds. He had the integrity to show appropriate deference to his predecessor Saul. He had the cunning to survive threats from every direction. Yet he was not an administrator. He established no means for running his empire. This led to corruption, betrayal and the deaths of many innocent people.

David did not have the ability to control his family as well. He watched as one son raped one of his daughters, and then another son killed the rapist. Neither was adequately punished by David. We are never completely clear as to David's reasons for such behavior. However we might assume it was based on how own behavior as regards Bathsheba. David committed adultery with Bathsheba, then had her husband (a very loyal soldier) killed in battle with Israel's enemies. It was as if David's guilt over that incident paralyzed him from taking appropriate action as regards his family.

In the end, while David's tenure as King was often lifted up as the best of times, it was in many ways far from it. There were unresolved issues which would haunt the kingdom for generations; which is perhaps where we ought to turn with our vision seeking process.

There is a tendency in many churches to look to the past in order to find a vision for the future. People believe that there was a mythical time in which everything was perfect in the life of the church and if we could only return to that time everything would be fine. The problem with such a belief is that our mythical times were never perfect. There were issues which divided churches and relationships. There were failings on the part of staff and session. The challenge of any vision seeking congregation is to take the best of the past and combine it with God's plans for the future. God is always pointing us forward toward a deeper and more faithful life in community. So let's mine the past and seek Christ's future that we might be ever more faithful with each passing year.

John

Monday, February 8, 2010

Visions From Our Story: The Promise Looks Promising

Last week we witnessed the Prophet Samuel anoint a king for Israel. Samuel, under God's directing located a man named Saul, anointed him and helped him become king. The rest of Saul's story is not all that pretty. He began to suffer from fits of rage and insecurity. He was buffeted by enemies who threatened his kingdom and his people. He was threatened as well by the growing popularity of a guy named David, who seemed to be a far more charismatic leader than Saul. Ultimately, out of desperation Saul turned to a witch to summon the by then, long dead Samuel in order to get some assistance. Instead of offering help the ghost of Samuel revealed that God was no longer supporting Saul and his days were numbered. Saul's end came in battle, when faced with certain defeat and capture by the Philistines he took his own life. Thus Israel was once again left without a king or a leader. You can find this story in I Samuel chapters 10-31.

It is at this point in the story it would appear that the Promise of God to release, renew and restore the world (which is to come through Israel) appears to be at risk. The Philistines are triumphant and the people of Israel are once again living in fear and submission. What I did not mention above however was that intertwined with Saul's story was the beginnings of David's story. As Saul began to lose God's favor, God chose another soon-to-be leader for Israel…a young man named David. Samuel, before his death, secretly anointed David to follow Saul.

David's rise to kingship was not without problems. The family and supporters of Saul believe that they are the rightful heirs to the kingship. What followed was a dreadful Civil War between David and Saul's forces. David finally emerged triumphant and was acknowledged as king. He then turned his efforts to dealing with Israel's enemies. Demonstrating his ability as a tactician he defeated the Philistines, captured Jerusalem and then conducted a series of campaigns against Moab, Edom and other local kings that secured peace for Israel.

David understood that political and military victory however was not enough to secure his position. He needed religious affirmation as well. David accomplished this by bringing the Ark of the Covenant (which w as a sign of God's presence) into Jerusalem. Thus Jerusalem became not only the City of David (belonging to David and not to a tribe) but the center of worship for Israel. David thus managed to merge political and religious power in a single location.

At this moment in the story everything appears to be perfectly situated for The Promise of God (to bless the whole world) to be fulfilled. There is political and military peace. The Kingdom of David is secure. But as we will see human nature is going to get in the way. The kingship of David which portended great things never quite lived up to its potential.

For the moment then, perhaps what this story ought to teach us is to celebrate our successes. As we work with Christ to fulfill The Promise we ought to take the time to savor simple victories in which lives are changed, our community is built up and God's love is lived out. In this way we will be encouraged to continue to make a difference for Christ in the world even when life around us is not perfectly lived.

John