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II Samuel 18:9-15, 24, 32-36 Luke 8:1-12
Nabal was a fool. How can I be so sure that Nabal was a fool? Because the word Nabal in Hebrew means fool. So yes, Nabal was fool. And why was Nabal a fool? He was a fool, clearly, because he was uncivil. Nabal happened to be a man of great wealth. He was possessed of three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. But this fool and his money were not soon parted. Nabal maintained his vast flock over a vast wilderness with a vast number of shepherds. David and his men by chance encountered Nabal’s operation. Now it bears repeating that whenever we are talking about the Old Testament, we are talking about violent times. Truth be told, all times are violent times. Read the news if you seek confirmation of this. All times are violent times because we are violent creatures. But regarding the Old Testament, we are talking about a certain type of violent times. I tell my students in the biblical studies class I teach each semester that I will give them extra credit if they will watch the Netflix miniseries Godless . Now why would I plug the Netflix miniseries Godless, particularly in a biblical studies class? It is because Godless is a more recent and more familiar depiction of the type of violent times of the Old Testament. Godless is set in the Old West. You all have some sense of the Old West. Outlaws, show downs, shoot outs, saloon brawls, brothels, gunslingers, horse rustlers, train robberies – all pitted against the local sheriff. That’s the type of violent times of the Old Testament. Certain conditions produce this type of violent times. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the Old Testament or the Old West. When you have people living a rough and ready existence off the land with little centralized authority and sparse law enforcement it is going to produce this type of violent times. The point is, David and his men by chance encountered Nabal’s operation. Had it been anyone but David he would have just terrorized or killed the shepherds and helped himself to the flock. But that’s not what David did. He did the opposite. David actually protected the shepherds and their flock from others who would do them violence. This was David after all. He was not molded by his violent times. He was not molded by anything. David broke the mold. He broke the mold because he could see beyond it all to the truth. It’s a pity that men such as David are one in a billion. At any rate, David and his men made a wall of protection around the shepherds and their flock day and night. David gleaned from the shepherds that their master was Nabal, and so his messenger approached Nabal for a small favor. Since it was a festival day, he asked Nabal for a few sheep so they could celebrate the festival day with a feast. Now remember, David could have just taken the sheep by force. Anybody else would have. But he approached Nabal and asked for them, and asked for them with great civility, “Peace be to you, peace be to your house, and peace be to all you have,” he entreated Nabal. What was Nabal’s response? He met David’s civility with his own incivility. His response, if you forgive the directness of my speech, was along the order of, Who the hell do you think you are asking me for my sheep? This was not just incivility. It was egregious incivility. Because it was David, after all, asking him for his sheep; David, who at this point in his career was King Saul’s most valiant warrior -- renowned throughout the kingdom. David for his part was outraged by Nabal’s response -- outraged because Nabal’s response was outrageous. David was so outraged that he was ready to kill him. And there is an important lesson here for us. When someone insults us, yes, we are going to be outraged. That’s ok. Again, we are violent creatures. It’s hardwired in us. But we also are capacitated to master it. We can be outraged, but we can master it. We must master it. Whatever it takes. For me what helps to master it is to process the outrage with a sympathetic listener. When someone sympathizes with my outrage it soothes me precisely because it sympathizes with me. This is what David did. Nabal had a wife named Abigail. She was the opposite of a fool. David was soon to praise her for her good sense. She brought him the sheep he requested and then some, every imaginable provision for a lavish feast. And she sympathized with outrage. For his incivility, he’s rightly named fool, she said to David. But he is not worth the guilt that would besmirch you should you spill his blood. And David mastered his outrage. Nabal, of course, got what was coming to him. When, arising after a night of drunken carousing, he learned what Abigail did, he was so enraged he had a heart attack and died. David married Abigail, and the world was relieved of a fool. Nabal was probably remembered for what he was, or probably closer to the mark, he was probably not remembered at all. I can scarcely imagine Abigail in the arms of David holding a torch for him. The Old Testament is teaching us a lesson here. It’s a hard lesson, and it’s a blunt lesson. The lesson is that if you are uncivil, you are a fool. You are a fool not just because you create disunity. Not just because you create hostility. Not just because you create trouble. You are a fool because you lack the prudence to act in your own interest, because there are consequences to being uncivil. You lose your reputation. You lose regard. You lose respect. And the world will count itself well rid of you. And there are no exceptions. It doesn’t matter whether you are positive your cause is just, and the opposing cause is not. It doesn’t matter whether the times are uncivil. It doesn’t matter if someone was uncivil to you first. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a bad mood. It doesn’t matter if you think you got the short end of the stick in life. It doesn’t matter if you are power up or power down. It doesn’t matter what role you have been cast to play in the human drama. It does not entitle you to be uncivil. Because Jesus Christ set the bar much higher than civility. He set the bar at love across all divides – divides of race, divides of class, divides of religion, divides even between enemies. This I command you, that you love one another. He set the bar at love inspired by him and made possible by his Spirit. That’s our ultimate goal as his disciples. So can we not at very least be civil to each other, for Christ’s sake? Amen.
I Samuel 16:6-13
What is Rebecca's Sermons?
I’ve been a preacher for more than twenty years. That means I’ve accumulated sermons – hundreds of them. Preachers in mainline denominations are expected to put great effort into a sermon. After all, it’s the mainstay of the worship service. But for all the effort, sermons really don’t get much of a hearing. Congregations tend to be insular in the first place, and on top of that the entire congregation does not turn out to hear the sermon. Not even on Easter. Sermons, especially good ones, deserve a wide hearing, a hearing as wide as the internet. So here they are. No need to worry. I’ve separated the wheat from the weeds. I hit delete on what I’ll call the sleepers. The best are here, organized by Scripture and by Occasion. They are offered for personal devotion, for Bible study, for re-preaching, for sharing – for any use to which you wish to put them. They’re all yours, with the prayer that they may uplift and enrich you and the Body of Christ.
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John 20:1-18 But why? Why did Mary stand weeping outside the tomb? There is, of course, the easy answer. Mary stood weeping outside the tomb because, arriving at the tomb, she discovered that Jesus’ body had been stolen. But that’s the easy answer. Easy answers are, as often as not, simplifications; and simplifications are, as often as not, distortions. So, let us look beyond the easy answer and ask again, Why did Mary stand weeping outside the tomb? Mary was one of those people whom nature had favored. And nature does play favorites -- that much is undeniable. Mary was tenacious, discerning, steadfast, spontaneous, courageous – not to mention brimming with natural affections. Yes, she was one of those people whom nature had favored, but sometimes that is not enough. Mary had a bad start in life, and that tends to temper even nature’s most generous gifts. When Jesus first encountered Mary, she was not of sound spirit. She was afflicted and tormented. But Jesus performed a miracle that recalled her to life. She became his passionate and devoted follower. It would seem that her past was behind her. Like with so many others Jesus encountered, Mary had been lost and now was found. But this only led her to the foot of his cross. She had endured the entire spectacle. Dark men – petty, jealous, and scheming -- closed in on him. They subjected him to a farce of a trial, and this only as a formality. They intended to see him executed from the very beginning. The disciples, for their part, panicked and scattered. What if they were next to be targeted? But not Mary. She abided with him those endless hours as he hung on the cross right through to his death agony. She watched from a distance as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus deposed his body from the cross and laid it in a tomb. Mary was shattered. She was traumatized. She was devastated. She was forced to endure the unthinkable – the death of one deeply beloved, and to malicious violence. But Mary was not entirely bereft. She still had his body. She could cleanse and anoint it, bestow upon it what loving care she could. And going forward she could become that person – the one who visits the graveside, the one who keeps memories alive, the one whose tears are never exhausted. In time she would achieve a sort of notoriety for it, but it’s the kind of notoriety no one wants. But she arrived at his tomb only to discover that his body had been stolen. So why did Mary stand weeping outside the tomb? She stood weeping outside the tomb because she had hit rock bottom. I have never hit rock bottom. If dread keeps it at bay, dread has done that much for me. But I have seen others who have. It’s a terrible thing to witness, much less to experience. A kind of derangement takes hold. They aren’t recognizable. They aren’t themselves. This is why Mary couldn’t add up two and two. She peered into the tomb and saw two angels robed in white raiment. Why are you weeping? They asked. Now they didn’t ask because they wanted to hear her theory about the graverobbers. This was not the sense of their question. Woman, why are you weeping? They were asking to convey that there was nothing to weep about. And it was the same thing when the resurrected Jesus asked the same question. Woman, why are you weeping? There’s nothing to weep about. I am alive. I am here. I am with you. Dry your tears. But Mary had hit rock bottom, so it didn’t add up. But then Jesus said something. Something cataclysmic. Something earth shattering. Something beyond description and explanation. And something right under our noses. If there’s one trait we all share, one thing we are all good at, one thing we are all GREAT at, it’s not seeing what’s right under our noses. Jesus called her by name. Mary! he said. And suddenly the truth broke in on her. Dimly, but at the same time, and paradoxically, with crystal clarity. She knew. She knew how we know most deeply – in our bones, in our guts, in our hearts. This man so beloved by her – her teacher, healer, leader, friend….he was much more than that. He was the one that time could not bind, the one that darkness could not thwart. He was the one over whom death had no dominion. He was the one she declared him to be. He was the Lord. And he called her by name . Rock bottom? There was no rock bottom. There was only hope, consolation, meaning, purpose, direction, relief, and rejoicing. From his height to her depth, he called her by name. Rock bottom? She now had good news to proclaim, and she proclaimed it for all she was worth. Friends in Christ, her good news is our good news. No matter what you’ve done, what you are doing, or what you will do. No matter how low you fall. No matter how deep you sink. No matter how bad you’re stuck. His deliverance has your name on it. His triumph has your name on it. His love has your name on it. So let us call him by name – Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 
I Samuel 16:4-5 Matthew 5:9 To set the scene for our Old Testament lesson -- Tension was rife. Anxiety was rife. Dread was rife. And why? It was because there was conflict, and conflict produces tension. Conflict produces anxiety. Conflict produces dread. And let’s not pretend that it doesn’t. The hold outs among us might stick their chests out and assert that conflict has no effect on them -- that they are immune from conflict. But personally, I’m a bit skeptical. As I’ve mentioned before, in my various vocations and avocations, I have been subjected to psychological tests. And not just a few of them. And one of the areas that is tested is how you react to conflict – whether you are conflict tolerant or conflict intolerant. According to the tests, I am conflict tolerant, as conflict tolerant as one can be. According to the tests, there is nothing that makes me more comfortable, and more relaxed, and more at ease than conflict. Conflict? Bring it on. There’s nothing I relish more. At least according to the tests. But why is it that in the face of conflict, I become preoccupied. I can’t get it off my mind. I become sleepless. I toss and turn at night. And I feel an enormous sense of relief when the conflict is resolved. So, in my own experience at least, conflict produces tension. Conflict produces anxiety. Conflict produces dread. And that leads us back to our Old Testament Lesson. Talk about conflict! But to understand it, we must back up a bit. In fact, we must back up quite a bit. We all know that Moses received the Ten Commandments atop Mt. Sinai. We all know that with the Ten Commandments in hand, Moses wandered with the people in the wilderness for forty years toward the Promised Land. But we might not all know what happened next. What happened next is that Moses died. Moses was succeeded by Joshua, who conquered the Promised land. And after that? The people settled onto the Promised Land. Since the people were comprised of twelve tribes they settled into the Promised Land accordingly. Each tribe deployed itself on a parcel of land. And they all lived happily ever after. Or not. Problems emerged in short order. The tribes did not get along. Surprise, surprise, the strong tribes picked on the weak ones. Why is it that at all times, and in all places, the strong pick on the weak? But that’s another question. Bottom line, there was disunity among the tribes. Beyond that, they were twelve tribes who each deployed itself on a parcel of land. But they were surrounded by enemies, enemies that had not been wandering around in the wilderness for the past 40 years. Enemies who were trained to fight. So, the people were threatened from within and from without. The closest thing that they had to a leader was Samuel, so they demanded of Samuel a king, a king to unify them and protect them from their enemies. Samuel listened to their demand and anointed King Saul. King Saul was the man of the hour. He was a standout. He stood head and shoulders above all others, was strikingly handsome, and teamed with charisma. He was clearly meant to be. So once again, they all lived happily ever after. Or not. There was something wrong with Saul. Now sometimes when there is something wrong with someone it’s obvious, it’s easy to name – as in the case with addiction, or physically abuse, or mental illness. But sometimes it’s not obvious. Ask twelve scholars what was wrong with Saul, you’ll get twelve different answers. For whatever reason, he proved not to be the stuff of it. He had some fatal flaw. Was it his temper? Was it his jealousy? Was it his paranoia? Was it his anger? Was it his desperation? Because all those things can prove to be fatal flaws. In that last analysis, it doesn’t matter what was wrong with King Saul – simply that there was something wrong with him. Predictably, those closest to him saw it first. But no one else was inclined to believe them. They believed what they wanted to believe, what was easiest to believe. And this is how it goes. The ones closest see it first, and no one is inclined to believe them. Moveover, they didn’t want to face the fact that King Saul was one big false start. But King Saul had some fatal flaw. And fatal flaws are fatal. King Saul deteriorated. It became increasingly difficult to deny. Conflict was brewing. It was not yet open conflict. Soon it would be and in terms too horrific to describe. But rumors were circulating. The atmosphere became charged, and not in a good way. Not one knew just how the thing would play out, but everyone sensed that it would not end well. And that brings us to our Old Testament Lesson. Samuel arrived in Bethlehem, unannounced, unexpected -- in full vestment and with full retinue. What did he want? Why did he single them out? What had they done wrong? Was he there to exact vengeance? In a spark would they all be dead? To set the scene for our Old Testament lesson -- Tension was rife. Anxiety was rife. Dread was rife. And why? It is because there was conflict, and conflict produces tension. Conflict produces anxiety. Conflict produces dread. And so, the people approached Samuel with a question. It was the right question. It was the key question. It was the decisive question. It was this question: Do you come in peace? If you remember one thing about this passage, if you remember one thing about the whole book of Samuel, remember this question. Do you come in peace? Because the people’s question to Samuel is the people’s question to us. Do we come in peace? In the face of conflict do we come in peace? Do we come in peace, or do we come bearing blame for things for which we know we are full well complicit? Do we come in peace, or do we come exacting retribution demanding an eye for an eye? Do we come in peace, or do we come rehearsing old grievances, resentments, jealousies, and grudges? Do we come in peace, or do we come pressing our advantage -- power up, poised to defeat? Because the people’s question to us is also Christ’s question to us? Do we come in peace? Have we gone that extra mile for the one who has burdened us? Have we turned the other cheek? Have we declined to let the sun set on our anger? Have we made peace with our accusers? Do we come in peace? For Christ declares that the peacemakers would be blest, and that through them, but only through them, would his kingdom grow. Amen.
Galatians 5:22-23 Luke 21: 1-4 Permit me to boast on my sons Herry and Adam for a bit. We recently vacationed in Door County. We had never been before. Door County is a really awesome place. It’s stunningly beautiful. There are endless fun things to do. And everyone is in a great mood because everyone is on vacation. We were seated at a restaurant. A spirit of bonhomie pervaded the place. I noticed a particularly jovial family at a table nearby. The family resemblance made it clear that the family was comprised of a matriarch, her two sons, and her two sons’ wives. The star of the family, however, was their dog. That’s another really awesome thing about Door County. Dogs are permitted in restaurants. Seated at their feet was a Cane Corso with an official looking harness that closely resembled a uniform. On it was embossed the name Zeus. You may not know anything about Cane Corsos because they’re a rare breed. They happen to be one of the oldest breeds. They served as auxiliary warriors in the Roman Empire, so you can imagine how impressive Zeus was. And he was perfectly trained, staring nobly and impassively ahead of him. What a great family, I thought to myself. But suddenly a minor disaster struck. One of the women picked up her purse upside down and its entire contents fell out, including countless coins which went rolling in every direction. It was as though the boys were seated in ejector seats. They sprang into action chasing down her purse contents and her coins. “Why thank you!” the woman exclaimed, surprised. Her husband called out, “Let the boys keep the coins.” “They aren’t doing it to be rewarded,” I said. “They are doing it because I am raising them up to be Good Samaritans.” “Let them keep them anyway,” he persisted. “They won’t accept them,” I said. And they didn’t. The woman then thanked them again profusely. They boys said, “You’re welcome,” and we returned to our respective meals. A couple minutes later, my daughter May whispered in my ear, “Mom, that woman is beaming at us.” I looked up. She was beaming at us. I am not used to being beamed at. It is a little embarrassing. Her husband said, “Would you like to pet Zeus?” “Yes!” we all exclaimed. “Zeus, free,” he commanded. Zeus dutifully arose and, oozing noblesse oblige, suffered himself to be petted. The woman who had been beaming at us came over and said, “Your boys just made my day.” “You hear so much on the news about how horrible everything and everyone is.” “Well, you made my day,” I returned. “You validated what I am trying to teach my boys, namely that being helpful and respectful goes a long way with people.” From there we chalked up a conversation. “Where are you folks from?” I asked. “Elmhurst, Illinois,” they answered. My jaw dropped. “Where are you folks from?” they asked in return. “Elmhurst, Illinois,” I said. I was raised in Elmhurst, Illinois and lived there for over fifty years before moving to Wisconsin recently. All of a sudden, our encounter became a God thing. Because coincidences are as often as not God things. The Bible talks all about signs. It says they’re real. And one sign is a coincidence. Lest you think I am naïve or gullible on this score, I have Soren Kierkegaard is on my side. And who is Soren Kierkegaard, you might ask? Soren Kierkegaard is one of the greatest theologians that Christendom has ever produced. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Augustine, Athanasius, Luther, Calvin…Soren Kierkegaard is every inch their equal. And Soren Kierkegaard once wrote, “Coincidence is the divine incognito.” I am done boasting on my sons, and even though I love boasting on my sons, there is moral to this story. It is this. You don’t need to move heaven and earth to be a good Christian. You don’t need establish world peace or discover a cure for cancer. You just need, within your sphere of influence, to reflect love, joy, peace, patience, forbearance, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Because think about Jesus for a moment. Did you ever wonder why he taught so often in simple parables? It’s because his audience was the people of the earth, the Am ‘Haaretz as the Bible calls them. The people of the earth were kind of a combination of peasants and farmers. They were the common people. And Jesus didn’t teach them in his parables to overthrow Rome and establish the New Jerusalem. He taught them that they were the salt of the earth. He taught them not to worry so much about the things of this life. He taught them to seek after the kingdom of God. He taught them that their efforts mattered. He taught them to let their light shine. And speaking of Jesus, let’s reflect a little about our New Testament lesson. No, let’s reflect a lot about our New Testament lesson. Because it’s dumbfounding. Jesus was at the temple. Now the temple was a place of massive import. It was at the heart of Jerusalem. It was steeped in historical, political, and religious significance. It was a magnificent building. It was a place to be, so everyone was there. There were the religious authorities, the Sadducees, who presided over the sacrifices. There were those who made the sacrifices. There were pilgrims from all over the Diaspora. There were the people who came to be seen -- the rich and the powerful who made their flamboyant donations to the treasury. There were the people who came to gape at the rich and powerful as they made their flamboyant donations to the treasury. The place was, to put it mildly, a hub of activity. It would be hard to find the story line amidst all that activity. It would be like trying to find the story line at Time Square. But Jesus didn’t have any trouble finding the story line. The story line was poor, elderly, widow who made her way to the treasury to donate her pittance. I am surprised she had the temerity to be there in the first place poor -- elderly widow. She was of such negligible consequence, amidst all those other players. Imagine her standing in line with the rich and powerful. Probably what emboldened her is that she knew she was utterly invisible. But she wasn’t invisible to Jesus. To Jesus she was the story line. Her donation might have been small. It wasn’t going to get a wing of the temple named after her. But that’s not the point. The point is that she gave freely with the little she had. She gave faithfully with the little she had. She gave generously with the little she had. And that was enough for Jesus. And we too can be enough for Jesus if we emulate her example. Amen.
