St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church

Rev. Gary Paterson

June 14, 2009

Well… today’s the beginning of a whole lot of sermons about King David. You see, the Lectionary, that ecumenical list of suggested Scripture readings for each Sunday, invites the church during the next two months to walk through the Biblical story of David. I know, I know… who cares; but I found myself thinking, what might happen if we listened to the stories about this man, and discovered how they connect to our own times, how they might become the means by which we … what?… hear a word from God; feel the nudge of the Spirit; discover something about ourselves?

David… my first memory is musical, something I must have learned in Sunday School; a simple tune that managed to get into the middle of my brain and stay there for over fifty years:

Little David, play on your harp, hallelu, hallelu

Little David, play on your harp, hallelu!

David was a shepherd boy,

He killed Goliath and … shouted for joy.

Little David, play on your harp, hallelu, hallelu

Little David, play on your harp, hallelu!
Fifty years is a long time to live with that tune… so be careful.

My next memory comes from when I was sick with the chickenpox, oh, somewhere around age 12. My mother was my nurse, applying baking soda to the itchy sores, and sticking mitts on my hands to prevent me from scratching. And she read to me. For some wonderful reason, known only to herself, my mother decided that she was going to read me the entire story of David; day by day I heard chapter after chapter of First Samuel, and Second Samuel, right on into First Kings. In the King James Version, of course. Well, I’ve been smitten ever since… who knew that stories like that were in the Bible… full of war, blood, sex, adultery, lust, greed, dancing… oh… and God, God all over the place. There’s something about David – so wildly, intensely human … a shepherd, musician, poet, fighter, outlaw, warrior, lover, father, king; there’s something so appealing about a man who is so lustful, loyal, greedy, passionate, astute, heartbroken, and in the midst of it all, so in love with God… and God with him.

David… how many of you have been lucky enough to visit Florence and see Michelangelo’s statue of David? And all of us have at least seen a picture or two… with, or without fig leaf. Or does your taste run more to the movies… imagine David looking like Gregory Peck… back in 1951. No? can’t remember what Gregory Peck looked like? A generational thing… maybe you’re more drawn to Richard Gere dancing up a storm in the middle of Jerusalem, wearing nothing but a loincloth. Adds a little visual edge to the Biblical story. Or what about music? I mean, there’s Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, with the first verse all about David….

I heard there was a secret chord,

That David played and it pleased the Lord,

But you don’t really care for music, do you?

It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth,

The minor fall, the major lift,

The baffled king, composing hallelujahs.

Or try something like “Mad about You” by Sting. Or if you like listening to alternative music, then check out the Pixies singing “Dead;” don’t know the song myself, but it turns out you could install a ring tone chorus that ends with, Uriah hit the crapper, the crapper, Uriah hit the crapper, the crapper, dead. Sidebar… we’ll get to Uriah in a few weeks… he’s the guy David had murdered in order to sleep with his wife, who was already pregnant with David’s child, and… well, remember what I said about this being an exciting story.

Or maybe TV is about all you have energy for at the end of the day… anybody been watching the new programme “Kings” on NBC? – I haven’t seen it, but supposedly it’s explicitly designed as a modern retelling of the David story. And hey, in order to keep my focus on David, all I have to do is look up… over there… no, you can’t see it from the main sanctuary, but you should check it out later … two beautiful stain glass windows, one of Samuel, the prophet who anointed David in today’s story; and then, David himself, complete with that harp…. “Little David, play on your harp, hallelu, hallelu”… I told you it was a catchy tune.

So here we go… well, no, not directly. We need a little bit of background… you remember the Israelite people leaving Egypt, wandering through the wilderness, and then finally, arriving in the Promised Land? Seemed to involve a lot of non-stop fighting… with the Moabites, the Edomites, and then, more recently with the Philistines, a sea-faring people who had settled on the Coastal plain. Those Philistines were great fighters, and in fact, were beating the Israelites hand over fist; the future of Israel was in serious question. And so the people clamoured for a king – a warrior statesman who would unite the twelve tribes and lead them to victory over the dreaded Philistines. Saul was the first choice… King Saul. But it didn’t work out, for lots of reasons, not least of which was Saul’s probable mental illness… bipolar, moving into paranoia. But that’s another sermon. What is important for our story, is that God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint a new king, someone who would eventually replace Saul and his descendents.

Now, this is where it starts getting interesting. Samuel was sent to Bethlehem to find this new king. Now, I know we think very fondly of Bethlehem, birthplace of Jesus and all that, focus of many beloved Christmas Carols. But back three thousand years, it was just another dusty little hick town… not that there’s anything wrong with that… but it’s just not the kind of place where you expect to find a king. It’s like saying the Messiah is going to be found in Chilliwack… don’t get me wrong, I think Chilliwak’s a great place… but… well, … you know.

So Samuel goes to Bethlehem… I guess you know what you’re doing, God. But then, he’s sent to the family of Jesse. Not saying anything, you know, but you do remember that Jesse is the son of Obed, who is the son of Boaz… remember? Boaz? .. the guy who married Ruth, the… um… Moabite? A foreigner; the enemy… I mean how many years have we been at war with the Moabites? More than I care to remember. Not saying that Ruth was like that…. but you know those foreign women, with all their loose ways. The House of Jesse… well… mixed blood, you know; not “ pure laine”. Not that there’s anything wrong with that… don’t get me wrong… but you gotta admit… it’s a bit …unexpected.

Well, Samuel arrives, talks to Jesse, “I wanna see your boys.” (Not the daughters you note… patriarchal times back then; not great.) So Jesse brings out Eliab. --big man; handsome, strong; natural leader. Firstborn, you know; we like to run the world. How many firstborns out there? You know what I’m talking about. And Samuel gets pretty excited, “This is the guy,” he thinks to himself. Except God interrupts, and says, “No way! Or more literally, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” Okay, so it’s not the handsome firstborn. Next comes Abinadab… those second born are often real scrappers; they’ve needed some real feistiness to survive their elder sibling. But it’s not Abinadab either. Nor is it Shammah, number three son. In fact, it isn’t any of the seven sons that Jesse presents to Samuel. Who finally asks, “Is there another son?” Well, actually, it turns out there is…. number eight, an afterthought that followed the perfect number, seven. Just a kid, left behind to take care of the sheep. So off someone goes, and asks little David to join the family, and Samuel takes one look at him and declares, “He’s the one!” The newly anointed King of Israel.

I was doing some research on David, and came across a reference to a rabbinic tradition that suggested that David was the illegitimate son of Jesse, unknown, or at least, unacknowledged. Supposedly, he was sent out into the fields, to watch the sheep, while his seven brothers went to school. Well, it’s just a tradition… and not that there’s anything wrong with being an illegitimate child... but it’s… unexpected. In fact, the whole notion that the eighth son is the chosen one is unexpected. Goes along with hanging out in a hick town with some of the mixed race folk.

Seems that when God looks at a person, God sees differently. Doesn’t use the same standards that we get caught up with… those three “A’s”… appearance, affluence and accomplishment. God sees into the heart. God notices the hurt, the guilt, the anger, and then goes underneath that, and finds the wonder, the creativity, the spirit, the potential, the uniqueness. God uses what I call “8th-son vision” to discover the depths in people who get overlooked.

He sure saw right with David. Who knew that the kid who took care of the sheep could compose something like the 23rd Psalm; and whoever imagined that such a poet could end up being King? But maybe it’s because at his very core David was connected with God. “The LORD is my shepherd… I shall not want… green pastures, still waters, a restored soul.” And this connection enabled him to live into and through fear… “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Not that there isn’t evil… or death… or sadness. But fear and despair are not the last words. Which might be important for us as a congregation to hear, as we continue to mourn the deaths of Elgin Phelps, Hugh Stansfield, Reta Chase, Max Warne, Gordon Turner, Rick Harron and Marnie Tunbridge. We’ve known a lot of death this year.

And the first action that David undertakes, according to the story, is to bring comfort to King Saul, the monarch that he is supposed to replace. What a lovely twist… sing to your supposed enemy; sing psalms of compassion and comfort; sing of God’s faithfulness.

A thousand years later another “8th-son” appeared; well, not literally… Jesus was the firstborn in his family. But he came from Nazareth… in the same category as Bethlehem and Chilliwak… not that there’s anything wrong with Nazareth (despite what Philip says…. “Can anything good ever come out of Nazareth?”). But it’s unexpected, yes? And there were hints of illegitimacy floating around Jesus... I mean, all that talk of a virgin birth… some people might well have considered Jesus to be Mary’s bastard, who survived because Joseph stepped into the breach. You have to have on a particular set of lenses to see what’s really happening with Jesus.

Jesus himself seemed to walk around wearing 8th-son glasses, choosing fishermen and tax collectors as disciples; spending time with prostitutes, lepers, and sinners; hanging out with women and children and foreigners… Samaritans, even; and that uppity Syro-Phoenician women. The invitation and challenge that Jesus offers us to go and do likewise; that is, to put on our own 8th-son glasses, and then take a deep loving look at the people all around us, trying, perhaps, to see them as Jesus would see them, as God sees them. See into their hearts; see their possibilities.

Hey, let’s pause for a moment… take a look around at the people sitting near you… down the pew; in front, behind. Who do you see if you wear 8th-son lenses? Does it change how you might connect with that person? And then, just to take it a step further, why not close your eyes, just for a moment, and visualize yourself seen through 8th-son glasses… what might God see in you? For what task might you be chosen; what many tasks might you be invited to participate in?

See this jug full of olive oil? Well, I had thought of having dozens of little bowls of oil right here on the communion table; I wondered about organizing some helpers to take them out into the congregation, so that you might anoint each other, like Samuel anointed David. But then I imagined the confusion; the potential for spilling oil all over everything; the dry cleaning bills. And when I mentioned the possibility of doing this to Tim, he freaked… too touchy-feely, icky…. no way. So I’m not going to do it; relax; but I am going to ask you to imagine what it might feel like… to be anointed, to be seen, to feel the Spirit opening you up, so that your deeper self is recognized, named; the self that is just waiting to be called into being… and maybe you didn’t even know you had it in you. Or maybe you hoped you did. And the oil of anointing confirms that it’s there; that it’s you. An 8th –son… so unexpected. Who would have guessed it?