Saturday 28 May

1 Samuel 21:1-23:29

David does act pretty weird sometimes.  He lies his pants off when he meets Ahimelech (thereby getting Ahimelech killed), he nicks God’s bread from the tabernacle and then, in an act that sounds like it comes from Scooby Doo, he acts like a dribbling madman in order to escape from the king of Gath.  The verdict of the bible - that he has a heart like God - is starting to look very generous indeed.  But hasn’t that always been the way with God?  Isn’t that the way with the church?  We bodge-up everything he gives us and yet he still calls us his radiant bride.  And David also took in Abiathar the Nobber and welcomed all those who were in distress or in debt or discontented.  He didn’t turn away the hurt or the broken.  He made them into a rabble for justice, a rabble for God.  And hasn’t that always been the way with God.  Isn’t the the way for the church?  To be known as a refuge for the distressed and the debt-ridden.  To be known as the rabble who welcome all and who empower all to engage with their God and inflict heavy losses on the Philistines.  I think David really did have a heart like God, and the church does too, even if it looks like it has saliva running down its beard.

John 18:1-24

They fell to the ground.  As an incidental detail, it is fairly epic.  They are going about quietly pursuing their nefarious business when kersplat, everyone hits the deck; soil up nostrils, dust in gums, olives into eyeballs.  Jesus identifies himself and such a powerful wave of the Spirit is unleashed that it looked like they were playing ring-a-ring-a-roses.  It’s not like Jesus said anything particularly interesting - just his first name and his home town.  It’s the sort of stuff you use for internet banking passwords.  But when Jesus says it, it does a whole lot more than log you on to your current account.  When Jesus unveils something of himself even those who are aggressively opposed to him can’t help but fall to the ground.  This isn’t just Jesus unleashing a supernatural self-defence mechanism.  It is God showing a bit of himself to a humanity who are hopelessly incapable of comprehending it.  The light shines in the darkness but the darkness cannot grasp it.  We don’t need to defend Jesus or hide him away like an embarrassing mad-uncle.  He’s got something about him that will floor any person in the whole of the universe.  Our role is just to display Jesus to people as best as we can and let him worry about the consequences.  Some may grasp who he is and some may not.  Some may choose to bow down and some may not.  But even those who don't bow will one day fall to the ground.  There's going to be a day when there is only one man left standing, and the rest of us will be filling our nostrils with soil.

Proverbs 13:10-19

Teaching is great.  We’ve got to keep on teaching.  Teaching can turn a person from the snares of death.