2 Samuel 18:19-19:43
While David does seem to have lost some perspective when it comes to politics this only seems to be because he has become increasingly convinced of the extreme value of human life. His walk with God has caused him to treasure people more. And treasuring people gives birth to radical displays of mercy, to Shimei son of Gera, to Mephibosheth and to Barzillai the Gileadite. When David says to Joab “what do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah” he is looking beyond their shared battle-field achievements, their commitment to the House of David, their decades-long partnership in seeking the glory of the Lord. They have a huge number of memories in common and great track record of victory. And yet David doesn’t care about that. He sees it as insignificant compared to their divergence over mercy. David sees them as being poles apart because he deeply values human life and Joab doesn’t. Is this possibly a glimpse into the heart of God? That he desires us to love and value people to an ever increasing extent. That the dividing line in his kingdom is between those who will look beyond themselves to show mercy and those who won’t. Isn’t that what the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 is all about. Do I show enough mercy? If a story was written about my life would it have anecdotes about Shimeis and Mephibosheths and Barzillais? O God would you increase the value I place on people. Would you increase my desire to show mercy.
Acts 7:44-8:3
Stephen has gone into great depth about Moses, his call, his leading of the people out of Egypt and the establishment of the tabernacle in the desert. And then he seems to have got a bit bored, skated over the rest of the Old Testament and jumped to “you stiff-necked people... You always resist the Holy Spirit”. I think it is a fascinating insight into how the first century Jews still regarded Moses as their defining figure and looked back to his day for clues as to how to move forward. And, presumably, the first century Christians did this too, although with a newly redeemed hermeneutic that always looked for the Righteous One and the Holy Spirit over an above any other human character. We neglect the Pentateuch to our own disadvantage.
Later in the passage, what is really striking is the fact that Stephen is described as “falling asleep”. This speaks volumes. This little phrase declares the victory of Jesus over death. This little phrase radically subverts everything about life. The Sanhedrin thought that they were taking away from Stephen his ultimate treasure, they thought they were inflicting upon him the most severe punishment possible. But they were completely unable to do more than just give him a snooze before he will wake to glory and honour and joy everlasting. Uniformally across the early church with almost no exception is this absolute conviction that death is not the end, that this final enemy has been defeated. Like a full burning sun rising over the expanse of the horizon, the real and living hope of resurrected life rises over the expanse of the early church. I pray that this sun will rise over the church again today. That we will grasp the infinite freedom that comes from knowing that Jesus has prepared a room for us; that to die is to gain.
Psalm 73:1-14
Wow. Asaph sounds like a really fun guy to have along to a party! (although he does lighten up a bit in the second half of the psalm on 14 June)
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