First Lesson: 2 Samuel 1: 1, 17-27
Responsive Reading: Psalm 130
Second Lesson: 2 Corinthians 8: 7-15
Gospel Lesson: Mark 5: 21-43

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

I want to tell you the story of the oddest of couples.  Let me begin by telling you the story of a girl that we’ll call Hannah[1].  Hannah was around twelve years old.  Hannah was the type of girl that could be a beauty queen.  Suitors from all over the land were going to want to marry Hannah.  Hannah grew up in luxury for her day.  Hannah had recently gotten quite ill.  No one knew the nature of Hannah’s illness.  Hannah though kept getting worse and worse. 

Hannah’s father was a man named Jairus.  Jairus had gone through the first eleven years or so of Hannah’s life as the prototypical overprotective father.   You know the type the dad who always thinks the referee is wrong when it involves their kid.  Jairus was the type of dad that calls a doctor at the first hint of a sniffle.  Hannah was Jairus’ only daughter.  Jairus was a man of power and authority.  Jairus was the rabbi at the synagogue in Capernaum.  Jairus was the most influential religious figure in the area of Galilee where a man named Jesus lived.  Once Hannah got sick, every single one of Jairus’ thoughts became consumed with seeing his daughter become well, no different from any other father.  Rabbis prayed prayers; doctors paid visitors, yet Hannah’s condition worsened and worsened.  Jairus feared that Hannah was near the point of death.

When Jairus knew of no other solutions, he decided to get in contact with a backcountry preacher named Jesus.  Jairus didn’t really know what to make of Jesus.  Jesus hung out with people like John the Baptist who was famous for his eccentric style of dress along with uneducated fisherman that he called his disciples.  Jesus’ crowd would have had Jairus skeptical in any other situation, yet Jairus was desperate.  Jairus had recently heard of Jesus healing a man possessed by demons, so Jairus figures this was his one last shot to save Hannah’s life.  As soon as Jesus lands his boat from the other side of the Sea of Gaillee, Jairus was determined to talk to him.  

“My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live[2].” were the words that Jairus said. 

Jesus and Jairus’ began the journey to go see Hannah.  You see the word of Jairus going to see Jesus was big news.  Jairus must have believed that Jesus was legit.  The most significant religious figure around appearing to bless the ministry of this maverick preacher.  This would be the equivalent of the most well-known doctor in all the land endorsing the man claiming to sell magic potion at the carnival.

People were praying for Hannah’s recovery all over Capernaum.  It seemed like Jairus knew everyone.  Once word came down that Jesus was on his way to Jairus’ house a large crowd began to gather around them as they made their journey.  In the crowd, that day was a woman named Eve.

I suppose I should tell you a little bit about Eve’s story[3].  Whereas Hannah’s life up to this point had been like a fairy tale, Eve’s life seemed to have been like a curse[4].  Eve grew up a poor woman, who wasn’t much to see.  As Eve grew in years, she began to bleed.  Eve’s bleeding was such that no man was ever going to want to marry her.  Eve’s bleeding had basically destroyed her life.  Eve had been quarantined from society for the last twelve years.  Eve’s family could not even get near her.  Human touch was merely a fantasy.  Eve could not even attend the synagogue where Jairus served because she had been declared to be “unclean”.  What made matters worse is Eve had never gotten any answers when she visited doctors her condition would only grow worse.  Upon hearing that Jesus was in the area, Eve figured that desperate times called for desperate measures no different than Jairus.  Eve longed for normalcy more than anything else in the world.  Eve snuck up behind Jesus and lunged to touch his cloak.  Eve’s uncleanness was such, she figured that Jesus would not dare allow her to touch him.  Eve thought that Jesus’ cloak was so powerful that upon touching it that she would be healed.

So Eve reached and a miracle happened on that day; Eve was healed by touching Jesus.  Jesus felt this touch and needed to respond.  Jesus looked at this woman.  Jesus saw her and knew her story.  Jesus knew how cut off she had been from human contact because of her condition.  Jesus knew he had to say something in the presence of the crowd about a religious teacher like himself standing in the presence of an unclean woman. 

“Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering[5].”

Jairus didn’t know quite what to make of this scene.  People were going to make this scene to be a scandal.  No different than one of Jairus’ fellow rabbis having committed adultery.  Here was Jesus having just touched an unclean woman, about to go see his precious daughter.  Jairus had lived his whole life by a certain set of beliefs that you just don’t interact with the unclean.  Jairus knew at this moment that there would people in the synagogue that would lose respect for him after inviting Jesus into his home.  Jairus would never let someone who had touched an unclean woman touch his daughter, yet in this instance Jairus had no choice.

Upon arriving at Jairus’ house, Jairus’ friends came out to see him with bad news.  “Hannah is dead.” “No need to bother this man anymore.”  The buzzer has sounded.  The third strike has been called.  The verdict has been handed down.  It’s time to begin the grieving process before we can move on with life.  Jesus thought these friends were too melodramatic.

Jesus wasn’t going to go anywhere.  He merely laughed off Hannah’s prognosis as something as casual as an afternoon nap from which she would soon awaken.  Funny thing about Jesus was that this was normal for him as he often referred to “death” merely as a form of “sleep”.  People begin to snicker as they casually heard Jesus dismiss the reality of Hannah’s death[6]. 

They said he was just some country bumpkin preacher from Nazareth.  Their words would not deter Jesus, Jesus entered the room where Hannah laid.  Hannah was surrounded by those who would go from home to home mourning the death of others loved ones[7].  These people had seen death and they knew that Hannah was truly dead.

Jesus merely looked Hannah over before saying “Little girl, I say to you, get up[8]!”  At this moment, Hannah awakens.  She just doesn’t awake, she begins prancing around the room as if she had never been sick.  Jairus was speechless, the mourners were mum, Peter, James, and John were dumbfounded.  Hannah was alive, Jairus was elated!  Eve had stopped bleeding.  People had no idea how to go forth with the rest of their life according to these realities.

What are we to make of this story?  While Jesus helping Hannah would have been the lead news story the next day.  What he did with the bleeding woman Eve would have been more remarkable.  Jesus looked upon this one woman, who everyone she had encountered looked away from as some freak for the last twelve years as the most important thing in the universe.

You see Jesus wasn’t about distinctions like we’re about distinctions in regards to beauty, power, or even how one’s life brings them to a place of faith.

For in the words of Galatians 3:28 ,“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[a] nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Eve would have been an outcast in the eyes of the world.  Eve had been declared to be unclean and impure for the last twelve years of her life.  When Jesus put his eyes upon her, Eve was at the center of his ministry.  There were no distinctions in healing that day between Eve or Hannah despite their two very different backgrounds.  I guess this story reminds that no one could possibly be outside God’s reach. 

The second point has to do with power dynamics within the Gospel.  Jairus was a man with great power.  You could not have sunk any lower in society’s eyes than Eve.  Our Lord does not discriminate in death.

Robert Farar Capon described death as such “Jesus came to raise the dead.  The only qualification for the gift of the Gospel is to be dead.  You do not have to be smart.  You do not have to be good.  You do not have to be wise.  You do not have to be wonderful.  You do not have to be anything…you just have to be dead.  That’s it[9].” 

On this day, three resurrections occurred.  Jairus experienced a resurrection of his faith.  Jairus came to see the Kingdom of God as an entirely different reality than he had previously imagined it.  Jesus touched an “unclean” woman, he didn’t care what the Book of Leviticus said[10].  Hannah was resurrected as her body was no longer a weak, decaying vessel.  Hannah rose up from her slumber in a body that almost felt as if it was made in heaven.  The last resurrection belonged to Eve.  Eve could live again.  Eve had been set free from her personal bondage.  What Eve previously imagined to be impossible was now reality. 

Jairus, Jesus, Hannah, and Eve were the oddest of couples.  The most unlikely of pairings, yet their story just indicates how the Kingdom of God truly works.  Amen


[1] Hannah seems an appropriate name for the daughter of Galilean rabbi based on the mother of the judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1).  

[2] Mark 5:23

[3] The character of Eve was inspired by Reverend Amy Butler’s sermon “Desperate for Freedom”. Lectionary.org. 2006. Web. June.24.2015.

[4] Eve seems an appropriate name for a seemingly womanly character.

[5] Mark 5:34

[6] Mark 5:40

[7] Ed Markquart made this point in his Pentecost 4 Gospel Analysis found at Sermons from Seattle. Web. June.23.2015

[8] Mark 5:41

[9] This line by the Capon was taken from the Reverend Sarah Jackson Shelton’s sermon “A Daughter’s Faith”. Day 1. 28.June.2009. Web. June.24.2015.

[10] Leviticus 15:19

First Lesson: 1 Samuel 17: (1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49
Responsive Reading: Psalm 9: 9-20
Second Lesson: 2 Corinthians 6: 1-13
Gospel Lesson: Mark 4: 35-41

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

Let me begin with a story.  Last summer, I was getting ready to run a half-marathon, so I would get ready by having someone either Dan or Fred meet me at the Green Door at like 6:00 AM.  They would then drop me off at Gooseberry Falls where I would run back to my car.  I had checked the weather forecast before I left which predicted storms perhaps in a few hours, I decided to risk it.  I start to run when around mile four of nearly fourteen, around Split Rock wayside I began to hear a rumble in the sky.

Thunder will always scare me as in 1991, My Dad was attending the U.S. Open Golf tournament at Hazeltine in Chaska where he witnessed a man struck and killed by lightning no more than twenty-five feet away.

Rain slowly started to fall.  I couldn’t just stay in place for safety’s sake.  I know Split Rock State Park had a trail center about 2 miles away that I could seek shelter, so I ran only for the rain to begin to ease up just enough for me to keep going once get there.  I then thought that I could make it to the visitors center another mile down the trail only for at this time, the thunder seemed to be growing more distant.  As soon as I got to the flats five miles out from Beaver Bay I was still soaking.  The rain began to pour heavy again; I decided that I would run as fast as I could to Beaver Bay soaking wet.  I remember the thought being as soon as I got back to my car “Boy that was dumb”.  Why bother fighting a storm when you don’t have to?

The tale of me running in the rain leads us to our Gospel lesson for the day from Mark 4[1].  

Our reading tells the story of Jesus and the Disciples attempting to cross the Sea of Galilee.  And on this day, a great windstorm arose.  The Disciples became afraid.  For this was no ordinary windstorm, for they had spent their whole lives on the water and seen plenty of windstorms, yet this one was different.  The Disciples knew every inch of the Sea of Galilee, used every bit of knowledge they had learned over the years, yet they were still sinking.  The boat began to fill with water.  The Disciples believed that they were on the verge of capsizing.  The Disciples were probably having one of those life flashing before their eyes moments.  Where was Jesus during this whole ordeal?  He was sleeping, just as calm as could be.  The Disciples didn’t get how Jesus was unaffected by this all.

“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing[2]?”  The Disciples seem to speak these words in a harsh, accusatory tone.  But the truth is the Disciples had no idea why Jesus remained asleep.

Let me tell a story, I have an aunt named Sally.  Sally is a principal of a Catholic day school.  The school is one day taking an anonymous survey of parents.  One of the questions was “How can we be a better school?”  One of the responses that came before Sally’s desk is “Find a Principal that cares about children”.  Somewhere along the line, Aunt Sally had done something to give this individual a warped perception of reality.  Just like the Disciples had a warped perception of reality that Jesus really didn’t care that the Disciples were perishing.

But perhaps one’s level of care cannot necessarily be seen in the emotions of the moment. 

Let me tell another well-known story regarding Joe Montana.  Montana’s most famous attribute amongst his teammates was always remaining calm no matter the situation.  There is no greater illustration of this than the last drive of Super Bowl XXIII.  The 49ers and playing the Cincinnati Bengals down three points with about three minutes left in the game, ninety-two yards from the end zone.  Montana walks to the huddle for the first play of the final drive, when something catches the corner of his eye, and it had nothing to do with the Cincinnati Bengals.  Montana noticed the actor John Candy standing at his seat.  Montana had to point this out to his 49ers teammates to let him know as the kids would say “We got this.”  San Francisco drives down the field, and Montana throws the winning touchdown with thirty-four seconds left[3].

Perhaps the issue with the Disciples was they were focusing on the wrong things, the Disciples obsession was with what was going on outside the boat rather than who was sitting in the boat with them. 

In 1992, Steve Martin in one of his better roles played Televangelist and Con-Artist Jonas Nightengale in the movie Leap of Faith.  The plot of Leap of Faith has Nightengale’s big budget traveling revival having a truck break down in a small Kansas town in the midst of a potentially crippling drought.  Nightengale decides to set up “revival meetings” temporarily to keep the money flowing.  Nightengale promises the people of Rustwater, Kansas all sorts of miracles, healings, and wonders but never any rain.  In a great scene, the local sheriff asks Nightengale if he’s so powerful why he doesn’t bring down the rain from heaven that the people of this small town really need.  Nightengale in typical con-artist fashion turns the question around.  Nightengale speaks of rain not in a literal sense, but in a metaphorical sense of being all the hurts and disappointments that people endure in their life.  Nightengale turns the congregation that night and says “You ask when it's gonna rain?  I want to know when it's gonna stop?”[4]-

Perhaps we’re more like the Disciples in our lesson for today then we think. 

Let me tell a revised version of a joke[5].  Ole is living in Fargo by the river; it had been a particularly harsh winter in Fargo for snow.  A few warm days and the river is threatening to flood by Ole’s house.  Sheriff’s deputies tell Ole that he needs to evacuate.  Ole refuses being a stubborn Swede; he says, “I’ve lived in this house for 42 years, ain’t no way that I’m going to sleep on some cot at NDSU.  The water continues to rise.  Ole’s basement gets flooded out.  The water showed no signs receding, so one of Ole’s neighbors comes by in a boat telling Ole to get in.  Ole still refuses.  Ole says, “If God wants me to get out of this house, he’ll do it himself.”  Ole drowns, next morning he gets up at the pearly gates, Ole is mad at God about this latest turn of events.  Ole asks God “Why did you forget me during the flood?”  God just shakes his head at Ole before saying “Ole, why did you forget me as I tried to bring you to safety?”

As the Disciples think they’re about to be abandoned, Jesus speaks some simple words to their situation. “Be silent! Be still!”  At this point’s the winds begin to cease and a great calm comes over not only the waters but also the disciples.

Jesus is almost seeking to assure the Disciples that in the midst of their anxiety and fear to “Be Still!” and know that I Am the Lord Your God.

What point is Jesus trying to make to the Disciples in today’s lesson, let me close with one last story?

Tim Zingale tells the following story[6].  A wealthy man commissioned an artist to paint a picture of “true peace”.  The Artist was unsure of how to go about the task, so he thought of something that he would think of as peaceful.  The Artist paints a beautiful day in the country, grass as green as could be, birds with beautiful colors flying in the sky, and off in the distance laid the prettiest looking town that anyone had ever seen.  The Artist presents the painting to The Wealthy Man; The Wealthy Man’s disappointment is visible.  The Artist needs the commission offers to paint a do-over.  The Wealthy Man gives him a second chance.

The Artist begins to think of “What would be true peace?”  He thinks back to his childhood, how his mother meant more than anyone in the world to him.  The Artist paints a beautiful young woman holding a sleeping baby looking upon the child with all the adoration in the world.  The Artist goes back to the Wealthy Man to present the image.  The Wealthy Man orders the painting to be thrown into the fire.

The Artist goes home in the midst of a personal crisis.  He thought these were the two finest works that he had ever painted, and all he was experiencing was this man’s rejection.  It was in the midst of his desperation that he began to paint his most brilliant work.

The picture he painted was of a day not much different than Jesus and the Disciples experienced on the Sea of Galilee, the waves were howling, lightning was falling from the sky, rain drops were making it tough to see far ahead, yet in the upper corner of the picture sat a small bird sleeping in her nest without a care in the world.  As soon as the wealthy man saw the painting he clapped for the artist had finally captured “true peace”.  True peace is knowing that no matter what life throws at you, somehow, someway, you will be alright. 

The point of our Gospel lesson is this.  We do not go through life alone.  Consider the famous words of the 23rd Psalm “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me[7];” Our God is with is in the midst of the storms, rain, and a hail of our lives.  What our story reminds us is that Our Lord does indeed care.  Our Lord went through it all, only to come out of the grave.  The greatest of all human truths is that “We will suffer, and we will die”. But the greatest of spiritual truths we will sing out in just a few minutes that Our Lord has come down to the Lake Shore to journey to the other side of the lake with us.  Our Lord has come to meet us where we are spiritually, emotionally, and physically at these most turbulent moments of our lives.  Even if Our Lord may appear to be sleeping, this is merely the storm before the calm.  Amen


[1] Mark 4:35-41

[2] Mark 4:38b.

[3] Schwartz, Larry. “Montana was comeback king”. ESPN.com. Web. June.15.2015. 

[4] Gardner, Michael. “Let It Rain!” Old Mission/New Vision. 25. Jul.2012. Web. June.15.2015.

[5] Bretell, Daniel. “He Will Not Let You Perish”. Lectionary.org. 2009. Web. June.15.2015.    

[6] Zingale, Pastor Tim. “Peace”. Sermon Central. June 2006. Web. June.15.2015. 

[7] Psalm 23:4

First Lesson: 1 Samuel 15: 34- 16:13
Responsive Reading: Psalm 20
Second Lesson: 2 Corinthians 5: 6-10, (11-13), 14-17
Gospel Lesson: Mark 4: 26-34

Grace and peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

Conan O’Brien finally achieved his dream in life.  He was the new host of The Tonight Show.  He seemed to have the opportunity to be his generation’s Jonny Carson.  Only seven months after starting his dream, the dream was on the verge of dying.  The Tonight Show’s ratings had slipped.  NBC executives needed to look out for themselves and began plotting how to get Jay Leno back on the air.  Conan O’Brien’s dreams were going up in flames with the entire world watching.  As Conan O’Brien gives his final monologue before exiting stage left he mouths words that everyone in the studio audience could understand, “Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going get[1].”

The Bride who believed that her wedding day was the happiest of her life never expected to have to attend her divorce proceedings.  The guy who works every day of his life hoping to retire comfortably, only to see bad investments never allow him to take a day off.  The kid who works all summer to make the high school basketball team only to ride the bench in losses surrounded by few fans and seemingly fewer friends.  What about the parents who look upon their young children as the most important thing in their world, only to be estranged from them later in life.  What about the person who prays for their loved one to survive only to lose them way too soon.  Conan O’Brien’s words connect with each and every person who considers where they currently are in this world.

This morning I want to focus on just one verse of the Bible.  The following verse is one of the most relevant verses in all the scriptures because we will wrestle with this verse’s meaning at some time during our life.  We reflect upon Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 5 verse 7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight”.

Consider a few things about Paul’s life when he wrote these words.  Paul had been disowned by those he held dear when he converted to Christianity.  Paul lived every day with a disorder thought to be epilepsy that he pleaded for the Lord to take away only he wouldn’t[2].  Paul spent nights in prison[3], wondering if execution was just around the corner.  Paul did not get in life exactly what he thought was going to get.  Paul grew up Saul, a Roman citizen[4] with a top-notch education.  The sky was the limit for young Saul, yet his adult years were spent far different than his childhood dreams. 

When Paul says that “We walk by faith and not by sight,” Paul is seeking to assure us to be confident in God’s master plan.  Paul knows first hand that this is often not an easy thing to do. 

A while ago, I was talking to a friend of mine serving on the Call Committee of her church.  This church has had a litany of problems for the past decade.  The pastors they like would leave, and the pastors that they didn’t like would leave on not so friendly terms.  People had been leaving the church for other churches with less fighting.  The people that stayed behind would clamor for peace until they didn’t get their way.  The church was nearing its breaking point.  This friend recalls praying every night for the perfect pastor to come their way.  Only these prayers never seemingly were answered.  She felt the pressure that many people feel to make sure that everything is right in the end.  I remember talking with this friend when I heard every possible negative “What if?” scenario that could potentially come down the pike.  As I heard all her negative thoughts, I couldn’t guarantee her that they wouldn’t come to fruition. 

What do you say if God isn’t looking out for his church then where shall he be?  There is precedence though for her church’s situation. 

When Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians, they were a struggling church.  They had divisions amongst their membership, and their future as a congregation was anything but certain.  To those on the outside, the Corinthians would have seemed to have not much going for them.

When considering the meaning of our lesson a Bible commentator named Alan Brehm has some very wise words, “Consider the difference between ‘appearance’ and ‘reality’.  Whereas appearances always change, reality never changes[5].

Things can look one way at a particular time, only for a very different reality to be present underneath the surface.

Whereas the church in Corinth might seem absent from God’s plan, Resurrection would win out in the end[6].  

Think of the story of Joseph.  The little brat sold into slavery.  As Joseph lies in prison, falsely accused of a crime that he did not commit.  Joseph could have gone through every day of his life building more and more resentment against his brothers.  Joseph’s brothers were jerks then again so was Joseph.  In the midst of these most dysfunctional of families, God had a plan.

God had a plan that involved: Joseph being a brat, his brothers getting jealous, his brothers selling him into slavery, and the slave traders they met happening to go to Egypt.  Potiphar buying Joseph, Potiphar’s wife accusing Joseph of making a pass at her, and Joseph ending up in prison.  While in prison, Joseph meets a butler and a baker with crazy dreams, and Joseph interprets their dreams correctly.  Later on while the Butler was working for Pharoah, he hears about Pharoah having a confusing dream.  The Butler gets Pharoah in connection with Joseph, and Joseph interprets Pharoah’s dream.  Joseph’s brothers are experiencing a famine in Canaan, so they travel to Egypt where they reunite with Joseph, who now serves as Pharoah’s second in command.  

The story only works when you consider that what God’s plan appearing before Joseph, was very different from God’s reality in Joseph’s life.  The thing about the story of Joseph is that God’s will would only begin to make sense after many difficult years.

The pinnacle of the whole story of Joseph comes in Genesis 50:20 when Joseph has finally made himself known to his brothers once again.  Whereas God’s plan was going to take many difficult years to unfold, it did one day make sense to Joseph.  Joseph’s famous words describe the point of the story well “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Tullian Tchividijan sums up the whole of the Christian gospel well when he says “The Gospel is not ultimately a defense from pain and suffering, rather, it is the message of God’s rescue through pain[7].”

We often fail to grasp this and it leads to people struggling. 

Atheists demand proof of God’s presence at a certain moment in their life, so therefore they reject Christianity.  The lack of proof of God’s existence would seem to be a convincing argument.  Although when we say, “We walk by faith but not by sight” what this means is that there are things such as love, faith, and hope that we cannot touch or see.  Just because we can not feel or see these things doesn’t mean that they are not there[8].

Lena one day asked Ole to prove that he loved her.  Ole says, "I’ve been married to ya for 42 years?" Lena says that doesn’t mean that you love me.  Ole figured he better think of something else, so he says to Lena “Think of all the chores and errands that I’ve done over the years to make you happy.”  Lena was still not satisfied with this answer.  Ole was getting mad at this point when he says “Lena, do you really think that anyone else promises to wake up next to you every morning, even if they know that you’re going to be crabby”.  Lena was speechless at this point.  Ole’s point had been made.

You see love is a promise, not an emotion.  You cannot touch love.  You can not envision hope.  You cannot see faith.  Even in the absence of proof these things are still there.

A few months back I was down in Duluth running a few errands.  On the last errand of the day, the car doesn’t start.  I call Triple A figuring it’s a dead battery.  Triple AAA can’t get the car started.  I’m down in Duluth at 4:45 on a Friday all sorts of repair shops are closing down.  A cold rain is beginning to come down.  My cell phone in another turn of bad luck is dead.  I’m being told that the car probably won’t get into the shop till either Saturday or Monday.  This Friday afternoon was not going according to script.  Life is often going to work this way. 

Think of the people that you call when you’re stranded on the side of the road.  You call them on the basis of faith.  They have come through for you before.  Sure there might have been a time or two that you couldn’t get a hold of them.  Sure, they probably ran late once or twice.  You might not know quite what to make of these people sometimes.  You call them because you know that they will ultimately come through for you even if you cannot prove it at the moment that you dial the phone. 

In moments like this, I will always call my dad.  Dad has hardly been on time for anything in his life.  He’s been late when he’s come to church at Sychar even staying next door.  When I was a child in school, I would always be the last kid picked up from nearly any school activity.  Yet I still call upon Dad because I know that he will ultimately come through even if it might not be according to my timeline.  Every time, I call my dad it is on the basis of faith that he will come through in the end. 

Being able to trust in God who will deliver you at the moment of your desperation even if you cannot prove it today is what Paul is getting at when he says that “We walk by faith and not by sight.”    

I cannot predict the future for anyone here, but what I can say with certainty is that it will not go according to plan.  Paul would always point our eyes to the cross.  For as wise as we think ourselves to be ultimately, our wisdom stands as folly compared to the foolishness of the cross.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD,”-Isaiah 55:8

For at those moments when we can’t make sense of God’s ways we fixate our eyes towards the Cross.  We fixate our eyes to a symbol of hope of what’s on the horizon, even if we can’t make sense of the present in the midst of despair. 

Conan O’Brien is right “Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going get.”  What our God promises to give us instead is beyond that which we can imagine.  Amen


[1] Rice, Lynette. “Conan O’Brien’s final monologue: Nobody in life gets what they thought they were going to get”.  Entertainment Weekly. 22.Jan.2010. Web. June.8.2015

[2] 2 Corinthians 12:8

[3] Acts 16:19-40

[4] Acts 22:28

[5] Brehm, Alan. “Not by Sight”. The Walking Dreamer. 29.July.2009. Web. June.9.2015. 

[6] Inspired by Malcolm, Lois “Commentary on 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 {11-13}14-17.”. Working Preacher. 14.June.2015. Web. June.8.2015. 

[7] Tchividjian, Tullian. “The Comfort of Who”. Liberate. 13.Aug.2014. Web. June.11.2015. 

[8] Anders, Dr. Mickey. “By Faith or By Sight”. Lectionary.org. 2006. Web. June.8.2015. 

First Lesson: 1 Samuel 8: 4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15)
Responsive Reading: Psalm 138
Second Lesson: 2 Corinthians 4: 13-5:1
Gospel Lesson: Mark 3: 20-35

Grace and peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

This morning, I wish to tell you a soap-opera like tale of one of the Bible’s most complex characters.  The story of a man who had it all only to see it destruct in the most spectacular of fashions through jealousy and faithlessness.  This morning I wish to tell the story of King Saul.

Saul’s story begins in the land of Israel during the life of the Samuel.  Samuel was a judge, only not a judge like you might think of judges.  You see after the people of Israel ended their years in the wilderness after fleeing Egypt they set up a different type of government.  The people of Israel had no central government.  The people of Israel were led by a collection of leaders from each of Israel’s twelve tribes known as Judges.  There were some very famous judges who you might know like Deborah the only female commander in Israel’s history[1], Gideon who brought down the Midianite army with the blowing of three-hundred trumpets[2], and Samson[3] known for his long hair and supernatural strength along with his weakness around the female flesh.

The current judge was Samuel.  People thought Samuel’s sons would take over for their father, yet there was a problem.  Samuel’s sons were dishonest and untrustworthy.  You could say Samuel’s sons were a bunch of crooks.  The people of Israel had no intention of turning to Samuel’s sons for guidance[4].  The people of Israel demanded that they crown a king.  They wanted to be like all other nations.  They believed that a king would magically fix all that ails them.  Samuel didn’t think this was a good idea.  Israel was not like all other nations.  Israel was only a nation because several generations ago, their forefather Moses parted the Red Sea with a staff.  Samuel eventually gives into the people’s demands.  Samuel gives the people of Israel a grave warning though that they would face any consequences that their king is to bring unto their land[5].

God sends Samuel, a king in the form of a boy named Saul.  Saul had it all!  Saul had a story of humble origins.  Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin which was the puniest and weakest of tribes in all the land[6].  Samuel picked Saul from out of the fields where he helped raise his Father’s donkeys[7].  But what made Saul stand out were his looks.  Saul was the best looking boy in all the land[8].  Saul was tall, his shoulders went to everyone else’s head.  Saul was lean.  Saul was muscular.  Saul had the type of hair that all the single woman of Israel wanted to touch.  Saul was perfect the definition of tall, dark, and handsome that the people sought in a leader.  When people saw that Saul was their new king a great optimism emerged.  Saul was the downtrodden basketball’s team number one draft pick that was going to change the future of the franchise.  Saul was the dying church’s perfect new pastor.  Saul’s reign starts out as a smashing success.  Saul commanded military victory after military victory[9].  People throughout the land loved King Saul[10].  The good times could not last forever.  Whereas Saul was perfect on the outside, the problem on Saul’s inside would soon come to the surface.

Saul had a big battle on the horizon.  Saul was waiting to see Samuel for guidance.  Samuel does not arrive on time.  Saul had two options to pursue at this point.  Saul could be patient waiting on the one true God that had brought him this far to keep his word, or Saul could lose faith and begin to offer sacrifices to other gods.  Like plenty of other people, Saul was fickle.  Saul viewed the world as a what have you done for me lately sort of business.  Saul begins to invoke the name of other gods rather than his own while waiting for Samuel’s arrival[11].  Saul’s rebellion was the exact scenario that Samuel feared when Israel demanded a king. 

Samuel rebukes Saul with a harsh word of judgment.  Samuel proclaims that God’s favor would no longer be upon Saul.  As soon as Samuel turns his back, Saul’s future would be revealed.  Saul ripped off a piece of Samuel’s garment.  Samuel warned him that a garment tearing in two was what was about to happen to Saul’s kingdom[12]. 

At this time, a new character becomes central to Saul’s story a boy named David.  David like Saul had humble origins working as a shepherd boy in his father’s fields[13].  David is also one of the most skilled musicians in the land of Israel.  One day when Saul is troubled by an evil spirit, he calls forth David a skilled harpist to try to soothe Saul’s troubled conscience[14].  Saul at first didn’t think much of David until one day when everything changed. 

The people of Israel were under attack by the Philistines.  Saul’s initial winning streak had quickly turned into a losing streak.  People were beginning to grumble that perhaps only a change in coaches could turn it all around.  The Philistines greatest warrior was a giant named Goliath.  Goliath stood nearly seven feet tall.  Every soldier in the Israeli army was scared of Goliath.  Out to the fields, one day though walks David to bring his three older brothers food.  David though had an irrational confidence in himself that some might describe as faith.  David looked at the giant Goliath and made the absurd determination that he could take him mano y mano.  David versus Goliath seemed to be the definition of a mismatch a wolf versus a kitten, a bear versus a squirrel, a young boy versus a muscle bound freak.  Saul decides to let David fight Goliath on his behalf.  Saul figured it was the definition of emptying the bench hoping something would work.  Slingshot, stone, and Goliath falls[15]. 

Not only would David’s life never be the same from this day forward, neither would Saul’s.  God would soon make David successful in whatever battle that he enters.  David quickly becomes Israel’s heartthrob.  The women that used to yearn for Saul were now yearning for David[16].  David is immediately considered to be a greater military hero than Saul[17].  Saul becomes paranoid around David as a potential threat to his power.  Saul becomes enraged as his son Jonathan becomes David’s best friend.  Saul possessed by an evil spirit tries to kill David on two separate occasions[18].  David’s life would be no more without Jonathan’s warning.  David’s life now going forward would be defined by a constant fear of Saul trying to kill him[19][20].  Try as Saul might though Saul could not kill David.  David had multiple chances to kill Saul, yet David would refuse.  One time, David comes upon Saul’s camp while he was sleeping.  David decides against delivering a fatal blow, instead preferring to steal’s Saul’s spear and water jug instead as proof of what David could have done.  The last time that David and Saul would stand in each other’s presence consists of David showing Saul his spear as proof of what he could have done.  The two men reconcile, only it would be the last time that they would ever see each other[21].

Saul’s life would quickly end in the darkest of fashions.  The Philistines were once again quickly advancing.  Saul had already run off his greatest military commander in David, and so desperate times called for desperate measures.  Saul wanted to contact Samuel from beyond the grave once again, the man who had made him the king in the first place.  Saul before a pending battle decides to go see the Witch of Endor with the hope of contacting Samuel.  Saul visiting the Witch of Endor was a controversial move as Saul had previously made witchcraft a capital offense.  The Witch did her job and got Saul in contact with Samuel.  Samuel’s ghost did not bring Saul good news.  Samuel proclaimed that God would no longer answer Saul’s prayers[22].  The pending battle would be the last one for Saul.  Saul would lose his life.  So upon entering the battlefield, Saul does the job himself[23].  The King, who started out with so much promise, would take his life surrounded by Philistines.

Saul’s story does not contain a happy ending.  When people think of the great kings of Israel, they will remember David as Israel’s greatest king whose name was shouted by the crowds in Jerseleum as Christ Jesus marched on Palm Sunday over a thousand years later.  People will remember Solomon for his wisdom, his building of the temple, along with achieving riches beyond anybody’s dreams.  People will merely remember Saul for his jealousy of David and the depths of his fall.  Saul maybe had the most potential of all Israel’s Kings only for his life to end in the saddest of fashions.

Is there anything that we could learn from Saul’s story?

In 2013, the TV show The Simpsons there was an episode centered on the local minister Timothy Lovejoy[24].  The town of Springfield becomes consumed by a bedbug epidemic.  When they turn to Reverend Lovejoy for help, all that he can do is preach boring sermons from obscure books of the Bible.  With the hopes of fixing the problem, the area Parson appoints a slick talking new associate minister named Elijah Hooper.  Elijah Hooper was everything that Timothy Lovejoy wasn’t.  When Hooper preached the people hung on his every word.  Instead of preaching on boring books of the Bible, Hooper invoked the most popular TV shows, movies and music of the day.  Timothy Lovejoy was quickly out of a job.  Like Saul, Elijah Hooper’s story would seem destined to have a happy ending only it didn’t.  The town of Springfield would become quickly consumed by a frog crisis whereby they turned to Reverend Hooper.  Reverend Hooper has nothing to offer other than being hip.  Springfield is only rescued when a dull Timothy Lovejoy returns quoting from the 23rd Psalm[25]. 

I think what Saul’s story illustrates is how we often don’t get the ways that God works.  When I was at Luther Seminary, I had a professor named Walter Sundberg who described the greatest influence that he ever had in ministry was a pastor named John Groettum.  Groettum according to Sundberg might seem like an odd choice.  Groettum wasn’t a seminary professor renowned by everyone he encountered for his intellect; he wasn’t a hero to his congregation for his smooth-talking or good looks.  Groettum like Samuel merely possessed a heart for God’s people along with patience to follow God’s direction whether it made sense to him at the time or not.

Perhaps the reason that Saul failed as a king is to illustrate an important point about God’s Kingdom, how God chooses to uplift the weak at the expense of the strong.  We often fail to grasp who God is and how God exactly saves.  God does not save in the form of outward appearances as the people believed at the beginning of Saul’s reign[26].  God saves rather at the very moments of our failure when we long for a savior.  The people of Israel might have believed that Saul would fix all their problems, instead when it was in the midst of their problems that their salvation would come.  Perhaps the failure of the tall, dark and handsome Saul ultimately points our eyes to the Cross.

I do not wish to speculate on Saul’s eternal destination any more than I would about the seemingly worst people that I know.  Saul was a sinner, yet our God saves sinners.  Our God saves thieves, tax collectors, and even prostitutes.  Perhaps Saul’s fall is meant to serve as evidence that we never all really have it together no matter how good it might look on paper.   Ultimately God is still working through it all.  Amen


[1] Judges 4-5

[2] Judges 6

[3] Judges 13-16

[4] 1 Samuel 8:3-5

[5] 1 Samuel 8:6-9

[6] 1 Samuel 9:1

[7] 1 Samuel 9:3-4

[8] 1 Samuel 9:2

[9] 1 Samuel 11:1-11

[10] 1 Samuel 11:15

[11] 1 Samuel 13:1-10

[12] 1 Samuel 15

[13] 1 Samuel 16:1-13

[14] 1 Samuel 16:14-23

[15] 1 Samuel 17-18:5

[16] 1 Samuel 18:6-7

[17] 1 Samuel 18:7

[18] 1 Samuel 18:10-11

[19] 1 Samuel 19

[20] 1 Samuel 23:7-29

[21] 1 Samuel 24, 1 Samuel 26

[22] 1 Samuel 28:3-25

[23] 1 Samuel 31

[24] The episode is entitled “Pulpit Friction” which is the 18th episode of season 24.  The episode originally aired on the Fox Network on April 28,2013. 

[25] Great commentary provided on this episode by Joe Iovino entitled “The Simpson’s New Associate Pastor”. Associatepastor.org. 04.May.2013. Web. June.1.2015.

[26] Excellent commentary on Saul and David’s kingship written by Will McDavid “And the Least Shall Be the Greatest: Royal Résumés and Social Equality”. Mockingbird Ministries (MBIRD). 24.May.2012. Web. June.2.2015.