Deborah: A stand against evil

 For our final series of women (and men) in the Bible who can inspire and inform the living of our faith, we meet Deborah, a judge of the Hebrew scriptures. How might her wisdom and courageous actions inspire us in our own faith walks?

Deborah is introduced “under the palm tree” in Judges 4-5. This is the period after the people return to Israel from the Exodus. There are still foreign tribes in the land and stronger nations on the borders. The children of Israel backslide again and again into worshipping like their neighbors and then, it seems, God punishes them by letting them be invaded and conquered by their enemies. After suffering foreign domination, the people repent and a leader (judge) leads them to defeat their foes.

At the beginning of chapter 4 we hear the familiar drumbeat that repeats throughout the Book of Judges: the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord…And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan... and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.

There is the tiniest glimmer of hope in Judges 4:4. We meet Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

This woman, known to be wise and caring, and is honor enough that the people come to her for justice and advice. Before her (in Judges 3), we hear of Othniel and Ehud who as warriors delivered the children of Israel from various conquerors. Now about 150 years after the Israelites returned to the land, they are no longer a free people. They are under the rule of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.

Deborah’s heart was sad for her people and God directed her to call Barak the son of Abinoam to lead the people to defeat the Canaanites. She tells him Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun…I will deliver [Sisera] into your hand.

Barak, however, hesitates to do this alone and insists that Deborah go with him. Because of his hesitation, she tells him that the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.

Deborah goes with Barak and his troops as they meet Sisera who has a forbidding force of 900 chariots of iron. In this early Iron Age time frame (ca 1100BC), having iron weapons of any kind, esp. chariots, would have seemed to give the army of Sisera an incredible advantage. 

However, Deborah encourages Barak saying, this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand… So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.

As Deborah had said, the armies of Israel defeat Sisera and his men. Sisera…fled away on his feet… to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite… Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. When Barak arrives, Jael shows him that Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.

Further the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. Deborah and Barak sing a song of praise to God that takes up most of chapter 5. At the very end we hear the land had rest forty years.

Deborah as prophetess and judge of Israel brought them freedom from their enemies, the Canaanites. She leads them in this peace. But after she dies, immediately we hear the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hand of the Midianites. (Judges 6:1)

It took courage for Deborah to be the leader and judge of the people. As a woman, she had less influence than men, yet they followed her willingly. She must have had an assurance and faith that showed so that people were willing to listen to her. The time she spent hearing and judging complaints “under the palm tree” gave her wisdom to act when the time was right.

Sometimes we have to wait until the time is right before we can step into the fullness of our ministry or calling. That may be an uncomfortable ministry if it means we have to name evil and take action against it. Yet, we can be assured that God is with us, like with Barak and Deborah, to accomplish what we are called to do.

David and Bathsheba: God loves, no matter what

 As we complete our look at David and Bathsheba and God’s love for them, we realize that our relationship with God is never a straight path. David is a perfect example of someone who takes 2 steps forward and one step back. Sometimes it’s one step forward and two back.

This graphic illustrates our expectation of any relationship or goal or plan. We think it should be a nice straight line, but the truth as we live it out is much more convoluted. That is true of our faith. Some days our faith is very strong and others, we may have to struggle to say ‘I believe’ or ‘I trust You’.

What a consolation it might be for us all, if we admitted that even though we have walked the Faith Journey for a few (or many) years, we still don’t have all the answers. Instead, we try to bluff our way through and insist that we DO have faith and love every moment of every day.

As I mentioned last week, that attitude can lead us to shame ourselves when we have a day when we don’t feel that faith-filled. Would it not be better to allow God to love us? This poem, Oh Human, by Steve Garnass-Holmes encapsulates how God feels about us—love!

There is no reason to laugh, other than to laugh.
And you laugh. Oh, human, I love you.
You pray to me and have no idea what you’re doing,
but I love it.
When things matter you turn to flowers and songs.
When you are sad, you weep oceans.
You express grief with beauty.
You tell stories that become people, eventually yourself.
You invent things that are silly and lovely and useless
and impossible not to like.
You struggle, and fail, and don’t give up,
as if there is something of the stars in you.
You laugh at yourself, especially when it hurts.
When you are small, wonder carries you around,
and when you are older, you trade places.
Even when you do terrible things—
especially when you do terrible things—
you are a small precious child just trying to survive.
And you survive.
I lavish my delight on you.
Of course you object: “But I’m so messed up!”
Darling, you are more messed up than you know.
But you’re mine. And I’m so glad I have you.

Garnass-Holmes reminds us that we are more messed up than you know but that God delights in us anyway. What a joy and relief. 

In November, we'll start our final Pentecost series by looking at Deborah, a judge of the Hebrew scriptures. How might her wisdom and courageous actions inspire us in our own faith walks?

David and Bathsheba: Still Beloved

 Last week we looked at the story of David and his flawed response to lust and family life. There is another side to David, just like with each of us. There is the faith-filled, faith-full side that we see in the Psalms, in his rejoicing when the ark is returned to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6) and in his desire to build a temple for God. (2 Samuel 7)

David, said to be a man after God's heart, offered vulnerable prayers like, Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23–24). He was believed that God knew him deeply and that despite being imperfect, believed that God was still with him.

How often do we let our guilty conscious keep us from accepting God’s love? We let the ‘shame’ messages in our past and present influence our response to the hand of God held out in love. We think, ‘I have to get it all together before I go to church or pray.’ That is simply not what the Bible teaches. The Bible, over and over, says God loves us no matter what we do or don’t do.

A few verses to help you remember how beloved you are: Paul reminds the Romans: God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8) and a few chapters later proclaims, I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

The great promise found in the Gospel of John: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

The Psalmist reminds us to Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1)

To the Israelites Isaiah shares God’s promise, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze (Isaiah 43:2) and Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed. (Isaiah 54:10)

Jeremiah comforts the Israelites in exile with the reminder, The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.' (Jeremiah 31:3)

Paul tells the Corinthians that despite an unspecified difficulty, God told him, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Because we are, indeed, the Beloved daughters and sons of God, just like David and Bathsheba we can lean into God’s love. This is a daily (and perhaps moment by moment) action. Because we are human and fallible, it’s never a one-time thing to say, “I know I am Beloved and I’ll live in a loving fashion.” The temptations and stresses of life can cause us to slip. Like David, we can then repent and know that God’s love never fails.

Find and post a favorite affirmation from the Bible to remind you that you are truly a beloved child of God and NOTHING can change that. Above is one of mine. 

David and Bathsheba: Despite Failings

 So far in this Pentecost (Ordinary Time) series of blog posts, we’ve looked at many women and men in the Bible who aligned with God, in their own fallible ways, to be God’s stewards in their time and place. Despite dysfunctional family dynamics, years of waiting, and tragedy these people were blessed by God in their lives. They struggled with their personal problems, just like we do, and discovered in the end that God is greater than any problem. Last week I posted an image of a list of Biblical characters and their 'flaws' because no one is perfect. They were not perfect. They were loved by God. They were important parts and instruments in God’s kingdom. 

This month, we look at another deeply flawed, yet deeply loved man and woman. David—the shepherd boy who became king of Israel was certainly not perfect. Even in his sinfulness, God worked in David’s life. In one very famous incident, he is found to be an abuser of a woman, and yet God accepts his repentence. Most people know the outline of the story of David and Bathsheba. It is found in 2 Samuel chapters 11-12. The summary of the event is found in 2 Samuel 11:2-5.

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

David has insomnia and sees a woman bathing in her own yard. He discovers that she is an Israelite woman (daughter of Eliam) married to a Hittite warrior—one of his own soldiers. Despite this, he orders her to come to him and sleeps with her. Bathsheba would not have been allowed to say ‘no.’ This was the king, after all, and she was a woman married to a foreigner. When she lets him know that she is pregnant, David makes some rash decisions. In an attempt to conceal his actions, He sends for Uriah.

After asking about the campaign tells him “Go down to your house and wash your feet”… But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.  David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?” Uriah’s response shows that he is a man of honor. “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!” (2 Samuel 11:8-11)

David tries again, and when Uriah still doesn’t go home to his wife, the king sends him back to the battle front with a letter essentially ordering his execution. “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.” So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died. (2 Samuel 11:16-17) He then moves Bathsheba into his harem. (Imagine the gossip!)

Chapter 12 of 2 Samuel tells of the prophet Nathan chastising David (as in this image) through the story of a rich man, a poor man, and a lamb. (2 Samuel 12:1-12) David repents and Nathan tells him, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.  But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.” (2 Samuel 12:13-14)

Just as Nathan foretold, the infant sickens and dies, despite David’s desperate fasting and prayers. (2 Samuel 12:15-23) Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. (2 Samuel 12:24-25)

God brought good from David’s bad actions. Despite their relationship starting with rape, Bathsheba becomes a favored wife. Much later, as David is dying, we see her conspire with Nathan to ensure that Solomon is king after David. In 1 Kings 1, we learn the son of another wife, Adonijah, has named himself king even though David is still alive. Starting in verse 11 we hear Nathan’s advice to Bathsheba so that Solomon is proclaimed king.  

Nathan asked Bathsheba…“Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king, and our lord David knows nothing about it? Now then, let me advise you how you can save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. Go in to King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, did you not swear to me your servant: “Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king? While you are still there talking to the king, I will come in and add my word to what you have said.”…[Bathsheba does as advised with Nathan supporting her]…Then King David said, “Call in Bathsheba.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. The king then took an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble,^…Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.” [David then says] “Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada…Take your lord’s servants with you and have Solomon my son mount my own mule and take him down to Gihon…Blow the trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon! Then you are to go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah.” (1 Kings 1:11-35)

In this story of David and Bathsheba, we see God acting through the foibles and mistakes of David and other human actors. Like us, Bathsheba and David acted based on their own ideas of what is best. Even though David lusted for Bathsheba and God punished him for his actions through the death of the infant, God also provided a blessing through the second son of the couple. Solomon was to become the wise leader of Israel after David died. Bathsheba acted to protect her honor when she told David she was pregnant after his rape, and despite his initial response of trying to trick Uriah, he does not ignore her rights. He acknowledges his promises at the end of his life, as well, and acts to ensure Solomon’s kingship.

How has God acted in your life despite your failures and mistakes? I can think of times when what I thought I wanted ended up being not so good. Then, God showed me a new path or a new ministry direction that was better than what I planned.

Anna and Simeon: Patience

 For the past couple weeks, we’ve been looking at the story of Anna and Simeon in the Gospel of Luke. This elderly pair spent decades of their lives waiting to see the fulfillment of God’s Promise to the people of Israel of a Messiah. What they got was an infant who they recognized as God Incarnate and the fulfillment of that promise.

We often get impatient (at least I do) when our plans don’t fall into place right away or in the way we planned. Waiting on God to act is sometime difficult.

What if we are looking in the wrong places for the fulfillment of God’s dream in our lives? What if we think that success is found in the number of people who attend an event we plan, or in the amount of money in our bank account? What if we fall into the trap of thinking we are successful when our name is on the office door of a high-power business or when we are recognized when we walk down the street?

Maybe that’s not how God measures success. Maybe God’s success is the heart transformed by a sentence in a blog post. Maybe God measures success in the kind acts we do. Maybe God is pleased with us when we take time to sit with a friend or smile at a stranger.

Simeon and Anna spent their time in prayer in the Temple waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promised Messiah. We aren’t told what else they did during those years, but probably they became unofficial greeters and helped many visitors to the Temple find their way. Then when a confused couple from Nazareth arrived with their baby to do as Mosaic Law ordered, Simeon knew the truth. Then, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared for all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Israel.”

Anna as well recognized God’s truth and proclaimed thanks to God and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

It is easy to get caught up in the messages of our society and forget that God very often, throughout history has worked in the lives of the least likely of people. There is the reoccurring post on social media that reminds us that “God doesn’t call the qualified, God qualifies the called.” In face, as this graphic reminds me, God uses people I might not have considered 'good enough' at all:

None of us are perfect. We are each simply loved by God and in that love, we are able to act and love others. What if we each just quietly lived as if the Kingdom of God’s love was in our world and lives now? 

Brian McLaren notes, in The Secret Message of Jesus, that we are all secret agents of the Kingdom, “Your job is to discover how [you] can align and participate in the Kingdom of God…help fulfill God’s will…you work each day not just for a paycheck but also for the kingdom of God to come more and more fully.” McClaren asks “What would happen if you saw your job as one component—large or small, enjoyable or depressing—of your larger, deeper, grander calling as a participant in the kingdom of God?” (The Secret Message of Jesus, Brian McClaren, W Publishing Group, 2006)

Simeon and Anna were participants in the Kingdom of God by their faithful waiting and witness. In their prayer and dedication they were agents that helped the kingdom grow. We can do the same.

Anna and Simeon: Waiting with God

 Simeon and Anna, whose story is in the Gospel of Luke (chapter 2) give us insight into waiting for God’s plan to come to fulfillment. I would think that each of them had had many conversations with God, praying again and again for the fulfillment of the promise. As they got older, each prayer perhaps became more desperate. “Will I see your Messiah?” “Hey, God, I’m not getting any younger.”

There may be plans in your heart that you are sure God placed there. However, they don’t seem to be coming to fruition. When you try to move forward, there are closed doors. You keep looking around for the open door or open window. After all, there’s the saying that ‘when God closes a door, God opens a window.’ But that window doesn’t seem to be open, either.

This image captured from Facebook by “The Letterer” is a reminder that God is always present and always working.

As a society, we are not good at waiting. Instant gratification is the name of the game. We can download a new game to our phone and start playing in an instant. We can zap our dinner in the microwave and not wait for it to cook in the oven. We can travel across the country in just hours compared to our ancestors who needed weeks or even months to make the trek. Communication with friends and family is just a text away.

God’s timing is often much more deliberate. God works in our hearts and souls to prepare the soil for the next thing. God worked in Simeon and Anna as they waited and worshipped in the Temple two thousand years ago. Perhaps they learned patience. Perhaps they learned to trust in God’s timing. Perhaps they found their faith deepening despite the waiting for the fulfillment of God’s plan. Perhaps they came to an understanding that God’s way does not always look like we expect.

Imagine the surprise of the two elders when God’s promised Messiah showed up as the infant son of a poor family from Nazareth. Because of their time of waiting and preparing and being prepared, they were able to recognize in the Babe, God’s fulfillment.

God’s gift is always better than we can imagine. It’s like waiting for a stuffed dog for your birthday and getting a real puppy. Or expecting a bowl of ice cream and getting gelato. It’s waiting for decades for the One spoken of by the prophets and holding that Child in your arms as an infant full of God and full of possibility.

Then you break into song! “My eyes have seen the salvation you have prepared for all people!” proclaims Simeon. Holding the fulfillment of God’s promise, he recognizes that this is not just for the Hebrew nation, but for ALL.

God does not delay gratification, rather, God prepares us for the best that can be. In 2 Peter 3:9, we are reminded, The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. God loves each of us too much to give us second best. God waits until we are ready and prepared, then we receive the gift of God’s love.

It is not easy to wait when we think we have a great idea or ministry. Maybe you aren’t as ready as you think. Perhaps you need to learn something that will make your ministry even more effective. Perhaps waiting will help you grow in faith. God is in the waiting, too. So, as Proverbs 3:5-6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Next week we will finish our visit with Anna and Simeon.

Anna and Simeon: Waiting

 Today we start looking at the story of Anna and Simeon, who welcomed the Infant Christ in the Temple as inspiration for ways we might welcome Christ. Their story is in the Gospel of Luke. After the familiar Christmas story about shepherds and angels visiting the manger, we hear, “at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” (Luke 2:21-24) The purification rite would have been forty days after Jesus’ birth. Women were required to be ‘purified’ after childbirth and a first-born son was ‘redeemed’ by an offering.

In the next verse we meet Simeon who was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. (Luke 2:25-26) When Mary and Joseph arrive, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared for all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Israel.” (Luke 2:27-29) This Song of Simeon is commonly said during Evening Prayer from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.

We don’t get the rest of the story if we just stop at his song of praise. Simeon continues to prophecy and tells Mary, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35) Imagine for a moment the turmoil of thoughts that must have gone through Mary’s mind as she hears Simeon’s words.

The day of surprises isn’t over yet. The 84-year-old prophetess, Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher came up to the pair. Apparently, she lived in the Temple grounds worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:36-38)

Rembrandt’s painting of the scene (ca 1627) shows Anna giving praise while Simeon counsels Mary and Joseph.

Unlike Simeon, we do not have Anna’s words recorded, only that she gave thanks and spoke of the redemption of Jerusalem. This affirmation of her son’s role in life must have been another one of those things that Mary “pondered in her heart.”

Simeon and Anna were waiting and prepared for the coming of Messiah, the Christ of God. They had been waiting years and years. Perhaps there were times when they thought God had forgotten their faithfulness. I’m sure we’ve all had times when we prayed for something and prayed and prayed, but nothing seemed to be happening. God didn’t seem to be listening.

Waiting for ‘God’s timing’ can be difficult. We can get inspiration from Simeon and Anna who waited their lives for God’s revelation. When it came, that revelation was in the form of a helpless infant. Were they surprised by that, or did they understand that God acts in ways we don’t expect?

Has there been a time when you have been surprised by how God responded to a prayer?  

Sit with the image and imagine yourself in the scene. What if you were a bystander? What if you were one of the participants? Feel the emotions of Anna and Simeon as they welcome the One they had been waiting and hoping for.

As an aside: In the Gospel of Luke, the family returns to Nazareth where Jesus grows up. It is in the Gospel of Matthew that we hear of the visit of the Magi and the escape to Egypt.