Davison's Doodle

Psalm 130
There are at least two words/phrases, used in Ps 130, that deserve some further explanation.  The first is the word used in vv 5 & 6, “soul”, which is how the NRSV translates the Hebrew word, “nephesh”.  This Hebrew word is frequently translated as “soul” in Christian-based versions of the Bible, whereas the TaNak, a Jewish translation, most often uses “life” to render nephesh.  The latter is a more accurate rendering of nephesh; “soul” reflects a more Greek understanding of a human being, in which the person is made up of a body and a soul.  Within the Hebrew Bible, this dichotomy within humans does not occur.  In Gen 2:7, when the LORD breathes the breath of life into the first human, the texts says that “[‘adam] became a living being [nephesh]”.  In this lament, the psalmist is expressing a deep longing for the LORD, one that is experienced in one’s very “being”.  Just as those who are experiencing the depths of despair, which are like a never-ending night, wait for the hope brought by the dawn.

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
While the focus in the story is on the specific brokenness between David and his son, the Wise Woman of Tekoa takes this opportunity to address a broader concern for justice and mercy in the human family and to offer a prophetic word to those who might have ears to hear.  In pointing out David’s sin, she also makes important claims about community and about God.  She declares that what the king has done has implications for the rest of the people in Israel, “Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God?”  The turmoil in his own family prevents the king from assuring the safety and well-being of those under his care.  When there is brokenness anywhere within the human family, no one can know wholeness.  The Wise Woman also offers an alternative view to that of the human desire for vengeance and violence, which create alienation among God’s children and strains humanity’s relationship with God.  Hear the wisdom in her prophetic words:  “God will not take away a life; God will devise plans so as not to keep an outcast banished forever from God’s presence.”

Ephesians 4:25-5:2
In the preceding chapters, the author of this epistle offered theological grounding for “Christian” behavior within a community and, now, begins to speaking plainly, “truthfully” to the Ephesian congregation.  Though the words of the author are good advice about living in secular culture, his/her words are about life within Christian community and not about living and interacting within Roman culture.  It brings to mind the lyric, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”6  And that’s the point, I think, that the author wants to impress upon the Ephesian community of faith.  If you cannot alter your life and your behavior with people for whom you share a “seal for the day of redemption,” then you are grieving God.  Like many things in life, this is much easier said than done.  Creating lists of what is “grieving God”7 is an easy thing to do because it is often closely associated with what is grieving the list creator.  It is a serious question to ponder about your participation within secular and religious community.  What do think is grieving God about humanity and creation in the 21st century?  Often it is said that Christian “disunity” grieves God most.8  I don’t think that is so.  Rather, it might be those things carried out in God’s name, or in Jesus‘ name, to cause division and are violent, that are unjust or oppress, which grieve God, if God can be grieved.

John 6:35, 41-51
The Gospel of John continues to knead Jesus into the “bread of life.”  Having set the major ingredients together in the preceding chapters, the author continues this week to work his ideas, his argument for Jesus, into bread fit to serve both Gentile and Jewish culture.  It is helpful to remember that the authentic writings of Paul predate the gospels.  Could the gospel writers have had copies of Paul’s letters, or were they working from other texts yet to be discovered?  Yes.  No. Maybe.  An interesting aspect of the Gospel of John is that, where the synoptic gospels have a “last supper” scene, John has a story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet.  For this gospel writer, this servant image is the preferred way of remembering Jesus and model for doing the things that Jesus does.  Have you ever heard this servant message as the heart of an elder’s prayer or as the invitation to communion?  For example:  “Come, to the table and pick up your towel and basin.  That’s the example that Jesus set for you.”  But, this does not mean that John’s gospel lacks the language of the last supper because it can be found in this portion of chapter 6.  Though not explicitly part of a last supper “liturgy”, as in the other gospels, this “bread of life” finds its way into many communion meditations, liturgies, and prayers.  E.g.:  “This is the bread of life.  Eat and be satisfied.”  This chapter seems like a theological transliteration as much as it does a metaphor or a credo about who Jesus is.

One approach to this text is to ponder your bread of choices?  When the restaurant server comes with the bread tray, and there are choices, what do you choose?15  If there is only one choice do you take the bread or pass it?  Whole wheat or whole grain bread is said to be better for the body, but how often do you partake of this healthy option, particularly if you have a choice?  If believers ingest Jesus when sharing bread, how are they affected or altered by that nutrition?  Is Jesus a memory or an active ingredient, portrayed in your living between servings of bread in sacred community?

Psalm 51
In a lament, the person(s) praying would name what was wrong with the world, ask God to do specific things in order to fix the problem, and promise to sing God’s praises to others, once the situation had improved.  Sometimes a lament calls God to task for not acting like God, even questioning whether God cares about humanity or creation.  Other laments cry out to God because the psalmist is experiencing oppression at the hand of an enemy, and the request is that God bring justice to the situation (often asking that some very violent acts be visited upon the enemy).

In a lament like Ps 51, it is the psalmist who has done something wrong and has experienced the “crush” (v 8b) of guilt and the pain of God’s disappointment (v 4b), and the request is for God’s “mercy” and forgiveness (v 1).  This psalm follows the usual pattern for an “Individual Lament”2:  Address to God (v 1); Complaint/Confession (vv 3-5)3; Confession of Trust (v 6); Petition (vv 7-11); Words of Assurance (v 12); and Vow of Praise (vv 13-15).  The only exception is the occurrence of a Petition in vv 1b-2.  It is not unusual for laments to rearrange the different parts of the structure, and we might explain this aberration as being due to the effusive emotions of a person who is desperate for God’s forgiveness.

2 Sam 11:1-12:13
The “honeymoon” of King David’s reign does not last forever.  His faith and fair-mindedness falter, when he shows poor judgment and uncontrolled lust in his encounter with Bathsheba.  While the men of his military are out on the battlefields, the king remains at home along with the women of the city, who were not allowed to go into battle.  One day, while Batsheba is innocently bathing on her rooftop, assuming that there would be no men to see her exposed, David eyes her beauty and inquires about her.  Even though he is told that Batsheba is married to one of his soldiers, Uriah the Hittite, the king demands that she be brought to him.  Once in his chambers and under his control, Batsheba becomes a victim of David’s power and lust.  After having his way with her, David sends Batsheba home.  The secrecy of his sexual misbehavior is threatened when he learns that Bathsheba is pregnant.  With her husband away in battle, there would be no doubt that the baby was not Uriah’s.  First, David attempts to trick Uriah into sleeping with Batsheba, thus making it believable that the child would be his.  He brings Uriah back from the battlefront and encourages him to spend a night at home with his wife.  Uriah’s discipline and respect for his fellow soldiers in the field causes him to refuse this “comfort” of home.  The king then tries to get Uriah drunk enough to forget his pledge of abstinence, but this attempt at a cover-up also fails.  As a last effort, David sends Uriah back to the battlefield with a note secretly telling the king’s commander, Joab, to place Uriah on the frontlines of the fighting and then withdraw, insuring his death.  This time David gets what he wants.  With Uriah dead, he is able to marry Batsheba, after the proper mourning period, and his misdeed will never be revealed.  But, the LORD is not so easily fooled.  Nathan is sent with a divine prophecy for the David, revealing that the punishment for his sinful behavior will be that the child borne by Batsheba will not survive.  Even though David repents, the child becomes ill and dies.  Quickly, David impregnates Batsheba a second time, and she bears a healthy baby boy, who is named Solomon and will succeed his father on the throne.

Ephesians 4:1-16
A modern question to bring to this text would be:  “What is the Church’s ‘body image’ today?”  Does your congregation have a healthy “body image,” or is it concerned about weight, height, muscle, or balance?  Is your congregation trying to “woo” families, young adults, or youth into membership with programs, buildings, and more activities than are offered at the local mall or YMCA?  Is your congregation taking its cues about its “image” from congregations that look successful from outward appearances, but seem to maintain that appearance through unhealthy practices?  The author of Ephesians borrows the “body metaphor” from the authentic writings of Paul to beg the Christian community in the Roman controlled city to a life, a witness, worthy of being named “Christian” by those within and outside of Christianity.

Another question to bring to the text is, “Does mature faith mean unity through uniformity?”  Historically, it seems that the best we can muster as Christian communities, or as a secular society, is “separate, but equal,” which we know sets-up a power struggle over who has the power to define “separate and equality.”  Could mature faith mean tolerance of persistent differences, or distinctions, among groups of Christians?  In our current political context, and in many religious ones, the answer is “no.”  Tolerance, collaboration, and compromise indicate weakness in our politics and in positions of leadership.

John 6:24-35
This entire month will be spent in John 6.  Some weeks, you may be able to translate the text for the children, and other weeks, like this one, the text will be challenging for new and seasoned believers.  Concrete thinkers will have difficulty sifting the metaphor.  Have you ever made bread?  Over the next several weeks, the Gospel of John is kneading Jesus into the “bread of life.”13  Remember, this gospel is an overt treatise on the topic of “who is Jesus,” and it is expounding on the Christology of the developing Christian community, which is the author’s context and is probably predominately Gentile.  Here, familiarity with the text and a comfort with the self-revelation of Jesus, that the gospel writer places on Jesus‘ lips, may keep us from discovering what else this passage has to teach, beyond tradition’s orthodoxy about the divinity of Jesus, his calculated purpose, and the character of God.   The Lectionary omits two verses, vv. 22-23, that set the stage for the conversation between Jesus and “the crowds,”14 who awake the next morning, after being well fed the night before, and neither Jesus nor the disciples can be found.  What would you do in this situation?  If you are food insecure, you might go looking for the person that just fed your family.  For those who celebrate communion every Sunday, we go back to our “normal” life and come back next week, knowing that the table, if not Jesus, will be there.