How are actions define us
Sermon -29th July 2018
You may wonder how on earth these 2
readings from Old and New Testament can possibly go together and they don’t,
one is about lust the other about care, total opposites you might say, and I
would have to agree with you.
Except both tell the same story of
the consequences of our actions, I’ll explain.
1. David and Bathsheba – that well known
story, David anointed King Chosen by God yet very human in his desires and with
the power to satisfy them, sees a beautiful woman bathing as he strolls on the
palace roof – so far so good, but he uses his power to have a brought to him
and (OK this is my spin on it, but how else can we read it – forces, coerces
her to lay with him – result pregnancy) so bad enough already, but she is the
wife of Uriah the Hittite so David tries to pass the child off and when Uriah (
totally innocent in this tale of lust and power will have none of it) orders ,”Put
Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest and then fall back, so that
he gets wounded and killed.” So at best adultery, at worst rape followed by
murder.
2. Followed by the 5 loaves and 3 fishes
which feed a crowd of over 5000. One of
the great miracles, where by his actions Jesus shares all he can access at that
moment with all who are present. Various scholars suggest that Jesus action of
taking the 5 loaves and 2 fishes and blessing them precipitates a miracle of
sharing as others in the crowd with simple small amounts of food are moved to
share as well. Then there’s the traditional version where the food 2/5 is by
faith made enough for all. Which ever way you can accept as truth, it’s a
miracle, from apparently very little, over 5000 are fed. So Jesus by his
actions is shown to be ‘indeed the prophet
who is to come into the world.” Jesus,
as he realized they were about to come and take him by force and make him king,
fled to the hills at once. So
compassion and care place Jesus in peril.
3. Actions have consequences!
4. Can you think of a time when you have
done something ad needed to cover it up – like David! So you have done
something and them put the blame on someone else – anybody remember a specific
occasion? No or not saying – or
conveniently forgotten – I spent some time racking brains this morning but
couldn’t think of anything personal which means we are very good at dismissing
our own mis-demeaners but I can remember – Christmas Morning with our 2 eldest
children. The eldest came in to our room with the contents of both stockings,
then a very upset younger one who thought Santa had not left anything for him.
Soon the eldest was Blaming Santa! Until we got a confession.
5. Can you think of the any others
actions that have had a positive effect. Young Enterprise & Nestle story. As a business
advisor I was asked to mentor a school on the Young Enterprise Programme and
was involved until the list of sponsors was released, among them was Nestle, a
company whose ethical values do not chime with mine, I stood down as a mentor,
explaining to the young people why. Following discussions they decided they
could not participate if Nestle were sponsoring and we wrote and said why. The
positive thing here is that the students thought about what they were doing and
who they represented, it was a lesson in values and how to preserve your own.
Because our
actions and how we live are lives are important, the consequences of our
actions change lives, maybe not as drastically as David’s but can impact for
ill on others, or they can impact for good.
So what are
we to learn from this – 3 things:
1. Making a mess of things happens, big
messes not just little ones, but as we know from the rest of David’s story you
can be forgiven.
2. The consequences of compassion and
careful actions can be detrimental, as Jesus discovers – Ad those who follow
him also discover- For following Christ does not mean an easy life of peace and
prosperity - Until his assassination by right-wing gunmen, Archbishop Oscar
Romero (1917-1980) of San Salvador spoke out courageously in defence of human
rights and social justice in strife-torn El Salvador.
3. Most of all we can learn from David’s
story what it means to be human, to fall like David into sin and we learn from
the Gospel how to care for other, we may not be able to feed 5000 but we can
try to rise to every occasion and follow the example of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. In the name of The Father the Sn and the Holy Spirit. Amen
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