A people after God’s own heart Father Dave

“O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”” (2 Samuel 18:33b)

The words of David, the king, grieving over the death of his son, Absalom.

No parent wants to lose their child. For David, the pain ran especially deep as he knew his son’s death was a result of his own failings. David had failed his daughter, Tamar, after she was brutally raped by his son, Amnon. David did nothing to Amnon, who was Tamar’s half-brother, so Tamar’s full-brother, Absalom, murdered Amnon and then started a rebellion against his father. It’s a sad and seedy tale, told in the second book of Samuel, chapter 13.

Of course, David’s failure to deal with Amnon was tied to his own larger history of failure which began with his infidelity with Basheba, which itself may have been an act of rape. David’s descent is a long and terrible tale of failure that starts with lust, goes on to murder, and then reverberates down the family line. Absolom’s rebellion stops with his death, but the pain and the violence continue on to the end of David’s life. God forgives, but nobody forgets.

It’s tempting to read these chapters from the life of King David as a cautionary tale, warning us of the potential consequences of lust, just as we read the ‘David and Goliath’ saga as an inspirational story, showing us what a little courage and faith can accomplish. From the perspective of the Biblical authors though, the primary purpose of these stories is neither to warn nor to inspire, for they are not primarily stories about David. They are, first and foremost, stories about God.

In the context of the greater Biblical narrative, the most important event in the life of David was the one recorded in 2 Samuel chapter 7 (which we focused on a few weeks ago) where David wanted to build God a house but instead God promised to build David a house:

“The LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” (2 Samuel 7:11-13)

God promised eternity to David – a name that would last forever. The ups and downs in David’s life (and there are many) need to be seen in the context of this promise from God that controls his life and destiny. Whether David is righteous or scurrilous, God remains true to God’s promises. David’s kingdom will last forever!

Of course, to say that this is the controlling narrative of David’s life is not to say that we can’t gain both inspiration and warning (and a whole lot else) from his story. Personally, the most significant insight I get from David’s journey is the reminder that being a ‘man after God’s own heart’ is not just a matter of keeping commandments.

Israel as a nation was formed in the wilderness at Mount Sinai. It was the ten commandments that defined them as a people. Even so, David broke at least two of the ten yet remained the ‘man after God’s own heart’. Following God has never been solely about obeying God’s rules.

I’m reminded of the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, penned in his ‘Ethics’ shortly before his death at the hands of the Nazis in 1945. “What is worse than doing evil, is being evil” and “it is worse for a liar to tell the truth than for a lover of truth to lie”. Good people do bad things. Assessing a person’s character is never a simple mathematical equation where we deduct the number of bad things a person does from the good.

I hope people will one day remember me as they did David – as a good man despite the many bad things I’ve done. Better that than the other way around. Perhaps that’s the most we can all hope for. We stumble and fall. We cause pain and do damage. Even so, we are a people after God’s own heart.

Our Sunday Eucharist

We celebrated another wonderful Eucharist last Sunday, and this despite the absence of our good friend, Dr Stephen Sizer, who was grieving the death of his dear wife. If you weren’t able to join the live broadcast of the service of thanksgiving for the life of Joanna Sizer, you can watch the replay here. She was indeed a remarkable woman.

David Baldwin, Tom Toby and I stumbled along without Stephen, assisted by our many online friends. We had a very engaging discussion about the life of King David where it became clear that the Islamic understanding of David is at odds with that outlined in both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. I’ll paste a couple of snippets from that discussion below though you can see all ten of these short video clips on the Sunday Eucharist Instagram page.

Please do me a favour and follow the Sunday Eucharist Instagram page. I’m hoping it will help us grow our online community, which we need to do if we are to remain financially viable.

This coming Sunday I’m looking forward to having Father Mark Battison back with us. Mark has returned safely from his travels around the UK and Europe, and I’m keen to hear whether he’s still intending to lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in November. Join us please via TheSundayEucharist.com or on Facebook , YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn or Streamyard. I look forward to sharing this Eucharist with you. 😊

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What’s On?

Saturday, August 10 – Boxing at Fadi’s Boxing Gym in Fivedock from 8.30 am
Sunday, August 11 – Our Eucharist from midday via thesundayeucharist.com (or through Facebook , YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn or Streamyard).
Tuesday, August 13 – Boxing at The Mundine Gym in Redfern from 6.30 pm.
Thursday, August 15 – Boxing at The Mundine Gym in Redfern from 6.30 pm.
Friday to Sunday, August 16 to 18 – @Binacrombi. Please join me.

We had a big weekend at Binacrombi last weekend. I really enjoyed working with the families that you’ll see featured in the short video I created above. It reinforced to me the value of what we have to offer in that remote space. I do pray that we can keep the work going, and that you will come and join me out there when you get a chance. It is a life-giving space.

In terms of publications, I appeared on the Iranian Taghrib News site this week, responding to questions about the future of the Middle East. You can click here to read it. If you don’t speak Farsi, you should be able to hit the ‘translate’ button that is built into most browsers nowadays. I also spoke on Iranian TV last weekend but the satellite reception at Binacrombi made the interview difficult and I’m not sure what became of that.

Tensions are running high across the entire Middle East region. I don’t think many of the key players really want a full-scale war but there are few other options. We are waiting for the response from Hezbollah and Iran to the assassinations carried out by Israel last week. Hassan Nasrallah has said that the waiting is a part of the punishment. Meanwhile, the US has moved its warships into position. The response is coming. What happens after that will be largely determined by the scale of that response. May God have mercy on us all.

May the Lord bless and strengthen you for the work for which you have been called.

Your brother in the Good Fight,