DANCING ON THE DANGEROUS WAVE

READ 2 Samuel 6; Luke 18; Rev 15:2-4

DANCING ON THE DANGEROUS WAVE

And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire,and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name,standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God,and the song of the Lamb:  “Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations! Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed.” 

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

1. David had caught the wave of the kingdom of God.  It had been coming toward him for years.  But now the perfect wave arrived as he celebrated and rejoiced with the kingdom coming together around him in Jerusalem.  He brought the Ark of the Covenant into his city.  What was this ark?  What was in the ark? What did it symbolize in the history of Israel?

MODEL of the Ark of the Covenant

2. David danced before the ark.  Was it appropriate to dance before God?  How did Michal respond?

3.  David discovered that the ark could not easily be managed.  Poor Uzzah. What was his mistake?  What sort of warning did his death imply for David.  Eugene Peterson suggested that Uzzah’s death was a warning sign for David.  “Beware The God”.  Have you ever thought about the ways we trivialize the holy God, domesticate, and seek to manage God? In what ways does religion seek to control God?

4. Consider the Annie Dillard quote in the sermon.  She suggested that the ushers in  churches ought to hand out crash helmets, life vests, and signal flares, and then lash people in their pews.  We are playing with TNT and it could kill a Sunday morning.  What if the Holy One awakened and was offended?  What if the awakened One led us to a place we had not expected? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  What does this mean?

5. Is Jesus safe?  He’s not safe, the little girl in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe learned, but he is good.  Read Luke 18 and ask yourself how the rich ruler was dancing on the dangerous wave of his religion. How can the Lord be both un-safe and good?

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED?

READ 2 Samuel 5:1-5; Psalm 23; John 10:1-8

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures; 

he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. 

He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the 

valley of the shadow of death, 

I fear no evil; for you are with me; 

your rod and your staff—they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me 

in the presence of my enemies; 

you anoint my head with oil; 

my cup overflows. 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 

all the days of my life, 

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD 

my whole life long.

SERMON TITLE:

What Have You Learned?

The sermon juxtaposed the way of Steve Jobs and the way of King David.  Steve Jobs’ in his 2005 Stanford University Commencement speech sought to answer the sermon question through his own life experience.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

PART A

1.  Do you own an iPhone, iPod, or iPad?
What do you like the most about this technology?

2.  Jobs spoke about the importance of trust in connecting the dots of one’s own life journey. Have you ever looked back and wondered how the dots of your life journey connected? If they do, who is the connector? Your own gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever?

3.  Who do you trust to make sense of your life?

4.  Jobs’ spoke of love and loss. He counseled that we need to discover what it is that we love and hold on to it. "Never Settle!" Hold on to what you love and pursue it with all the passion you can muster, even in the face of loss or failure. If you could summarize the motivating love of your life, what would it be? Who would it be? Have you ever had to settle? How have you dealt with necessary compromises?

5.  How are the two great commandments of the Bible related to this: Love God with the totality of your being and your neighbor as yourself? How does love shape and form identity and destiny?

6.  But then Jobs’ argued that human life is temporary. We are all going to die and be cleared away over time. Therefore, if today is the only day we have, how does that direct our present?

PART B 

1.  King David would have given a different answer to the question: what have you learned?

2. Consider Psalm 23
If the Lord is the shepherd of his flock and we are members of his flock, are we ever alone in our journey?

3.  Do we love the Lord enough to trust that he is sovereign and knows what is best for us?

4.  Do I need to surrender to the Lord’s love revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd? What might that look like in your life today?

5.  Has the presence of the Good Shepherd in the valley of the shadow of death ever been with you and brought comfort and peace?

6. If you had to choose between Steve Jobs’ world view and King David’s, which would it be?

How Long, O Lord?

READ 2 SAMUEL 1 (The death of Saul and Jonathan); PSALM 13

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I bear pain in my soul,

and have sorrow in my heart all day long?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O LORD my God!

Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,

and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;

my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

But I trusted in your steadfast love; 

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the LORD,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.

How long, O Lord?
Wailing Wall, Jerusalem.  2008
Photo by Beth Pinney

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

1. Do you agree that our culture does not give permission for us to grieve our losses?  Where do you see that?

2. How do you respond to the idea that we turn instead to depression or addiction so we don't have to feel?

3. What do you think about the idea that we are "numbing ourselves" by not experiencing emotional lows, thus becoming unable to feel high or low relationships?  Have you seen that in someone or in yourself?

4. When have you prayed, "How long, O Lord?"  

5. What situations in the world or in your life could you pray that about now?

6. List some losses you have experienced in your life.  The list could be quite long.  How have you reacted to them?  Are there some you haven't yet given yourself time to grieve? One way you might do this is to write a letter to the person or "thing" that has been lost: to the one who has died, to the one who has gone away, to the job you lost, or?

The Risk of Friendship

Read  I Samuel 18-20 (The story of David and Jonathan)

Jonathan and David by Rembrandt

Reflect on 1 Samuel 18:1-9, John 15:12-17

When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.  Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house.  Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.  Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.  David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him; as a result, Saul set him over the army. And all the people, even the servants of Saul, approved.  - 1 Samuel 18:1-9

Jesus said to his disciples, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.  I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.  You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.  I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."  - John 15:12-17 

Questions for Reflection from Dr. Steve Sweet

1.      Have you ever felt like someone or something was “out to get you”.  Was it real, or was it just your mind playing some tricks on you?

2.      When was the last time that you felt like a challenge in your life was “insurmountable, overwhelming or maybe even personal’?

3.      What tends to be your first reaction when challenging times come your way?

4.      Can you think of a time when God provided you with a friend at just the right time?  Who was that friend?  How could you tell that it was a “God send”?

5.      Steve said that “True friendship will always entail some risk”?  How have you seen that play out in your friendships over the years?

6.     Read John 15:12-14.  How has Jesus been the perfect friend?  What does his friendship mean for you? 

A PRAYER:  “The Servant Song”

Brother, sister let me serve you.  Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace to let you be my servant, too.

We are pilgrims on a journey.  We are friends here on the road.
We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ-light for you in the night time of your fear.
I will hold my hand out to you; speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping. When you laugh, I’ll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow Till we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven, we shall find such harmony
Born of all we’ve known together of Christ’s love and agony.

Brother, sister let me serve you. Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace to let you be my servant, too.

Richard Gillard of New Zealand
1976-77

Facing Down The Giant

Read I Samuel 17:38-54 (NRSV) 

David and Goliath

Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail.  David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.” So David removed them.  Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. 

Bernini's David Facing Goliath

The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him.  When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.  The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.  The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.”  But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,  and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and he will give you into our hand.” 

When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.  David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. 

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, striking down the Philistine and killing him; there was no sword in David’s hand.  Then David ran and stood over the Philistine; he grasped his sword, drew it out of its sheath, and killed him; then he cut off his head with it.

When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.  The troops of Israel and Judah rose up with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.  The Israelites came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp.  David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent. 


Questions for personal reflection from Jerry Tankersley 
1.  Have you ever made a list of your fears? 
Someone said that 99% of what we fear never happens. 
But make a list of the top five things you fear.

2.  What if you could do anything you wanted to do if you were not afraid of failing. What would that be?
 
3.  We all have giants that trouble us.  Name your giants.
 
4.  Consider the David and Goliath story.  How was David able to face down Goliath?  What was there in his life experience that gave him confidence?  How did Israel’s story inspire him to act?
What role did the power of the Holy Spirit play in his life?
 
5.  Are you concerned about Laguna Presbyterian Church’s future?

6.  We have a seven year loan due to our building restoration with only a year and a half of cash reserves.  How can you make a difference? Consider whether you are a David, a champion to rally for the cause of Christ in Laguna Beach.


Prayer
Let the Church Rise by Israel Houghton/Jonathan Stockstill
We are alive, filled with your glorious life out of the dark into your marv’lous light.  We are waiting with expectation; Spirit raise us up with you! Let the church rise from the ashes; let the church fall to her knees; Let us be light in the darkness; let the church rise, let the church rise.

Seeing As God Sees

Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13 (NRSV)

Samuel Anoints David
The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.’ 2Samuel said, ‘How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.’ And the Lord said, ‘Take a heifer with you, and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.” 3Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.’ 4Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, ‘Do you come peaceably?’ 5He said, ‘Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.’ And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.’ 7But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’ 8Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, ‘Neither has the Lord chosen this one.’ 9Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, ‘Neither has the Lord chosen this one.’ 10Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen any of these.’ 11Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are all your sons here?’ And he said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.’ And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.’ 12He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.’ 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

Questions for personal reflection from Jerry Tankersley
How important are appearances to you? We all like to look good. We all carry internalized images of ourselves. Often we are self-critical of the way we look; we are not tall enough, thin enough, young enough, or rich enough. How did Samuel see Saul? Was he surprised that it was the youngest son of Jesse that God chose to be the next king of Israel?
 
So how does God see you? If God looks right past your external appearance and sees into your heart, what does he see? Does God think you are physically attractive? Does you inside match your outside?
 
The sermon suggested that God sees through the eyes of a heavenly Father who sees us as his children created in his own image. God sees through the eyes of compassion. He knows we are made of dust. God’s compassion enables him to forgive, to be present with us, to heal us, to give us hope. God sees us through eyes of commitment. He has promised to give us new hearts filled with his own Spirit. How does God’s seeing transform the way you see yourself and others?
 
The sermon suggested that one of the results of God’s seeing us and loving us just as we are is that he sees his Spirit is present to create his own character. Therefore, Jesus can say, “Do not be afraid little flock for it is your father’s good pleasure to give to you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Give alms. Where your treasure is there your heart will be.” Luke 12.
When the Lord sees the pages of your check book or Quicken account, does he see anxiety, fear, greediness? Or does he see faith, hope, and love? Does he see generosity? “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich he became poor, so that we through his poverty might become rich.”
If the Lord were to liberate your way of seeing, how would it change the priorities of your life, how you spend your money, how you use your time, and your other talents and gifts?

Prayer
Adapted from Walter Brueggemann

Faithful God, you see us as we truly are.
With Samuel and David
we confess, gladly and boldly, that all our times are in Your hands. We affirm with relief, that the NOW of the present time, present hour, present day, are in Your hands, and You preside with generous sovereignty.

We affirm gladly because we find our present “now”
overloaded with demand
fraught with too much bewilderment,
burdened with more fear than we can tolerate,
and more pain and more anxiety,
and more than enough of inhumanity.
And we gladly entrust the needs of our “now” over to You.

Even more boldly and more gladly,
We affirm that our futures are in Your hand.
We cannot see from here to there, but You can.

As we entrust these gifts to You,
We believe that You build and You plant futures
that we cannot even hope: And so we ask that You would use these gifts and use us for Your purposes.

Homeland Security

Read 1 Samuel 8 (NRSV) 

Israel Demands a King
When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beer-sheba. 3Yet his sons did not follow in his ways, but turned aside after gain; they took bribes and perverted justice.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5and said to him, ‘You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.’6But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to govern us.’ Samuel prayed to the Lord, 7and the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. 9Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.’

10 So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11He said, ‘These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; 12and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plough his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. 15He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. 16He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. 17He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day.’

Israel’s Request for a King Granted
19 But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, ‘No! but we are determined to have a king over us, 20so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.’ 21When Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Listen to their voice and set a king over them.’ Samuel then said to the people of Israel, ‘Each of you return home.’

Questions for personal reflection from Jerry Tankersley
Where were you on 09/11/01?  What were your feelings as you listened and watched?


How do you think about the last decade?  Have anxiety or fear been an issue for you? 


Can you understand how the request from the elders of the tribes made sense?  Why were they feeling so insecure? 


Put yourself in Samuel’s shoes.  What did the Lord say to him about Israel’s rejection?


How did God answer their pleas for a king?  How was their prayer fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus?


Consider Jesus as prophet, priest, and king.  Read John 18 and 19. 


In Philippians 2 the Apostle Paul challenged the church to have the mind of Christ.  How does the mind of Christ place us into conflict with the mind of the world?


What touched you the most about all the remembrances of 09/11/11?  Are you surprised by the memorials at the three ground zeroes?  What do you like or dislike the most about them? 

A Prayer

Rev. Joel Hunter

Lord, we remember the old hymn, "O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home."

In these days, help us return not only to our hurt but to Your help, and let us go on to help others because of what we have been through together.

O God of resurrection, from the destruction of precious lives and presumed security, bring forth faith, hope, and courage. From safety weapons cannot offer, let us find security in Your arms.

And let us follow You all the way Home.