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Today’s Readings: 1 Samuel 17, Romans 15

David and Goliath are stalwart characters in the our imaginations - used to describe the battle between the noble small and the evil big. David and Goliath are at home in kindergarten Sunday School classrooms and in front of EPSN cameras.

The story is genius. It captures our imagination and subtly evaluates the imaginations of the characters: David, Eliab, and Saul.

David wasn’t the first Israelite that Goliath taunted, but he was the first one with the imagination to see how God’s power could transform the situation. Saul and his army were paralyzed by Goliath because he had worn them down with 40 days of hurled insults and threats. When David hears the Philistine’s jeer, however, he responds with rage and not fear. Although the Israelites tell David about Saul’s generous offer to the man willing to fight, he fails to hear their prattle because he’s incensed over Goliath’s defiance of God.

Eliab, David’s oldest brother, provides a foil to David. David and Eliab are looking at the same facts, but from radically different perspectives and, consequently, drawing radically different conclusions. Goliath’s size and the odds weigh upon Eliab while David is immune to Goliath’s power by God and the right. David infuriates Eliab by his interpretation of the situation. Surely, the older brother is thinking: what a naïve, self-important punk. When in fact, David’s viewpoint is the most humble and unselfconscious.

Then comes the interaction between Saul and David. Because Saul is entrenched in the “reality” of his kingship, he scoffs at David’s inexperience and weapons. But, David imagines himself qualified through his battles with animals - not seeing any difference between Goliath and the beasts. Again, we see that Saul’s imagination is stunted when he tries to dress David in his own armor; he can’t see that this is a different kind of battle.

But, David does have imagination. He - whom the Bible says is a precursor of Jesus – boldly goes before Goliath and says,

You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty … All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” NIV. (v. 45-47).

Not by sword or spear? David’s imagination is based on God’s power and creativity to save.

Following Jesus demands imagination because God’s ways aren’t ours. Eliab’s ruined imagination overestimates Goliath and underestimates David. Saul’s weak imagination fails to recognize David’s qualifications and talent. David’s faith and obedience fuel his God-saturated reality. And, after all, most of reality is invisible. Sin clouds and narrows our imagination. But, faith in God allows our imagination to explore all that may be possible.

In what is your faith – man or God? Be careful how you answer – for the scope of your imagination depends on it.

(This piece is influenced by Eugene Peterson’s Leap Over a Wall, Chapter 2,and his 1 and 2 Samuel Commentary. There’s no mistaking Peterson’s shaping my interpretation.)

today’s readings: 1 samuel 16,  romans 14.

Having lived on the East Coast for the past decade, I’ve come to appreciate a good bottle of wine and especially enjoy reading articles in the New York Times about local vineyards. Having grown up in the South and, in particular, at a Southern Baptist Convention (“SBC”) church, however, I was never exposed to wine because alcohol is frowned upon in most SBC churches. This position is often justified with Romans 14 and its emphasis on not engaging in activities, e.g., drinking alcohol, that will cause your brother to stumble (v. 13: ” … make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way …”). As a general matter, I disagree with the SBC’s stance since, after all, Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine. But, the larger point that Paul is making far exceeds my little squabbles with an SBC church.

The point of Romans 14 and, I believe, the point that the SBC is trying to make, is that we should not abuse our freedom in such a manner that we are not loving one another. In verse 16, Paul writes, “So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.” NIV. How does that happen? How does something that you and I may consider to be “good” come to be spoken of as “evil”?

In verse 15, Paul writes, “If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.” NIV. Essentially, Paul is telling the Roman church that they should not use their good faith or good freedom or good, clean food, in such a way that causes a brother to be distressed or destroyed. And, why? Because it means that, to the extent that they distress or destroy their brother, they are not acting in love and, therefore, have essentially missed the entire gospel.

Usually, people talk about how we shouldn’t be too committed to laws or rules because God is full of grace and we cannot earn our way to heaven. This is true. Today, however, the message of Romans 14 is that, just as we should not be too committed to the laws, we should not be too committed to our freedom outside of the rigid rules. The paramount consideration in both cases should be whether we are loving our brothers and sisters, which is one of the most fundamental messages of the Bible (Matthew 22:36-40 – “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”).

Do you regularly seek to love your brothers and sisters – even when it means that you may give up some of your freedom?

Today’s Readings: 1 Samuel 13, Romans 11

According to an article in yesterday’s New York Times, scientists in the Pacific Ocean have discovered seven new species of deep-sea worms – five of which have little green glow sticks that, when released, produce “a bright green bioluminescence that lasts for many seconds as the worms swim away.” These worms were found at depths of approximately 6,000 to 12,500 feet off the coasts of Mexico, California, Oregon, and the Philippines.

In all likelihood, these are not the last “new” species of deep-sea worms that scientists will discover. After all, the area of the entire ocean is 139 million square miles, its volume is about 310 million cubic miles, and its average depth is 12,400 feet. [Wikipedia]. 

In Romans 11, Paul offers an image in his doxology. He writes,

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! NIV.

But, what does it mean that the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God are “deep”? It means that the riches of His wisdom and knowledge – like the ocean – have an unspeakable hiddenness (a vast array of things unknown), an objective reality (a something down there such that all that has been revealed has not been in vain), and a bottomless foundation (an ability to go layer upon layer of cause or reason of the universe, and when we hit the bottom, we find God).

God is rich because He owns everything. but His wealth does not rely solely only on His ownership. For He made everything out of nothing, which means that He could create more wealth for Himself if He chose to. And, even if He chose not to create one more thing, He would still be the most wealthy person in the universe because He himself is the most valuable thing that exists. In comparison to the depth of the riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge, human wealth is ridiculously minuscule.

So, what does it mean to say, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God,” for you and I? It means that we can trust that God has immeasurably enough of Himself and His riches to go around for all His children, including us. So, there’s no need for envy of others, no need for insecurity in God’s love for us, and no need to distrust what He has in store. But, just like the ocean has a profundity that is still being discovered, God does, too, which means that we have to maintain faith in Him even when we may not fully understand how it all works together.