family trouble

Good evening brothers and sisters,
This week we're talking about how part of growing in a loving community is being able to tell each other the truth, even when we might not want to hear it. That's called holding each other accountable. Instead of starting with theological passages, we're going to start with a story that illustrates the point. King David's oldest son Amnon raped one of David's daughters, Tamar. Tamar's brother, Absalom, killed his brother Amnon in revenge and was exiled. 


David's closest advisor and general, Joab convinced David to allow Absalom to come back home. Soon after that, Absalom started dreaming of more power and plotted a revolt against his father. That's where we'll start our story today.

God bless,
Sam

2 Samuel 15:1-12

After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run ahead of him. ²Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the road into the gate; and when anyone brought a suit before the king for judgment, Absalom would call out and say, “From what city are you?” When the person said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” ³Absalom would say, “See, your claims are good and right; but there is no one deputed by the king to hear you.” ⁴Absalom said moreover, “If only I were judge in the land! Then all who had a suit or cause might come to me, and I would give them justice.” ⁵Whenever people came near to do obeisance to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of them, and kiss them. ⁶Thus Absalom did to every Israelite who came to the king for judgment; so Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel.

⁷At the end of four years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron and pay the vow that I have made to the Lord. ⁸For your servant made a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram: If the Lord will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will worship the Lord in Hebron.” ⁹The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he got up, and went to Hebron. ¹⁰But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then shout: Absalom has become king at Hebron!” ¹¹Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom; they were invited guests, and they went in their innocence, knowing nothing of the matter. ¹²While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city Giloh. The conspiracy grew in strength, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.

family misunderstandings

Good evening friends,
Today in worship we talked about conflict. Today's passage shows that even Jesus faced misunderstandings in his own family. His family heard about his preaching and must have started worrying. Jesus doesn't exactly reject his family, but he implies that faith is more important than family. That's a hard message to hear, but a good reminder that faith is a core commitment, not an extra curricular activity.

blessings on your evening,
Sam

Mark 3:20-35

Then he went home; ²⁰and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. ²¹When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” ²²And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” ²³And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. ²⁷But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

²⁸“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; ²⁹but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

³¹Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. ³²A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” ³³And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ³⁴And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

after the flood

Good evening friends,
After spending all that time in the ark, I'm sure Noah and his family were thrilled to have a little more space. Unfortunately, things didn't go perfectly smoothly after the flood either. In this story we see both Noah and his son Ham acting in less than idea ways. The story of Ham being cursed by his father has been used as a justification for the oppression of Africans and African Americans for much of history. As usual, when we use the Bible for oppression we're not following God's calling. The interesting thing about this passage is that Noah's anger focuses on Ham's son, Canaan, more than on Ham himself. That doesn't really make sense, but often we aren't logical when we're angry. That curse is important as the story progresses because Canaan is the ancestor of the people who inhabited the Promised Land (Canaan) before Israel came into it. Scholars believe this passage was written to reflect and justify Israel's conquest of the land.

God bless,
Sam

Genesis 9:18-28

¹⁸The sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. ¹⁹These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled. ²⁰Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. ²¹He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he lay uncovered in his tent. ²²And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. ²³Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.

²⁴When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, ²⁵he said, “Cursed be Canaan; lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers.” ²⁶He also said, “Blessed by the Lord my God be Shem; and let Canaan be his slave. ²⁷May God make space for Japheth, and let him live in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his slave.”

²⁸After the flood Noah lived three hundred fifty years. ²⁹All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years; and he died.