How the Mighty Are Fallen

A Sermon for the 5^th Sunday after Pentecost (RCL B) 7-1-2012

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:                          2 Samuel 1:1,17-27; Psalm 130; Mark 5:21-43

Themes:                     Saul and David, the Declaration of Independence, US politics

Title:                           How the Mighty Are Fallen 

It is reported that once, while visiting with his niece, an elderly gentlemen tragically had a stroke. The niece drove wildly to get him to the emergency room. After what seemed like a very long wait, the E.R. doctor finally appeared, wearing his scrubs and a long face. Sadly, he said to the woman, “I'm afraid that your uncle's brain is no longer working, but his heart is still beating.”

“Oh, dear," cried the woman, her hands clasped against her cheeks with shock, “We've never had a Democrat in the family before!"

I know that this is an awful joke! And my apologies to all of you here this morning with strong allegiance to the Democratic Party.

Rest assured that there are an equal number of jokes out there which lambast the Republicans with equal disdain.

And that disdain, my friends, is precisely the point which we are called upon to consider this morning.

In the midst of this era of shrill voices, name calling, mud-slinging, and all together general ugliness and nastiness within the world of American politics, I am convinced that God has called those of us within the body of Christ to be different: to serve as a voice of compassion and humility and civility. 

As our exemplar in this regard, we have to look no further than the famous King David.

Of course, when he “intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan”, he was not yet ruling as King. We have been following his story now over the last few weeks, and you may remember that last week we heard about Saul’s growing animosity toward David. And we began to see how Jonathan and Saul were quite divided in their loyalty toward David.

And yet, here after their deaths on the field of battle, David sings this lament in which he praises Saul, and he sings of how Saul and Jonathan were united as king and prince over the people.

Now, there are a number of ways to interpret the intention behind such a song of praise which honors one who was David’s mortal enemy, and which seems to gloss over the many faults and errors in judgment made by this first king over the people.

Let me suggest to you that this song of praise is offered here in the text by David because it is the right thing to do.

David could have easily gloated and praised God that now all of the impediments to his ascension to the throne have been removed.

Instead, the text reports David singing this song of lament.

Perhaps it was the right thing for David to do in order to not speak ill of the dead.

Perhaps it was the right thing to do because some among the tribes would still be loyal to Saul’s family and David sought to gain their allegiance.

Perhaps it was because David believed it to be right for the people to honor the office of the King, regardless of the personal worth of the one who happens to occupy the throne at any particular moment.

But whatever the reason, we are told that David now had the chance to speak out about all of the wickedness and failures of Saul to the general public without any fear of retribution.

And yet, instead, David chose to sing his praises. David overcame his personal grievances in order to do what was right.

There is another text of great importance for all of us right now which likewise speaks about a flawed king.  This text was completed and published just a few miles away from here on the 4^th of July in 1776.

We are speaking, of course, of the Declaration of Independence signed and published just across the Delaware River in Independence Hall.

The king mentioned in this text is King George the Third of England.  

And you may recall that in THAT text the King is vilified in hearty fashion. His many failures and abuses are catalogued in detail and “submitted to a candid world” for review and judgment.  

Now, just a few weeks ago, we heard in the text of First Samuel the longings of the Hebrew people for a king. They longed to have a king set over them, so that they could be protected from the assaults of the Philistines, and so that they could be like all of the other nations around them. They all had kings, so why not the tribes of Israel?

But you might recall that wise old Samuel had warned them of the dangers of having a king.

A king would do such things as take the best produce of their fields and vineyards.

A king would demand one tenth of their grain. In today’s parlance, this is called a tax!

And what is more, a king would force conscription upon the young Hebrew men and force them to fight in his army!

And once all of this takes place, then the people will cry out to God and ask for justice and redress against the wrongs committed by this king.

BUT, the text says, the Lord will not answer them in that day, because this is the path that they have freely chosen of their own accord.  

In the Declaration of Independence, we can see many of these same themes. The people complain against unfair taxation and conscription. The king takes from what is theirs without due process, without regard for the people’s needs. And now the people are choosing to take a different course “with a firm reliance upon the protection of Divine Providence”.

Now, I am not a proponent of the theory of manifest destiny. And yet, just look at what has transpired over the 236 years since that Declaration was first signed and published!

As the old saying goes, the proof is in the pudding.

It sure seems (does it not?!) that Divine Providence has in fact supported this move toward freedom and liberty and justice for all of the people of this land.

We, of course, have not always been faithful in living in accordance with our stated values. We have denied liberty and justice to many through prejudice, fear and hatred.

And yet, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has said, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Because God bends toward justice and ALL the earth tilts in accordance with its Creator.

There is a sense in this ancient text of First Samuel that God did not want the people to have a king because God wished for them to be different, because God longed for them to live together under the rule of law without the need for a strong man to keep the peace through fear and intimidation.  

And so it remains with us. My dear sisters and brothers: as the body of Christ in this time and place, we are called to be different, and we have a special role to play in the on-going growth of our nation.

Just as David sang the praises of his long-time enemy, King Saul, at his death, so too we are called to be a voice for civility and kindness, even when we disagree strongly with others.

And let me suggest to you that God does NOT care which way you vote.

But God cares HOW you vote, or more precisely: God cares HOW you make your decisions, HOW you treat those around you, whether you happen to agree with them or not.

There is never any reason to be unkind. We must speak the truth, of course, but never in such a way that we fail to respect the dignity of every human being.

David sang the praises of Saul, even though they were enemies in the realm of politics and power. He sang the praises of Saul, because it was the right thing to do.

Perhaps in the midst of the political nastiness to which we will all be subjected in the next few months – just perhaps you and I might be able to serve as a voice of calm and kindness and respect. Because it is the right thing to do, when you are in a conversation and you hear some particularly nasty rumor or innuendo about some politician, perhaps you can interject as a voice of light and peace and kindness.

Because it is the right thing to do. Amen.