Problem Children

Scriptures:  2 Samuel 13:30-33, 37-39; 2 Samuel 18:4-17, 33


This week we are wrapping up our series “Insights for Living from the Life of David.” These later years of David’s life, that deal primarily with his home life, are troubling stories – to say the least. Last week, we heard about how David broke almost every single commandment with one incident of lust. Adultery, deceit, murder… that’s how it all came down for David and his affair with Bathsheba.

This week – we are hearing how the repercussions of those actions are being played out in David’s family life. God declared that because of David’s actions, the sword would never leave his family. It would constantly be caught up in turmoil and strife. His sons would learn from their father how to handle situations in life.

The lasting repercussions of David’s sin impacted not just him – but his entire family. In particular, his children.

One of the instances we are told of is so horrific, I don’t know how any parent would react. David, from his tryst with Bathsheba, taught his son’s that if you want a woman – you just take her. His son Amnon learned that behavior just a little too well.

The Characteristics of True Friendship

Scripture: 1 Samuel 18:1-4

Last time I looked, I had 390 “friends” on Facebook (give or take depending on the day). As popular as you may think that makes me... in the world of Facebook, it's not very many when I see the thousand plus friends many of my other friends have on their Facebook pages. But I think the term “friend” has taken on new meaning in our age of social media. A “friend” is more of an acquaintance now. Someone you just kind of know. In some cases - it's even someone you've never met.

So these "social" friends are not what I would consider true friendships. It seems that fewer people than ever actually have life-long intimate friends any more.

Statistics tell us that most people are lucky if they have one “close friend” in their lifetime. And given the fact that Americans are moving from place to place more now than ever before it becomes very difficult to make and keep such a friend.

And it makes us ask the question – who, or what, is a real friend in today’s world? What does true friendship look like? What are the characteristics?

The Unlikely People God Chooses

Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:3-13

What are the characteristics we look for in leaders? Charisma? Intelligence? Experience…

Experience is a huge one, isn’t it? What’s the person’s track record? What have they done in the past? Is this someone who has proven themselves worthy of leading our nation? Where do they stand on the issues? What kind of military knowledge do they have?

How many sheep can he tend to at one time?

That last one probably isn’t on most of our checklists when we walk into a voting booth.

Nor is a teenage boy usually who we would consider to be our fearless leader.

Yet, this is precisely the person God chooses to be King over Israel. A young man whose father hadn’t even bothered to bring him out to be considered for the job when the prophet Samuel came a-calling.

Seeing Jesus

Scripture: Luke 24:13-35

It is always interesting to me to note that the resurrected Jesus is always difficult to recognize. On Easter morning, we had Mary at the tomb, not seeing Jesus immediately for who he was, but instead thinking he was the gardener. It wasn’t until he spoke her name, when he named her – recognition finally dawned.

The story in Luke regarding the road to Emmaus isn’t much different. Here are some disciples and followers of Jesus who knew him, had spent time with him, and were even waiting and expecting him to come to them after the prophesied three days.

But… still… they did not recognize him and had seemingly given up hope that Jesus would come to them, even though the third day was not yet at an end! And people call ME impatient! They’re already leaving Jerusalem. They had begun the journey down the road of disappointment. So they did not see Him as he walked along beside them, talked with them, even discussed the scriptures that pointed to Him with them.

Palm Sunday: For Our Benefit

Scripture: John 12:9-36

I had a friend from seminary who posted on her facebook page a few days ago, “Is anyone else ready for Lent to be over?”

Let’s face it – the season of Lent can be kind of depressing. I remember a Homer Simpson quote when he had discovered that all the money he spent on a Mardi Gras party was going to cause him to lose his house – and his response was, “Who knew the start of lent would be such a downer?”

All this time of self-reflection, of traveling along with Jesus for forty days as he makes his way to the cross. The hymns are dirgy, the atmosphere is dark. Lent is – well – as Homer said, kind of a downer.

Listen to Him

Scripture: Matthew 17:1-9

You know, we pastors are always fond of these big words… like “transfiguration.” Another pastor friend of mine jokingly stated this week as we were talking about this text, “If we told people we wanted to transfigure something in the church – maybe they’d like it better than if we said we wanted to change something.”

Because to transfigure something means to elevate it and make it more beautiful… and who would be against that, right? We like things that are more… glorious.

And while we talk a lot about glory – about wanting to see the glory of God, how we want things to reflect the glory of God… we strangely don’t really spend a lot of time talking about this story of the “transfiguration” event – where the Glory of God in Christ was revealed on the mountaintop.

Giving is an Act of Faith

Scripture reading: Luke 17:5-10
Please note: This sermon is the first in a series of sermons on stewardship entitled "An Attitude of Gratitude." 

Sometimes the things Jesus says… kind of annoy me. I mean is he really telling us that we shouldn’t expect to be thanked when we do our jobs? Apparently.

I remember one time when I was working at Disney and a situation arose where I had to deal with an individual in a manner that was far outside the bounds of what my job description entailed. In fact, other people had been shuffling him around until it finally landed on my desk and rather than passing him on yet again, I opted to deal with it. So I dealt with the situation, and upon returning to my work area, the assistant to the President of Feature Animation pulled me aside and asked how I handled that situation. So I told her and she expressed her gratitude to me for dealing with this individual.

About that time, the President of Feature Animation walked by, and his assistant called out to him and re-told the story of how I handled this particular situation, ending with, “Isn’t she amazing?”

The President of Feature Animation paused, gave me a very tired look and went, “Does she get a paycheck from us? Then what’s the big deal?” And walked away.

Probably one of my more humbling moments.