And the generous dream of God
Proper 6B | Mark 4:26-34
It is an odd development—to go from Kings are a terrible idea to I know his heart in just a few chapters. We might be lulled by the excitement for David—and his stature within tradition. Lulled by a sense of exception. That he is exceptional, perhaps. Or that God has given the people this exception. Or perhaps, then, that we (or our ancestors) might be excepted.
How quickly did God offer Saul as suitable—and then how quick was God to declare him unfit. A mere six chapters?
But Saul is no exception. And neither is David. They are, after all, what kings are. Nor do their hearts remain unchanged.
The boy that God loves becomes a man that God continues to love. Then he becomes a man who God keeps a promise to. He doesn’t die the beautiful, pure boy picked among the more suitable brothers. He was a complex man bringing an end to war through war and holding power as men do. And whose blind love for one of his usurper sons almost destroyed the kingdom.
There is terror and there is promise in all of it. Like growing up. Like parenthood. And growing old. Facing our own mortality. Trying new things. Leaping into the unknown…
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