May 22--The Hero We're Longing For

I'm disappointed when I find out about another celebrity or politician, who turns out to be rotten.  I'm disappointed when I find rottenness in myself, too.  I'm longing for a real hero to show up.  Today's passages tell me where I can find one:  2 Samuel 1-2, John 12, Psalm 118, Proverbs 15:26-27.

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Eve reads her Bible journal aloud on this episode.

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Transcript

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May twenty two The Hero We're Longing For. I won't be reading the scripture references, for those, please check the written post. I didn't visit her often because when I'd go, she kept me busy taking personality inventories and doing therapies of her new deep dive techniques. She was a certified counselor after all, but I wasn't there for therapy. Is there something I've done? she'd ask when we spoke by phone. Is there something wrong between us? My mother's obsession with something she'd done wrong always threw me. I was so busy trying to measure up to her expectations, I never thought about how she impacted me, well, not until later. I was doing everything she taught me, and then some, but why wasn't I enough just as I was? I kept trying harder and harder to please her, but she was always disappointed with me. In the meantime, those psychological inventories kept coming at me, and so did the latest self help book she was into. Now that she's gone, I see what was going on. Mama wanted to validate herself as a mother. Having failed at marriage, she wanted very much to be a success as supermom. So she used the psychological tools she had at her disposal to chart and graph me, thinking if she understood me, she could answer the question that haunted her. Had she done a good enough job? Was she supermom? Sadly, mamma's poking and prodding produced anxiety in me, a sense of never being acceptable as I was. It pushed me away from her rather than drew me in, which was the opposite of what she wanted, I think. I wish she'd known what's finally dawning on me. There's only one superhero, and trying to take his place can't give you the glory feels you long for. But the wonderful news in today's passages is that this superhero actually shares glory with you.

2 Samuel 1-2

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The Old Testament chapters are Second Samuel one to two. There's a lot of action kicking off this second book of Samuel. I've had a hard time finding something moving because there's so much violence in these opening chapters, but I finally found what I was looking for. Saul has died, and David asked God if it was time to stake his claim to the throne. God said to move to Hebron in Judah, which is one of the twelve tribes of Israel, and there they crowned him king. But Abner, Saul's army commander, made Saul's young son Ishbosheth king of the rest of the eleven tribes, which were collectively known as Israel. There was friction and fighting between these two kingships as you might expect. Abner, who became Ishbosheth's military commander, suggested they have a face off between twelve fighters from each kingdom, so only twenty four men fought and not two entire armies. But by the end of the contest all twenty four were dead men, and the rest of the soldiers fought for the rest of the day. There's quite a lot of gruesome detail included in the Bible, if you want to read it. Suffice it to say that once David was king over Judah, no one was attending peace summits to figure out how to make nice. Though fighting was on the army commander's minds, it wasn't on David's. What he did as king was to wrap up the details of Saul's death, who'd been his mortal enemy for more than twenty years, but he didn't gloat about it. What he did is actually surprising. Rather than reward the Amalekite bystander who claimed to have killed Saul and brought David the news, David had this man killed as punishment for killing Saul, the anointed king of Israel. There's a note at the end for the poetic justice of Saul's death. David also busied himself by writing a song that honored both Saul and Jonathan because he was genuinely grieved, and he required all those in Judah to memorize it. He also sent thank you notes to the men who took Saul's body and the bodies of his sons down from where they'd been on public display. David was pleased because they properly buried and mourned them. David's feats in battle were legendary in his own lifetime, but when he was crowned king in Judah, his first duties had nothing to do with taking over more tribes so he could be king over all Israel. In fact, he never plotted to make this happen at all, though others did. He occupied himself with matters of the heart. For all of his wonderful qualities, David was also very human. He found time to take four brand new wives and have six brand new sons. After all the touchy feely matters David tended to, I'm disappointed, because up until now I'm falling for this king who listened to God and ruled from his heart. But four new wives right off the bat dampens his appeal. I'm guessing his other two wives got pushed down the line. We don't know how they felt, but it must have taken some adjusting. David was certainly a good king, but he's just not the hero I hoped he'd be, and this is good news when I think about it, because no human being can be the hero I long for. Seeing David as the whole person he is keeps me in touch with that reality. Otherwise my faith in Jesus might get dulled by the glory of this man in my Bible, and I might miss who my hero really is. I might forget who my faith is in, I might fall for the romance and the lie that people can be good enough and trying harder to do better actually works. Here's somebody who can pull it off, even if I can't. I might even be lulled into believing that if I strive hard enough I can be good enough to be my own Jesus, because if David was so good that he didn't need a savior, then maybe I can too. This is the lie Satan spins because this is just how he thinks and just what he did. David is a lot of good things, but perfect he's not, and this reminder amidst the chapters of how he's so wonderful brings me up short. I have to halt construction on the David altar I was building. Once again I'm weaned off a person and wooed by Jesus, who's still king of my heart. Only Jesus is truly faithful and loyal. Only Jesus makes lasting peace. Only Jesus brings many sons and daughters to real faith in the Father. Only Jesus saves to the uttermost by loving me at my utter worst, and while David emulates Jesus in many ways, he doesn't check all his boxes. My takeaway isn't to say be good and kind like King David. My takeaway is to say good and kind King David needed a savior just like I do, and praise be, we both have Jesus who enables us to trust him for the good we can never be without him. Jesus is the good and kind transforming Savior who brings his lowly loving kingdom to everybody who wants it. Jesus is the hero we're longing

John 12

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for. The New Testament chapter is John twelve. It's a complicated concept made simple by the simplest of metaphors. Jesus said that a grain of wheat must be crushed in order for the grain to grow. He said this to explain Lazarus' death, which was a crushing that became the occasion for much faith to grow. Many believed in Jesus afterwards because of his power to raise a man four days dead. Jesus' death was also a crushing that became the occasion for much faith to grow, as many believed in Jesus because of God's power to raise him. His disciples also experienced their own crushing and raising, and since they did, and since Jesus explains it with the wheat metaphor, this must be an experience we can all count on too. Having a new life in Jesus isn't about grabbing more loot or recognition, it's about being humble, it's about serving, it's about burying yourself like a seed in order that God lift you up and use you. Going low, taking the last place, doing the dirty work no one else wants to do, these are important features of being a part of God's kingdom. Who would choose this way of living had Jesus not done it first and showed us how to do it? It's the opposite of the way the world works, and it's the last thing anybody would do unless he or she follows Jesus. You won't find competition for helping in the church nursery or cleaning up a mess or taking a meal to a new mama. You'll have plenty to do and plenty of room to do it in because nobody stands in line for their turn at the bottom. But the good news is that this is where the glory is, and if we're honest, don't we all want glory, if only just a little? Influenced by the Holy Spirit, King Solomon said hundreds of years earlier, quote, fear of God is a school and skilled living. First you learn humility, then you experience glory. In my experience, God always pays me back far beyond what I give him. Embrace your crushing when it comes. Better yet, seek it. Find places to serve. You'll feel God growing you, you'll bear fruit, you'll be astonished to see his glory on display in you, and you'll worship the God who has done it all in you and for you and through you. The best sign I know that Jesus is alive and well is that he crushes you, grows you, and shares his glory with you. Jesus is the hero who was crushed for you.

Psalm 118, Prayer, Proverbs 15:26-27

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From Psalm 118. The psalmist has experienced a miraculous saving. You can tell because he's so full of thanks and praise. You can also tell because he's so eager to pass along what he learned under pressure. God was with him, so he wasn't afraid. God was with him, so he was helped. He even looked in triumph on his enemies. He says it's better to take refuge in God than in people or politics. He should know, because when he trusted God, he'd beat back his enemies, and he just can't say it enough, quote, the Lord's right hand has done mighty things, end quote. We can celebrate with him because this is how God helps us too. His love never quits. So praise him with banners and garlands and words of thanks because quote, the Lord is my strength, he's also my defense, and he has become my salvation, end quote. Praise the hero who never stops saving you. Prayer. God forgive me for wanting to find a human hero rather than keep my eyes on Jesus. Thank you for the crushing and growing you're doing. That tells me you're with me. Keep working. In Jesus' name, so be it. From Proverbs fifteen twenty six to twenty seven. God hates evil scheming but promotes words of blessing. A person greedy for glory hurts community, but the one who promotes others grows it. Note the Amalekite who claimed he killed Saul likely lied because 1 Samuel thirty one five says that Saul's armor bearer saw that Saul was dead and fell on his own sword. With that understanding, the Amalekite was trying to ingratiate himself to David by claiming to have killed his enemy and bringing Saul's crown to him as proof. But if he didn't lie and killed Saul as he said, it's ironic, because the Amalekites were the people that God had commanded Saul to completely destroy for their egregious sins against Israel, and Saul didn't do it. This Amalekite was proof. I wonder if God chuckled at this piece of poetic justice. Passages in 2 Samuel, John, Psalms, and Proverbs are selected for today in the yearly Bible. This is Eve de Bartleban Robot.