Liturgies

Saturday, June 15th 2013

The prophets in our lives

By Gaye Keir

2013-06-12 14.47.08

I want to invite you into an imaginative re-experience of these two stories, the first from the second book of Samuel and the second from the Gospel of Luke.

In the book of Samuel, the prophet Nathan is looking for a way to bring David to his senses. David has slept with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, impregnated her, then, having failed to convince Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba, sent Uriah to the front line where he would assuredly be killed. And he was. David takes Bathsheba for himself.

As Yahweh’s prophet, Nathan’s job is to reveal David to himself. But Nathan has to be careful. David is the King and Nathan doesn’t want to meet the same fate as Uriah. So Nathan decides to tell David a story where the central character is a rich man who, in order to meet his own needs, takes from someone less fortunate. David is horrified at the behaviour of such a man and passes a death sentence on him. Nathan’s heart sinks. His strategy hasn’t worked. David has failed to recognise himself as the rich man in the story. So Nathan is forced to confront David with the truth. ‘You are the man’. David is mortified. To his credit, he does not seek shelter in outrage or in denials and justifications, but sees the truth, accepts it and is repentant.

In Luke’s story, Jesus finds himself in a similar though less confronting situation to the one Nathan found himself in. Simon the Pharisee has invited Jesus to his house for a meal, but when Jesus arrives, the Pharisee does not extend any loving welcome to his guest. Jesus notices, but says nothing. The woman arrives, bathes Jesus feet with her tears, dries them with her hair, tenderly kisses them, and nourishes them with ointment. Simon the Pharisee watches and is appalled. Jesus knows the Pharisee is watching and knows the Pharisee is appalled, but Jesus lets the woman continue. There’s tension. But Jesus is steadfast in letting the Pharisee see what love looks like. The Pharisee doesn’t make the connection. Instead, the Pharisee is preoccupied with the woman’s reputation. Jesus sees that the Pharisee is not moved by the woman’s tender ways. Jesus sees that the Pharisee is first horrified and then contemptuous that Jesus is allowing the woman to touch him.

So, like Nathan, Jesus tells a story, one where there are three characters – the money lender and the two who are in debt. The Pharisee understands the literal meaning of the story, but, like David, doesn’t make the connection with what is happening in his own house. So Jesus, like Nathan, has to spell it out. You have not tended to me. She has. You think you are better than this woman. You think there is little in your life that needs forgiving, so you give only what you think you are obliged to give and nothing more. You may think yourself a righteous man by inviting me to eat with you, but you are not generous of heart. In failing to make me feel welcome, you have not chosen the loving way. This woman, this wretched soul who knows her sins and her need for forgiveness, has risked much to enter your house to tend to me. But in your own house, Simon, you have failed to treat me as a welcome guest. It is her way that is loving and generous, not yours. For the Pharisee the comparison is unpalatable. He stands in resentful silence and says nothing.

In these stories, David the King and Simon the Pharisee are being revealed to themselves. ‘This is what you are doing’. In neither case was it an easy revelation to achieve. Nathan told a story and hoped that David would recognise himself as the central character. Nathan wanted to be spared confronting David with the truth. But David didn’t recognise himself and Nathan had to spell it out. ‘You are the man’. It would have been an electrifying moment.

Jesus allowed the woman’s loving actions to play out for the Pharisee to see. But the Pharisee’s first thought was not one of ‘what great love this woman is showing him’ but rather one of ‘how could he let this woman touch him’. So then Jesus, like Nathan, told a story. The Pharisee understands the story but is mystified about what it has to do with him. So Jesus, like Nathan, has to spell it out. In your own house, Simon, this unwelcome woman has chosen the better way.

In these stories, Nathan and Jesus are fulfilling the role of prophet. Nathan to David and Jesus to the Pharisee. And in fulfilling the role of prophet, Nathan and Jesus are revealing God’s word. Not by having supernatural knowledge or by being able to predict the future, but by revealing the loving way. For God’s word, God, is the loving way – always was, is now, and always will be. For Nathan and David, for Jesus and the Pharisee, for you and me.

So let us reflect on the insights these stories hold for each of us and how we live our lives. I invite you to close your eyes and pray with me. Who in my life is prophetic? Who in my life is attempting to reveal to me the loving way? Am I open to these revelations? Am I learning from the examples of others? Am I recognising the subtle hints or do I need to have it thrust at me? How do I treat the prophets in my life? Am I open to being revealed to myself or am I defensive and hostile? Do I seek forgiveness as David did, or am I a silent Pharisee seeking to find fault with my prophet? Having been revealed to myself, will I cling, defiantly and resentfully, to my old ways, or am I open to the change that will bring me life. We pray this together, in the name of Jesus. Amen.