Connecting...

Loose Connections...

750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers and Writers 511: Power

In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push.

After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave his car running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.

Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, “Why Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable.” He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson’s astonishment, the engine roared to life.

For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting the power to work.

David and His Connections...

When you think back over the things we have learned this summer about David, what is one thing that stands out the most to you about his character, actions, and life?

As I thought about this week’s story, I could not help but notice two things. First, David is once again taught by a woman. And it seems in his later years, women provided a strong sounding board as well as being great teachers to him and his men. The second thing I noticed in today’s story is David’s connection to God…but before we get into that, let’s explore the story...

The Story

There are some things we need to cover before we really get into the story and here is where a few caveats must be made...

We need to remember that, historically speaking, the time in which this story takes place is much different than what we experience today

It is a historical story but we are not certain where in David’s reign this story actually takes place because as we are learning from the historical discoveries we are making through archaeology and the discovery of ancient written texts, some of what we have in our Bibles is not exactly in the chronological order that we think they should be...

We believe that this story is placed in David’s story at this point to make a connection and a link to the reign of David’s son, Solomon, who becomes the next King of Israel and to link us to the building of the Temple in Jerusalem because Solomon builds the first Temple

Upon death, the body of the deceased was typically laid out on a slab, in a tomb, to disintegrate naturally and when that was finished and only bones remained, the bones would be removed from the slab and placed in a grave with other family members…I know, I know, that’s gross but that is what happened and it will be important for us to understand in a bit

Lastly, We need to remember that the culture and customs of this time in David’s life are vastly different than ours…one of which is the fact that the Israelites believed wholeheartedly that God issued punishments for their wrongs...

With me so far?

History and Customs

Let’s dive a little deeper into this idea of punishment…the culture of the time was one in which punishment and retribution for wrongs was expected, and not just from God. While we experience something similar in today’s world with the idea of folks wanting revenge for a way that they have been wronged, and maybe it has been inbred in us as humans, the expectation of that time was that some event would happen in which someone who is wronged would receive a fair equivalent of retribution for the wrong they suffered. This idea of retribution was to happen as soon after the wrong as humanly possible and normally carried out by the person wronged. That is s the case in our story for today…more about that in a second...

We also need to remember that women had no standing in society if they had no husband or sons to whom they “belonged”…today’s story includes one such woman, Rizpah, who becomes a teacher to David about what is the “right” thing to do…so this leads me to our story for today...

Our Story

And before we can really dig into our story, we need to hear a brief history leading into our story...

Brief history leading into our story

t some point in Saul’s reign over Israel, he discovered something about some of the people living in Israel. These people were known as the Gibeonites and their story goes all the way back to the time of the Israelites overtaking the land now in their possession, so just after the 40 years in the desert. Quickly, that story goes like this…Joshua and the Israelites are coming into the land of Cana and fighting against all those who lived there to overtake the Promised Land. In an attempt to save themselves, the Gibeonites, who lived close by and would have been overtaken by force, came to Joshua, looking like they had traveled for days, begging Joshua and the Israelites to spare them and their people. Joshua fell for their ruse and made a covenant to not destroy them, only to find out later that the land of Gibeon was right next to Cana. But because he made the covenant and knew that God would not favor them for going against their covenant, he did not attack but allowed them to live on…enter Saul as the king of Israel...

Saul and the Gibeonites...

At some point in Saul’s reign over Israel, he discovered something about some of the people living in Israel. These people were known as the Gibeonites and their story goes all the way back to the time of the Israelites overtaking the Promised Land, so just after the 40 years in the desert. Quickly, that story goes like this…Joshua and the Israelites are coming into the land of Cana and fighting against all those who lived there to overtake the Promised Land. In an attempt to save themselves, the Gibeonites, who lived close by and would have been overtaken by force, came to Joshua, looking like they had traveled for days, begging Joshua and the Israelites to spare them and their people. Joshua fell for their ruse and made a covenant to not destroy them, only to find out later that the land of Gibeon was right next to Cana. But because he made the covenant and knew that God would not favor them for going against their covenant, he did not attack but allowed them to live on…enter Saul as the king of Israel...

He decides that the Gibeonites should be punished for their deception and attempts to rid Israel of all non-Israelite peoples from the land. He has forgotten the covenant that Joshua made with the Gibeonites and prepares a genocide (which is an extermination of sorts) of all non-Israelite peoples. And he goes about executing peoples who are not 100% Israelite and this is all that we know about his plan...

David and the Gibeonites...

So, what exactly does this have to do with our story…well here’s the thing. Even though we do not necessarily know when in David’s reign this occurs, we know that at some point a famine, more than likely due to a drought, hits Israel. The people believed that because Saul went against the covenant established between Joshua and the Gibeonites, they were now being punished through the drought. Again, please remember this was the culture and belief system of that time. Some still believe this way but that is not what we must or need to believe as well…ok? It is in our story and we need to understand this concept in order to get to what I want for us to take away from the story we have...

And so, David, as a result of the famine turns to God, probably through a priest of the time, and asks God to reveal what it is that David must do to make things right in order for the famine to end.

David’s Prayer and the Answer...

And so, David, as a result of the famine turns to God, probably through a priest of the time, and asks God to reveal what it is that David must do to make things right in order for the famine to end. God responds that David must make things right with the Gibeonites and re-establish the covenant.

So David turns to the Gibeonites and ask what he can do and their response (remember my caveats) is that seven of Saul’s family must die…and we believe that this was to ensure that no one from Saul’s family would survive and therefore, Saul’s lineage would end and he would have no more ancestors that could attempt a genocide of the Gibeonites again. What we did not hear in the passage I read was that David handed over the seven remaining sons of Saul, except Mephibosheth, who David swore to protect, and the Gibeonites executed them...

Rizpah

We are told next that one of the mothers of two of the men executed, set up an area near where they were killed to hold vigil and protect their bodies from scavengers. Remember what I said a few moments ago about burial customs. Well, the idea that Rizpah wanted to keep her two sons from being scavenged isn’t all that hard to swallow when you think about where their bodies were in relation to the customs of the day. Her sons were killed and she was not allowed to move their bodies because of the punishment that they received for their father. This really was the ultimate punishment, yet Rizpah wanted to make sure that she could, if she were allowed to do son, claim her sons’ bones and properly bury them with their family…when David heard of her devotion to her sons, he took pity on the family and decided to properly bury her sons, the other sons, and Saul and Jonathan who had been stolen away by the Philistines…So that is our story…what exactly does that have to do with doing the right things and our connections? So glad you asked...

Our Connection to God...

Our connection to God in today’s world is not governed by speaking to Priests. We believe that we can speak directly to God and that God can speak directly to us. So when we speak of our connection to God, we are speaking specifically to the idea of prayer. Now, I have been told more times than I know how to count, “Pastor, I don’t know how to pray.” It is hard to hear those words as a pastor. And I have begun to wonder if we, meaning pastors, have set the bar too high for people to reach. I mean, think about it, whenever you are in the presence of a pastor, whether it be in meetings, in public gatherings, or anywhere else, who does everyone turn to when the topic of leading prayer comes up? Right, the pastor, in our case, me. I have begun to recognize that I too set the bar way high when it comes to prayer…and to be honest with you, I don’t think that I am even remotely all that high on the great pray-er list…but here’s the thing…I enjoy hearing others pray as well. In fact, when I am in company with other Pastors, I often defer to someone else to pray because I do not put myself way up on that pray-er list. But this begs the question, if we don’t think we are doing it right or saying the “right” words, how do we know that we have a connection with God? Unfortunately, I cannot answer that question because I truly believe that God connects with us in a multitude of ways…now, I will say this…if we are not connected to God in prayer, how can we expect God to communicate with us?

Examples of Prayers:

Isaiah 64:8–9 NIV

Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.

We have many places within the Old and New Testament of how people connect to God (thereby learning the “right” things to do) through prayer. Because our time of reflection limits our exposure (I could go on for hours but I fear I might lose some of you to sleepiness at that point), I am going to focus on some of the ways we hear Christ praying and I want you to pay special attention as to how the Gospel writers portray Christ praying...

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The Lord’s Prayer

Matthew 6:9–13 NIV

“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

Here in Matthew (Luke also reports this prayer) we see Christ giving us the prayer we speak every week, in response to the disciples asking how we should pray…see even the disciples did not feel comfortable in their prayer lives and had to ask how to pray…what Jesus teaches them is a great example of how we can make a connection with God on a daily basis. Let’s break this down into a few parts as a model for our own prayer life…there are some papers on each table for you to follow if you want...

The First few words, words of praise to God…beginning with Our Father and ending with name…when you think in terms of your connection with God, what words of praise do you have to offer?

The next section, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” speaks to God’s sovereignty and power in our lives…this is the first of a series of petitions and speaks to what we desire from God to do in the world

Next is “Give us this day our daily bread” and this speaks to asking God for our daily needs…what is it that we desire for God to fulfill, and speaking specifically of needs, not just physical but emotional and spiritual

Forgive us…this is a petition for forgiveness for the wrongs that we have committed, both those we did consciously and those we did not intend…what is it that you need forgiveness for in your life that God can repair and help to mend?

And lead us…this part speaks to asking God to guide our thoughts and actions…I have often switched this to say, “God show me your heart and what I must do to follow what you would have me do (in this situation, in regard to a decision, etc.). Where does God need to step into our lives to nudge us in the path and direction that God desires for us to go?

Finally, “For thine is the kingdom...” is often referred to as a doxology. In our regular worship upstairs, we sing a doxology and it represents praise and thanks to God for being in fellowship and communion with us as we praise and worship. What are the final parting thanks that you can offer to God as you close out your private time with God.

When we consider our connection to God, it should come from our hearts. It does not have to be “perfect” and it does not have to follow a particular format. This is just one way to model our prayer life…the point is that when you think you don’t know how, I would argue that you do. If you are desiring a connection with God, then your heart is reaching out and anything that you say is perfect, no matter what it sounds like to your ear. I believe that God desires for us to long after God’s words and love and...

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Jesus Christ’s prayer life with his Father

Mark 14:36 NIV

“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

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It is possible to approach God in prayer because of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice

Hebrews 10:19–22 NIV

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

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Prayer reflects a longing after God

If we desire to be closer to God, the best way to do that is in prayer. For it is in prayer that God hears the desires of our hearts and knows that we desire to be closer to God’s heart…David understood this and this is why we hear of him turning to God in so many ways and at so many different times. David did the “right” thing in desiring God’s will for the situation in which he found himself and we can look to that as a way to connect with God on a much deeper lever ourselves...

Let us pray…Gracious and loving God, we desire to be connected to you in ways that we cannot even realize right at this moment. In our times of private prayer, open our hearts to yours and then speak into our hearts your will for our lives, as a community and as individuals. Helps us to know that there is no perfect way to pray but reassure us when we do reach out to you that you are listening and hear all the things that weigh on our hearts and minds. Then Lord help us to praise you always. In your Son’s precious name we pray, Amen.

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