Joy In The Morning
2 Samuel 6:1-16, Mark 6:6-13
July 23, 2006
Rev. Marcia J. Hauer

As often happens, we came in on the middle of the story today. We came in after all of David’s trials and tribulations had come to an end. He has become the king of all the tribes of Israel. To recap the story: Samuel anointed Saul as the first king of the Israelites. He did it because the people had demanded it and he warned the people that they would be sorry. When Saul fell away, God asked Samuel to anoint another person to be the king. David, the youngest of Jesse’s 12 sons was the one that God wanted. David went to live with Saul following his slaying of the Philistine giant, Goliath. David had a way with the lyre and could sooth the rages and storms in Saul’s mind with it.

Soon David became a favorite of Saul’s but that changed rapidly. David led the troops against the Philistines and won time after time. He rose in the ranks of the army and the people would chant, “David has slain his 10,000 and Saul has slain his 1,000� whenever David was around. Saul was jealous of this attention and began plotting to kill David. As part of the plot, Saul gave his second daughter, Michal, to be David’s wife. Saul thought that if he set her bride price as 100 Philistine foreskins, David would be killed in battle and he would be rid of him. However, David brought the foreskins to Saul and took Michal as his wife. Soon, it became evident that Saul’s campaign to eliminate David was escalating. Michal and her brother, Jonathon (both of whom are described as loving David) helped him to escape. David then fought the Philistines on his own, and made an alliance with them. Saul and Jonathon were killed and Saul’s other son, Ishbaal, claimed the throne. Following some more battles with the Philistines, which David won, Ishbaal lost his nerve and gave up his claims. David then became king of all the tribes of Israel.

As we come to our story today, the Ark of the Covenant had been taken into battle as a symbol that God was in the midst of Israel and the Philistines captured it. It had been with the Philistines for some time when David, at the height of his power, decided to go get it. So he called all the chosen men of Israel to go with him to Baale=Judah and bring it back to Jerusalem. In the process, one of the men, Uzzah, touched the Ark because it was insecure on the cart and God struck him dead. David, then, was afraid to have anything to do with the Ark and left it at Obed-Edom where he and the 30,000 men went to get it. It’s a complex and convoluted story which I commend to your own reading. It begins in 1Samuel 8 and goes on from there.

I suppose the easy lesson to learn from all of this is that war is not healthy for children and other living things. Look at the people who were killed or maimed in the wars with the Philistines, the property that was destroyed and the lives that were changes for the worse. Look at Saul’s family relationships and the tangled mess they became. Saul used his children as foils to kill David. Jonathon and David pledged their love for one another while working to keep Saul from killing David. Saul reneged on giving Michal to David as his wife and gave her to another man. A family therapist would lake a long time to unravel all the knots in this family tangle.

This tangle came about, in part, because the people involved were far more interested in things that bring happiness and momentary satisfaction than in those that bring joy. All the players in this particular drama did what they needed to do:


• Saul wanted to protect his life as king and to be able to pass on the monarchy to his son.
• David wanted to live and he wanted to be worthy of being the king that Samuel had anointed him to be.
• Jonathon and Michal loved David and would do whatever it took to help him.

All legitimate goals but they are all missing something important. They all put their immediate needs and wants at the forefront of their actions. They, a little at a time, mistook happiness or glory or even safety for joy.

To put it in more contemporary terms—I read a newspaper every day. My radio is practically locked on to NPR. I’m bombarded by news that’s hard to hear—Israel sending missiles into Lebanon in retaliation for missiles sent into Israeli territory, Americans killing Iraqis and Iraqis killing Americans and each other, despots in various African countries taking as much as they can at the expense of the people in their countries, corporate CEO’s pillaging their companies, and, on the local scene, there are reports of murder, rape, robbery, hit and run car crashes. All of this is pretty depressing stuff. There’s not a whole lot of it that brings joy. Add to that all the ads in newspapers, on billboards along the highway, and TV commercials all saying that if only I buy their product, my life would be ever so much better, happier, or more successful. When I was a child, I wanted a pair of PF Flyers. These sneakers were supposed to make the wearer jump higher and run faster and, as a kid who never could do much of anything right in gym class, they seemed like they would save my bacon in that venue. I finally convinced my parents that PF Flyers were the sneakers I should have when it was time to buy new ones. I was one happy kid. Unfortunately for me, that happiness didn’t last long. Those coveted PF Flyers were just another pair of sneakers. I was one unhappy child. I had believed the advertisements and the ads had proved to be false. Just like the ones we are bombarded with today.

Part of each one of us believes those ads. We believe, in part, that if only…. we’d be happy, successful, and attractive. The thing is, though, we may be happy when we get that material thing or get to take that dream vacation or whatever it might be. The problem is that the newness wears off and vacations come to an end. So what do we do then? If we operate out of a sense of joy in our lives, we appreciate the new thing and make it last as long as it will, or we look at the pictures we took while we were on that dream vacation and reminisce. We take our happiness for what it is and go on with life. If, on the other hand, we are seeking to fill the empty spaces in our lives with stuff, we are likely to go out, or go online, and get the next big thing, run up debt on our credit cards, and get all the things that we want.

When David and his men went to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, they did it with fear and trembling. After all a man, Uzzah, was struck dead for touching the Ark when it was unbalanced on the cart that was carrying it. And they brought it back with great joy and spectacle. The scripture says, “When those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone 6 paces, [David] sacrificed an ox and a fatling.� Can you imagine going only that far before beginning the celebration? Then, “David danced before the Lord with all his might.� You see, the Ark was tangible evidence that God was with them, and now it was back among the people. What joy must have been part of that day—joy, lasting, present even in the midst of bad things.

As I look at David’s flawed life, I see a man who wanted good things for himself and his family, but often his wants took precedence over what was best for others. His seeking after happiness, power, gratification and glory prevented his living in joy.
The other evening, Jeanne and I were having supper in the back yard when the sun began to set. The sky turned an amazing pink and the fir trees on Powell Butte turned fiery orange. Jeanne said that it had just clicked for her that if you want to walk in beauty, you must see beauty everywhere you look. I’d add to that, even when you look in your own mirror.

As I’ve thought about that statement over the past couple of days, it seems to me that if you want to walk in love, you must be love and see love around you. If you want to walk in peace, you must be peace and see peace around you. If you want to walk in joy, you must see joy around you.

We can’t change the news. The wars rage on, whether we like it or not. Bad things continue to happen whether we like it or not. What we can do is, as the Gospel lesson tells us, is to joyfully proclaim that life can be different. We can joyfully work to change the unjust structures in our own culture. We can proclaim that was is, indeed, bad for children and other living thins and work to change our own attitudes and those of others. We can work to change anything and everything that is wrong in our world, beginning with ourselves and then going out into the greater world to work on the larger issues.

Life is going to send each one of us difficulties—serious and/or chronic illness, financial difficulties, families and/or friends who reject us because of sexual orientation, political views, or religious beliefs. We have to deal with whatever happens, and we have choices about how we do that. What I know beyond doubt is that when God is at the center of the mix, joy is part of the process. That doesn’t mean that the problem is solved, the illness cured or any other sort of magic, but dealing with what’s there is smoother, emotions are more even and life is better.

When I think about David and his dealing with Saul’s rages and his fighting the Philistines, I see a person who was afraid of losing control. He believed that he could do it all on his own. He didn’t put God at the center of all his striving. We are often like that, too. We buy things we don’t need, we engage in magic thinking, we eat our way through stress, we drink or drug until we’re numb, we wait for the perfect job, partner, house or whatever to come along so that our lives can be perfect. What we need to do is to look for joy in the midst of our pain. Experience joy in small thing, like an amazing pink sky, and live the most meaningful, productive lives we can, knowing that if we allow God to push, shove, lead and guide us, we will have joy—even in the midst of sorrow and pain. Pass out the linen ephods. Let’s dance!

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