I SAMUEL 7:3-12 | “THUS FAR THE LORD HAS HELPED US…”

“THUS FAR THE LORD HAS HELPED US…”

I SAMUEL 7:3-12

MAY 28, 2017

IF YOU’VE EVER SUNG THE HYMN, COME, THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING THEN YOU MAY REMEMBER SINGING, AND WONDERING, ABOUT THE WORDS OF THE SECOND VERSE:

HERE I RAISE MY EBENEZER,

HITHER BY THY HELP I COME;

AND I HOPE, BY THY GOOD PLEASURE,

 SAFELY TO ARRIVE AT HOME.

WELL, NOW YOU KNOW; THAT IS, IF YOU WERE LISTENING TO THE READING FROM I SAMUEL FOR THIS MORNING.

WHEN THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAD REPENTED, TURNED AWAY FROM FOREIGN GODS, AND TURNED TOWARD THE ONE TRUE GOD OF ISRAEL, GOD DELIVERED THEM IN BATTLE, FROM THE HANDS OF THE PHILISTINES.

AND ONCE THE VICTORY WAS WON, THE JUDGE, THE LEADER OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AT THE TIME, SAMUEL, ERECTED A COMMEMORATIVE STONE BETWEEN MIZPAH AND JESHANAH, AND NAMED IT EBENEZER; FOR HE SAID, “THUS FAR THE LORD HAS HELPED US.”

BY THE WAY, IF MIZPAH SOUNDS FAMILIAR, IT’S PROBABLY BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED THERE MUCH EARLIER IN THE BIBLE BETWEEN JACOB AND HIS FATHER-IN-LAW LABAN.

IT IS THE WORDS SPOKEN BETWEEN THEM, THERE, THAT ARE FAMILIAR TO MANY OF US, AND IN PARTICULAR, TO THOSE OF OUR MEMBERS WHO HAVE SERVED, OR ARE SERVING, ON OUR PROPERTY AND GROUNDS COMMITTEE.

THERE’S A TRADITION ON THIS COMMITTEE TO CLOSE EACH MEETING WITH A BLESSING TAKEN FROM THE PAGES OF SCRIPTURE.  IT’S KNOWN AS THE MIZPAH BENEDICTION, NAMED AFTER THE PLACE WE MENTIONED IN THIS MORNING’S SCRIPTURE.

AS I SAID, IT’S NOT ABOUT THE EVENTS OF THIS MORNING’S READING, BUT FROM EVENTS MUCH EARLIER, HAVING TO DO WITH JACOB AND HIS FATHER-IN-LAW LABAN.

THERE’S NOT ENOUGH TIME FOR ME TO GO INTO ALL THE COMPLICATIONS OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP (YOU CAN READ IT FOR YOURSELF IN CHAPTERS 29-31 OF GENESIS) BUT SUFFICE IT TO SAY, THEIRS WAS A ROCKY RELATIONSHIP, AT BEST.

YOU WILL REMEMBER HOW JACOB MEETS AND FALLS IN LOVE WITH LABAN’S DAUGHTER RACHEL.  LABAN AGREES TO GIVE HER HAND IN MARRIAGE IF JACOB WILL WORK FOR HIM FOR 7 YEARS.

JACOB DOES SO, ONLY TO BE TRICKED BY LABAN, WHEN HE SLIPS HIS OLDER DAUGHTER LEAH INTO THE MARRIAGE TENT INSTEAD.  NOW JACOB IS MARRIED TO LEAH, INSTEAD OF HIS BELOVED RACHEL.

LABAN THEN AGREES TO GIVE JACOB RACHEL, AS HIS WIFE TOO, IF HE’LL WORK ANOTHER 7 YEARS FOR HIM, AND JACOB AGREES.

IT’S THEN THAT JACOB BEGINS TO EXACT A BIT OF REVENGE, AND JUSTICE, BY SYSTEMATICALLY STEALING AWAY SOME OF THE FLOCKS OF LABAN, AND WHEN IT’S ALL SAID AND DONE, JACOB HAS GREATER FLOCKS THAN LABAN;

AND WHEN THE SEVEN YEARS ARE UP, JACOB’S READY TO HIGHTAIL IT WITH HIS TWO WIVES, AND THEIR CHILDREN, AND HIS FLOCKS, ONLY TO HAVE LABAN ATTEMPT TO STOP HIM IN EVERY WAY.

FINALLY, THE TWO COME TO SOME SORT OF AGREEMENT, A SEPARATION OF SORTS, AND IT IS AT THIS POINT, IN THE PLACE CALLED MIZPAH, THAT THEY SHARE, TOGETHER; WHAT WE KNOW AS THE MIZPAH BENEDICTION:

“MAY THE LORD WATCH BETWEEN ME AND THEE, WHILE WE ARE APART, ONE FROM THE OTHER.”

GIVEN JACOB AND LABAN’S CHECKERED HISTORY, THE WORDS MAY NOT ONLY HAVE BEEN A WORD OF BLESSING, BUT ALSO SOMETHING OF A CAUTION TO THE TWO OF THEM – THAT GOD WOULD BE WATCHING THEM BOTH!

IT’S NOT THE MOST EDIFYING STORY IN SCRIPTURE, BUT PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST AUTHENTIC.

BUT BACK TO EBENEZER.  IT WAS A PLACE TOO, AND WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW IS THAT IT WAS IN THIS AREA KNOWN AS EBENEZER, A PLACE NEAR APHEK, THAT EARLIER IN THE BOOK OF SAMUEL, THE ISRAELITES HAD BEEN DEFEATED BY THE PHILISTINES.

AND THE AUTHOR OF I SAMUEL EXPLAINS THAT LOSS, THAT DEFEAT, AS GOD’S PUNISHMENT OF THE ISRAELITES FOR THEIR WORSHIPPING OTHER GODS.

IT WAS A VERY SIMPLE MATH THAT WAS PRACTICED BY THE DEUTERONOMIC THEOLOGIAN WHO WROTE THIS PORTION OF I SAMUEL:

TURN FROM GOD, WORSHIP FOREIGN GODS, AND THE ONE TRUE GOD WILL PUNISH YOU, USING YOUR ENEMIES TO DEFEAT YOU IN BATTLE.

REPENT, BELIEVE IN THE ONE, TRUE GOD, AND GOD WILL REWARD YOU FOR YOUR FAITH, BY HELPING YOU DEFEAT YOUR ENEMIES.

SO DIRECT WAS THE CONNECTION, ACCORDING TO THE AUTHOR OF I SAMUEL, THAT IT WAS THE VERY VOICE OF GOD, SOUNDING LIKE THUNDER, THAT IN EACH CASE CAUSED BOTH THE DEFEAT, AND ULTIMATELY, THE VICTORY FOR THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL.

THUS, SAMUEL ERECTS A STATUE, A COMMEMORATIVE STONE, AND NAMES IT “EBENEZER” REMINDING THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL NOT ONLY OF THEIR EARLIER DEFEAT THERE, BUT ALSO, THEIR ULTIMATE VICTORY AT THE HANDS OF THE LORD.

“THUS FAR THE LORD HAS HELPED US…”

MUCH HAS BEEN MADE LATELY, MOST RECENTLY, IN THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, REGARDING THE REMOVAL OF STATUES AND COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUES MARKING THE EVENTS OF THE CIVIL WAR.

I, AS MUCH AS ANYONE, HATE THAT THESE STATUES, AND SYMBOLS SUCH AS THE CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG, HAVE, OVER THE YEARS, BEEN CO-OPTED AND CORRUPTED BY THE KLAN, BY WHITE SUPREMACISTS, NEO-NAZIS, THE ALT. RIGHT FACTION, AND OTHERS, AS SYMBOLS OF PREJUDICE, HATRED, AND VIOLENCE.

I UNDERSTAND WHY, FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS AND OTHERS, THESE STATUES AND SYMBOLS CONTINUE TO HAUNT THEM, AND ARE A PAINFUL REMINDER OF NOT ONLY THE PAST, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, TOO MUCH OF THE PRESENT.

IN THE 1970’S I AWOKE TO SHOUTING AND MUCH COMMOTION ON THE CAMPUS OF MY ALMA MATER, AUBURN UNIVERSITY, ONLY TO FIND A CROSS BURNING IN A FIELD ADJACENT TO A MINORITY FRATERNITY HOUSE.

THE NEXT DAY, OUR PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE FELLOWSHIP STOOD IN SOLIDARITY WITH OUR AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENT BODY TO SAY THAT THIS WAS NOT, WAS NOT, SYMBOLIC OF OUR CAMPUS.

I SAY ALL OF THAT, TO SAY THIS – I DO NOT BELIEVE THE REMOVAL OF THESE CIVIL WAR STATUES IS A GOOD IDEA; NOT FOR ANY REASON OF SOUTHERN HERITAGE OR PRIDE OR ANY OF THE UGLINESS THEY REPRESENT TO MANY;

BUT RATHER, AS CONSTANT REMINDER OF OUR COMMON HISTORY, THE GOOD AND THE BAD OF IT; UNITED AND DIVIDED; OF THOSE WHO DIE IN WAR.

(I WOULD COMMEND TO YOU, HOWEVER, THE SPEECH BY MAYOR MITCH LANDRIEU ON WHY HE DECIDED TO HAVE THEM REMOVED.)

WE CANNOT SIMPLY WIPE AWAY A PAINFUL PAST, OR PRESENT, AND PRETEND THAT IT DID NOT, DOES NOT, EXIST.  WE MUST FOREVER COUNT THE COSTS OF WAR TO US, TO OUR NATION, AND TO THE INNOCENTS CAUGHT UP IN IT.

WE ALSO NEED TO FACE THE WORST IN US, AND THE WORST OF US.

AS BELIEVERS, WE STAND WITH THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, HATED, DESPISED, AND DISCRIMINATED AGAINST.

IT IS UP TO US, AS BELIEVERS, TO SIDE WITH THOSE IN NEED; WHO, IN THE WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST, ARE “THE LEAST OF THESE.”

AS CHRISTIANS, MATTHEW 25 IS OUR BATTLE CRY:

“FOR I WAS HUNGRY, AND YOU FED ME; I WAS THIRSTY, AND YOU GAVE ME DRINK; NAKED, AND YOU CLOTHED ME; A STRANGER, AND YOU WELCOMED; SICK AND IMPRISONED, AND YOU VISITED ME…”

WE MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL; WE MUST STAND FOR RIGHT, AND AGAINST WRONG; WE MUST SEEK “FREEDOM AND JUSTICE FOR ALL;” WE ARE TO “DO UNTO OTHERS AS WE WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO US;”

“LOVING GOD, AND OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELVES.”

WE MAY NO LONGER ASCRIBE TO SAME SIMPLE MATH AS THE AUTHOR OF I SAMUEL; WE MAY NO LONGER DRAW SUCH A DIRECT CONNECTION BETWEEN OUR FAITH IN GOD AND THE OUTCOME OF WORLD EVENTS:

BELIEVE IN GOD, AND ALL WILL BE WELL WITH US, AND WITH OUR NATION.

FAIL TO BELIEVE, AND GOD WILL USE OUR ENEMIES TO DEFEAT US.

I’M NOT SURE MANY OF US WOULD SAY THINGS ARE THAT SIMPLE, OR DIRECT.

AND WHILE WE MAY NO LONGER GIVE GOD THE BLAME, OR THE CREDIT, FOR OUR VARIOUS DEFEATS, AND VICTORIES IN BATTLE, THAT DOESN’T MEAN THERE’S NOTHING TO BE LEARNED FROM THIS PASSAGE;

SOMETHING WE CAN LEARN AS INDIVIDUALS; AS A NATION; AS THE WORLD.

SAMUEL’S BASIC MESSAGE IS THIS: TURN TO GOD; HOLD ON TO WHAT IS TRUE; PUT AWAY FALSEHOODS AND UNTRUTHS; REPENT WHEN NECESSARY; BELIEVE ALWAYS; PRAY CONSTANTLY; AND THINGS ARE LIKELY TO GO BETTER FOR US.

THE MATH IS SIMPLE; SO IS THE ANTITHESIS;

DEPART FROM GOD; PRACTICE EVIL; SPEAK LIES AND ACT DECEPTIVELY; REFUSE TO REPENT AND BE HUMBLE; GIVE UP BELIEVING; AND THINGS ARE NOT LIKELY TO GO SO WELL FOR US.

AS IS SO OFTEN THE CASE IN SCRIPTURE, GOD’S SPOKESPERSON, BE IT PROPHET, PRIEST, OR JUDGE; BE IT KING, OR CHRIST, OR APOSTLE; WE ARE BASICALLY PRESENTED WITH TWO CHOICES – GOOD OR EVIL.

JOSHUA SAID IT: “CHOOSE THIS DAY, WHOM YOU WILL SERVE, AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.”

SAMUEL SAYS IT HERE: “IF YOU ARE RETURNING TO THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, THEN PUT AWAY THE FOREIGN GODS AND ASTARTES (ONE OF THE DEITIES NAMES) FROM AMONG YOU.”

THIS CHOICE IS REPEATED THROUGHOUT THE HEBREW AND CHRISTIAN TESTAMENTS, UP TO AND INCLUDING THE LAST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, REVELATION, WHERE WE ARE STILL FACED WITH A CHOICE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL, GOD AND NO GOD, BELIEVING AND NOT BELIEVING.

THE MATH IS SIMPLE; SO, IS THE CHOICE; WHICH DO WE CHOOSE?  GOOD OR EVIL?  ONE, OR THE OTHER.

AND WHILE THE CHOICE IS SIMPLE, THE MATH EASY, WE KNOW, THAT IT IS THE CHOOSING, AND THE WORKING OUT OF THE MATH, THAT IS NEVER AS EASY AS WE WOULD LIKE.

“A BELIEVER TRAVELING 30 MILES PER HOUR FROM THE WEST ENCOUNTERS A NON-BELIEVER TRAVELING 50 MILES PER HOUR FROM THE EAST, AT WHAT POINT DO THEIR PATHS CROSS, AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY DO?”

THE FORMULA FOR THIS PROBLEM, THE BOOK OF SAMUEL SUGGESTS, IS STRAIGHTFORWARD, IT’S THE EXECUTION THAT TAKES HARD WORK.

I MENTIONED THE FORMULA EARLIER, BUT LET ME RUN THROUGH IT AGAIN:

BELIEVE IN GOD, TURN FROM EVIL, PRACTICE HUMILITY, REPENT OF OUR SINS, SEEK GOD’S FORGIVENESS, ACCEPT GOD’S GRACE, RETURN TO GOD, PRAY, ACT FAITHFULLY, AND GOD WILL MAKE US VICTORIOUS.

THE EQUATION IS: V = GOD AND US BEING SQUARE.

AND THAT EQUATION WORKS WHETHER WE ARE TALKING ABOUT “US,” OR “THEM,” OR “ALL OF US,” OR OUR NATION, OR THEIRS, OR THE WHOLE WORLD GOD HAS IN HIS HANDS.

THIS IS OUR THEOLOGY.  THIS IS WHAT WE SAY WE BELIEVE, AND BECAUSE OF THAT, HOW WE HAVE CHOSEN TO LIVE OUR LIVES.

BUT THIS IS NOT JUST ABOUT CHURCH; MUCH OF THIS IS ALSO WHAT WE SAY WE BELIEVE ABOUT AMERICA.

AND ON THIS MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, THERE IS NOT ONLY A PAST TO WHICH WE MUST PAY ATTENTION, AND GIVE HONOR, BUT ALSO AT TIMES, FOR WHICH WE NEED TO SEEK FORGIVENESS.

WE HONOR THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED OUR NATION’S MILITARY, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE REMEMBER AND HONOR THOSE WHO HAVE PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR OUR FREEDOMS.

BUT MEMORIAL DAY, AND ALL NATIONAL HOLIDAYS, ARE ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CLAIMING OF OUR COMMON PRESENT AND OUR FUTURE.

FOR IN MUCH THE SAME WAY AS SAMUEL SAID IT FOR THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, WE CAN SAY IT FOR AMERICA, “THUS FAR THE LORD HAS HELPED US…”

WITH THESE WORDS, SAMUEL NOT ONLY CAPTURES THE PAST, AND SPEAKS OF THEIR PRESENT, THEIR MOST RECENT VICTORY OVER THE PHILISTINES;

BUT THERE IS ALSO SOMETHING OF A FUTURE EXPECTATION, BUT A GUARDED ONE, IMPLIED IN WHAT HE SAYS: “THUS FAR THE LORD HAS HELPED US…”

IN THE PAST – YES; IN THE PRESENT – YES; AND, HOPEFULLY, FOR THE FUTURE;

BUT, I CAN HEAR SAMUEL SAYING, ONLY IF WE CONTINUE TO CHOOSE GOD, CHOOSE GOOD, RIGHT FROM WRONG, TRUTH OVER LIES, FAITH OVER FAILURE.

THERE’S SOMETHING CONDITIONAL ABOUT WHAT SAMUEL SAYS: “THUS FAR THE LORD HAS HELPED US…” AND THE EXPECTATION IS THAT GOD WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO, IF WE KEEP OUR SIDE OF THE BARGAIN;

IF THE EQUATION BALANCES: V (VICTORY) = GOD AND US BEING SQUARE.

SO, ON THIS MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, WHEN WE HONOR OUR PAST, AND THOSE WHO DIED TO MAKE THIS NATION, AND OTHER NATIONS FREE;

LET US ALSO, REMEMBER THE WORDS OF THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC:

IN THE BEAUTY OF THE LILIES CHRIST WAS BORN ACROSS THE SEA,

WITH GLORY IN HIS BOSOM THAT TRANSFIGURES YOU AND ME;

AS HE DIED TO MAKE MEN HOLY, LET US DIE (AND LIVE) TO MAKE MEN FREE,

WHILE GOD IS MARCHING ON…”