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Consider King David’s story. What resonates with you? Why?
What strikes me about King David in this reading is the fundamental necessity of God’s grace to go before even his action of repenting. “Have mercy upon me, O God, in your great goodness; according to the multitude of your mercies…” “O be favorable and gracious unto Zion; may you build up the walls of Jerusalem. THEN you shall be please with the sacrifice of righteousness…” (vv. 1, 18-19). God’s mercy is the foundation upon which David’s repentance is based. Without this knowledge and fact, his repentance would mean nothing.
I am struck by this because I so often find myself seeking to force God into reconciling me. “I’ve prayed the prayers, done the work, said the words. Now do it!” But David’s repentance, this turning into God at his moment of disaster, is a firm belief that God is not there to save him from disaster (although he is the only one who can). God is himself the solution to his disaster.
How often do I treat God as a means to the end of a peaceful marriage, successful time with my kids, good ministry in my church? If God loved me and I didn’t sin too much, then God would do this for me, right? No, God is the prize, the finish line, the telos. I only succeed or fail insofar as I see that. As soon as I lose sight of that, I am creating my own ends, my own little games and goals that I can either win or lose and chasing my own Bathshebas. Meanwhile Jesus, in his grace is always present, asking me to join him as he leads me to himself. “I will be your joy. Come to me when you are heavy laden and rest.”
As I turn toward my relationships, I can see the need to embrace Christ more deeply in those relationships. My reflections for my rule have me as Husband, Father, Pastor, Friend, Colleague, Mentor/Teacher, Boss. Especially as a Boss, I struggle to see the way that this can serve as me being Christ to another and vice versa. I realize that exposes something about my relationship to Christ (and to bosses). Maybe it is the case that I struggle to incorporate obedience into my spiritual life. Jesus is not only friend, but Lord. I come from a tradition that is seeking to distance itself from all formality (I’m Nazarene) and I don’t know that I take that role as Lord seriously enough. I’m uncomfortable being in the role of authority, maybe because I have not seen it wielded well. But authority is God-given. It needs redemption in many cases, but it is from God.
That also feels like a lot of roles (it’s the full seven!), but each one is a means to Christ and in Christ, each relationship I have is lifted up and sanctified in the light of his grace. It is about getting the order and the ends right, refusing to make any relationship an idol that exists for itself.
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