The Example of David

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David, humility, Psalm 130(131), Psalm 50(51), repentance, St. Hilary

St. Hilary, having shown that the great and wonderful things mentioned in Psalm 130(131) are the things men see as glorious (and therefore would cause us to lift up our eyes from God to see them), he paints for us an example of someone who does not walk amid things great and wonderful which are above us:

For David, prophet and king as he was, once was humble and despised and unworthy to sit at his father’s table; but he found favour with God, he was anointed to be king, he was inspired to prophesy. His kingdom did not make him haughty, he was not moved by hatreds: he loved those that persecuted him, he paid honour to his dead enemies, he spared his incestuous and murderous children. In his capacity of sovereign he was despised, in that of father he was wounded, in that of prophet he was afflicted; yet he did not call for vengeance as a prophet might, nor exact punishment as a father, nor requite insults as a sovereign. And so he did not walk amid things great and wonderful which were above him.

David, though he was a prophet and a king, (like all of us) once fell into great sin. He desired Bathsheba, who was married. He committed adultery and then murder to cover up his sin. The son that resulted from this lust died as an infant. David, seeing the fruit of his error repented as is recorded in Psalm 50(51). It was this repentance and humility in which God found favor.

Learning his lesson, David continued to avoid the great and wonderful things of men. Though he was despised, persecuted and wounded he refused to use his power as king, prophet and father to take his vengeance. To take that road would have been to seek the glory of man — the trappings of power that come with being a king, prophet and father. Rather, he kept his eyes upon the Lord and the humility that was given him through his repentance.

All of us, throughout our lives, are given power over others. We are afforded the opportunity to exercise that power for our own gratification and glorification. That path, however, lifts our eyes to the great and wonderful things of man. David once took that path. It did not bring him greatness, but rather tragedy. David is considered to be great because of his humility, his ability to keep his eyes upon God and avoid the path that seeks the glory of man. This greatness is open to all of us through the repentance and humility of David.

Bible Study Notes: Repentance

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Baptism, equality, repentance, Theophany

Still in the midst of celebrating Theophany, it was difficult to see this Sunday’s Epistle Reading (Colossians 3:4-11) and Gospel Reading (Luke 17:12-19) outside of this context. In fact, St. Paul seems to be specifically refer to Baptism in verses 9-10:

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

The old nature refers to the reality that each of us is born into the fallen world. When we are Baptized, we die to this old nature and put on Christ (cf. Galatians 3:27, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ”).

We couldn’t discuss this passage without making mention of one of my personal favorite verses in Scripture (Colossians 3:11):

Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

I find myself quoting this often in context of discussions about equality (there is no more radical a statement of equality that this). Upon reflection, we realized that our current ethnic mishmash here in the U.S. is probably closer to the audience St. Paul was writing to — the Roman Empire — than we may imagine.

In terms of understanding the phrase “Christ is all, in all” we need to remember that as beings made in the image and likeness of God, we have a trinitarian existence. In other words, just as God is one in essence in three persons, so, too, are we of one essence and in many persons. Thus, when Christ took on our humanity, He affected all of humanity through our nature —Christ is all. Since we are also made in the image and likeness, Christ is also in all.

Following the theme of remembering Theophany, we recalled Christ’s first words after His baptism (read last week on the Sunday after Theophany), “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). When Christ told the ten lepers to present themselves to the priest (indicating that they were cleansed — the priest would confirm this and their re-integration into society), only one presented himself to the true High Priest — Christ Himself. In doing so he turned around (the literal meaning of repentance) — he repented and oriented himself to God. Being a Samaritan, he indicates that this action is possible for everyone (Christ is all, and in all). This act of repentance (and our participation in salvation) is confirmed by Christ’s words, “your faith has made you well.”

Eureka!

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Christmas, Joseph, Manasseh, prayer, repentance, Theotokos, Worship

Today, during the Gospel, we are faced with the temptation of tuning out, rolling our eyes and wondering why is it necessary that we listen to all these “begats” and strange names? Such a temptation fails to understand the richness of today’s Gospel (Matthew 1:1-25). There are wonderful stories behind each of these names and these wonderful stories each reveal something to us about Christ. There is so much here that I have been struggling all week just to narrow it down to something to preach about — if I were to try and chase everything down available to us, we would be here for hours.

Normally, I’d chase down the oddities in this list — the law requires that ancestry be traced through the male lineage, yet Matthew mentions five women. These women have a lot to tell us about Christ. Due to time restraints, however, I am merely going to ask that you chase these names yourself. Rather, today I am going to focus on two names — one from the Old Testament and one from the New — Manasseh and Joseph.

Manasseh was the son of the righteous King Hezekiah. According to both 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He built altars and to pagan gods — even in the Temple — and worshipped idols. When Manasseh ignored the warnings of God, the Lord allowed him to be captured by the Assyrians and put in fetters. In this humbled state, Manasseh cried out to the Lord in repentance (which at its root means to turn around — turn towards God). In our rich Orthodox liturgical tradition we have Manasseh’s Prayer which we have as part of our Great Compline service. Using the same imagery that God used in His promise to Abraham about the number of offspring God would give him, Manasseh cries out (and we with him), “I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea.”

Although Manasseh was returned to Judah and tore down all of the pagan altars, poles and idols that he had previously built, St. Paul tells us in today’s Epistle that Manasseh’s (albeit beautiful) repentance didn’t really gain him much:

And all these [faithful from the OT], though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had foreseen something better for us,that apart from us they should not be made perfect. — Hebrews 11:39-40

This promise — this “something better” — was found by Joseph. Note the eighteenth verse of the first chapter of Matthew:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.

This word “found” falls flat in the English translation. It doesn’t have any connotation of amazement. The Greek — εὑρέθη — does. It is the root for the English word “eureka!” In other words, “Eureka! Mary is with child by the Holy Spirit!” Thus, Joseph knows from the beginning the importance of this child. So much so that the devil (depicted in the icons of the Nativity) tries to tempt Joseph to disobey the Law — which calls for adulterers to be stoned — and put Mary away and divorce her.

Of course, he doesn’t because he heeds the words of the angel Gabriel:

Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. — Matthew 1:20-21

The name “Jesus” means “Saviour.” Note what the angel says that He will save us from: our sins — our separation from God. This is only something that God Himself can do. Thus, Joseph understood from the very beginning that the child Mary carried in her womb was God Himself.

God, whose flesh He took from the likes of Manessah. He embraces even those who do evil in the sight of the Lord. This is the “something better.” This is the fulfillment of the promises made by God to all those faithful throughout the OT — Emmanuel! God is with us!

What an honor it is to be a Christian. What a gift it is to worship a God who loves us so much that He was willing to do all these things for us. How awesome is that when we repent — when we turn towards God — we get the fullness of the promise that is Jesus Christ.

Today the Apolytikion tells us that “Great are the achievements of faith!” It goes on do demonstrate one of the many amazing things that happened in the OT through faith — the three holy youths in the furnace fire unharmed. We have more than they did.

Let us all, then, have the repentance of Manasseh and turn toward God. Then, let us all have Joseph’s “eureka” moment when we take to heart the reality of the gift that God has given us through Jesus Christ. Let us embrace the opportunity to give Him thanks and take advantage of all the Orthodox Church has to offer through Her worship services. Come and see and be amazed. Amen.