May 11

May 11
OT – Samuel 10:1-11:15
When I read these little ‘tidbits’ that show up in the Bible stories like Saul hiding in the baggage, I cannot help but laugh. Those sound so much like family stories that are told on each one of us when we bring home someone new or worse yet, someone dear.
It is quite possible that the story was twisted in some way after they decided that Saul was not the ‘real’ king. But I like to think that it was true. After all, he didn’t appear to go wrangling for the kingship. He seemed just to show up on the scene and God, through Samuel, picks him.
I remember sitting one day at the park when Matt was very small and one of the moms on the bench blurted out, what if one of our sons were going to be president. And all I could think of was “gosh, I really, really, really hope not.”
Do you think this story is one that showed that Saul really, really, really didn’t want to be king?

NT – 6:43-71
Only in John do we have this sad little note about the disciples who left Jesus. In the other 3 gospels, the leaving was done after the arrest. If Jesus knew from the beginning who didn’t believe him, why did he continue to teach them? Prescience seems to be a powerful indicator of a prophet. We saw an elaborate display of Samuel’s ability in our OT scripture and here is Jesus doing it in the NT.
In the early Christian church, there were constant questions about the eating of the body and drinking of the blood of Jesus. So much so that one of the few surviving ex-Biblica references to 1st century Christianity is a critical one about cannibalism. This is also a charge leveled against Catholics in their doctrine of transubstantiation of physically eating Jesus and drinking his blood. (In today’s vampire crazy world, many of the vampire genre have racks of priests/vampires ever at the ready).
When Jesus says ‘whoever drinks my blood and eats my flesh has eternal life’, does he mean that literally? I think not. I think this is just one of John’s esoteric turns of a phrase to represent the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus for our salvation.
But I can easily see how this would be misinterpreted and for all I know, *I* am misinterpreting it.

Proverbs 15:1-3
A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.
This was one of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s favorite proverbs. She wrote about it in These Happy Golden Years as a statement of Ma’s. And it probably did come from her mother. But she had that proverb written above her sink in her home in Missouri. Pa makes the statement that Laura must think first, then speak when she takes her first teaching job.
This is a good lesson for all of us, me especially right now. When people are angry, they really don’t want to hear my ‘oh so great advice’. They want to just vent. And sometimes, they want to vent on me.
When I return with a nasty little retort, which I probably am entitled to, the scene escalates. The only hope to diffuse the situation is the gentle answer. Or maybe to say nothing at all! What an original idea!

On a personal note, this evening, we will be attending Matthew’s Bacculaurate service and Senior Banquet. As he enters this new phase of life, I would covet your prayers for Godly choices, clear vision, and the reprofes, when they come, to be gentle.