May 14

OT –1 Samuel 15:1-16:23
One of the hard parts about reading OT for me is imposing my own 21st century values and morals on these stories and characters. As a Protestant, I believe I need no priest to intervene for me with God. Yet, in this story, Samuel is hearing the word of God, imparting it to Saul and then passing judgment on Saul for not exactly following the word of God.
I do recognize that this book was written after the line of David was in power and there is a certain amount of justification that is going on to say why Saul was chosen first but David took over.
But I believe that these ancient scriptures speak to us today about our problems, concerns and situation. What then, am I to make of this one?
We have read and will read of people keeping the booty for their own benefit. Yet, Saul did not. He kept the cattle live for sacrifice. The king, well, maybe he thought that as a hostage, the king was more valuable alive than dead. But leaders make mistakes in the heat of battle and Saul had no one there to advise him. Maybe if Samuel had been there, he would not have disobeyed.
What are our sacrifices and who are we supposed to eradicate for the Lord?
Who is interpreting the scriptures for our leaders and do we even want them to? What if the leader was another religion? Would we want that leader to be advised by his spiritual advisor?
What a quandary. I am not prepared with any answers, just more questions. And it is hard for me to read these scriptures and not feel pity for Saul who it appeared was doing the best that he could.

NT – John 8:1-20
Oh, so it is this story that shows Jesus’ compassion! Always, always, I want to know where the guy who was caught with the woman is!
In this reading, I was struck by that phrase, “At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, THE OLDER ONES FIRST, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. “ vs. 9
The older ones first. It does seem that the older you get, the more you realize that you are not perfect, and you are more like other folk than not like them. I guess the older ones had more ‘sins’ weighing on them than the newer ones.
But if this story is about compassion, who did Jesus have compassion for? Certainly the woman. But did he also not have compassion on her accusers? He let them slip away, unseen by his eyes as he wrote on the ground. Knowing all (remember the Samaritan woman at the well), Jesus knew who did what with whom and how often. All of us sin. By letting them slip away, he was forgiving THEIR sins as well. And maybe, just maybe, the next time they were asked to accuse someone, they thought of their own lives and their own sins. Certainly, when I read this story, I see my own faults, lies, and evil deeds written on that ground.




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