15 July 2018 – Eighth Sunday after Pentecost 2 Samuel 6:1–5, 12b–19; Psalm 24; Ephesians 1:3–14; Mark 6:14–29 Leaders Before God

When I meet with people, the topic of conversation invariably moves to world leadership – the type of people who are in power, their actions and personalities, even their life histories. Life hasn’t changed much from the 21st century AD to the 11th century BC (a period of 3,000 years). The people of the Old Testament and New Testament were just as interested in the exploits of their kings as we are in the lives of our civil leaders.

In the 21st century we are aware of the life story of King David – from humble beginnings as a shepherd to the seat of power over the entire country. This was one of the first Bible stories we may have read in our children’s Bible. In the Old Testament, kings were expected to behave in a certain way, just as we have standards of behaviour for our civil leaders. When our leaders stray from those standards, the amount of talk about that leader increases significantly, especially in our news-addicted age. So it was with David.

This morning we heard the story of how King David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant contained the stone tablets with the original Ten Commandments which God gave Moses. The Jews believed God's presence resided within the Ark and they kept it veiled in skins and a blue cloth. This was the most sacred and holy object for the Jews and having the Ark come to reside in Jerusalem was a time for great rejoicing. People lined the route singing and praising God. King David was even dancing along the route.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries of our era, some Christians considered dancing of any kind to be evil. But in the 11th century BC dancing in worship was considered a way to praise God and therefore not evil. So David's dancing was not a problem for the people of that time.

The problem was his clothing – or rather, his lack of clothing. David was not dressed as a king while he was dancing – he was not wearing his regal robes. The story says he was wearing only an ephod. People of those days did not wear underwear as we know underwear. So David is wearing an apron-like garment – two straps over the shoulders that hung down leaving nothing to the imagination. The people didn’t seem to have a problem but his wife, Michal, was angry – very angry. In the next section of this chapter (which we did not hear this morning), Michal gives David, her husband, a piece of her mind. She tells him sarcastically, “How the king of Israel honoured himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ maids, as any vulgar fellow might shamelessly uncover himself”. She finds his behaviour to be evil.

Even today we're not that keen on seeing people half-naked (or even completely naked) – there are laws against it. In the 21st century we may allow 'clothing optional' beaches in British Columbia but people dancing naked – No. But David tells Michal that “before the Lord I will make myself even more contemptible”. David was humbling himself himself before God. He was not dancing as a king but as an ordinary subject of the supreme King. Michal does not see the spiritual significance of his action – her only concern is his status and how that makes her look bad before the people. However, David was showing by his actions that he did not consider himself equal to God (as some of our leaders today do) – his relationship with God was more important. On the other hand, we have King Herod Antipas, whom we heard about in the Gospel of Mark. However, he was a king with a different set of morals. His family relationships were complex – his second wife, Herodias, was not only his niece but also his sister-in-law. John the Baptist condemned Herod’s marriage to Herodias because of that close family relationship and because Herod Antipas had divorced his first wife to marry her. The result was that Herodias hated John the Baptist. She manipulated Herod into a situation in which he had to carry out an odious promise (the head of John the Baptist) to maintain his standing with the members of his court. When Salome, his step-daughter, pleased Herod, her step- father, with her dance, Herod promised her anything she wished. And he could not go back on that promise or he would lose face.

Two kings, two wives and two dances. Two very different relationships before God. Two very different styles of leadership. One leader cares about a relationship with God, the other doesn’t even bring God into the equation. In comparing these kings it’s easy for us to make a judgement and say that this one is good and that one is bad.

But we know a little more about King David. We know he too lusted – his lust was directed toward the wife of his neighbour and leader in his army. We know that King David arranged to have that neighbour killed so that he could marry the object of his lust. At that point, David’s actions were not those of a good leader.

The difference between the two kings is that David admitted he was wrong. After being confronted by the prophet Nathan, David confessed to his crime and was given a punishment. How many leaders are willing to do that? Even church leaders have a hard time admitting that they are wrong. One of the amazing things about Pope Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, is that he did admit he had made a mistake in his judgement about the child abuse perpetrated by clergy in Chile. He worked to rectify his mistake. He humbled himself before God and before the world.

It’s easy for us to look at our leaders and point out their fallibilities. It’s easy for us to be enraged by their faults, especially when their mistakes hurt so many people. But their mistakes and their damage take our attention away from our own mistakes and the damage we may have caused others. Yes, we need to hold our leaders to account. We need to pray for them that they will allow God to work on their hard hearts. But we ourselves also need to be humble before God to admit to those times when our hearts were hard and we did not have compassion, when our own desires took precedence over others’ needs.

Two leaders, two wives, two dances and two different relationships with God. In small ways each one of us is a leader to a small group of people. God allows us the freedom to choose what kind of person each of us can be in our own sphere of life. May we be humble before God. May we have compassion for God’s people – regardless of their religion, or sexual orientation, or race. May we love as God loves us.