Family drama. We all have it. Television has an entire genre of soap operas, dedicated to family drama of fictitious characters, and while we think such things could never happen in real life, today's readings are full of family drama.
Michal, David's wife, had once been madly in love with her husband. We read that David was pleased to know that, but never once does the Bible indicate that he also loved her. He did, however, kill 200 Philistines and provided their foreskins as the bride price to Saul, Michal's father. Now, David was looking for a way to find political legitimacy by getting in good with the royal family. Saul was looking for a way to get rid of this upstart, and so set the bride price, knowing the problem of David would be eliminated once he went up against the Philistines. He promised David that he could marry his eldest daughter for the bride price, and in the meantime, knowing David was going to die, he married his eldest daughter off to another man. David returned, and Saul was kind of stuck to keep his promise. Unfortunately, Saul also realized that David was favored of God, and he didn't want to lose his throne. After the marriage of David and Michal, he sent men to kill David, and Michal, not wanting to become a widow so soon after marriage, hid David so he could escape.
The drama takes a new twist as Saul, angry with his daughter for letting David get away, declares her deserted, and marries her off to someone else. David, meanwhile, goes about gathering the kingdom together, gaining supporters, not to mention a couple more wives, and the Lord allows Saul and his sons to die, ironically when they're going to lose to the Philistines, giving the kingdom over to David. At this point, 18 years later, when we assume that she's learned to live happily with her second husband, David decides he wants his first wife back – he paid for her in foreskins, mind you – and over the objections of her present husband, takes her back with him. Now Michal's stuck, one among many – which was not what she signed up for – and looking out the window, likely feeling like a prisoner, sees even more evidence that she does not come first with David. From her perspective, he's out there, dancing like a fool in homage to God, humiliating himself – and her, she believes – by dressing in little clothing, and tossing every ounce of royal decorum on its ear. He is willing to demean himself in front of his people. She doesn't recognize that he is willing to humble himself before God in true joy at God's presence. She only knows that she despises him now.
So let's see what drama the royal family from today's Gospel lesson got to. First, it gets a little confusing because we actually know some things about this family from the historian, Josephus, including names, which can get a bit confusing in the Bible. The Herod family really liked the name. So, Herod I, begat Herod II, also sometimes called Herod Philip – and he married Herodias, named for her grandfather – and if I'm reading the ancestry chart correctly, Herod II was her uncle. They had a daughter Salome. Josephus tells us that Herodias divorced her husband by "confounding the laws" (women couldn't divorce men at that point), and then she married Herod Antipas, Herod II's half-brother. Enter John the Baptist, who immediately condemned the marriage, telling Herod Antipas that he could not legitimately marry his brother's wife, particularly since his brother was still alive. Like all good couples that don't want to be told what to do, they weren't happy about this. Herodias was all in favor of killing John the Baptist immediately. However, her husband, for some reason unknown even to himself (hello – God at work here), liked John the Baptist, and so simply imprisoned him, occasionally having visits and listening to John's words, which he found fascinating. It was like having his own private prophet he just kept in the dungeon. Herodias was furious, but unable to persuade her husband, she bided her time and watched for an opportunity. That opportunity came fairly quickly when her daughter danced for her step-father and the court at a state dinner one night. She apparently did so well, her step-daddy offered her anything she wanted, up to and including half his kingdom. Now if this were a soap opera, I've no doubt where the storyline would go, but, this is the Bible, so we get to see a different sort of human atrocity. Salome didn't know what to ask for, so she asked her mother what she should request. Herodias took the chance she'd been offered, and told her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist. Salome took the concept, embellished a little bit, and asked her stepfather for the head of John the Baptist, on a platter. One has to wonder how many of the dinner guests managed to keep their food down at that presentation.
Even looking at the Episcopal Church – one has to admit that we have more than our fair share of "family" drama. As an interesting aside, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, made the statement, that a priest who follows the plotlines of a soap opera or a novel is someone who "has a fair bit of literacy about the world we're in - literacy about our culture, about the human heart."
Family drama. We, ourselves, experience our own family dramas – feuds, secrets, skeletons, abuse, addictions, divorce, custody battles – you name it, and families somewhere experience it.
But since it's such an obvious problem, why is it mentioned in the Bible SO often?
Well, let's go to our New Testament lesson, and listen to the words of Paul: God has "blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." "He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ." He blessed us with forgiveness, and gave us a "plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." We have a heavenly family, wholly perfect and pure, through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. No family drama, no soap opera, just a choice to believe, and be adopted into the family of God.
So next time you're experiencing your own family soap opera, remember that this life is very temporary, and our Father in Heaven is waiting on us to join our family there. Forgive those driving you crazy today, and look forward to the blessings you'll reap as an adopted son or daughter of God.
Let us pray: O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Michal, David's wife, had once been madly in love with her husband. We read that David was pleased to know that, but never once does the Bible indicate that he also loved her. He did, however, kill 200 Philistines and provided their foreskins as the bride price to Saul, Michal's father. Now, David was looking for a way to find political legitimacy by getting in good with the royal family. Saul was looking for a way to get rid of this upstart, and so set the bride price, knowing the problem of David would be eliminated once he went up against the Philistines. He promised David that he could marry his eldest daughter for the bride price, and in the meantime, knowing David was going to die, he married his eldest daughter off to another man. David returned, and Saul was kind of stuck to keep his promise. Unfortunately, Saul also realized that David was favored of God, and he didn't want to lose his throne. After the marriage of David and Michal, he sent men to kill David, and Michal, not wanting to become a widow so soon after marriage, hid David so he could escape.
The drama takes a new twist as Saul, angry with his daughter for letting David get away, declares her deserted, and marries her off to someone else. David, meanwhile, goes about gathering the kingdom together, gaining supporters, not to mention a couple more wives, and the Lord allows Saul and his sons to die, ironically when they're going to lose to the Philistines, giving the kingdom over to David. At this point, 18 years later, when we assume that she's learned to live happily with her second husband, David decides he wants his first wife back – he paid for her in foreskins, mind you – and over the objections of her present husband, takes her back with him. Now Michal's stuck, one among many – which was not what she signed up for – and looking out the window, likely feeling like a prisoner, sees even more evidence that she does not come first with David. From her perspective, he's out there, dancing like a fool in homage to God, humiliating himself – and her, she believes – by dressing in little clothing, and tossing every ounce of royal decorum on its ear. He is willing to demean himself in front of his people. She doesn't recognize that he is willing to humble himself before God in true joy at God's presence. She only knows that she despises him now.
So let's see what drama the royal family from today's Gospel lesson got to. First, it gets a little confusing because we actually know some things about this family from the historian, Josephus, including names, which can get a bit confusing in the Bible. The Herod family really liked the name. So, Herod I, begat Herod II, also sometimes called Herod Philip – and he married Herodias, named for her grandfather – and if I'm reading the ancestry chart correctly, Herod II was her uncle. They had a daughter Salome. Josephus tells us that Herodias divorced her husband by "confounding the laws" (women couldn't divorce men at that point), and then she married Herod Antipas, Herod II's half-brother. Enter John the Baptist, who immediately condemned the marriage, telling Herod Antipas that he could not legitimately marry his brother's wife, particularly since his brother was still alive. Like all good couples that don't want to be told what to do, they weren't happy about this. Herodias was all in favor of killing John the Baptist immediately. However, her husband, for some reason unknown even to himself (hello – God at work here), liked John the Baptist, and so simply imprisoned him, occasionally having visits and listening to John's words, which he found fascinating. It was like having his own private prophet he just kept in the dungeon. Herodias was furious, but unable to persuade her husband, she bided her time and watched for an opportunity. That opportunity came fairly quickly when her daughter danced for her step-father and the court at a state dinner one night. She apparently did so well, her step-daddy offered her anything she wanted, up to and including half his kingdom. Now if this were a soap opera, I've no doubt where the storyline would go, but, this is the Bible, so we get to see a different sort of human atrocity. Salome didn't know what to ask for, so she asked her mother what she should request. Herodias took the chance she'd been offered, and told her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist. Salome took the concept, embellished a little bit, and asked her stepfather for the head of John the Baptist, on a platter. One has to wonder how many of the dinner guests managed to keep their food down at that presentation.
Even looking at the Episcopal Church – one has to admit that we have more than our fair share of "family" drama. As an interesting aside, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, made the statement, that a priest who follows the plotlines of a soap opera or a novel is someone who "has a fair bit of literacy about the world we're in - literacy about our culture, about the human heart."
Family drama. We, ourselves, experience our own family dramas – feuds, secrets, skeletons, abuse, addictions, divorce, custody battles – you name it, and families somewhere experience it.
But since it's such an obvious problem, why is it mentioned in the Bible SO often?
Well, let's go to our New Testament lesson, and listen to the words of Paul: God has "blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." "He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ." He blessed us with forgiveness, and gave us a "plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." We have a heavenly family, wholly perfect and pure, through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. No family drama, no soap opera, just a choice to believe, and be adopted into the family of God.
So next time you're experiencing your own family soap opera, remember that this life is very temporary, and our Father in Heaven is waiting on us to join our family there. Forgive those driving you crazy today, and look forward to the blessings you'll reap as an adopted son or daughter of God.
Let us pray: O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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