Discerning motives ...

Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes, and put on sackcloth, and mourn over Abner." And King David followed the bier. They buried Abner at Hebron. The king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. The king lamented for Abner, saying,

"Should Abner die as a fool dies?
Your hands were not bound,
your feet were not fettered;
as one falls before the wicked
you have fallen."

And all the people wept over him again. Then all the people came to persuade David to eat something while it was still day; but David swore, saying, "So may God do to me, and more, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down!" All the people took notice of it, and it pleased them; just as everything the king did pleased all the people.

So all the people and all Israel understood that day that the king had no part in the killing of Abner son of Ner. And the king said to his servants, "Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? Today I am powerless, even though anointed king; these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too violent for me. The Lord pay back the one who does wickedly in accordance with his wickedness!"
2 Sa 3:31-39 – NRSV

In times of great injustice, in times of unspeakable tragedy, leaders must send clear messages. There is no room for ambiguity. There is no place for misunderstanding. Sentences must be simple. Words must be clear. Actions must be both. Words and actions must agree.

David gives simple and clear instructions to his people, and specifically to Joab, the cause of all of this trouble. There are symbols: sackcloth, a bier, a tomb. There is ritual: tearing clothes, mourning, marching, burying. Words are spoken and tears are shed. Not only is there grief, but also there is a sincerity in that grief, at least for David. Sincerity that distances David from Joab. David can wrap Joab in sackcloth, but not sorrow.

Then there is lament. David lifts Abner up as one who is wise, not a fool. David tells the people that this valiant warrior deserved to die in battle, or as a captive of his enemies, but not as a helpless victim of the wicked. The unnamed, but not unknown, wicked one, Joab. David creates more distance from Joab. And then there are more tears.

Meals are common to funerals in many cultures, and it is no different here. Yet David will not eat. He will fast; he will not let go of his mourning until the evening comes. The people are satisfied that David is sincere. This sincerity makes the idea that he had anything to do with plotting the death of Abner seem unlikely, perhaps even unbelievable.

After David retires to be with his personal staff, David’s complaints are more pointed. Those sons of my sister: Joab and Abishai. They are the problem. David, as king, does not have to take revenge on Joab for killing Abner; he could apply law and justice. Instead, he decides to put Joab into the hands of God.

Up until this point in the narrative, David’s sorrow seems real. Yet the notion that Joab could continue to serve as general of the king’s armies sounds a note that seems out of tune with the chords of David’s grief. Is David really that weak? Is Joab really that strong? Is David really that concerned that revenge belongs to the Lord?

I don’t know if David was innocent or guilty. To me, Abner’s death appears to have set David back a considerable length of time. Some, though, make a strong case that Abner was more predictable as an enemy than as an ally. He could have been trouble for David’s young dynasty. In reality, it may be that only God, David, and Joab know the truth.

Do we understand the dilemma here? Human beings gauge the motives, the actions, and the character of other human beings from such small clues, many of which can be taken more than one way. From this person’s perspective, David is innocent. From another person’s perspective, David is guilty.

Humans make these judgments about each other’s behaviors every day. What did Ron mean by that devotional? Was it really a coincidence that he talked about that text today? Why did he choose that word? Why did he not use this obvious idea? Did he think that …

On and on we go every day. The best of us, communicating in the clearest of terms, have the best of our actions misunderstood. Even God is misunderstood. “Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize [Jesus] or understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him (Acts 13:27-28). A part of human and divine suffering is being misunderstood, even by those who love us.

This pain ought to warn us of the dangers of being quick to judge. This is especially true with children. It is so easy to misread the clues, to misstep in our interpretations, and to misjudge guilt or innocence. It is frighteningly easy to bring trauma instead of justice. This difficulty in knowing how we know what we know (epistemology) is a good reason to be careful in assigning consequences and to avoid exacting revenge altogether. This difficulty in knowing with absolute certainty is a compelling reason to prayerfully discern these situations in community, thus gaining the power of multiple perspectives.

May God give us the wisdom to discern wisely, and together.

Ron

A dish served up cold ...

David has carefully negotiated peace with Abner and the various tribes associated with Israel. In peace, he sends Abner back to finish the detail work that will bring an end to the civil war and unite Israel and Judah under David as king.

Just then the servants of David arrived with Joab from a raid, bringing much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for David had dismissed him, and he had gone away in peace. When Joab and all the army that was with him came, it was told Joab, "Abner son of Ner came to the king, and he has dismissed him, and he has gone away in peace."

Then Joab went to the king and said, "What have you done? Abner came to you; why did you dismiss him, so that he got away? You know that Abner son of Ner came to deceive you, and to learn your comings and goings and to learn all that you are doing."

When Joab came out from David's presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah; but David did not know about it. When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gateway to speak with him privately, and there he stabbed him in the stomach. So he died for shedding the blood of Asahel, Joab's brother.

Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, "I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner son of Ner. May the guilt fall on the head of Joab, and on all his father's house; and may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge, or who is leprous, or who holds a spindle, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks food!" So Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.
2 Samuel 3:22-30 – NRSV

Did David send Joab out on a raid knowing that Joab would be opposed to negotiating a peace with Abner? Perhaps. It could be that David’s concerns were simpler: fear that Joab would kill Abner if they met face to face. If that is what David worried about, he turned out to be right. Yet in Joab’s absence, Abner and David negotiate a peace, negotiate power, and, some think, negotiate a position for Abner within David’s cabinet.

Joab just misses Abner. Joab rants at David as if he were some sort of political simpleton. David is not a fool, Abner is not a spy. The problem is that Joab desires what David does not.

But Abner can only get a couple of miles away from Hebron before Joab’s messengers catch up. The messengers claim to have been sent by David, not Joab. They lie. They claim to have peaceful purposes. They do not. So Abner comes to Joab believing that Joab delivers an important message of peace from David. He does not. Joab delivers a knife.

In the stomach. As Abner strikes Asahel, so Joab strikes Abner. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life. Yet Asahel had warning; Asahel was a casualty of battle. Abner had no warning; Abner was a victim of cold-blooded murder, of revenge served up cold.

Joab wins his revenge, but loses his king’s carefully-negotiated peace. Joab adds to his reputation, but gives his lord a bad name that some still believe to this day: he is a dangerous manipulator who assassinates his enemies. Joab keeps his job as general of the armies safe from Abner, but he nearly costs David his rightful title of king over all the children of Israel.

Is David angry? I believe so. David calls down upon the house of Joab every nasty consequence that he can contemplate for a warrior: venereal disease, leprosy, effeminacy, failure in battle, and poverty. David separates himself from Joab’s actions and calls for the blood of Abner to be “a storm” over the head of Joab.

We might be ready to applaud David’s justice until we consider one simple question. Have we ever chosen our own purposes over the purposes of our Lord? His purposes for unity, for inclusion, for peace. His purposes for our actions, our speech, our thought.

We can choose to ignore the purposes of our Lord, but if we do, we need to remember that it can bring about two consequences: (1) separation from him and from his ongoing mission in this world, and (2) abandonment to the natural consequences of our disobedience.

Instead, let the same mind be in you that was in Jesus Christ (Php 2:5).

Dear Lord, and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives, thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust, like those who heard,
Beside the Syrian Sea,
The gracious calling of Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word,
Rise up and follow thee.

Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease,
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace.
- John G. Whittier

Grace, and peace,

Ron

Right thing, wrong reason

Abner sent messengers to David at Hebron, saying, "To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and I will give you my support to bring all Israel over to you."

He said, "Good; I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you: you shall never appear in my presence unless you bring Saul's daughter Michal when you come to see me." Then David sent messengers to Saul's son Ishbaal, saying, "Give me my wife Michal, to whom I became engaged at the price of one hundred foreskins of the Philistines."

Ishbaal sent and took her from her husband Paltiel the son of Laish. But her husband went with her, weeping as he walked behind her all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, "Go back home!" So he went back.

Abner sent word to the elders of Israel, saying, "For some time past you have been seeking David as king over you. Now then bring it about; for the Lord has promised David: Through my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and from all their enemies." Abner also spoke directly to the Benjaminites; then Abner went to tell David at Hebron all that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin were ready to do.

When Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron, David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. Abner said to David, "Let me go and rally all Israel to my lord the king, in order that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your heart desires." So David dismissed Abner, and he went away in peace.
2 Samuel 3:12-21 – NRSV

Abner is doing the right thing. He is seeing to it that Israel makes peace with David, so that Israel and Judah may be united under one king. A king that the Lord has promised. A king that God will use to save his people from their enemies.

Yet Abner isn’t really doing this for the right reasons, is he? In the confrontation with Ishbaal he decides to give the kingdom to David just to prove that he could do it. Now Abner, “owner” of this land tells David that he will give him his land and his support. Finally, Abner tells Israel’s elders that he’s doing this because the Lord has already endorsed the kingship of David.

If that’s really the reason, then why did it take him so long to act on the fact? Abner does this because he suspects he has a better chance now to maintain his power by shifting to David’s side. Abner’s plan is really not righteous obedience to the will of God, but a sophisticated way to move and maintain power.

David has an interesting condition to the offer of diplomacy. Before he will negotiate with Abner, David demands the return of his first wife, Michal. Michal, the daughter of Saul. Michal who loved David. Saul demanded 100 Philistine foreskins as her bride price, but David paid 200 to Saul instead. After David’s escape from Saul, Saul remarried her to Paltiel. Now David wants her back. Yet this demand for Michal’s return is more than regaining a relationship that was dearly and dangerously purchased. It is a power move to reclaim a familial connection with the house of Saul and the tribe of Benjamin.

So Michal must leave a man who loves her, and Paltiel must suffer a pathetically broken heart. What is sad is that David never says, “Send to me Michal, whom I love.” Once again, one of our characters appears to be doing the right thing for the wrong reason. Yet a careful reader of the law (Deut 24:1-4) would doubt that David is obeying the law by remarrying a woman who has been married to another man. Wrong move, wrong reason.

We run into this a lot, don’t we? People who do the right thing for the wrong reason. People who do the wrong things for the wrong reasons. Sometimes even people with the right reasons end up doing the wrong thing.

We want something more. We want to do the right things for the right reasons. For us, it is not enough, for example, to worship God (the right thing); we want to worship God in Spirit and truth (the right reason). This is what we want, but it’s not easy to do all of time, is it?

In reality, our decisions tend to be a mixed bag: some right and wrong acts, some right and wrong reasons. Our challenge, though, is to honestly evaluate our thinking and action so as to become pure in heart. May God help us to make it so.

Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Ron

Power and accountability ...

There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.

Sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam of Jezreel; his second, Chileab, of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; the third, Absalom son of Maacah, daughter of King Talmai of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream, of David's wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.

While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah daughter of Aiah. And Ishbaal said to Abner, "Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?"

The words of Ishbaal made Abner very angry; he said, "Am I a dog's head for Judah? Today I keep showing loyalty to the house of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David; and yet you charge me now with a crime concerning this woman. So may God do to Abner and so may he add to it! For just what the Lord has sworn to David, that will I accomplish for him, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beer-sheba."

And Ishbaal could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.
2 Samuel 3:1-11 - NRSV

After the death of Saul and the beginning of the civil war, the inevitable comes to pass: David’s house gains power while Saul’s house loses it. This transition is symbolized by the wives and sons of the two families. Each of David’s growing list of wives represent an alliance of power: political, military, or financial. Most of David’s wives produce an heir potential for the throne of Judah. Meanwhile, Saul’s enemies have killed many of Saul’s sons, and his friends have proven the survivors to be weaklings. Saul’s women are in enough jeopardy to seek alliances wherever they can. David’s growing power versus Saul’s diminishing strength.

What power remains in the house of Saul has been swallowed up by Abner. Since Abner’s power put Ishbaal into power, Ishbaal hasn’t complained about it. Not until now.

When kings died or experienced defeat, the new power figure would often take the wives and concubines of the old king into his harem. Thus the power that went with the alliances represented by these marriages went these women. For anybody else to sleep with the wife or concubine of a king is blatantly subversive. If Ishbaal is right, this sex is not about celebration or procreation; it is about power. Ishbaal accuses Abner, not just of sleeping with one of his father’s concubines, but of rebelling against Ishbaal to the extent of beginning to act like the king of Israel himself.

If we listen to Abner carefully, we never hear him deny his relationship with Rizpah. He is adamant, though, that this was done neither to claim the throne for himself, nor to give it to David. The relationship is personal, not political. Essentially, Abner says, ”You think that I’m giving the throne to David? I’ll show you what it looks like to give the throne to David!” And so he does it. Ishbaal is so weak that he can do absolutely nothing to stop the transfer of Israel’s loyalty from the house of Saul to David.

Abner’s moves are all about power. He moves to take power that others can’t keep or handle. He uses the power for his own loyalties and purposes with absolute disregard for the lives or happiness of his pawns. Then he refuses to be accountable to anyone for his use of that power. Even if we grant Abner’s assertion that his relationship with Rizpah had nothing to do with the throne, Abner not only asserted his power to do whatever he wanted, even in the Ishbaal’s house, but he also told Ishbaal that he was accountable to no one for how he used that power. It’s all about Abner.

Fortunately none of us have issues with power. Right? None of us are a part of systems where other human beings have lost powerful supporting figures from their lives. None of us would ever be tempted to use our huge power differential over those less powerful people in our little worlds, would we? Surely we do things that are right for our house, and everyone in our whole house, and we don’t just do the things that please our obsessive-compulsive characters, right? We’re more concerned with boys discovering ways to deal with the difficulties of life for themselves than we’re worried about maintaining control. Isn’t that so?

Well, if it is so, it is because we have chosen to make ourselves accountable for the power that is in our hands. Accountable to God, the source of all power. Accountable to our peers, who best understand the kinds of power we possess and who can best assess whether or not our use of power is empowering or oppressive. Accountable to our boys, who ought to be able to breathe, who ought to have enough power in their lives to set some boundaries for us, too.

Let’s use our power like Jesus – emptying ourselves of the impulse to use power for ourselves, and instead, using it for others. And let’s allow others to hold us accountable for that use of it. Then we will truly have justice and peace in our little world.

Grace and peace,

Ron

The end will be bitter ...

But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. As the sun was going down they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. The Benjaminites rallied around Abner and formed a single band; they took their stand on the top of a hill. Then Abner called to Joab, "Is the sword to keep devouring forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you order your people to turn from the pursuit of their kinsmen?" Joab said, "As God lives, if you had not spoken, the people would have continued to pursue their kinsmen, not stopping until morning." Joab sounded the trumpet and all the people stopped; they no longer pursued Israel or engaged in battle any further.

Abner and his men traveled all that night through the Arabah; they crossed the Jordan, and, marching the whole forenoon, they came to Mahanaim. Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner; and when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing of David's servants nineteen men besides Asahel. But the servants of David had killed of Benjamin three hundred sixty of Abner's men. They took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem. Joab and his men marched all night, and the day broke upon them at Hebron.
2 Samuel 2:24-32 - NRSV

Civil war is a horrible thing. Relationships between friends and family that once were significant are smashed by terrible events, the memories of which are not easily forgotten, perhaps not even over a lifetime. The toll here is the loss of life; hundreds of lives, with many more to come.

Fortunately we never engage in civil wars, do we? Our relationships with friends and family are never smashed by terrible events, like careless or hurtful things that we might say or do to one another, are they? I don’t know about you, but all of the mistakes that I make are easily forgiven and forgotten. Surely none of the mistakes that you ever make stay in your, or someone else’s, memory for very long, do they? Nobody ever gets hurt – nothing is ever lost, is it?

If you don’t hear the irony in that last paragraph, then go back and read it again.

The reality is that the best of us hurts other people. Usually that hurt is unintentional; we don’t mean to hurt someone, but nonetheless, it happens. Sometimes that hurt happens because we get hurt ourselves; we feel the pain of someone else’s words, and we lash back without thinking, or without a care for their hurt. They started it, after all.

What do we do with all of this pain? Do we just “bury the dead” and then wait for the opportunity for revenge? Do we sneak away in the night and wait for the opportunity to stab someone in the back later on? (After all, Joab does have plans for Abner.)

Jesus said, “If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive."

See, you might say, they haven’t repented so I don’t have to forgive … But Jesus also said, “And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.” So do we?

Somebody has to stop the battle.

He also said, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

This forgiveness thing is so hard because it demands a love which requires us to be so vulnerable. We want to protect ourselves, but when we do, too frequently we just hurt someone else. This kind of forgiveness can only happen when we let go of power: first over the lives of others, and finally, to a certain extent, in our own lives as well.

This is so hard for me because I am so easily hurt. Yet I can also be so insensitive to how I hurt other people, too. So I don’t speak about this as an expert, or one who is innocent. Nothing could be farther from the truth. But we need to talk about it, nonetheless.

Forgive …

Ron

Lk 17:3-4; Lk 11:4; Mt 6:14-15 - NRSV

The point of the story ...

By the pool of Gibeon, a fierce battle is in progress. Three fierce fighters are in the front of the fray, leading the men of Judah against Abner and the Benjaminites.

The three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle.

Suddenly Abner, the oldest of the Benjaminites, breaks and runs in retreat for the regroup site. Across the crashing swords and shields, Asahel sees Abner retreat, and makes a single-minded vow that he will not get away.

Asahel pursued Abner, turning neither to the right nor to the left as he followed him.

At first, Asahel is too far behind for Abner to be sure. Who is this man?

Then Abner looked back and said, "Is it you, Asahel?"

Asahel is not a man of many words.

He answered, "Yes, it is."

Abner keeps running, but when he looks back, he’s shocked. He thinks, “He’s already that much closer? This guy is fast!”

And Abner said to him, "Turn to your right or to your left, and seize one of the young men, and take his spoil."

But Asahel would not turn away from following him.

Asahel isn’t talking. Asahel is running. Now he is close enough that the features on his face are clear to Abner.

Abner said again to Asahel, "Turn away from following me; why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I show my face to your brother Joab?" But he refused to turn away.

Asahel doesn’t want to hear anything that Abner has to say. He’s heard enough words from this silver-tongued old rascal. The real reason for this chase is to silence that smooth talk. Then he can take the old man’s spear and deliver it to David. Surely that will prod David into taking some of that bounty that comes with being a king and sharing it with Asahel and his brothers. Just a few more steps …

So Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. He fell there, and died where he lay. And all those who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.

Like so many young people, Asahel makes a rash decision. He commits to an idea because he is sure of how things will end, and fails to see that the story may have more than one ending. He sees the weakness of his enemy, but is clueless to his own vulnerability. He is certain in his knowledge of the way that the world works, yet doesn’t understand anything about what this old man would call wisdom. He is going to take what he wants; there is absolutely no need to negotiate.

Does this story sound familiar to us? Do we know any young people who chase after life like this? I think that this is a condition so common to youth that it is almost proverbial.

Yet, in reality, we all need to be careful about being too single-minded. Too often we rush through to carry out our plans because we are too sure that we are right. But the confirmation of what is right comes from wisdom. The surest wisdom comes from conversation. The wisest conversation comes from a community of discernment: from people of diverse skills, experiences, backgrounds, and ages who seek to follow the leading of the Spirit toward the will of God.

That’s why we spend so much time talking at Westview. We want to avoid the error of being rash, single-minded people. Our hope, our prayer, is to be a community of godly discernment that will love our boys into our community and toward an eternity with God.

Be wise.

Blessings,

Ron

2 Samuel 2:18-23 – NRSV

The Field of Sword-edges ...

But Abner son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, had taken Ishbaal son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim. He made him king over Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and over all Israel. Ishbaal, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. The time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

Abner son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbaal son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. Joab son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat on one side of the pool, while the other sat on the other side of the pool. Abner said to Joab, "Let the young men come forward and have a contest before us."

Joab said, "Let them come forward."

So they came forward and were counted as they passed by, twelve for Benjamin and Ishbaal son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. Each grasped his opponent by the head, and thrust his sword in his opponent's side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is at Gibeon. The battle was very fierce that day; and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten by the servants of David.
2 Sa 2:8-17 – NRSV

Abner, a close relative of Saul, is the real power behind the throne. Saul may have died in battle, but Abner isn’t done yet. He has been loyal for years to Saul and his family. He has paid his dues too many times just to pick up his cloak and go herd sheep. There are certain people who will not abide a vacuum in power, and Abner is such a one.

Abner is not unaware of the claims of David for the throne, but he also understands that David has his own people and his own loyalties. So, to keep the power that he has, he finds a puppet. It’s interesting how powerful people often have that peculiar sense and skill.

Once Abner hears that David has moved into Hebron, he feels the need to scout out the situation. And when he does, of course, he encounters Joab. Joab is the political mirror image of Abner. Except of course, David doesn’t make as malleable of a puppet as does Ishbaal. Joab is one of the three sons of Zeruiah, David’s sister. Joab is fierce, loyal, single-minded, dangerous, and just as addicted to power as is Abner.

So, in a region where water is not plentiful, they meet at a pool like so many wild animals. Abner and Joab size each other up. Abner is a more experienced negotiator, but today he is spoiling for a fight just as much as Joab. Instead of an all-out battle, they choose to fight the battle by representatives. Each side chooses their twelve warriors, who fight it out on behalf of their side. Both Abner and Joab are readily willing to sacrifice a dozen lives for their purposes: Abner to maintain power, Joab to seize power. Twenty-four lives as toys in the hands of men who are old enough to know better. The word they use for what they do is to “make sport,” to “contest.” But it is never play when life and death are involved. For all practical purposes this is a deadly gladiatorial contest.

Except the fight doesn’t just stay among the twenty-four chosen.

When brother sees brother killed, they are no longer willing to sit silently. Someone from the killer’s family must pay. So these “games” turn into a melee where even more people must die. Did Abner or Joab suspect that this would turn into a civil war? It would be difficult for either of them to defend themselves from such an accusation.

How do we use power? We all have it, you know. Is our use of power really benevolent, really altruistic? Or are we altogether too willing to snatch up power someone else has left laying around and use it to make certain that people know who is boss? It is amazing how people whom you would never see as being very concerned with power become very aggressive when others start to intrude into the boundaries of their power.

Yet the way that Jesus used power was kenotic, or self-emptying. The scriptures say:

Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death —
even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:5-8 – NRSV

Power, used for others. That’s confidence in power.

Think about it.

Blessings,

Ron