[Propertalk] Proper 10b 2018 - part 2

[Robert P Morrison]

	 The second part:

	 She got her way.

	 Or course, Herod was far from guiltless, but Herodias, like Michal,
put her own sense of security over everything else. Both of them
valued their own power, even over God and the worship God seeks.

	 Just as we can question the love of David and Michal, so we can
bring into question the love of Herod and Herodias. They seemed to be
so self-centred, power-hungry individuals who had no time for anything
like God and religious practice and propriety.

	 Elsewhere, and at an earlier time, God’s prophet Joshua said to
the people, “Choose whom you’ll serve and worship, but I and my
family will serve God.” 3

	 That’s always the question. There’s nothing wrong with dancing
per se, just as there are many other things which engage us which
don’t threaten our being. It’s the reason or the manner of dancing
and other behaviours which can give a positive or a negative
connotation to it.

	 Behind the dances in both lessons today, however, lies the whole
question of power, of control, of manipulation, of using other people
and abusing them, in order to attain one’s own goals, regardless of
what’s right or helpful and productive.

	 Again and again, God finds ways to confront us, not necessarily
belligerently or aggressively. Yet sometimes what we see and hear IS
disturbing. Yet God is NOT a killjoy. Through our own lives, and
needs, and desires, as well as through those of others, whom we may
not even know; through all sorts of nudges and smiles, God asks us not
only whom we will serve, but how we will serve. Will we put our own
will before anything and anyone else? Will we imagine that everyone
and everything else, including God, takes second place to us? Or will
we imagine, as people have through the ages from David’s time to our
own, that if we CAN do it, then it must be O.K.?

	I was reminded of Robert Kennedy’s visit to South Africa in 1966.
It was fraught with danger. It was fraught with apprehension, both on
the part of the authorities grimly holding on to power in South Africa
and the U.S. State Department.

	The South African authorities made it clear they would not offer
Senator Kennedy any security, many State Department officials were
convinced his trip was ill-conceived and doomed to fail. 

	“In his speech [1], Robert Kennedy spoke for those who were not
free to speak. His gave hope to anti-apartheid student activists who
had felt alone in their quest for racial equality, and he showed them
how their efforts were connected to other civil rights movements
underway around the world.”

	 He said, “‘It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and
belief that human history is shaped. Each time that someone stands up
for an idea, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out
against injustice, he (or she) sends out tiny ripples of hope …
those ripples build a mighty current which can sweep down the
mightiest walls of oppression and resistance … That is the source of
all greatness in all societies, and it is the key to progress in our
time.’” 4

	 God comes to us as individuals who make up groups and societies. God
asks for our complete dedication, no matter what the cost. It may
bring about a breaking point with another individual; it may bring
about danger. But God asks us for such a commitment to all that is
holy that we’ll be willing to risk anything. Such is the worship God
desires.

	 This isn’t to say that God is unaware of the risks of
faithfulness. Sometimes, because we don’t always think things
through, we make the mistake of not telling people how important our
commitments are. If we don’t share what is in our souls with those
among our friends and family then not only can this lead to pretty
severe misunderstanding, but it can serve as a poor witness to what we
hold most dear. However, there may come a time when, as we saw with
David, an individual HAS to act according to conscience, no matter
what.

	 Is this easy? No, and some of us here may be able to attest to that.
Yet, perhaps in a small way, perhaps in a more visible one, we all may
have to follow our instincts to have a Davidic, a Robert Kennedy
moment, in which we say that NOT to witness would be to damage our
immortal souls, as well as the lives of who knows how many others.

	 And sometimes, we need to weigh carefully what we do and with whom
we associate, because of the danger into which we may fall – as
Herod, Herodias and the others found themselves.

	 It’s not that God doesn’t want us to enjoy ourselves, whether
through dancing or through any other activity. It’s simply a matter
of God saying that life is not simply about what you and I do; it’s
also about how you and I do it, and how others will be affected by it.
CAN we look at our behaviour and our speech and say, “Not only did I
not hurt anyone, but I actually helped someone.”

	 Go ahead, then, dance! Enjoy the dance of worship and life! But
watch where you put your hands! Seriously, watch what you do with your
hands!

	NOTES:

[1] J. CHERYL EXUM, . "MICHAL: BIBLE." JEWISH WOMEN: A COMPREHENSIVE
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA. 20 MARCH 2009. JEWISH WOMEN\'S ARCHIVE [2] IN
MICHAL - WIKIPEDIA [3] HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/MICHAL 

	2 Michal - All the Women of the Bible - Bible Gateway [4]
https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Michal [5]

	3 Joshua 24:15

	4 Robert F. Kennedy, South Africa, 6th June, 1966. See
https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-06-06/rfks-ripple-hope-speech-still-touches-world-50-years-later
[6]

Links:
------
[1] http://www.rfksafilm.org/html/media/american/evil.php
[2]
http://mail2.spectrum.net/HTTP://JWA.ORG/ENCYCLOPEDIA/ARTICLE/MICHAL-BIBLE
[3] http://mail2.spectrum.net/HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/MICHAL
[4] https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Michal
[5] https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Michal
[6]
https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-06-06/rfks-ripple-hope-speech-still-touches-world-50-years-later

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