Coming off of Pentecost, you may be thinking of the birth of the church. The Holy Spirit came that day, and the church as we know it began with a bang, a rush, a wind...a fire. When we think about that day, it seems pretty dramatic! What it must have been like to see the fire, to feel the wind, to hear everyone in their different languages. It seems very different than what we see and experience today.
Although that may be the case, the God who gave the spirit to those gathered there on that day remains the same. God remains the source of all we do in the church. God remains the one who leads, protects, and loves us. God's Spirit is still with us.
In a sense, God is our King. God is the one we serve, and God is the one who provides for us. In our world; in our country, we do not have kings. America never did; we were founded on the idea of democracy, not monarchy. So the image of kingship may not mean the same to us here in the U.S. as it may in a country that has had kings and queens. Even for countries like England, Australia, and Canada, who name Elizabeth II as their queen, may in fact treat her position as a mere title.
Still, there are many countries in the world who are ruled by queens or kings . Kings ruled in the days of the Old Testament (and the NT, too).
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 tells a story where David gets anointed as the next king by the prophet Samuel. The people of Israel desired, expected, and needed a king. It takes the rest of the 1st book of Samuel for Saul to die, and David becomes king in the 1st chapter of the 2nd book of Samuel. We know David as a great and mighty king, a "man after God's own heart," even though he had his, shall we say, "lesser" moments (he pretends to be crazy, and we all know about his encounter with Bathsheba). We will talk more about David later this summer.
This passage introduces two kings of Israel, Saul and David, but now God is the King of our lives. We worship God and we depend on God. God's love is more than anyone can ever give us. God's care is more complete than anything anyone can ever give us. God provides us with more than we could ever need. So, will we turn towards God and accept what God has for us? Will we accept God as our king?
I will admit, this "kingly" language does strike me as a bit of an odd analogy to God. The idea of being ruled by a king or queen is an earthly, human-made concept that is carried out in a variety of ways that end up oppressing people and, ultimately, not providing what God give us. God gives us life, hope, salvation....love. I take comfort in that, because God is more than we see in kings. No king can measure up to God. That's good news, friends.
See you on Sunday.
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