Word to the Wise
Friday, February 5, 2016 - Friday in the 4th Week in Ordinary Time
[Sir 47:2-11 and Mark 6:14-29]The Lord forgave him his sins and exalted his strength forever; He conferred on him the rights of royalty and established his throne forever. [Sirach]
One of the standard expressions of the old cowboy movies of my youth was: "Meanwhile, back at the ranch...." In this case, the "ranch" would be the first scripture of the day since I have been focusing primarily on the Gospel of Mark for the last couple of weeks. "Meanwhile" the story of the fascinating king/hero of the Old Testament, David, has been playing in the background. (For those with old movie memories, David would be played by Tony Curtis and the scenes with Goliath and Bathsheba would likely arise from the mists of those memories!) Nevertheless, the figure of David, like that of Moses, stands tall in the Old Testament narrative of God's plan of salvation. God's choices of people for important roles does indeed give rise to the expression: "God writes straight with crooked lines." David was a mixed bag! He united the kingdom and established Jerusalem as its center of worship. He and Bathsheba produced Solomon! The Book of Samuel records God's promise that David's throne would last forever, and that promise is reflected in the gospels because Joseph was of the house and lineage of David! Jesus was born in the city of David: Bethlehem.
Today's first scripture from the Book of Sirach shows how collective memory can romanticize history. It is a hymn of praise for David. The last lines are quoted above and certainly sum up David's life. "The Lord forgave him his sins and exalted his strength forever." If we would like to say the same for ourselves, we can know that God continues to write straight with crooked lines. AMEN
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