First Presbyterian Church
Dividing Walls Multiply
Sermon for July 23, 2006
by Pastor Susan Barnes

The old testament speaks often that “The Lord was with so and so.” We usually interpret it to mean that so and so was doing what God wanted. But that isn't the case in our reading from 2 Samuel. To say the Lord was with someone is to say that that one prospered and did well; it doesn't have much to do with God necessarily. Our lesson from 2 Samuel introduces the prophet Nathan. Nathan gives David advice. That night, God has to correct Nathan. Listen for the word of God as it is found in 2 Samuel 7:1-14a.

1 Now when the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 the king said to the prophet Nathan, "See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent."

3 Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you."

4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: 5 Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7 Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"

8 Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; 9 and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.

10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.

12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me .'

The church in Ephesus, and other first century churches, were split between Jewish Christians, who held to the law of circumcision and the food laws, and the gentile Christians who didn't. The people of faith were probably also split between the rural synagogues and the urban house churches. Division was everywhere. They lived under the Pax Romanus, that is Roman peace, with Roman soldiers occupying Palestine. Paul preached to them about the Pax Christus the peace of Christ. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Ephesians 2:11-22.

11 So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called "the uncircumcision" by those who are called "the circumcision" -- a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands -- 12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.

15 He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.

17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

21 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

In our gospel lesson from last week, Jesus sent the disciples out to cast out demons and cure the sick, taking no food nor money with them. In today's reading, Jesus welcomes the disciples back from their travels. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Mark 6:30-34, 53-56.

31 He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.

33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.

34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

35 When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat."

37 But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?"

38 And he said to them, "How many loaves have you? Go and see." When they had found out, they said, "Five, and two fish."

39 Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass.

40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.

41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all.

42 And all ate and were filled; 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.

44 Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

46 After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

47 When evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.

48 When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by.

49 But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."

51 Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat.

54 When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, 55 and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.

56 And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

This ends our reading from God's word.

The disciples had been demonstrating the good news on their first mission trip. Once returned, they wanted to be with Jesus, by themselves. But as they tried to get away, the rabble saw them and ran around the lake so that when Jesus landed, they were there.

Jesus had compassion for the crowds, and the disciples did not get the rest they wanted. They suggested Jesus send the crowd away. They may have been afraid of the hungry and tired crowd, as the afternoon wore on.

Jesus feels sorry for the crowd because they are like sheep without a shepherd. That was a quote from Ezekiel 34, where the prophet criticizes the peoples' leaders because they ruled harshly. Jesus knew that kings are supposed to shepherd the people and act in godly ways.

King David wanted to act in godly ways. He was the connection between what he was doing as a king and what God wanted him to do. David wanted to care for the Lord. But instead, the Lord cared for David, and built a house, that is, a dynasty for David. God's presence wasn't dependent on a temple. Perhaps David wanted to legitimize his rule. Without a temple, the king can't claim God's authority in all things.

Whenever a king, or a dictator, or a president, or a prime minister claims to rule for God, there is no arguing with him; if you dare criticize him, it is as if you are criticizing God. So there's a lot of political capital in claiming “I speak for God.”

But in our story, it is the prophet who speaks for God. While David was a king, God preferred a tent; a tent is portable, and it goes with the people. Many of us think of church as a building but really, church is the worshiping community. We come together to worship God and remind ourselves of what God intends, and how we can be a part of it.

In northern Brazil, peoples' homes are fenced in with thick walls topped by broken glass. I learned this when a peacemaker from Brazil sat in my backyard and saw how low our cyclone fences were; how easy to see through and to climb. He said, “Wow, your neighbors must really trust one another. When there is enough to go around, it's easy to trust one another.

Sometimes walls are important. A Methodist pastor wrote recently “We need walls: walls in our homes to protect us against wind and rain; walls to keep livestock safely in and predators out; walls to help us separate spaces and improve organization and efficiency. But one does not have to be a sage to comprehend how walls, both literal and spiritual, can lead to grief, division, and even violence. All walls serve a purpose, but not all walls serve the purposes of God.” 1

Grudges against people multiply. Someone needs to stop the cycle; it takes an especially brave soul. Retaliation just breeds violence. It takes people being willing to follow Christ to stop violence and hostility. It takes a lot of people. It takes a lot of people recognizing that there is enough to go around if we work on it.

Some of you are old enough to remember the wall in Berlin which is no longer there. Remember President Reagan saying, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall””

There's a wall in Jerusalem now. It was supposed to keep the Israelis safe from suicide bombers. But it isolates Palestinians from their jobs, their orchards, their farms and their families, and builds huge resentment. The violence in the Middle East just keeps going, with one side remembering this trauma and that incursion, and the other remembering that war and this invasion.

I hope I will live to see peace among Muslims, Christians, and Jews. I believe that Christ is our peace, and with Christ as our peace, we can bring about peace in the Middle East. Not by converting Jews and Muslims into Christians, but by living the way Christ taught us, in compassion and truth. Violence is not going to bring any lasting peace.

Paul wrote about factions in churches who were fighting among themselves, but I think his words speak to more than that. Paul wrote:

“For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.”

Sometimes the walls are outside, but sometimes the walls inside.

I read one woman's account of her depression, which went undiagnosed by three different doctors. She wrote, “I sensed in every tearful cell that something was wrong. For those waging battle in depression's trenches, friendly fire can be the most dangerous. You would be fine if you'd just be more positive…if you'd think of others and stop focusing on yourself…if you have more faith, if you'd just relax and have more fun.”

Another woman wrote about her depression: “I had always dismissed [therapy and] emotional vulnerability as ‘self indulgent.' I was reluctant to share my struggles with even my closest friends.

My tailspin continued until I was referred to a specialized, intensive treatment program. As part of my treatment, I had to carry a small clipboard and stop every fifteen minutes to write down what I was feeling. Unaccustomed to the hard work of figuring out my emotional state and frustrated with my lack of progress, I penned ‘I feel like a tomato' or ‘I feel like a turnip' every fifteen minutes for the first day. My therapist was unimpressed with what I thought was a very creative maneuver to avoid the assigned task.

When she questioned me about my responses, I replied, ‘this is self-involved garbage. There are people dying in Haiti because of political violence. We should be out protesting instead of examining our navels. ‘The therapist sat quietly for moment and then said, ‘Kelly, do you honestly feel you have anything to give anyone if you stay completely unconnected, not only from other people but from yourself?' 2

She was shocked, and began the long struggle to connect with herself, her friends, and her family. She was aided by mental heal professionals and supported by anti-depressants and mood-stabilizing medications.

Another woman wrote, “We who suffer depression must believe that we are on a journey of meaning that we can survive, one in which our souls may be made whole. I survived on the hope I received from my husband, who held a vision that I would get better. He saw that he could not pull me out of my emotional collapse, nor could he fix me. All he could do was stand by me, believing that in my own time, I would find healing.” 3

To find that abundance, we need to feel loved, connected to ourselves, to others, and to God. Jesus went up to the mountain to pray. He found a way to connect with God after he had connected with the disciples and the crowd.

The story about the five loaves and two fish feeding the five thousand men is one of several feeding the multitude stories in the gospels. These stories are about the abundance Christ provides. There is enough to go around. Praise be to God.

1 Baker, Kevin, “Living by the Word: Wrecking Crew,” Christian Century, July 11, 2006, p. 21.

2 Dunham, Kelli, “Dangerous Silence,” The Other Side, July/August 2000, p. 43.

3 Keiffer, Ann. “Embracing the Unembraceable,” The Other Side, July/August 2000, p. 42.