Proper 10 (B) + Real power ... humility + 7.15.18

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Melissa Campbell-Langdell
All Santos, Oxnard
(2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19; Psalm 24; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:14-29)
In the name…
Some of you know that Pastor Alene and I were camp chaplains this week at Camp Stevens, the Episcopal Camp that our diocese shares with the Diocese of San Diego. Being at camp is always both tiring because it is long days working with kids and trekking around hills in the heat, but refreshing because those same kids and the staff and counselors fill you with so much joy. Plus it is just so renewing to the soul to be in nature.
Yet even at camp, away from so much of the technology that surrounds us, we are still in the world with all of its glory and all of its problems.
One moment I felt this very strongly while at camp was one afternoon while I was offering a free time activity of coloring along with some other activities. Several of the coloring sheets in my book contained quotes from scripture and one of the girls was reading them aloud as she chose a sheet to color. And she said “Do not be afraid… I am God.” And immediately, one of the children responded, “No! I am the god!” Probably thinking of a video game or something. We as humans are so prone to grasping at power and godlike status.
And you see this today in the scripture from 2nd Samuel. David has been anointed by God, but in secret. So now he wants to claim his status and what better way to do that than to bring the Ark of the Covenant into his area? But he grasps too much, and someone is hurt. Because you see, the verses skipped in our lectionary show how, in the first attempt to transport the ark, it begins to fall and a man rights it. But in doing so, he touches it, and because of the power of God, he dies. Has anyone seen “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) here? The scene towards the end where they cannot look at it or their faces will melt? Yeah, that’s the idea. The power of God is awesome, and in this story it is something around which we must be humble. Someone is hurt because David wanted to use a symbol of God’s power to claim his own power. This is an important lesson for him as a future king. So although they do transport it again, they are very careful the next time! He makes a sacrifice every six paces – a bit much if you ask me! But the point is that David wants it to be very clear that he is humble, that he respects God.
In current popular culture we have many examples of fascination with divinity and superpowers. 
Whether it is the many different franchises of super hero movies, or the video games in which one can claim almost divine status, it is almost like we are hungry to connect with divinity or super strength. Perhaps some of this fascination for me comes from a sense of powerlessness at times in light of big global trends like global warming or people not being respectful to one another. But we are hungry for a sense of our own power or connection to the divine at a time when we also feel we know perhaps the least about faith people feel at times disconnected from the traditional church.
We do hunger, even though we in the church do hear scriptures such as that we heard today from Ephesians in which we are reminded that we are adopted as a part of the family of God and anointed as God’s own. We have no need to grasp for divinity and power, it is all within our reach as heirs of God’s family.
So just like David, we can come boldly before God with our needs, perhaps dancing if that is our style. But also reverently, although I think we can hold off on sacrificing animals every six steps-that’s just a bit much.
Question: How can we say thank you to God or show we respect God?
We do give thanks to God for already accepting us and giving us power through the Holy Spirit and revealing God’s mysteries, so that we can encounter whatever life brings. And may God give us the strength to live as true children of God and citizens not so much of this world of fear but of the coming Kingdom in which the creation will be made new and every child of God will be loved and cared for. Amen.

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