To Whom Much Is Given . . .

The Yankees are not getting the job done in the American League Championship Series. In fact, by the time some of you read this they may have been eliminated. It’s just baseball, I know, but when the Yankees lose it’s seems worse than when other teams lose (I say this not because I’m a Yankees fan, though I am). The reason why it seems worse is because the Yankees are the Yankees, and when it comes to the Yankees expectations run high. Why are there such high expectations? Because they have an unparalleled history of winning and they consistently have one of the highest payrolls in professional baseball. Without necessarily being able to quote the verse, most people who care about it would agree with the teaching that “to whom much is given, much will be required.” And when the Yankees don’t produce, they deserve all the verbal junk that gets thrown at them.

God’s judgment of Saul (1 Samuel 28, 31) was of a similar stripe. It’s true that Saul had been plucked unasked from obscurity and made king of Israel. But before we cut Saul slack for his failings, we must keep in mind that he had been given what he needed to accomplish the job he had been assigned: the anointing of God’s Spirit and the word of God. These are tremendous resources that Saul squandered or abused. And what applies to the Yankees applies to him, “to whom much is given, much will be required.”

God holds people responsible for what he has given to them. This seems an inescapable reality when we consider the many parables of Jesus that warn of the coming accounting. Like Saul, for the many around us who have heard and pushed away the revelation of God, a just judgment awaits. Their only hope is to repent and trust that what God has revealed in the person and work of his son is sufficient to atone for their squandering what had already been revealed to them by a generous and gracious God. Much has been given; much will be required. For those who repent and believe, what is required is met in the one who was given.

Fragile Faith

David’s decision to flee to the Philistines (1 Samuel 27) is totally understandable. He had been relentlessly pursued by Saul and had heard his pleas for forgiveness before. Experience had taught David that Saul was not to be trusted no matter how genuine the appeal sounded. He also had those with him: some 600 men and their families. To continue moving and managing that horde was both taxing and troublesome. It made sense to put all that behind him, at least for a while, and find safety under the protection of Achsih, king of Gath, a Philistine city.

As understandable as David’s decision was, it was not commendable. In fact, given all that David had been provided in the way of assurances that Yahweh was with him and would be his protection, the decision to find refuge among pagans outside the boundaries of Israel revealed a faith that had wavered. His fragile, faltering faith put David in a precarious position that, unless the Lord had intervened, would have caused him to participate in grievous sin.

But the Lord did intervene and therein lies the lesson. Like Jesus holding out his hand to Peter when Peter allowed the circumstances around him to get inside his head (see Matthew 14:22-33), the Lord did not abandon David. The pursuit by Saul had taken its toll and David decided trusting in Yahweh’s protection was more than he could maintain. Nonetheless, the Lord pulled him through much as Jesus pulled Peter into the boat.

The promise is that the Lord will not abandon his children, even when his children act in ways that doubt his watch-care. For, “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:13-14). We shouldn’t cavalierly test his kindness, but we can trust it.