"The Gathering": July 17 - Looking in the Wrong Direction

Three weeks of Changing Direction

July 17 – From the Past to the Future

July 24 –From Inward to Outward

July 31 – From Home to the Undiscovered Country (From the Harbor to the Open Sea)

July 17 - Looking in the Wrong Direction

1 Samuel 28:3-25

Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. Saul had expelled the mediums and the wizards from the land. The Philistines assembled, and came and encamped at Shunem. Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, not by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, ‘Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go to her and inquire of her.’ His servants said to him, ‘There is a medium at Endor.’

So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes and went there, he and two men with him. They came to the woman by night. And he said, ‘Consult a spirit for me, and bring up for me the one whom I name to you.’ The woman said to him, ‘Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the wizards from the land. Why then are you laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?’ But Saul swore to her by the Lord, ‘As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.’ Then the woman said, ‘Whom shall I bring up for you?’ He answered, ‘Bring up Samuel for me.’ When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman said to Saul, ‘Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!’ The king said to her, ‘Have no fear; what do you see?’ The woman said to Saul, ‘I see a divine being coming up out of the ground.’ He said to her, ‘What is his appearance?’ She said, ‘An old man is coming up; he is wrapped in a robe.’ So Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance.

Then Samuel said to Saul, ‘Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?’ Saul answered, ‘I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams; so I have summoned you to tell me what I should do.’ Samuel said, ‘Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? The Lord has done to you just as he spoke by me; for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand, and given it to your neighbor David. Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord, and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you today. Moreover, the Lord will give Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines; and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me; the Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.’

Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel; and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night. The woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, ‘Your servant has listened to you; I have taken my life in my hand, and have listened to what you have said to me. Now therefore, you also listen to your servant; let me set a morsel of bread before you. Eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.’ He refused, and said, ‘I will not eat.’ But his servants, together with the woman, urged him; and he listened to their words. So he got up from the ground and sat on the bed. Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house. She quickly slaughtered it, and she took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened cakes. She put them before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.

Yes, I know this seems to be a story more fit for Halloween than the middle of the summer. Still, this is one of my favorite stories from the Old Testament. (And yes, I tend to lean toward the lesser-known and more obscure ones.)

For me, this story is not about how petulant God can be, how abusive God was to Saul, or even a warning against necromancy. It is about a loss of vision and seeking guidance in the wrong direction.

Remember that the whole bible is human testimony, people writing what those people thought about their relationship with God, with their own history, and the world. This is part of a series of stories that paves the way for David, the Golden Boy, to ascend to the throne and eventually uniting the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In terms of telling history, the story-tellers had to get Saul out of the way, off the stage, and explain why David became the superlative choice for king.

Saul sees the writing on the wall (to borrow a different biblical metaphor). He intrinsically knows he can’t defeat the Philistines, but he can’t see any way forward. He seeks guidance from god, but God does not answer. Here we see the story-teller’s technique: repeatedly we are told in this series of stories that God is with David, and the lack of response to Saul means God is not with him. So, left to his own devices, Saul tries a desperate stratagem. He seeks out someone who can speak with the spirits of the dead. (Interestingly, Peterson in the Message calls her a witch, which the text actually does not do. The word is most often translated as a medium, but it refers to a water-skin- it is a person who can hold another spirit) He seeks this woman out under cover of darkness and asks to speak with Samuel.

Samuel was the prophet who had anointed Saul as king in the first place. Samuel brought God’s word to the people in a time when “word from God was rare in those days (1 Samuel 3:2).” Saul sure that Samuel would be able to tell him what to do, to give him guidance, to speak for God to Saul one more time.

Saul’s mistake is that Samuel is dead. This means both that the physical life of Samuel is over, but also that Samuel’s time, his era, has ended. Samuel is the past. Though we are told that God is with David, and a new prophet is on the horizon, Saul wants to hear from Saul. God is doing new things. Samuel has no word of the future for Saul.

This is exactly the position we so often find ourselves in. We are much more comfortable with what we know. We convince ourselves that the tried and true will somehow be sufficient for all that the coming days will bring us. We rely on the ghosts of the dead to tell about the future.

It occurs to me that this is a spiritual form of Alzheimer’s. Getting trapped in the past diminishes life and eventually leads to death.

At SCUCC, we are in need of a pole shift. A lot of dynamic things have occurred here in the past. Those memories are energizing, often inspiring, but ultimately point us backward toward the past. Endor has no good word for us. We must choose a different source for inspiration. We need to name the ghosts we call upon, and then let them go to their rest. We need to go where God is (i.e., David not Saul). We need to change our direction.

That makes me think of the meaning that the Four Directions have for many Native Americans. In Lakota tradition, East is the direction of the rising sun, and a source for wisdom and guidance. South is the direction of abundance and life (the summer sun is highest in the southern sky). West is the direction of the setting sun and the home of the Thunderbird, so this is a source of water sustainer of all life. North is the home of the cold winter winds, and is a source of strength and endurance. There is a time and a place for all directions. (Some traditions also add the directions of down toward Mother earth, and up toward Grandfather Sky.) Setting oneself on only one direction makes life incomplete. One orients oneself for a new day by blessing each of the directions.

Scripture: 1 Samuel 28:3-25, Saul seeks word of new life from the dead Samuel

Good News: Israel’s glory did not end with Saul because God was already doing a new thing in David.

Subject: From whom, or where, are we seeking God’s guidance?