I apologize for not recording the reading of the psalm.

Psalm 111; 2 Samuel 18:5-15, 31-19:1
August 22, 2021
• Being honest in body, mind, and spirit

Last week we went to a difficult place with King David. We walked with him into his violence with Uriah and Bathsheba. We entered his brokenness and felt some of his crisis with God. Hopefully, we also appreciated more what happened to Bathsheba and Uriah, from their perspective. We also shared some of how to respond to the brokenness that we cause to others and receive ourselves. It is not God’s intent for us to hurt one another or to be hurt. Nevertheless, a good bit about life and what it means to be human seems to invite the suffering of this world. Today, we are going to find some more help.

And we begin with a tortilla. La Parota and Bandidos are popular enough around here for most, if not all of us, to know what a tortilla is, even if we want to call it a tor-till-a. In fact, with a third Mexican restaurant coming (so swears Ed Kromer), the general Farmville community must be familiar with the mighty tortilla. I have certainly had my share with fajitas and other Mexican dishes over the years. I even made tortillas from scratch in Mexico on a mission trip once. Back in 1977, however, many fewer Americans could have said they knew what a tortilla was. It must have been even more surprising to hear the story of a tortilla in New Mexico with the perfect face of Jesus on it, complete with the crown of thorns. This is what happened to Maria Rubio and her family, and while it is tempting to laugh it off as so many other sightings of Jesus in unusual places, this particular incident changed her family’s lives forever. It really is a fascinating story how this family became the focus of so much attention, both positive and negative. Maria was already a chronically depressed person, and her marriage was on the rocks. She had married in her teens and was woefully unprepared for family life. This took a toll on her that her husband’s serious alcohol problem only worsened. They lived in poverty but raised 5 children. Her life had already come to a serious crossroads in her late thirties when one day she was making tortillas, as she did for every meal, and after cooking one she saw what was clearly to her the face of Jesus – the face that she had grown up to recognize as Jesus. No, it was not what Jesus really looked like. None of our pictures are actually of what Jesus looked like. We all tend to make him look a lot like ourselves, but her picture of Jesus burned on the tortilla there shocked her and stirred her and comforted her and prompted her to see life differently. As I said earlier, this led her and her family down an entirely new and unexpected road. One of her daughters even ended up becoming a state senator, but for the purpose of this conversation, I want you to see that when we are struggling, really struggling with the burdens and problems and challenges of life, it is natural and good to look for help, even in strange (to us) places. We should seek out assistance when things get difficult. Life is fundamentally more than we can handle sometimes.

Too bad David did not know this. Last week, we saw him at the turning point of his life and reign as king of Israel. Something happened to him. Something happened to him that caused him to stay home rather than go out with the troops as king. Something happened to him that invited into his heart lust for another man’s wife. Something happened to him that excused in his mind his murder of that man. We see this even more clearly in the events of today’s text. Following the horrible incident with Bathsheba, David’s oldest son Amnon became enflamed with lust for his half-sister Tamar, also a child of David. His feelings for her consumed him until he devised a way to force her into relations with him. Afterward, Amnon threw Tamar out of his life, and we never really hear of her, again. Her brother Absalom, however, loved his sister greatly and was enraged by this crime, but in this storm of family life, their father David did nothing but get mad. Nothing. He does not seem to be able to respond to this crisis, at all. This sets into motion a series events in which Absalom takes justice into his own hands and kills his half-brother and runs into hiding. Through some twists and turns, Absalom eventually comes home, but his relationship with his father is sunk, and eventually, Absalom challenges his father David for the throne, leads a revolt, and tries to overthrow him. Still, David does not know what to do but run. He still loves his children which is evidenced from his command to his leaders where we pick up today’s reading [2 Samuel 18:5-15, 31-19:1].

It is very hard to imagine how David might be feeling, but we can certainly imagine just how incredibly impossible it might be to really hold the feelings that David had. What would any of us possibly feel whose children did to each other what David’s children did and then to have one of them try to overthrow you? It is impossible to even begin to put into words just how difficult that might be to hold. In my preparation for today, it occurred to me something that might cause someone to shut down like that in the severity of the situation and make that person unable to do much of anything – depression. I would say here, severe depression that snowballed from tragedy after tragedy. His spirit must be weighed down with his failures and losses. His heart must be heavy with the deaths and abuses and the heartache that was prophesied to follow his family. Maybe he felt like in a way it was all his fault; how could he NOT feel that way? The biblical text, the warning of Nathan, points in this direction. Because of what you did, he said, truly horrible, violent, and humiliating things will happen to your family. Yes, I think it is obvious that David is awash in depression and is unable to be the king, the father, the man after God’s own heart that he used to be. He used to always seek God’s will on his big decisions. I did not see that once in this text leading up to this week. Being close to God makes no one immune from these kinds of struggles.

Who is David today? He could be any one of us. We are living in a world changing time. The entire X/Y axis of the world and reality has shifted. How we understand so many things has changed. Regarding vaccines and protection, we are essentially making choices about who lives and who doesn’t based on politics and information that is not based in science or fact. How we understand each other, the community, the role of the government, our neighbor, and God has changed. We have a choice about how to respond: we can be a David or we can be a Maria.

David is not going to know what to do or becomes overwhelmed with things and does nothing. This is not a judgment of David, just a recognition of the demons he was wrestling, so to speak. Sometimes we might be tempted, too, to give up and retreat – hide under the covers until everything goes away. But it never does. We might benefit from some space, room to breathe and think, but the problems do not fix themselves usually. David is case in point. When his family was falling apart, when his kingdom was falling apart, when his spiritual life was on the ropes, David became paralyzed by his mental state in the middle of the emotional hurricane.

On the other hand, Maria had a different response to her overwhelming life. She never went out seeking notoriety or to become a spectacle, but she encountered something that pointed to God’s presence in her life and she shared it. Apparently, many people were hungry for God’s presence in 1977 since they had thousands and thousands and thousands come to their house just to see the tortilla. No, I am not advocating that we should start believing everyone’s claims about sightings that really became a “thing” after this incident, but we should be on the lookout for God, God’s presence and leading, seek out assistance from beyond ourselves, outside our own hearts and minds. God has given us each other for many reasons, and one of the best is to be a help in every way – including mental, emotional, spiritual help.

Most people do not realize that they could really benefit from having someone like a counselor to talk to on a regular basis. I am not saying everyone NEEDS counseling or therapy, but we WOULD all benefit from it. The stigma of talking to someone else needs to disappear. Was David too proud to seek guidance and spiritual help? Something prevented him. I was required to consult with a spiritual director for a year back when I was in seminary. I met with a director in the local Catholic church since the Catholics have a long history of this kind of help. It was a great benefit to me as a person and in my ministry. About seven years ago, I recognized the need in myself to see someone, again. It is not convenient or simple to go looking for help, but I became a better person out of that. You could even say I am here today because of that spiritual direction, since it helped me in my relationship with God and getting back into ministry.

During this time of pandemic, my family has also used counseling to find space to explore the changes this horrible disease had unleashed on us. I recommend getting this help to everyone. The counselors have already gotten a lot of new clients out of this and new services have emerged. You can even talk to people over the phone and internet at home. Do not try to shoulder the weight of these days by yourself. We have never dealt with anything like this in living memory. If you feel like you are struggling, open yourself to help. Pray for help, seek out help, bring this grace into your life.

How we value life should be reflected in how we value life when people are struggling with mental distress, emotional burdens, and spiritual brokenness. I understand this may be new for many of you to think about help in this way, but David accepted and lived in his brokenness for the rest of his life. By the time he realized he should have done something, Absalom was dead and David wished he could have taken his place. That is the severity of David’s plight the moment he wakes up and sees what his inaction caused. He found out the way to break a king’s heart was to do nothing when he needed help.

We should expect that more and more of us will be caught up in depression, anxiety, and other kinds of mental duress. Often, it can be a temporary state with a open heart and willing ear and God’s love. Often, we just need someone to talk to who can point us to God’s good grace. Certainly, I can be of help as a listening partner, but professionals and trained listeners can also help for more significant situations. We are all a people of struggles and triumphs. None of us are meant to get through life without help.

The world is forever changed, and we are a forever changed people. This is not easy by any stretch. We will continue to need each other in many ways, and I hope we will allow ourselves to receive that help. It is also a gift from God.

To God be the glory. Amen.