[Mcgregorpage] McGregorPage 508, Pentecost 2, 6/18/06

[RMcGregorAlbq at aol.com]

PENTECOST 2  - (June 18, 2006) 
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 
Psalm 20 
2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17 
Mark 4:26-34 
On Stage and Off Stage 
There are two scenes of action,  and God stands astride them both.  The one 
scene is on stage where everyone can see.  The other is off stage where only 
God  can see.  Samuel sees Eliab and  thinks he is to be the next king, but God 
selects David from off stage.  The Psalmist reminds God that when the  nation 
is in trouble on stage, God will intervene from off stage.  Paul speaks 
directly of the two scenes:  “So we are always confident; even though we know that 
while we are at home in  the body we are away from the Lord‑‑  for we walk by 
faith, not by sight.”  (2 Cor. 5:6-7) Sight is for the audience  watching on 
stage.  Faith is  responding to the off stage voice.  In Paul’s mind it is 
Jesus who holds these two scenes together:   “So whether we are at home or  away, 
we make it our aim to please him.”  (2 Cor. 5:9)   On stage  or off stage, 
Jesus is the focus of our existence.  Jesus speaks of a confluence of the two  
scenes under the concept of The Kingdom of God, where on stage and off stage  
mingle without losing their separate identities: “It is like a mustard seed,  
which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet 
 when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts 
 forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its  
shade.”  (Mark 4:31-32) 
There are serious problems with  the two-scene worldview.  It can  relativize 
human life.  It doesn’t  matter what humans desire or plan.  The off stage 
voice prevails.  Saul thinks he is still king.  The voice counsels dissimulation 
in Samuel’s ear.  David becomes the man of destiny.  This is fine if you are 
David.  Psalm 20 was written during a “bull  market.”  The off stage voice 
can be  seen as the guide and strength of the human scene, but it can also go 
silent or  worse, punitive.   


Human behavior is relativized  because it is judged.  ‘But the LORD  said to 
Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature,  
because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look  
on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."’ (1 Sam 16:7)   
“For all of us must appear before  the judgment seat of Christ, so that each 
may receive recompense for what has  been done in the body, whether good or 
evil.” (2 Cor 5:10)  Paul affirms the contingency of the on  stage scene but 
with a difference.  By the grace of God he now is an actor both on stage and off 
stage.  “And [Christ] died for all, so that  those who live might live no 
longer for themselves, but for him who died and was  raised for them.”  (2 Cor 
5:15) To  “die” is to be no longer an actor on stage.  There is a new 
relationship with the off  stage voice: “. . . we ourselves are well known to God . . .”
 (2 Cor 5:11)   God is also “well known” to  Paul.  The off stage voice now 
has  the face of Christ.  The off stage  voice has appeared on stage.  The  
curtain separating the off stage and the on stage has been removed.  There are 
no longer two scenes of action  but one.  It is a new day!  “From now on, 
therefore, we regard no  one from a human point of view; even though we once knew 
Christ from a human  point of view, we know him no longer in that way.  So if 
anyone is in Christ, there is a  new creation: everything old has passed away; 
see, everything has become new!"  (2 Cor 5:16-17) 
********************* 
McGregor’s Open Letter to Fellow Pastors 
(an e-mail service) 
[See Web Page address below for a Children’s Message coordinated with  these 
lections.] 
Roland McGregor, Pastor 
Asbury United Methodist Church, Albuquerque New Mexico, USA 
_http://www.webspawner.com/users/McGregorPage/_ 
(http://www.webspawner.com/users/McGregorPage/)  
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(http://www.webspawner.com/users/ChildPage/)  
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