You Might Think I'm Crazy

1Samuel 21:10-15

That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:

“‘Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands’?”

David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”

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And it was hard so hard to take
(So hard to take)
(There's no escape)
There's no escape
Without a scrape
(Without a scrape)
But you kept it going till the sun fell down
You kept it
going

"You Might Think" on "Heartbeat City" by The Cars written by Ric Ocasek

The scene is set, Saul has tried to kill David not once, but twice. David loves Saul. David is all but a brother to Jonathan, Saul's son. Sure, David had more hits than Saul in the war, but he had more at bats too. No problem. Saul's getting older and David's the up and comer from Triple-A. It's the way of life in the Bigs. I guess Saul's throw isn't like it used to be and David could escape.

So David makes his way to Gath, the land of Goliath. He's afraid of King Achish and his guard too. So he does he first thing that comes to mind. He looks like a crazy man. It was pretty effective too. The amount of drool that he must have generated to make it run down and out of his beard must have been impressive. Frothy? Perhaps. What does it mean to "act like a madman?" What did he use to make "marks on the doors of the gate?" It's not like he had a pen or a steele. What could he have used? One guess is a rock. After that it gets crazy... and gross.

He kept it going till the sun fell down. He kept it
going.

Eventually, the King welcomed David into a chamber and gave him the sword of Goliath. He used it to help fulfill his destiny for Israel.

David got what he wanted. David became the ruler of Israel. With the exception of a couple of glaring exceptions, he was the man God wanted and needed him to be. He was the man God wanted. God was who David wanted.

The Cars sing "You might think I'm crazy, All I want is you." Doesn't sound crazy to me.

Strange Proverbs

Proverbs 26:4-5 (NRSV)

Do not answer fools according to their folly,
or you will be a fool yourself.

Answer fools according to their folly,
or they will be wise in their own eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Substitution mass confusion
Clouds inside your head
Well foggin' all my energies
Until you visited
With your eyes of porcelain and of blue
They shock me into sense
You think you're so illustrious
You call yourself intense

"Bye Bye Love" by The Cars from The Cars, 1978

These two couplets from the Proverbs are facinating. In identical situations, it gives conflicting advice for different reasons. The biggest difference between the two is that to answer the fool is a pain to the person who answers and not answering the fool is to bolster the fool in their own mind. So here's the choice, is it better to allow the fool to be high in their own mind or is it better to get a scarred forehead after beating your own into a brick wall?

Seemingly, any answer is going to be laden with downside.

When people call scripture "God's Owner's Manual" I like to think of these two verses and wonder what to do with these instructions. Both of these lessons can be found in other places in scripture, but finding these one after the other makes me think Solomon was messing with us.

Often, we want to solve the riddles of scripture. Where did Cain's wife come from? How did it take 40 years to cross the Siani? What did Jesus mean when he said "Hate your parents?" If a women can't instruct men in church then why is this female pastor teaching me so much? How can we both answer and not answer fools?

On this side of glory, there are far more questions than there are answers. Still, we like to solve puzzles. As the song goes, "Substitution mass confusion, Clouds inside your head" But as the new-wave boys from Boston remind us, this happened "until you visited." In Christ there is peace that puts mass confusion to rest.

Put Christ first--In Christ the law is fulfilled; not replaced but fulfilled. Christ is found in scripture. Christ is found still in life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ is found all around us. Anything else is kind of foolish.

That's intense.

Car Ride

)

Exodus 12:31 (NRSV)

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron in the night, and said, “Rise up, go away from my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD, as you said.

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She says, let's go

"Let's Go" written by Rick Ocasek and recorded by The Cars from "Candy-O" (1979)

There are very few commands that are as easy to discern as "Get out." There are even fewer responses more apt than "Let's go."

Ever have to wait for an airplane to take off? It's considered an on-time departure if the plane rolls away from the gate at the assigned time, and if it stays on the tarmac for hours, it's still an on-time departure. Waiting becomes a way of life on the tarmac.

Perhaps the greatest trial of the Exodus was how long it took before Pharaoh let the Israelites go. There were the pleas and the plagues. Exodus devotes six chapters of text to the trial Pharaoh put the Israelites through--and the plagues God put the Egyptians through--before the command to be gone was given. Even then, they were hardly ready.

It was said that the people had to leave with kneading bowls wrapped on their shoulders because the dough had yet to rise for bread.The people ate the Passover meal with their staffs in their hands, their sandals on their feet, and their robes girded about their loins. They ate hurriedly and left nothing. They knew they had to get going, they just didn't know when departure time was.

During the Passover, the nation had been rolled away from the gate, but they were still in line on the runway for takeoff. Then they were cleared by the tower for take off, they heard those words, “Rise up, go away from my people."

So don't just get ready, be ready. Lent is about to begin, the time is coming, and we need to be ready.