Our lessons for this morning tell of two dancers: one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. The one in the Old Testament is the king, David; the one in the New Testament is the step-daughter of the king, Herod. Both stories have to do with political intrigue.

They are not commonly read as lessons in the Sunday worship, but during these dog days of summer, this is the kind of stuff they give us to read. So we will faithfully look for the word of God speaking to us in these two stories.

Let us begin with the Old Testament story of David, the new king, dancing in the streets before the ark of the covenant. The fascinating detail in this story is the reaction of Michal, David's wife, who views the spectacle from the window of the king's palace. The text says that Michal observed her husband, David, dancing in the street, and "despised him in her heart."

Some interpret that to mean that she is embarrassed by her husband's behavior, for dancing wildly in the streets is hardly the kind of behavior that is appropriate for a king. But there is more here. Michal is not only David's wife, she is also King Saul's daughter. David has just succeeded Saul as King of Israel. Michal has just been recalled to be David's wife. She had been separated from him for a number of years. There is obviously still an estrangement between them. "She despised him in her heart."

It was not always that way. Their relationship began years ago in romance.  David, the handsome young employee of her father, King Saul. David was brought into the inner circle of the royal house as a musician, to play the harp. David was really something. He had leadership qualities, demonstrated military acumen, and was brave, courageous, handsome. All of that soon became manifest, and it was not long before Saul appointed David to be his personal armor bearer. Which was like making David one of the inner circle in the palace, one of the family.

David became best friends with Jonathan, Saul's son. Samuel, the author of this book, says, "David loved Jonathan." Then David fell in love with Michal, Saul's daughter. Saul eagerly gave Michal to David as his bride.

Then things changed. Saul accused David of trying to overthrow him. David denied it. But Saul became more and more obsessed with the conviction that David was a usurper, a traitor. So David finally had to flee. Interestingly, Jonathan and Michal helped him to escape. When David is gone, Michal is married by her father to another man. David goes into hiding. He raises a private army and lives a life of a fugitive.

It is hard to describe this period in David's life, there are several interpretations. "Fugitive" is the most neutral word that you can use to describe it. But he could also be called an "outlaw," in the tradition of those outlaws in the old west who used to rob stage coaches and banks, terrorize outposts on the frontier. Or, he could be called a "Robin Hood." There are many who romanticized this period and called him a Robin Hood, since he would pillage towns that would not support him, then share the bounty with those towns that would support him.

He could also be seen as a "terrorist," one who uses violence selectively to bring about a political end. Which is the way Saul saw him, especially when David crossed the border into Philistia, the perennial enemy of Israel, and sought protection from the king. That was the final act that proved to Saul that David was really a traitor. He knew his motivations now from the beginning.

During this period David had a spectacular record of military victories, and his legend grew. Saul had a disastrous string of defeats militarily, especially against the Philistines. The people began to compare David with Saul. Maybe David could do what Saul can't do, and defeat the Philistines. Maybe David should be our king.

When the people began to talk that way about David, interestingly, David then came back across the border into his homeland and began to fight the Philistines. And he defeated them. Then Saul died, and David assumed the throne. He captured the City of Jerusalem, which was right in the center of where all the tribes of Israel had gathered. He named it his capitol city, and he named it after himself, he called it the City of David. Then he sent for Michal to rejoin him as his wife.

So you can see that Michal might be ambivalent about what is happening. She is Saul's daughter, who has most recently died. There are still supporters of Saul in the country. They are suspicious of David. So if Saul's daughter is there by David's side, up on the balcony, waving to the crowds who are cheering the king, it is a political coup on David's part.

Nearly the whole nation is praising David, hailing him as savior. David has done what Saul could not do. David not only defeated the Philistines, David united the twelve tribes of Israel. The first and only time it ever happened. When David dies, and Solomon takes over, the nation will split, and never again to this day will Israel be one. But David united the nation. David is seen as the savior of Israel.

But Michal does not join the cheering of the crowds. She knows David, intimately. She knows his ambition, his pride, his manipulation, his deceitfulness. She knows that she has been used.

And the amazing part about this story, the history of the greatest king of all, is that historian would insert this little anecdote, this minority report, into his history to record that Michal "despised David in her heart."

And what prompted that contempt is the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem. When those of us who are not Jewish hear today that word, "ark," we think of Noah's Ark, and therefore of a boat. But the Hebrew word for "ark" means "box" or "chest." That is what the Ark of the Covenant was. The Ark of the Covenant was the most precious, holy relic of Israel. It was a chest believed to hold the two tablets of stone that Moses brought down from Mt.Sinai. In other words, The Ten Commandments, carried across the desert during the Exodus, a time of their most difficult period, a time of struggle and hardship. But in retrospect, the Jews believed that was the best time of their lives, because in those days it was clear, God was with them.

There are not so certain about that now. Then, in the Exodus, God was with them. Now there are times when they ask, "Where is God?" "Why doesn't God bless us?" During the Exodus they were sure, "God is with us." God was guiding them to a promised land. The symbol of that presence of God in the midst of the people was the Ark of the Covenant. When the ark is with them, God is with them.

When they went across the Jordan into the land of Canaan, fighting every inch of the way against all those Canaanite cities, including Jericho, they go in with the ark. They walked around the walls of Jericho with the ark, "and the walls came tumbling down." They go into battle with the ark, because they wanted the assurance that God was with them. All armies want to go into battle with the assurance that God is with them.

But for some time now, and for reasons too complicated to relate here, the ark is stored away. It is in somebody's barn, old Obededom's barn. It's up on blocks, like a Model A. So David sends for the ark to bring it to Jerusalem, the capitol city, to the City of David.

This is to be the crowning touch of his inauguration festival. First of all the City of David is named the capitol. Then Michal rejoins the king. Now the ark is brought to the capitol city. Because if the ark is there, that means that God is there. And if God is there, then God will bless the king. That's why there is dancing in the streets. And that is why David is leading the dancing. And that is what Michal looks upon from her window, and "she despised David in her heart." Of all the people on this day in Israel, there is one who is a dissenter, a doubter.

It turns out that Michal was right. David is hailed by the historians as a humble servant of God. They said that is why God blessed David, that is why God chose David, because of his humility. But it will not take long for history to reveal that David succumbed to the temptations of power. The temptation of power is to believe that God's favor exempts you from God's law.

As the author of II Samuel put it, in this most ominous beginning of the 11th chapter, "It happened, late one afternoon," when David went strolling onto the roof of his house, and saw Bathsheba on her roof, bathing. She was beautiful. And he sent for her. He violated then one commandment against adultery. He violated another commandment against covetousness. And he violated a third commandment against murder. That is the beginning of the tragic end of the house of David. Michal was not surprised.

The story of David and the ark is a paradigm of how all nations want to claim divine approval, divine blessing. In David's case, a divine approval and blessing is embodied in the symbol of the Ark of the Covenant. David would keep the ark in a tent. David's son, Solomon, would built a Temple for the ark, because he said the ark has to have a proper house in which to dwell. Solomon's Temple is what that will be called. It is there in Jerusalem even today as the Wailing Wall. That is all that is left of it. It is still called Solomon's Temple, and it was built for the ark.

The Temple belonged to the king, and therefore it was not difficult to conclude that God belonged to the state. That attitude will be perpetuated even into the Christian era when the Roman Empire becomes the Holy Roman Empire, and Church and state will be wedded, and princes will be bishops and bishops will be princes. It is the wedding of God with the state.

That will even be the temptation of democracies in the modern world where Church and state are constitutionally separate. Even in this country there are those who seek to link God and state with such phrases as, "This is a Christian country," because if it is Christian, then God will bless us.

But beware of anyone who uses "Christian" as an adjective: a Christian nation, a Christian party, a Christian platform. When "Christian" becomes an adjective, it becomes an ark, like the ark of David, used to give legitimacy to something else. That's what David is doing. He said, "If God is present here with us in the capitol city, then what I am doing must have God's blessing."

It was during David's reign that the first prophet arose. His name was Nathan. He came to David after the affair with Bathsheba. He said, "You are condemned in the name of God." From that time on, for the next 1000 years, the kings will own the Temple, and the Temple will support the kings. No matter how corrupt the kings are, the priests in the Temple will say the king is doing the will of God. The prophets, most of whom now will not go near the Temple, from David's realm until Herod's realm, will remind the kings, "You do not possess God. God is transcendent above all human institutions. You may possess the ark, but you do not possess God."

It was Abraham Lincoln, who was immersed in this Old Testament history, who said at the time of the Civil War, when all the preachers and politicians were coming to him, wave after wave, tried to get him to say, God sides with the cause of the Union, said instead, "The Almighty has his own purposes."

The first prophet appeared in David's reign. His name was Nathan. The last prophet appeared in Herod's reign, and his name was John the Baptist.

John the Baptist is in prison as our New Testament lesson begins. He is in Herod's palace. If David was the best-liked king, Herod was the most hated king. David's sins were largely private. He paid a terrible price for them in the tragedy that came to his family. But Herod's sins are blatant, gross, and public, and he seems to get away with them.

Herod, first of all, was a puppet king. He was ruling at the behest of Caesar. He had slaughtered his rivals in order to get to the throne in the first place. Then he murdered those he suspected of palace coups, including his brother. Then he married his brother's wife, who was also his cousin. That's what did it for John the Baptist, for in Jewish eyes, that was incest. He condemned Herod for it. Herod put him in prison.

Now Herod's wife, who is also his sister-in-law, who is also his cousin, is named Herodias. She is sitting beside him now at the banquet. All the dignitaries of the city are there. John the Baptist is in a cell, underneath the banquet floor. John is in prison, but he won't keep quiet. I can imagine his voice resounding in the halls of the palace, "Repent, repent."

His presence in the palace is intolerable for Herodias. She has a scheme to get rid of him. She suggests that Salome, her teenage daughter, dance for the king. So after the meal Salome dances, the second dance that we look at this morning. David's dance was probably as much shouting and jumping as it was actually dancing. Salome's dance was different. It was done with veils, seductive and sensuous. Herodias knew her husband.

Herod is thrilled with the dance, and he responds as Herodias knew that he would, this late into the evening, after so much wine. He tells Salome, "You can have whatever you want." Salome, rehearsed by her mother for this moment, says, "Give me John the Baptist's head on a platter." Which he does, and the last prophet dies.

But for Christians, John the Baptist is not only the last prophet, he is also the one who points to Jesus, and says, "This is the one you have been waiting for. This is the second David. This is the King. This is the Messiah. This is God with us."

With that announcement we have come full circle, for as the Christians will now claim, God is with us, just as David did with the ark. We don't have the ark, but we have the incarnation. So it is different, but the same danger lurks now in the Church as lurked in the Temple. The same danger that comes to anyone who says, "God is with us."

Listen to the language the New Testament uses. At the end of Matthew, Jesus says, "Lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age." The presence of God with us. John, the gospel writer, says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." And Paul to the Corinthians, saying, "God was in Christ."

Look at the creeds, especially the Nicene Creed, "True God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father." That is the language of divine presence. It's no wonder that for some Christians the scriptures and the creeds become like an ark, holy and untouchable. And it turned out that the Christians, just like all those before them who possessed holy things, are tempted to be blinded by the fact that though God may be with them, they remain sinful human beings.

I don't know if you've ever discussed religious matters with anybody who believed that they were in the possession of God's infallible word, but I have. You cannot enter a discussion with them. You try to share your opinion with them, and after a while, it dawns on you, they aren't even listening to you. Then it hits you. They aren't interested in sharing ideas. They are interested in changing your ideas. You are a little uneasy, because, if you are honest, you aren't that certain about what you believe. They are absolutely certain about what they believe, because what they believe, they say, is the infallible word of God.

That's all right. They can believe that. No harm, no foul, until they get into power. Then, look out. We need to remember this. Not all the harm that has been done in the world has been done by bad people. A lot of the harm has been done by good people, who want to make other people good.

The framers of the Constitution in this country knew that. They remembered their history in Europe. There was wave after wave of immigration coming to this country to escape religious persecution by those in power in Europe. They also remembered New England and the abuses of that experiment in theocracy. So they shaped that First Amendment not to bar any religion from participating in the political process, but to prevent any one religion from assuming political power. Because it is just inevitable, given who we are, given human sin, that when one religion gets power, it acts like David with the ark, and assumes that it is above the law and the human limitations that apply to everybody else.

There are antidotes to this hubris, and they are found in the Bible itself. The first is humility. Jesus told his power-grabbing disciples as they walked to Jerusalem, each of them arguing which one is going to be the greatest when Jesus finally comes into his Kingdom, "Those who will be the greatest in my Kingdom will be the humblest here."

For some reason we are entering once again into a period of militancy in the Christian Faith. You would think that our having been there before, and left a trail of shame, that we would have learned our lesson and be more humble. The issues that are being discussed today, especially in America, are the issues that have to do with the most sacred and the most mysterious periods of human life. They have to do with our sexuality, our birth, and our death. Therefore we ought to discuss them with the most restraint, the most humility, and sensitivity. But we don't do that. We discuss them politically. We take sides. We are politicized and polarized, and we make judgments about the other side. It is just terrible. You hear the most judgmental words spoken, Christian against Christian, on these issues, where we ought to be the most humble and sensitive.

We are also seeing something else, something which I am very pleased to see, the remembrance by some that when the Church has really discerned the word of God in the past, it has often been through what is called "Christian discourse." John Wesley even called Christian discourse a means of grace. Christians talking to one another humbly, Christians listening to one another sensitively, Christians admitting, "We do not agree, but we will listen to one another and see if the Spirit working through us will not produce something new."

That is the antidote to pride. It is called humility. The second is service. Not only did Jesus say that the true mark of a disciple was humility, but even more so, the true mark of a disciple is service. The Christian does not so much have the truth, but he or she does the truth.

The most authoritative passage of scripture supporting that is the 25th chapter of Matthew, where Jesus says that those who get into the Kingdom are the ones who serve the poor, the hungry, and the oppressed, as if nothing else in the end is going to really matter, except, "When I was hungry, did you feed me? When I was naked, did you clothe me? When I was an outcast, did you take me in?"

And you don't know who is going to be there. That is the point of Matthew 25. You don't know. We do know that your words are not going to get you there, but your deeds.

I dreamt that death came the other night, and heaven's gates swung wide.
An angel with halo bright ushered me inside.

And there to my astonishment stood folks That I'd judged and labeled
as quite unfit, of little worth, and spiritually disabled.

Indignant words rose to my lips, but never were set free.
For every face showed stunned surprise. No one expected me.

Reinhold Niebuhr started his career as a pastor in Detroit during that infamous Ford Motor strike, when so many workers were out of work, hungry, and many homeless. He wrote about his despair that the Christian churches in Detroit did nothing about this. They just seemed to ignore the suffering that was going on all about them. But, he said, other people, non-Christians in that city, were the ones who offered aid and help, even to the point of sacrifice. Niebuhr wrote this: "From what I can see, there are two Christians in Detroit, and they are both Jewish."

The only test for Christians being Christians, are humility and service. Which means, Christians are not those who claim to have the truth. They are the ones who do the truth.