We trace the Story—our story—from its beginnings in the Hebrew scriptures, through its climax in the memories of the early church as reflected in the gospels, and then on to what sense the first Christians made of the connections between the two as reflected in St. Paul’s letters.

At each step along the way, as inheritors of that Story, we participate today by reflecting on what it says to us corporately as that continuing community of faith, or as individual members of the continuing community. Scripture cannot fully be grasped either as a historical or literary enterprise. It speaks, as one scripture student said, "from faith to faith."

July 24
The Heart of a Fool
Psalm 14;2 Samuel 11:1-15;Ephesians 3:14-21;John 6:1-21

Sometimes in the theater, when an awful thing is about to happen, the stage lights go dim and the music wails. Such would be appropriate for the 11th chapter of 2 Samuel, David’s use of Bathsheba and his unscrupulous efforts to cover up the violation.

The music might well wail the opening line of Psalm 14: Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God."

Though it was time for the spring military campaigns, "David remained at Jerusalem"—an ominous beginning. Why wasn’t he with his soldiers? An idle hand is the devil’s workshop, the old proverb goes.

David is walking on the roof of his house and sees the beautiful Bathsheba, wife of Uriah, bathing. He has her brought to him and lies with her. When she sends word that she is pregnant, David immediately becomes frantic and tries scheme after scheme to cover up the sin.

He arranges for Uriah to have a vacation from the war, but Uriah, the blunt and honest soldier, will not enjoy the pleasures of peacetime while his comrades are in the fields. (A telling contrast to David!) The next stratagem is to wine and dine Uriah royally, so that in a drunken stupor the soldier will stumble into his wife’s bed. But Uriah, the innocent, maintains enough of a clear head not to return to his own house.

Theologian Walter Brueggemann’s comment on Psalm 14 is enlightening: The fool does not announce atheism. It is only in his heart, i.e. he thinks and decides that way. The outcome is that such a person’s action is corrupt, without discernment, and exploitative of other people. "They eat up my people," says the psalmist, "as they eat bread." Uriah is consumed.

Continuing the contrast between David and David’s greater Son, our scriptures for this week give us the miracles we had last week: Jesus healing the sick, feeding the multitude, and walking on the water. Of course the stories differ in details because we are dealing with powerful memories, not computer reports.

Ephesians closes our meditations with a timely prayer that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith.

VERNA J. DOZIER is an educator and lay theologian in Washington, D.C. She is the author of The Dream of God: A Call to Return (Cowley Publications) and The Authority of the Laity (The Alban Institute).