A BROKEN LEGACY (5 OF 5)
by Ross Lester
Scripture: 2 Samuel 13:1-39, 2 Samuel 14:33, 2 Samuel 15:1-20
This content is part of a series.
A Broken Legacy (5 of 5)
Series: Life of David
Ross Lester
2 Samuel 13-15:20
Intro:
Morning church. 2 Samuel 13 is where we will begin today.
If David’s life was fiction, if it was a classic novel, or a film, or long form TV series, how do we
think we would want the last season of his life to resolve? Sue and I are so different when we
watch movies or read books. I love a storyline that has no resolution, but for Sue to invest some
time in some characters, the story has to take her to a satisfactory destination. For her, it must
resolve. The relationship must get fixed, the obstacle overcome, the wound has to heal, the
mistake has to be rectified. I like it when people just kind of wander from one mess to another.
For her, real life is messy enough, and so fiction needs to be neat. Real life is gritty enough.
The reason for our difference in this is that Sue is a nice person and I like art that imitates actual life. Somehow we still get along.
But have you noticed that actual life is a lot more complex than the linear narratives we often see
in fiction? When we look back on our lives we can see the pathway that God has cleared for us,
but most often when we are walking it, it feels like we are wandering in the wilderness a bit,
doesn’t it? It doesn’t feel like we fully resolve, like all of our relationships work like we imagined, like everything that we put our hand to always turned out well, and that maybe most importantly, we finally came to full peace with ourselves … living how we want to live, doing what we want to do and not doing any of the self-destructive nonsense we used to do.
And here is part of why I love the bible. David’s life is no different, and the Scriptures refuse to
pretty it up or tame it down. They capture the last section of his life in all of its broken and
dysfunctional detail. It doesn’t resolve very neatly, or even at all.
The last ten chapters of 2nd Samuel focus on a decade of time with David featur ...
Series: Life of David
Ross Lester
2 Samuel 13-15:20
Intro:
Morning church. 2 Samuel 13 is where we will begin today.
If David’s life was fiction, if it was a classic novel, or a film, or long form TV series, how do we
think we would want the last season of his life to resolve? Sue and I are so different when we
watch movies or read books. I love a storyline that has no resolution, but for Sue to invest some
time in some characters, the story has to take her to a satisfactory destination. For her, it must
resolve. The relationship must get fixed, the obstacle overcome, the wound has to heal, the
mistake has to be rectified. I like it when people just kind of wander from one mess to another.
For her, real life is messy enough, and so fiction needs to be neat. Real life is gritty enough.
The reason for our difference in this is that Sue is a nice person and I like art that imitates actual life. Somehow we still get along.
But have you noticed that actual life is a lot more complex than the linear narratives we often see
in fiction? When we look back on our lives we can see the pathway that God has cleared for us,
but most often when we are walking it, it feels like we are wandering in the wilderness a bit,
doesn’t it? It doesn’t feel like we fully resolve, like all of our relationships work like we imagined, like everything that we put our hand to always turned out well, and that maybe most importantly, we finally came to full peace with ourselves … living how we want to live, doing what we want to do and not doing any of the self-destructive nonsense we used to do.
And here is part of why I love the bible. David’s life is no different, and the Scriptures refuse to
pretty it up or tame it down. They capture the last section of his life in all of its broken and
dysfunctional detail. It doesn’t resolve very neatly, or even at all.
The last ten chapters of 2nd Samuel focus on a decade of time with David featur ...
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