Bringing Peace to Workplace and School
1 Sam 25, selections
Cynthia O’Brien
May 20, 2007
Kip Kinkel entered the cafeteria, firing randomly. Students screamed and hit the foor, seeking cover under tables. 17-year old Jake Ryker turned to face Kip and yelled. A bullet blasted through his chest, ripped through his lung, out his back and slammed into his girlfriend, Jennifer. He fell to the floor, bleeding.
Kip shot 17-year old Mike Nickolausen in the leg. Then he put the gun to the back of Mike’s head, shot and killed him. He turned to 14-year old Ryan Crawley, stuck the gun in his face and pulled the trigger. Click. Empty. Kip reached into his pack for another clip. Ryan reached up and started punching him in the throat and in the face.
Jake struggled to get up from the floor. His leg got tangled under a chair, and he stumbled. But he found the strength to get up and lunge for the shooter, who was now holding a pistol. Jake rammed his shoulder into Kip, knocking him to the floor. He grabbed the pistol’s muzzle and tried to pull it away. Kip fired, piercing Jake’s hand.
Other boys jumped on top of Kip to help hold him down, including Jake’s 14 year old brother Josh. It took six boys to subdue him and wrest the weapons out of his grip. A rifle, two pistols, a knife and ammunition.
People say the boys who stopped him are heroes. They don’t see it that way. Josh said,
“We just did what we thought was right. We stopped him. That’s how we were raised. I would have done it again and again and again if I had to keep people from getting shot.”
We all said, How could this happen? How could it happen right here in Oregon? What could have been done to prevent it? Are my children going to be safe at school?
And then the questions became more personal. What would I have done in that situation? Would I have lunged forward to stop him, or would I have tried to protect someone in some other way? Would I have turned and run, or hid under a table?
What if someone could have talked it out with Kip before he went on this rampage? What if a friend or a counselor could have helped him to deal with his anger, defuse him, make him see that he was about to cause an immense tragedy? Couldn’t he be stopped from hurting others and throwing his life away?
In the Bible, in 1 Samuel chapter 25, David had just strapped on his weapons, filled his pack with ammunition, and was headed to the place where the people who had offended him were gathered. He intended to kill. What was his problem?
Let’s read this story.
(1 Sam 25 NIV) Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Maon. {2} A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. {3} His name was Nabal and his wife's name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings. (The name “Nabal” means “fool” or “simpleton.” One nice person and one old grouch live here.)
{4} While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. (This is a time of great celebration and there’s always lots of food.) In the next few verses, David sends his men to greet Nabal politely. Nabal’s response should be to welcome them and give them food.
BUT {10} Nabal answered David's servants, "Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? (This was an insult – he knew who David was.) Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. (He accuses the servants of being runaway slaves.) {11} Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?" {12} David's men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. {13} David said to his men, "Put on your swords!" So they put on their swords, and David put on his. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.
David says later that he planned to kill Nabal and all the men who worked for Nabal. Now, from verse 14 on, one of Nabal’s servants told Nabal’s wife Abigail what happened, that David’s servants were very polite, and they had even watched over Nabal’s property, and Nabal had insulted them. The servant had obviously tried to talk to Nabal directly in the past, but Nabal was so wicked he wouldn’t listen.
In verse 18, Abigail took things into her own hands. She took hundreds of loaves and cakes, grain, wine and sheep, and rode up the mountain ravine to meet David.
Abigail got off her donkey, bowed before David, fell at his feet and gave this beautiful speech to defuse his anger. From here through verse 31. She acknowledged the wrong her husband had done, asked for forgiveness, and praised David for being the chosen of the Lord. She told him he wouldn’t want to have this needless bloodshed on his conscience. Listen to the words she chose to talk him down.
{23} When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. {24} She fell at his feet and said: "My lord, let the blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. {25} May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name--his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my master sent. {26} "Now since the LORD has kept you, my master, from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, may your enemies and all who intend to harm my master be like Nabal. {27} And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my master, be given to the men who follow you. {28} Please forgive your servant's offense, for the LORD will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master, because he fights the Lord's battles. Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live. {29} Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my master will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the LORD your God. But the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. {30} When the LORD has done for my master every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him leader over Israel, {31} my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the LORD has brought my master success, remember your servant."
David accepted her words and her gifts and granted her request.
What can we learn from this story?
1. If your husband is a jerk, you may have to intervene to keep someone from killing him. Nobody could tell him anything, so Abigail had to do something.
2. Swift action can make a difference. Abigail did something as soon as she knew there was a problem.
3. Make a peace offering. Abigail brought food for David’s men, which Nabal should have offered in the first place. Her generosity showed that she was truly sincere in her request for forgiveness.
4. God can use anyone to stop evil. Abigail wasn’t a powerful person, but she used her smarts and she acted fast.
This morning I want you to put yourself in Abigail’s place. Could you defuse a tense situation? What skills do you have?
It’s been a long time since Michael’s taken martial arts, and yet a lot of those moves are still in his muscles. We were in swing dance class and the teacher taught us a cute little kick step. Michael hauled off with some kind of roundhouse taikwando kick. He remembers. As for me, I’ve forgotten everything I learned in a short jujitsu class. I don’t know how I would do in a situation like a school shooting. We watch a lot of action movies, but our bodies don’t have the muscle memory of actually stopping someone from doing evil.
So what do you have to offer?
Last Thursday night I completed a seven-week training with the City of Gresham Fire Department – it’s called CERT – Community Emergency Response Training. When the big event happens, whether it’s an earthquake or something else, those of us that are CERT trained have some skills and procedures to keep us calm and organized.
What skills would you contribute in an emergency situation? What skills do you use every day to bring peace to your workplace or your school or your neighborhood? Do you have the inner strength and the smarts like Abigail, if you were faced with a situation that required you to act? If not, how can you get it?
Our Presbyterian Statement of Faith tells us that this strength comes from the Holy Spirit:
In a broken and fearful world
the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment