Let us pray: O God, may these words help us to know your word for us. Guide them and use them. Amen.

Whenever I hear the phrase “biblical values” I do an inner cringe. The phrase is most often used by people who feel in some way or another that society is engaged in some kind of destructive direction and that things would be just fine if we returned to a value system described by the bible. I often wonder what version or sub version (pun intended) of the bible they are reading. Undoubtedly, when I think about “biblical values” stories like the one we heard from 1 Kings this morning come to mind. If you ever wanted a manual on how not to behave, the Bible would be a pretty good source book.

This is not to say that the Bible does not have redeeming values. Of course it does. A simple example of this comes from the other reading for today - the story of the woman who came to wash and refresh the feet of Jesus.

It is precisely this ambiguous nature of the scriptural record which so attracts me. I see the bible as a document - collection of documents would be a more accurate term, which in many ways describes just how complicated it is to live as human beings in this world. The bible is many different things, and trying to grab or define one unified set of values from it, is simply impossible and an unnecessary and in fact wrongheaded exercise. What is equally instructive about the bible is not just what it has to say about God, but what it has to say about humanity, the relationship between human beings and their struggle to be in relationship with God. As much as there are stories and people in the biblical record that show many positive values, the bible is also a textbook that describes just how rotten we can be to each other, and just how destructively we can misuse power in our lives on earth.

The passages chosen for this day in the Christian year, as I’ve mentioned already, are a perfect case in point. I guess in a small sense, the passages for today, do tell us something about biblical values, but from two very different perspectives. A simple definition which borrows terms from other theological discussions would be to say that our reading from the Hebrew bible offers a via negativa - a description of how not to behave, contrasted with our gospel reading which offers a via positiva - an example of being in right relationship with God.

Parents are likely to recognise the issues, whether from practical experience, or parenting manuals. Which works best - telling children what not to do, or demonstrating and praising good behaviour? I think we might all agree that there are situations and circumstances in which both techniques are appropriate. However most parenting experts that I’ve heard would certainly favour the latter over the former, even though the natural reaction seems to be the opposite.

But this is not meant to be a reflection on parenting, not the least reason being that my step-daughter is here this morning, other than to say that as long as we regard ourselves as children of God, a definition which may leave some room for discussion, then we leave ourselves open to consider the topic of parenting as part of our understanding of what it means to be the people of God. Perhaps one of the most common designations of God is as Father, despite how sexist and patriarchal that may be, but even God described as Mother, which while evening up the sexist interpretations, does not do a whole lot to change the inherent hierarchical concepts that surround our understanding of who and what God is.

Neither is this meant to be anything but a tangential reference to the fact that this is known widely as Father’s day. As much as a discussion of God as Father, might be very important on this day, I can only say that I cringe equally when I hear such references to God as I do when I hear the phrase “biblical values”.

People with power are not treated well in the biblical story. Their stories usually result in a promise of revenge or retribution, ignominious defeat, condemnation or shame. Such is the case with the story from 1 Kings this morning. Ahab, the covetous king wants the nearby vineyard of Naboth. Covetous he may be, but at least he seems unwilling to use his power to extract the land illegally. It takes another misuse of power on the part of his wife Jezebel to fraudently and uncourageously coerce others to bring harm to Naboth. Even the culmination of the story is not particularly pleasant. While we are all in the mood to see Ahab and Jezebel get what is coming to them, it does little for our concept of God to hear Elijah give a promise of divine retribution. Not only is this a story about the use of power by human beings, but the message is prolonged in the promise from God that death and destruction will occur for the generations that follow Ahab.

Would you not much rather hear the understanding of God as described and demonstrated by Jesus in our gospel reading this morning? How much better to hear is this episode. The promise of grace is much more inviting than that of retribution. Here, Jesus uses his power - one can only assume that this power comes from inner strength and commitment - because he had no status as a political or religious leader, other than what he had gained from his own teaching and actions, he uses his power to bring hope and a new way of seeing to those around him. He also used his power to honour the inner strength and power of the woman who came to wash ad anoint his feet. In so doing he also brought about a perspective on God that is sadly lacking in the story about Ahab, Jezebel and Naboth. This is a God who is gracious. This is a God of forgiveness. This is a God who responds in love when people treat others with respect. If this is what is meant by “biblical values” then I’m all for it. Unfortunately however, stories like our first one today are plentiful in the scripture record and it just doesn’t work to lump them all together - good and bad alike.

And so there we have it - the via negativa - power and the via positiva - grace. Power - be careful how we use it and grace - be open to receive it. Amen.