I can't tell you when it first began, but I have always had a strange love of coronations-of kings and queens. From King Josiah of Judah to Queen Elizabeth of England, the stories and rituals of a monarch's coronation fascinate and intrigue me. 

This week the prophet Samuel gives us an account of the anointing of David to be king over Israel-a coronation, an inauguration, an investiture. With a small bit of oil and a few sets of hands, David-just thirty years old-was set to reign over all of Israel. King David's reign was far from perfect. He led Israel into battle. He executed. Committed Adultery. Not quite the Sovereign one would want. 

But still Samuel tells us this about David: the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him. That's a odd and curious affirmation and it appears time and time again in our scriptures. Words of encouragement. Words of challenge. Perhaps, it's true. God is with us-and not ashamed of us. Word's strong enough for David-a King-but are they strong enough for us? 

Last Sunday I preached about Charleston, South Carolina.  About all I've learned from the people there.  And about what I know I still have to learn.  What we all still have to do.  There are stories of generosity and forgiveness. Stories of hatred and demands for justice.  Stories of family and church and practicing, week after week, year after year, what it is to be Christian, opening the door to a stranger of another race for bible study.  And all of those thoughts swirled within me in the context of the scripture last week:  a woman who'd been sick for 12 long years, pushing through the crowd to get some healing.   When God's deep yearning to heal and reconcile the world, meets our deep yearning for healing, amazing things will happen.  For what do we yearn? From what do you want healing?

 

After the tragedy in Charleston, will we stop short again, and not really learn, not really change?  Assume nothing can change?  For me, part of what I need to dig into is the history of us New Englanders and slavery.  We at King's Chapel love our history, and share it, but I've not yet learned much about one of our members, the largest slaveholder in New England, Isaac Royall, and his family's vast fortune, build on the slave trade.   The Royall mansion still stands in Medford, with its slave quarters, both now part of a museum. I've been there twice, attended some programs, and gotten several excellent books I want to work my way through, including Ten Hills Farm: The Forgotten History of Slavery in the North, by C.S Manegold, and Complicity:  How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery, by Anne Farrow, Joel Lang, and Jenifer Frank.  Are you interested in joining me for this study?  Let me know.  And for the sermon about healing, about change, about what can happen, click here.