Guest Preacher: Rev. Brynn Craffey
THANK YOU for inviting me to preach today, and Happy Pride to everyone!
In honor of this day, I want to talk about one of our forefathers, David, the complicated, larger-than-life, charismatic figure who features prominently in two of today’s readings.
Among other things, David is the third king of the unified kingdom of Israel and Judah and THE defining ancestor in Jesus’ lineage.[1] He’s renowned as a warrior, a poet, and a musician, as well as an opportunist, adulterer, and murderer.
In terms of looks, he’s described in 1st-Samuel as having a fine appearance and handsome features—in modern terms, we’d call him, HOT! And by some measures, he’s second only to Jesus in the number of times he’s mentioned in our scriptures.
Like many of our Bible’s leading men, David is lifted from obscurity by God—in his case, as a shepherd and youngest son in a large family, he’s ineligible for an inheritance and viewed by his father, Jesse, as such an unlikely candidate for king, that he doesn’t even pull David in from the fields to be considered by the prophet Samuel.
Simply put, David’s story is one of many in our tradition in which our subversive God favors the underdog; yet when interpreting his story, commentators often downplay an important narrative thread, namely, the special relationship between David and Saul’s eldest son, Jonathan. At best, commentators define their relationship as a deep friendship and/or an expedient political alliance. I’m here to argue that it’s MORE than this.
Bear with me while I reiterate some significant details.
First. In addition to various unnamed concubines, King David is said to have many wives—eight are named, five of those are mentioned just once, and only three figure importantly in the narrative. One—Saul’s daughter, Michal—is described as professing her love for David, but the Bible says nothing about whether HE loves HER—or for that matter, ANY of his wives, including the infamous Bathsheba, mother of King Solomon.
Not only this, but when David’s provocative behaviors sour Michal’s love and she rebukes him,[2] the Bible stipulates that she remains childless to her dying day—which is a way of communicating, not only God’s disfavor of her, but possibly subtly conveying that David forsakes her bed from that point on.
The Bible’s silence on the question of reciprocated love in David’s relationships with women sharply contrasts to its many descriptions of the love between him and Jonathan. For example, in the pair’s initial encounter, right after David slays Goliath, the text reads, [quote]:
When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul…Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul. Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing and gave it to David and his armor and even his sword and his bow and his belt. [3] [end quote]
THIS to me sounds like the sort of emotional unraveling that occurs when someone sweeps us off our feet—and into bed! I mean, Jonathan is undressing for David, one item at a time, and giving the young shepherd each one, among them the highly suggestive object of his, “sword!”
We know by this point in the story that Saul has lost God’s favor, in part due to his refusal to annihilate ever living Amalekite and their livestock—a biblical incident, by the way, that some modern Zionists are shockingly citing to justify the continuing genocide in Gaza [4] –God forgive us for our complicity in this…!
And as a result, Saul is descending further and further into madness, as his affection for David curdles into murderous resentment. He understands that David’s star is rising while his own sets, and schemes to eliminate him.
Jonathan, who we’d expect would side with his father—after all, he’s next in line to the throne—instead, “takes great delight in David,” [5] and betrays his father repeatedly, several times warning David to hide and persuading Saul to spare him. Saul’s reconciliations never last, however, leaving David continuously on the run, aided variously by God, Michal, Samuel, and Jonathan.
The text, silent over David’s love for women, reminds us over and over again of the passion between him and Jonathan. The two even SWEAR their love to each other, with the text specifying that Jonathan loves David as he loves his own life. [6]
Saul’s and David’s cat-and-mouse pursuit and retreat eventually comes to a tragic end when Saul and his three sons, including Jonathan, die in battle against the Philistines. When David hears the news, he tears his clothing, weeps, and fasts for a day, before proclaiming a long lament that contains the notable passage [quote], “I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; greatly beloved were you to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.” [7] [end quote]
David further defies convention by sparing Jonathan’s sole male heir, going so far as to honor him with a place at his table for the rest of his life. And he orders that the memorial lament be taught to the people of Judah in perpetuity.
Now, many commentators go to great lengths to ignore or explain away the romantic insinuations in this story, refusing to countenance the possibility that David could be gay! And in one way, they’re correct. We can’t apply modern terms, like “gay,” to ancient people.
BUT…WE LGBTQ+ people, under one name or another, have ALWAYS been here!
Likewise, to refute or explain away the MANY suggestions that what transpires between David and Jonathan is more than a platonic friendship actually requires MORE effort than accepting that this paradoxical, maybe even mythological figure, third king of the unified kingdom of Israel and Judah and THE defining ancestor in Jesus’ lineage, may well have been devoted lovers with a man.
Am I deliberately cherry-picking passages to come to this conclusion? Perhaps. The truth is, we ALL are vulnerable to confirmation bias when reading and interpreting the Bible. In seminary, we call this, “reading through our personal interpretive lenses,” and because it’s largely impossible to do otherwise, we’re taught to identify our biases and proceed consciously and cautiously.
Moreover, in this particular case, I’d say my interpretation is AS defensible—or moreso—than those who write LGBTQ+ people out of history AND out of scriptures. Their standard defense of, “I’m simply expressing what the Bible says,” flies in the face of the fact that NO written text itself, “speaks.” We make meaning of written words through a dynamic process, relying on various formal and informal critical methods—some conscious, some not—which frequently reflect conclusions we’ve already reached.
I personally view the bible as inspired by God in mysterious ways, but I also recognize that it’s a complicated text, cobbled together over centuries from diverse sources and spiritual traditions. It’s often internally inconsistent and frequently promotes contradictory theologies, rules, and narratives. Its content is the product of smart, theologically sophisticated people, conversant in the language of metaphor and skillful in their intentions, but also possessing agendas which in some cases, are outdated.[8]
When I read the Bible, my interpretive lens highlights evidence of a loving God. Conscious of the risks of anachronist interpretations, I nonetheless stay alert for hints of non-normative behaviors and arrangements—such as David’s and Jonathan’s—which suggest that what’s being presented MAY involve what we’d call today, “queer” relationships or gender identities. One theologian calls this a, “hermeneutics of reimagination,”[9]meaning we interpret scripture in ways relevant to modern LGBTQ+ believers who, for far too long, have been spiritually harmed by unkind (mis)interpretations founded on cultural beliefs and assumptions, rather than solid, interpretive principles.[10]
So, what are the implications if we recognize David and Jonathan as lovers?
First and foremost, the lesson is that GOD’S LOVE IS LIMITLESS. God cares NOT AT ALL what our sexual orientation or gender identity happens to be. Homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, racism, colonialism, etc. are ALL the projects of our flawed, fearful, and finite human minds.
They are NOT of God. [11]
Look at today’s psalm. It literally shouts out God’s affirmation of the man who is plausibly Jonathan’s lover, proclaiming David’s chosen status and describing how God holds him fast, strengthens him, guards him from deceit or defeat, strikes down his enemies, and keeps him safe in covenant forever.
God’s love is limitless.
Jesus, in today’s gospel, models another example, in which compassion overcomes our savor’s deep exhaustion, enabling him to teach and heal the suffering members of the huge crowd. Without fully understanding who Jesus is, these ordinary, first-century Judeans are hungry for what we all seek: knowledge of God’s unlimited, all-encompassing love, without which we are like sheep wandering without a shepherd.
And finally, today’s epistle offers yet another example, this one highlighting the power of God’s love to effect radical reconciliation. The text talks of circumcision, but the broader meaning teaches that through the bread and wine of the Eucharist—which we’ll celebrate momentarily—Christ draws close ALL those—regardless of unimportant particularities—who yearn for God’s love.
Christ’s peace breaks down dividing walls, uniting even erstwhile enemies.
And Christ’s incarnation abolishes strict, old, divisive commandments—including those in Leviticus—long misused to condemn same-sex love.
The end result is we are ALL brought together into God’s family of saints and given access to the Father through the Spirit.
[pause] If you take nothing else away today, please remember this. God, who is without our petty, human limitations, blesses, allows, and forgives. And God’s infinite, all-encompassing, forgiving love is limitless.
The mystic, Julian of Norwich, expresses best, I think, the implications were we to genuinely embrace the truth of God’s love. [quote]
All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well… For there is a force of love moving through the universe that holds us fast and will never let us go. [12] [end quote]
And to this, all I can say is, “Amen.”
[1] David was Ruth and Boaz’s great grandson.
[2] 2 Samuel chapter 6.
[3] 1 Samuel 18: -4.
[4] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-are-welcoming-a-genocidal-war-criminal-to-dc/ar-BB1nPajB https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-803866
[5] 1 Samuel 19:1.
[6] 1 Samuel 20:17
[7] 2 Samuel 1:26.
[8] Eternal gratitude to Professors Pat Dutcher-Walls and Harry Maier for their paradigm-shifting, transformative classes on Hebrew Bible and the New Testament respectively. These two teachers were largely responsible for my formation of these interpretive principles. Dr. Maier inspired a radical, exciting, and far-reaching appreciation of the New Testament that was instrumental in my return to Christianity. And Dean Dutcher-Walls’ lively and informative lectures on the OT, in addition to her the pastoral assistance, got me through an exceptionally challenging time at the outset of the COVID pandemic.
[9] Deryn Guest, Robert E. Goss, Mona West, & Thomas Bohache, eds., The Queer Bible Commentary (London: SCM Press, Kindle Edition, 2006) 569.
[10] Mx. Page, 37.
[11] Many thanks to my spiritual director, the Rev. John Smith, for continually reinforcing this important lesson.
[12] Julian of Norwich, “Revelations of Divine Love,” https://billjohnsononline.com/all-shall-be-well/
