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In the past, you’ve heard me speak about the show Ted Lasso. The focus of the show, particularly in the first season, is around Rebecca Welton, who has recently acquired the British Premier Football team AFC Richmond in her settlement with her ex-husband, Rupert Mannion. They got divorced for a reason that actually fits what Jesus says about divorce in Matthew: Rupert was a lying cheat who had multiple affairs. Understandably, Rebecca is angry and does everything she can to hurt Rupert, including sabotaging AFC Richmond so that they get kicked out of the Premier League. She begins this by hiring Ted Lasso, an American Football coach with no previous knowledge or experience in this new sport he is about to coach in. When Ted, against all odds, starts to succeed, she continues to try and cut down his efforts.
Through Keeley, her new friend, Rebecca starts to see the harm she’s done, especially as she herself has grown close to Ted. As I mentioned at the end of May, she confesses to Ted and he forgives her. That’s not the only person Rebecca asks forgiveness from though.
Next she goes to Higgins, her former Director of Football Operations. Higgins quit over what Rebecca was doing to Ted, and thanks to Ted Rebecca realizes she needs to repair that relationship and bring him back. So she goes to his home to talk to him.
After telling Higgins everything, how she confessed to Ted and Ted forgave her, she asks for Higgins’ forgiveness too. Higgins is floored by what Rebecca has said, and thanks her for her apology.
Rebecca then says this to Higgins: “I lost my way for a minute. But I’m on the road back.”
Higgins comes back and while AFC Richmond has a lot of ups and downs afterwards, they all do come together to create something beautiful, beyond just the sport, in the end.
Rebecca admits to losing her way. We’ve all done that at some point. It’s part of what it means to be sinful human beings living in a sinful world.
It’s also easy to do when it comes to Faith. We can have our focus on the wrong things until it consumes every part of us.
Take our reading in 2 Samuel. There David, out of sheer excitement, joy, and love for the Lord, is dancing as the Ark of the Covenant, the container of the 10 Commandments that led the Israelites all the way to the Promised Land. It is really a symbol of God’s presence among the people.
Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, sees this dancing and hates what David is doing.
There’s a lot to unpack here that we haven’t seen before in our lectionary readings this season. We know Saul was the King of Israel before David. We know God chose David after Saul fell from grace. We know David was close with Saul’s family, especially Saul’s son Jonathan.
What we haven’t gotten to see was the anger, before Saul’s death at the Philistines, that he showed to David. In fact, David lived in caves throughout the land for much of his time following his success in battle against Goliath because Saul sought to kill him.
We also haven’t seen that David got some help when he needed to escape Saul’s palace. This help came from Saul’s daughter Michal who just so happened to also be David’s wife.
To give even more context, we’ve extended the lectionary reading from 2 Samuel to get in 3 more verses. Here we see Michal confront David directly about his dancing. She sees it as vulgar and shameful. What she’s forgetting though, is the reason behind the dancing.
David is trying to show his love and loyalty to God. As a singer and artist, as well as a warrior, dancing becomes a chief way to do this. That is his intention. Michal forgot that and, as we see in the final verse, she pays the price.
Take as well our reading from the Gospel. There we see what happened to John the Baptist, leading to his death. As a baptizer calling for the repentance of others, John called out Herod for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, as this was against the Law presented in Torah. Because he spoke against the king, Herod of course had to arrest him. Yet that’s all he did because he saw, at the end of the day, that John the Baptist was a holy man.
Herodias, on the other hand, holds a grudge. She can’t see the truth here. She can’t accept that some actions need to be called out. She can’t accept that she’s wrong. So she does everything she can to try and get John killed. She does succeed in the end, but at what cost? We all now know she was on the wrong side of history.
Michal looked to what was “proper” instead of joyfully honoring God. Herodias looked to her desire for vengeance instead of being right with the Lord. Both forgot what it’s really all about.
We hear that, what it is all about, in Ephesians today. There the letter lays out the redemption Jesus provided us through His death on the Cross. He speaks of the love and forgiveness Jesus grants us through the same. He shows how we have been made adopted children of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That shows the depths of God’s love, that God would choose us, even though we don’t deserve it, to be part of God’s family.
We may loose our way sometimes. We may forget what it’s all about. We may hold on to silly rules that have no meaning or our own reputation and desire for revenge. When we fall off the path though, the way back is clear. Ephesians lays it out for us clearly at the start of the letter. Our way back is Jesus. Our way back is the Cross. Our way back is the Resurrection and the love, forgiveness, and redemption we have been provided through that.
The Lord has adopted us into God’s family. Nothing else we do or say matters besides that. Sharing that Good News is our purpose. Living that Hope is our Belief.