From the Pastor |
Isaiah 11: 1-15
For most of her adult life, an older woman had worked as the cleaning woman for a fairly large company. She was very well-liked and her fellow employees decided to honor her on her birthday by planning a big surprise party to express their appreciation for her years of service. As often happens… news of the party was leaked and the woman found out about it… she pleaded for them not to throw the party. “That’s sweet of you,” said her boss, “but it’s not necessary for you to be so modest.” “Modest, my foot!” she exclaimed. “I just don’t want to have to clean up the mess afterwards!” Cleaning up the mess is what David was forced to do. David was the beloved king of Israel… God’s anointed one… the savior who slew the giant Goliath then led Israel through many successful battles. God was so pleased with him that God established a covenant with David and his descendants that God’s love would never be taken away as it had been taken away from Saul… and that David’s house and kingdom will endure forever. [2 Sam. 7: 15] Yet, as Psalm 14 stated “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.” And that is a perfect description of the David we heard about this morning. For although David believed in God, it seems he turned away from God’s ways. Like any human being… David was FAR from perfect. But, today we heard of David at his worst. 2 Samuel 11 is a story worthy of the best soap operas… a story of lust and deception and murder… For David… it was a truly horrible abuse of power that brings a terrible sense of foreboding for what is to come in the life and history of Israel, because it speaks so loudly of the consequences that arise when we fail to trust in God’s ways; when we, instead, look to our own self-interests and selfish desires. God had raised David to be the most powerful man of the kingdom. David had everything he could want: military victories, wealth, status… POWER and prestige. David must have felt powerful and invincible. So much so that when his army went off to war, he stayed behind in his palace in Jerusalem when most other kings would have gone off to war. Maybe he was bored… maybe he had become too full of himself… maybe like so many rich, powerful, successful people throughout history (even to this very day) he believed the rules… the laws did not apply to him. Whatever the reason, David found himself wanting something he had no right to take… but take he did. After David spies a beautiful woman bathing, he inquires as to who she is. He is informed that “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” This is important because Bathsheba is not some nameless woman like so many of our bible stories portray… she is not a slave girl or a prostitute. She is a daughter and the wife of one of David’s loyal warriors. Bathsheba was the good, decent, respectable woman. Yet, as is so typical of these types of situations, people throughout history have blamed her for these events. Why was she bathing where David could see her? She was enticing him or other men by flaunting her beauty. However, I would like it noted that our scriptures make NO such claims. They do not condemn her in any way. David alone is responsible for David’s actions. After all… There is no excuse for what he does, especially after he learns of her being a respectable married woman. Nor does the Bible offer any excuse for him. David’s actions were a blatant misuse of power that… quite honestly… could be construed as rape. Bathsheba was summoned by the king… she was powerless to change what happened. She had NO CHOICE! So David takes what he has no right to take simply because he has the power to do so. However, the story does not end there. Bathsheba discovers she is pregnant from their “encounter” and alerts David to this fact. I read one commentators take on that point. He… yes HE… pointed out that we do not know her reasons for sending this message. He proposed that maybe she was thinking that she could find favor with the king and elevate her position… or maybe she thought it might give her some power to bear the child of the king. This gentleman scholar said… we can’t really speculate. Well… maybe he can’t, but as a woman… I think I can! I can only imagine it was fear that prompted her to send that message… Yes… fear. Think about it from her perspective. She never sought out the king or went looking to sleep with David. She endured what she had to because she had no choice and now HER life was on the line. Her husband has been away at war and she has become pregnant. There is no hiding the sin of adultery. It will soon be visible. So… what does the law say is the penalty for such a sin? Death! Her life will be forfeit when the news gets out. I think of the woman brought before Jesus centuries later… She too was caught in the act of adultery and the crowd wanted to stone her… where was the man she was with? Why was she alone charged? Bathsheba has to be afraid. What woman wouldn’t be? So she does the only thing she can think of… she tells David she is carrying his child. We know this is a fact because the scriptures make it clear that she was bathing as part of the purification ritual following her menstrual cycle. It could only be David’s child. So what does David do? This great and mighty king? He panics! He too knows the laws and the disgrace and condemnation he will face, so he plots and schemes and comes up with a cover-up so elaborate that today’s politicians would be proud… David orders her husband Uriah to come home from the war and tries to arrange for Uriah to go home and sleep with his wife to try and cover up the deed. However, David’s attempts are thwarted… by Uriah’s own sense of loyalty, patriotism and the laws surrounding holy wars. He will not go against the religious dictates that soldiers at war are not to engage in sexual activity. And even though he is back in Jerusalem, he will not even go to his comfortable home out of respect for his fellow soldiers still in the field. So, David sins even more when he orchestrates Uriah’s murder as a way to cover up his sin. This story reveals a dark side to David… the low point of his reign when he allowed his lust and power to pull him from God’s ways. This is not the David we often think of… the shepherd boy who bravely wielded stones at a giant… the good king who led his people to a time of prosperity… the pious poet and musician who wrote beautiful psalms to the Lord. No… this is a different side of David all together… What we see with this story is that even someone as great as David… one who has found favor with God… is capable of atrocious abuses of power and violence. Unfortunately, such abuses are still very common in our world today. There is truth to the phrase that “power corrupts.” We have ample examples with various government officials from all sides of the political spectrum… However, we also have a great deal of violence occurring in our streets, in homes and workplaces as the powerful continue to victimize the powerless. Just look at the terrible cases of sexual abuse and harassment that often take place… Today, sexual assaults are the most prevalent crimes in the US, yet also the most underreported. Over 80% of sexual assaults are committed, not by a stranger, but by an acquaintance. And let us not forget about the epidemic ravaging this world… not the virus but domestic violence cases… an epidemic that grew worse with the global pandemic. Did you know that around the world 37 women are killed in instances of domestic violence each day! So what does that mean for us? Well… You see… as David finds out… Secrets have a way of getting out, and sin always has consequences but we will look at that next week… Our scriptures this week lead us to the realization that no one is perfect, which is why we really need to learn to trust in God’s ways… living out the faith we have in every choice we make… every day. We are shown, through David’s story, what can happen when we turn our backs on faithfulness, integrity and self-restraint… There is so much suffering caused by fear, lust, greed and selfishness, but God’s ways lead us in a different direction. Paul teaches the church that the love of God in Christ is the greatest gift we can know. Success and power, wisdom and knowledge can easily lead to pride and the abuse of power, as we see with King David, but Christ’s love surpasses these things. Every person must make the choice… we each must decide what principles will guide us… In our relationships, our neighborhoods, our communities, our work and play we have the choice to either allow our own self-interest and desires to be primary or we can trust that following the ways of God’s Reign will truly lead us to life. One of the tragedies of the contemporary Christian church is that we have failed to live the faith we so loudly proclaim. We preach about forgiveness and grace, and act vindictively and offer condemnation. We talk love, trust and generosity, but act with greed and selfishness. We speak of courage and integrity, but act fearful and cowardly. If the world is to believe our message, we are going to have to demonstrate it in our lives and communities, and when we do, we may well discover that we contribute to wholeness and peace in our world. The goal for a follower of Christ is to be so filled with God’s love that there is no room for anything else… not another person, nor selfish desire… Being filled with “all the fullness of God” is being drawn into unity and harmony with Christ. This and only this can bring an end to our sinning.
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Yeon Shin
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