PENTECOST

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: PENTECOST
PROPER: 6C
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: June 17,2001

TEXT: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10,13-15 – Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah, and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. What have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?”

See also: Luke 7:36-50 – In response to the woman’s faith and devotion to our lord, “Then, he (Jesus) said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

ISSUE: The David and Nathan story reveals David’s injustice for his lack of concern for Uriah the Hittite, and the dispossessed. In the same manner Jesus is condemned for his association with the dispossessed sinful woman. These stories tell of God’s forgiveness, but at the same time the David Story reveals that there are consequences for sinfulness and injustices, symbolized by the death of Bathsheba’s child.
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In both the Hebrew Scripture story from 2 Samuel concerning King David and his prophet Nathan, and the story of Jesus at the Pharisees Dinner Party are rich challenging stories. My concern is primarily this day with the David and Nathan story as it addresses a primary issue of justice in an unjust world and its consequences.
Here’s some background information. David had been a mere young shepherd boy, the last and least of Jesse’s sons. He was selected by Samuel the prophet as last and least, which was somewhat shocking, to become the King of Israel and Judah, replacing the now crazy King Saul. David was a complex figure in the Hebrew Scriptures but he does become by the grace of God the one most significant of all of Israel’s kings. He united Judah and Israel into one nation. He brought prosperity and respect to these nations. Both David and the nation stood tall among the nations of the world at that time, @ 1000 – 961 B.C. David inherited the wealth of former King Saul, according to the story. King David saw from the balcony of his Palace in Jerusalem the attractive woman Bathsheba and fell in love or was at least infatuated with her. Bathsheba was a married woman, married to one of David’s soldiers who was at the front fighting in a war. David summoned the woman to the palace and had a relationship with her, and she became pregnant. To cover what he had done, David sends for Uriah the Hittite, and a man in the socially dispossessed class, to return home, thinking that he would cohabit with his wife, and the child would be thought to be Uriah’s child. Uriah responds to the King’s call to return home but following a military code of ethics, refuses, even when intoxicated by King David’s manipulation from, having relations with Bathsheba. David then sends Uriah back to the front, orders him to the frontlines where he is sure that Uriah will be killed, and he is. Court intrigues, like Presidential ones, have a way of becoming leaked.
Nathan the prophet in David’s court, and a figure something like a prime minister or secretary of state confronts King David with the parable in the lesson today. Nathan tells the story of a poor man who has a lamb that he and his family adore as a cherished pet. A rich man comes on the scene and planning a dinner party refuses to slay a lamb from his own flock, and orders the taking and slaying of the poor man’s cherished lamb. On hearing this story that Nathan tells, King David is outraged and says that the evil rich man deserves to die, and that he should restore the lamb fourfold for having such little compassion for the poor man. Nathan’s reply to David is famous; “You are the man!” David has been given so much by God, and yet he has taken something that did not belong to him from the poor and the disposed Uriah the Hittite. He stands condemned. While we are inclined to dwell on the sexual sin here, it is really the cleverly arranged murder of Uriah that is the greater sin. At the same time there is also a clear implication that David has no sense of pity, compassion, justice for God’s own.
David confesses, and of course now that he’s caught what else can he do? However, David’s confession, “I have sinned against the Lord,” is met with a gracious forgiveness. However, we still have the problematic issue of the death of Bathsheba’s child as a resulting punishment, which makes us uncomfortable. We don’t like to think that there are punishments of this kind. Keep in mind that in this period, it was believed that God controlled everything which would include the unfortunate death of Bathsheba’s child, as a result of her and David’s adultery.
What seems to be at the heart of this story is the misuse of power, and a lack of compassion. King David has risen to the position of power, and uses it indiscriminately for his own purpose and pleasure. He loses sight of the fact that he is himself called to be a shepherd of his people, and not an exploiter of his people. He is as a charismatic figure to be a man sensitive of compassion. Actually in the story it is clear as David responds to Nathan’s parable that he has the capacity to be compassionate, but has lost sight of that as it relates to his own life.
Even in recent years we have seen the misuse of authority and power, the discompassionate, and the greed among some prominent religious leaders both TV Evangelists and clergy in our own denomination. People in positions of power, religious leaders, politicians-presidents, school authorities, policemen, have the inclination to be so enamored with their position as to become possessed or obsessed by the power over others and to lose the inner spiritual sense of compassion for others. It is often easy to forget where we came from ourselves, and how we have achieved position by the grace of God.
As a nation, we Americans have accumulated enormous wealth and power. We must be careful always, and prayerful always as a nation as to how we deal with other nations in the world of lesser power. We must have compassionate awareness and concern, and use the powers we have with great concern for what is fair and just. We are inclined to enjoy the cheaper labors of other nations without appropriate concerns of fair reimbursement and justice concerns. We have to be concerned for the amounts of resources we consume as powerful and wealthy Americans as it affects smaller and less powerful nations in the world. We all must be sensitive as to what our country does in the Middle East as the more powerful American supported nation of Israel deals with the poorer and far less powerful Palestinians.
We must also be constantly aware of the prejudices that so many of us learned as children and carry around with us, even today, regarding folk of other races, and I might add of people from other social classes. God calls us to respecting the dignity of all people. Yet, we still have strong feelings in our hearts about people of other races and classes that tends to keep them in lesser positions in work and fair salary standards. We think of these persons with less respect than we think of ourselves.
Even within our own parish, those of us who have been around for awhile are inclined to have assumed certain positions of power within the community. Letting new people in, and allowing them to become a part of the inner group without some effort on our part keeps people apart and without a sense of genuine belonging. Being a fair and just, welcoming, and a community open to the respect of others and their new ideas and ways doesn’t always come easy. King David only reached out for what satisfied his own needs, without a compassionate concern for others.
How we conduct ourselves even as parents of children calls for a sensitivity to sorting out what is right and good for our children, and what is a result of our own needs. Considerable parental hostility can be used against our children as our scapegoats. The recent tragic child abuse of the starved eight year old child of twenty five pounds is an extreme example. At the recent Diocesan Convention it was legislated that in addition to the Prevention of Sexual Abuse Courses for Children and Adults, clergy in this Diocese will also have to be trained in recognition of and prevention of and appropriate dealing with Spousal Abuse, because it has become such a problem in our society.
Nathan’s parable awakens David to his need for repentance and his need to change his use of God given power. In the Jesus story today, Jesus is invited to the home of a powerful Pharisee. But Jesus is seen as polluting the home, and being himself impure for his allowing the woman to anoint him with oil and for association with this least and last worthy specimen. But at the heart of the Gospel is not a retreating Christ, but one who stands firm in his use of power as a servanthood that forgives and respects.
I know we are left concerned with the child of Bathsheba and David that die, presumably as a kind of punishment for their sexual sin. Again, keep in mind that in the Hebrew Scriptures God is seen as responsible for everything. We as Christians do not believe that God would will the death of a child under these circumstances. But what is important to understand, and what I think is the issue in this story is that “sin has consequences.” Indeed, we can be forgiven and restored. God revealed in Jesus Christ extends his grace. But we too must be responsible people. The misuse and irresponsible possession of handguns in our city streets leaves dead children. Extreme force among Jews and Palestinians leaves many dead children in the aftermath of violence and terrorism leaves may dead children. Powers of the world that consume more than their share and who have no pity can leave children starving in third world countries. Fathers and Mothers who walk out on their families to satisfy their own needs can leave many disheveled confused children.
We indeed rejoice in the grace and the love that comes from God, and the bounty of God’s restoration and forgiveness. However, we must not forget, nor leave behind the understanding that our sins and misuse of power have consequences. We who are in the Spirit of God’s love must be constantly aware that we have choices and decisions to make. We in our human don’t always make the right ones and there are consequences. Pray for wisdom, for justice, for compassion. Nathan said to David, “You are the One!” Pray for repentance, that is, to be regularly changed.