A few weeks ago, I had preached on Nathan's role in David's life, so I knew that would not be the topic (I did include a brief mention of Nathan's role as a truth-teller) of this sermon.
For some reason, I was free-lancing from the sermon text quite a bit Sunday,s o those listening heard a sermon not as closely aligned to the following text. Not sure why I was free-lancing so much on Sunday. Sometimes it's because I am not as prepared as I would like, but that did not fell like the situation on Sunday.
The sermon mirrors (pun intended) the Samuel text by moving to repentance really quickly. In both cases, it feels a little abrupt to me.
Not sure why the "mirror, mirror" bit came to my mind, but it seemed to add to the sermon. It certainly helped my Time with Young Disciples to have the mirror as a visual aid (thanks to Melanie for pulling it out of her purse on the first hymn for me to use since I forgot to bring a mirror).
2 Samuel 11: 26 - 12:13 When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. 27 When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord, 1 and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds; 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; 6 he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
7 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; 8 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. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. 11 Thus says the Lord: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun. 12 For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.” 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan said to David, “Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die.
“Looking in the Mirror” August 5 , 2018, SAPC, Denton; 2 Samuel 11: 26 - 12: 13
Introduction: King David has it all. Or at least he can get it all if he wants.
His power has expanded. He can do anything he wants.
He spies Bathsheba beautiful woman across the way, he can send for her and seduce her. (As a note, while this action may have been routine for a king in David’s time, it seems particularly inappropriate in our time with so much emphasis on abuse of power in sexual relationships).
When Bathsheba gets pregnant and David wants to hide her pregnancy, he can summon her husband home from the battlefront to spend the night with her.
When that fails, he can send her husband back to the battlefront with instructions for his commander to put him in the most dangerous situation so that he will be killed in battle.
go back and read the story - even the way it is written reveals David’s power. he wants something, he commands, and it happens.
Imagine when David looks into the mirror.
Mirror, on the wall, who’s the handsomest of them all?
You are, King David.
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, whose the greatest king of all?
You are, King David
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, whose the most powerful man of all
You are, King David
Until, until God is displeased with David and sends Nathan to tell David a story, to readjust David’s mirror, if you will.
the story goes like this: there is a rich man with many sheep and poor man with just one little lamb, who he can for greatly.
A traveler stops at the rich man’s house, and as custom dictates, he has to provide a feast for his guest - the rich man will have to kill one of his many sheep.
Except the rich does not want to waste one of his many sheep on the guest, so he takes the one little lamb from the poor man.
David recognizes the abuse of power. Find this man, he demands, and I will punish him. He deserves to die (and David can make that happen, because he is the all powerful king).
Nathan’s response: You are the man!
A few thoughts.
a. We all need a Nathan - part of the sermon a couple of weeks ago, but we are reminded of it again this week - we all need truth-tellers in our lives.
b. As Eugene Peterson points out, “God’s word always ends up direct and personal” (Eugene Peterson, 184, First and Second Samuel).
1. If you read God’s word and it does not connect to your life, read it again.
2. If you read God’s word and you cannot figure out how it calls you, not everyone else, but you, to change your life, read it again.
3. I would even go so far as to say, if you read the story today and think God is calling you to be Nathan to everyone else in your orbit, read it again.
4. God’s word is direct and personal - sometimes a word of comfort, sometimes a word of challenge, always a personal word of hope.
c. Power
1. David’s story is one of unbridled power, and his abuse of that power.
2. he recognizes the abuse of power in someone else, but misses it in himself.
3. When we have power, it is easy to forget, or ignore, or dismiss all that power affords us.
4. It is easy to begin to see the world as our place to live out our power.
5. If you can command something to happen, and it does; it becomes easier and easier to make commands with little regard for those involved.
c. Collision of God’s story and our human story.
1. The story this morning is about David, David, David, until Nathan confronts him.
2. the story is the collision of narrative - a narrative of worldly power vs. God’s narrative (Theology Today, 224, William Willimon, july 1, 1993, “A Peculiarly Christian Account of Sin”)
3. William Willimon reminds us that Karl Barth, the 20th century Reformed theologian, says that that only Christians can sin because Christians have he framework to understand sin. The framework does not begin with the idea of sin as a human condition, but begins with the God of redemption who desires to save us. As we come to know the God of redemption, we recognize our sin.
4. when our narrative of human power and earthly desires collides with God’s story of redemption, we recognize our sin and the God who redeems us. (Theology Today, 222, William Willimon, july 1, 1993, “A Peculiarly Christian Account of Sin”)
d. which leads to my final thought - David repents and seeks God’s forgiveness.
1. Psalm 51.
2. David recognizes that when he sins against Bathsheba and Urriah, he sins against God.
3. All abuse of power is contrary to God’s desires.
4. And David repents; he will suffer for his actions, but he will also know God’s forgiveness.
5. The final answer is not David’s abuse of power, but God’s power to forgive and redeem.
Conclusion: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who am I? Tell me it all.
You are a sinner, an abuser of power, who deserves condemnation.
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who am I? Tell me it all.
You are a child of God. Repent and know God’s forgiveness.
No comments:
Post a Comment