Sunday was World Communion Sunday. I had never preached this text before, but it is a powerful text. I hope the sermon revealed some of the power!
“OT Sidekicks: “Nathan”; 2 Samuel 12; October 1, 2023; SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp
1and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, ‘There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 2The rich man had very many flocks and herds; 3but 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 meagre fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. 4Now there came a traveller 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.’ 5Then 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; 6he 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; 8I 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. 9Why 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. 10Now 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. 11Thus 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 neighbour, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun. 12For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ 13David 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.
Introduction: another week of OT sidekicks. This fall, when we are not doing stewardship, we are reading some wonderful narratives from the Old Testament and looking particularly at how the sidekick impacts the story.
Not the main character, but the sidekick, the person whose presence makes the story happen.
As we reflect on these stories, you might consider what sidekicks you have in your life;
or maybe how you live into the role of sidekick for someone else’s life.
Move 1: King David has so much power he does not need anyone (or so he thinks).
a. David is the king of Israel.
1. Powerful military leader.
2. Made Israel a power in the Middle East.
3. David Can basically do whatever he wants.
b. Proof of his power? The first part of the story we read this morning reveals his power.
1. King David is so powerful he can take Bathsheba for himself, even though she is married, and then he orchestrates the death of her husband Uriah.
2. Literally, no one is in a position to challenge
King David
or hold him accountable for his actions.
or even notice that his actions seem contrary to how things ought to be done.
3. King David is a king with unchecked power. he says do, and they do it.
no one wanted to tell King David anything but what David might want to hear.
c. Last week, I had the opportunity to visit the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.
1. The museum houses a giant Swedish warship from the early 1600s.
2. The ship was built on the orders of the King of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus as part of the military expansion he initiated
Gustavus Adolphus (1594–1632) has been considered one of the most successful Swedish kings in terms of success in warfare. When Vasa was built, he had been in power for more than a decade. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)
4. Design - The king wanted more cannons - he was an artillery guy; he had approved the design that included two decks of cannons and portholes for them to shoot.
3. the Vasa was built - Richly decorated as a symbol of the king's ambitions for Sweden and himself, the most powerfully armed ship in the world.
4. But, there was a problem, the Vasa was dangerously unstable, with too much weight in the upper structure of the hull. too many cannons; too many portholes
In fact, a few days before the ship was to sail for the first time, an admiral from the navy onboard to witness a stability test. thirty men ran back and forth over the upper deck to make the ship roll. After just a few trips, the ship was tipping from side to side so badly there was great fear it might capsize in dock.
But no one wanted to tell the king.
it set sail just as the king ordered.
made it about a 1/4 of a mile, faced a strong breeze, and keeled over.
and sank.
3. no one had dared to tell the king the truth about his design and the shortcomings of his beloved ship.
He needed a Nathan.
Move 2: David had Nathan.
a. Nathan had little power, except he had access to speak to the king.
1. In this case, speak an important truth to King David about David’s actions.
1. Notice he does not come right out and say, “David, you have sinned.
Or, David you have abused your power.”
2. Nathan is more subtle.
He tells David a story about an unjust person in power.
David identifies the injustice and demands the man be held accountable.
then, Nathan offers the surprise - King David, you are that man!
3. A subtle, sly approach, (Perhaps we might remember that approach when we feel compelled to speak the truth to power), but an approach that grabs David’s attention and calls him to change.
b. King David needs Nathan.
1. Did you notice that the story begins with the comment that the Lord sent Nathan to confront King David.
2. David needs Nathan because David cannot continue as a faithful servant of God if he cannot escape his own sinfulness.
3. God desires that David move forward and get his life on track.
4. I am reminded of a comment Norman Pritchard as told by Dennis Piermont: God loves you as you are, but God loves you too much to let you stay the way you are.
5. God wants all of us, whether we have unbridled power like King David, or not, to confront that which keeps us from growing in our discipleship.
from becoming new creations as the Apostle Paul would describe it.
that which keeps us from moving beyond our sinfulness to new life.
6. we need people to point us in the right direction.
We all need a Nathan in our lives.
c. World Communion Sunday sometimes brings out my cynicism - we gather around our Lord’s Table, speak part of the liturgy in different languages, and make grand statements about how we are united around our Lord’s Table
and then we leave our worship and go into a world that is still so divided.
1. but in a way, World Communion Sunday serves as our Nathan,
pointing out how far we fall short of unity in Christ
holding us accountable for what we are doing that feeds division instead of creating unity.
calling us to new ways of living that promote unity.
2. We all need Nathan, or someone or something that calls us to get back on track, to call us to the new life desires of us.
Move 3: Final thought - the story is about more than Nathan
a. yes, Nathan is the invaluable sidekick who calls King David out for his actions.
b. But, David recognizes his faults and repents.
1. How hard it is sometimes to acknowledge where we have erred or gone wrong, but David did so.
2. and he not only recognized his shortcomings but willingly repented.
3. David recognized the gap between the life he was living and the decisions he was making and the life God desired of him.
and he repented.
c. Nathan and David together offer us a powerful reminder of our calling.
1. sometimes, we need to speak truth to power, to live into our role of calling out injustice and holding people accountable.
2. Sometimes we need to listen as others call out our sinfulness and then repent.
3. Wouldn’t it be nice if all we had to do was be Nathan and point out the flaws and sins of others?
4. But that is not true to who we are - sometimes we are the sinner in need of repentance; sometimes we are the ones who recognize the sins of others.
All of the time, we need to wisdom and insight to know the difference!
Conclusion: if we read a couple of more verses in the story, we would read that “Nathan went back to his house.”
The story begins with the lord sending Nathan and ends with Nathan simply returning to his house.
A sidekick simply doing the job God sent him to do.
May we all be that willing.
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