Sermon for Proper 12B
Judy
Dear Friends,
This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Now What?” or “Living Like an Atheist?” or “Sin Is Like Being Pregnant- Starts Small, but Watch Out!” and deals with the Old Testament lesson (2nd Samuel 11:1-15). Here it is:
On March 22nd of this year (the fifth Sunday in Lent), we read Psalm 51, the Psalm that David probably wrote after his affair with Bathsheba, and derived two Bible truths from David’s shameful episode: (1) No one is immune to sin- not even mighty King David and (2) Sin hurts the innocent as well as the guilty. Since the “David and Bathsheba” incident is today’s Old Testament reading (2nd Samuel 11: 1-15), and since it has so much wisdom for our lives today- I’d like us to look at it again. You remember what happened. Bathsheba was married to Uriah the Hittite. King David was walking around on the flat roof of his palace when he looked below and saw Bathsheba taking a bath in her courtyard. He sent for her and had sex with her. Since kings at that time had absolute power, if a king called for you- you came and did what he wanted or were killed. This means David’s actions were probably rape. Some time later, Bathsheba discovered to her dismay that she was pregnant, so she sent King David a note informing him of the news. David was caught in adultery, and there was no way anyone would think that Bathsheba’s husband was the father of this child. He was away in the military. David cooked up a scheme to pass this baby off as Uriah’s child. He sent for Uriah, inquired about the war, and then sent him home- assuming that he would make love to his wife. After all, he’d been gone a long time at war. Uriah didn’t, because he didn’t want to diffuse his energy- wanted to stay loyal to King David and his fellow soldiers. David tried again. This time, he invited Uriah to the palace for a meal, and served lots of alcohol so he would get drunk. When King David observed that Uriah was sufficiently intoxicated, he sent him home again. Uriah did the same thing- slept outside away from Bathsheba, his wife. King David’s scheme of passing off this child as Uriah’s baby was not going to work. Uriah was too loyal to the king- wouldn’t sleep with his wife and diffuse his energy for the upcoming war. It seems like decades ago, but do you remember how President Clinton lied and did everything he could to avoid being caught in his sexual sin? That’s how King David felt. He decided he would do whatever it took to avoid being caught as having committed adultery with Bathsheba. He wrote a note to Joab, his general at the war front, ordering him to place Uriah in a dangerous spot in a battle, then withdraw support so Uriah would be killed. Joab did exactly as King David had ordered, and Uriah was killed in battle (fighting for King David- one of his most loyal soldiers). Bathsheba mourned for her husband an appropriate length of time and then moved in with King David at his palace as one of his wives. It looked like all was well and no one would find out what had happened; David had gotten away with both adultery and murder. You know how scripture says, “Be sure your sin will find you out!” (Numbers 32: 23). Well, the next thing David knew, he had a visitor- the prophet Nathan. Nathan told David about a poor man and his family who had a pet lamb. The lamb ate at his table and was the pet of his wife and children. One day the rich man down the road had a guest. He was too stingy to butcher one of his own lambs to feed his visitor, so he took the beloved lamb belonging to the poor family and butchered it to serve his company. King David was outraged, started listing all the terrible punishments that should happen to the rich man, and then asked his identity. The prophet Nathan simply said, “David, you are the man.” Nathan reminded the king of all the wives and riches he had, yet he took the one wife of Uriah, his faithful soldier, and then had him killed as a cover-up. Nathan told David that his punishment was that the child in Bathsheba’s womb would die. David wept and prayed, perhaps using the words of Psalm 51.
This atrocious episode contains much wisdom for living, but I’d like to point out two more Bible truths. One comes from our Psalm (14:1): “Only a fool would say ‘There is no God.’” King David wouldn’t have been stupid enough to say there was no God, but he acted like either God was blind and deaf or didn’t exit. Do you remember the old story of the little boy who was in the lunch line at his parochial school? At the front of the line was a beautiful bowl of apples. In front of the apples was a sign- “Take only one. God is watching you!” When he got to the end of the line, he saw a bowl of even-better-looking cookies. He got his pencil and made a matching sign, which read- “Take as many cookies as you want. God is watching the apples.” I’m here to tell you- he had it wrong! God was watching the apples and the cookies and King David and us when we do things in secret that we’d be ashamed to be seen doing in public. “Be sure your sin will find you out!” (Numbers 32: 23). My friends- you can hide from me, you can hide from your mother or father or boss or wife or husband or kids or friends- but YOU CAN’T HIDE FROM GOD! GOD KNOWS!
The second Bible truth: Either you root out sin or it grows- like Bathsheba’s pregnancy. Have you ever had a day when everything seemed to go wrong- not big things, just picky, annoying things? I still remember the day some time ago when I had to get to the doctor’s office and I was running late. I opened the medicine cabinet in our bathroom to get an Advil, but the Advil bottle dropped out of the cabinet onto the cup that holds our toothbrushes. That tipped over and landed on the tube of toothpaste which bounced against the full cup of water which spilled all over the sink and knocked my earrings on the floor. Been there- done that? That’s how sin works. The progression is easy to see in this David-Bathsheba episode. First David looked where he had no business looking. What should he have done then? (Sure- looked away and moved on.) Then he appreciated, lingered, dwelt on what he had no business looking at. (Still time to save himself.) Next he planned how he could get something he had no business having. (Still time, but not much!) After that, he gave the orders; carried out his plans to rape Bathsheba; and thought all was well- BUT... “Only a fool would say there is no God...be SURE your sin will find you out”- and it did. Bathsheba was pregnant. It escalated as he tried to outslick God, but Uriah was too good a person to fall for David’s tricks. David still had a chance of sorts- could have confessed- in that day, kings could get away with anything. He didn’t. Instead, his rape became also a cover-up-murder. Did it work? No. There was the prophet Nathan. “Only a fool would say there is no God...be SURE your sin will find you out”- and it did. Their precious baby died and violence ruled in David’s family until the exile.
In summary: From March 22nds- (1) No one is immune to sin- not even mighty King David; and (2) Sin hurts the innocent as well as the guilty. From today- (3) You can’t hide from God- God knows; and (4) Stop sin while it’s small, because it escalates.
For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .
Blessed preaching,
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan