Sins and Souls: 2 Samuel 11:26 - 12:10, 13-15 - Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

²⁶When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. ²⁷When 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, ^12:1and 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. 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 meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴Now 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.” 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.”
  ⁷Nathan 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.” 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. ¹⁴Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.” ¹⁵Then Nathan went to his house.
  The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became very ill. (NRSV)

One of Armstrong County’s most celebrated daughters is Elizabeth Jane Cochran, more famously

known as Nellie Bly.  One of the first female investigative journalists, in 1887 she wrote a scathing expose on the conditions of a New York City mental asylum, having faked a mental illness and being admitted to the institution for ten days.  Her work spawned a number of much-needed improvements in mental health care.

Throughout her career, she took on the powers-that-be, at great risk to her personal safety, in order to expose grave injustices against the poor and vulnerable.  She did all this at a time when it was considered wholly improper for a woman to write about anything but fashion and being a good housewife…

She spoke truths that a lot of people didn’t want to hear…

This is what Old Testament prophets did, including Nathan, whom we encounter in today’s first reading.

The drama begins with David sitting on top of the world.  He’s the wealthiest and most powerful king on earth, because God has blessed him in everything he did.

Then one day, while Israel is at war with its neighbors, David decides to stay home, instead of accompanying his soldiers into battle.  That’s when he looks out his window and watches a beautiful woman bathe.  Her name is Bathsheba, and she is the wife of Uriah—one of David’s most dedicated soldiers.

He sends his men who deliver Bathsheba up to him like room service.  David has his way with her, and she becomes pregnant with his child.  Desperate to save face, David schemes to have Uriah sent to the front lines of battle, where he is killed—this way, Uriah can’t deny being the father of the child.

Unsurprisingly, God is greatly displeased by what David has done—so God sends Nathan to tell David the hard truth.  Nathan speaks a parable of a rich man with many flocks and herds, and a poor man with one lamb who loved it like child.  When a traveler visits the rich man, he was loath to take from his own flock to prepare for his guest—so he takes the poor man’s lamb instead. 

David is furious and says the man deserves to die.  That’s when Nathan points to David and says “You are the man!”

I give Nathan a great deal of credit—because David could have killed Nathan for insulting his honor.  But that’s not what happens.  David sees the gruesome truth.  Nathan announces God’s forgiveness—but also that the violence that David perpetuated will remain in his house for the rest of his life.  The child they conceived will die. 

What a loathsome, horrible story this is…  The God we encounter is not a huggable, loveable God…

All that being said, this is the God who is—a God who reveals and convicts us of sin.  But as sinners, we deny this.  The cross drives home this fact better than anything…

Most of us are willing to own up to some degree of personal imperfection—but that’s usually as far as it goes.  We do, however, see the sins of those who are most different from us.  We see the sins of the rich and powerful.  Occasionally, we see the prejudice and bigotry.  Usually, we see the sins that impact us—and offend us. 

Now it is important for us to expose and condemn crimes and injustices being committed against the poor and marginalized.  But you and I must especially look within ourselves.

One big way we sin is by thinking and acting as though the world should conform to your needs and desires.  Many of our political leaders promise you the freedom to pursue everything you need and want as your right.

But is it your right or mine to buy food, clothing, and merchandise at low prices—while the people who grow, manufacture, and sell these goods practically starve?

Is it your right or mine to accumulate way more stuff than you can ever possibly need?

Is it your right or mine to waste food and water, and ravage God’s creation?

Is it your right or mine to pursue success and happiness, and let someone else worry about the poor and vulnerable?

Fact is, all people have souls—whether they be the people we despise, the people we pity, or the people whose labors bring us our needs and wants.

King David brutally violated many innocent souls and destroyed precious lives.  Yet God saves David’s soul—by revealing the bitter truth of his sin and forgiving him for that sin before he could even ask for it. 

I still hate how God strikes down the innocent child because of his father’s iniquity.  But surely the God who restores David’s soul restored that innocent child’s soul as well—along with the souls of the murdered Uriah and his wife Bathsheba.  We just don’t know how or when…

That’s why God brings your sin and mine into the light—not to condemn, but to restore our souls. 

So I submit to prayerfully consider these three questions:

1.      Where in your life is there excess and waste?  What do you have or what do you do too much?

2.      What is it that other people do that angers you most?

3.      What do you want most in your life—and what are you willing to do to get it?

In all three, there’s sin.  But God’s forgiveness brings freedom—not the freedom to have or do whatever you want, but the freedom of peace with God—and the freedom of belonging to a community of persons who value one another and thus care for one another in times of need.  It’s freedom from anger and hostility translating into a passionate desire to work towards change and renewal in the world.  It’s a freedom that brings you and I deeper and more fully into the life of Jesus Christ.

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