Like the crossing of the Re(e)d Sea, this story has been the subject of several movies
In the 1951 Gregory Peck/Susan Hayward film,
Bathsheba and David have a consensual adulterous affair
In the 1985 Richard Gere King David film,
Bathsheba appears before King David in court claiming abuse by Uriah before becoming involved with him
Interesting how neither film wants to tell the biblical version of the story
Preferring to tell of an illicit and steamy romance
Do you remember the rest of the story?
That David’s response to Bathsheba’s pregnancy
is to bring her husband Uriah home from the front so the baby will be seen as legitimately his
but Uriah will not go home to sleep with his wife while his men are in the field
and so David sends a message with Uriah himself
to direct David’s commander to put Uriah at the front of the line
and then withdraw, so that Uriah will be killed by the Ammonites.
Of course others with Uriah are killed as well, but David brushes this away as the cost of the plan
And then, after her period of mourning, David marries Bathsheba.
And although later in the story of King David,
Bathsheba will stand up for their second son, Solomon, in his successful bid to become the next king
In this part of the biblical story, the only recorded words of Bathsheba are “I am pregnant.”
And, indeed, it hardly matters what she said or thought
The king sent for her and took her, and that was that
Meaning that, although the NRSV(UE) entitles this story “David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba,”
The story is really that of the abuse of power, of “Me Too,” of rape
David’s abuse of power more than fulfills Samuel’s prediction of how the Israelite king will act (I Sam. 8:10-17)
In fact, Samuel stops short of naming such sexual taking of women
While noting that the king the Israelites request will
take their sons and daughters to serve him in war and in agriculture and in his household
demand their labor and commandeer their lands
and make them serve him
And of course we still see this behavior among those with power today
Those who abuse their positions in a variety of ways
Hiring friends and cronies and family
Showing favoritism to those who can benefit them
To the detriment of those they are sworn to serve
And those who use their positions to force themselves on others sexually
From movie moguls to politicians to bosses
But instead of everyone turning a blind eye to this abuse of power, David has someone who holds to account
Of course the wily Nathan tells the story in a way that David can hear
Asking him to apply ethical principles to the behaviors of others
Which he readily does—apparently even without any prompting
He is outraged by the way the rich man exercised power over the poor man and his lamb
Taking the sheep (just as David took Bathsheba) and killing it for his own benefit
How often have we heard leaders apply ethical principles to those whom they consider their “enemies”
But changing their tune when asked to apply those same principles to themselves?
But here, in this passage, David actually listens to Nathan
Not excusing his own misconduct by somehow claiming that the rules are/should be different for him
Instead, David recognizes what he has done
Confessing and repenting of his sin
Both in our passage
And likely also in Psalm 51, used in our Call to Worship and Prayer of Confession
Perhaps Nathan had the king’s ear because he had been on the scene earlier in the account of King David’s rule
Responding to David’s desire to build a house for God
With the promise that God will build a house, that is a dynasty, for David
A dynasty that stretches so far forward
that “the wife of Uriah the Hittite” is named in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew
alongside other suffering women whose are listed in the lineage of the One
who himself would suffer and die and then rise again
A dynasty that goes forward, but is disrupted and dysfunctional after David’s actions
For, despite his confession and repentance, Nathan tells David his actions still have consequences (v.10-12)
“The sword will never depart from your house.”
Your wives will sleep with those who are close to you “in broad daylight.”
And the child you conceived with Bathsheba will die.
As we wish for more Nathans
And have the opportunity to use elections as a way to hold our leaders accountable
to elect leaders who can recognize their own faults as well as those of others
We are also called upon to do the same—
Not only to hold others responsible, but to be accountable ourselves
There’s this challenging little thing called “agency”
A fancy way of saying that we are actors in our own stories
That being responsible for what we do means that we are in charge of our own changing
That we are called by God, with God’s help, to be the subjects of our own lives and actions
Were you taught in English class to avoid write in active, rather than passive, tense?
While we may have learned this about grammar, we sometime miss it in regular life
If we say, “The glass broke,” we avoid the reality that someone (likely the speaker!) broke it
I was talking to Len about this sermon and noted that this was something my mother tended to do
He pointed out that was an understatement!
Good, bad or indifferent, she had a hard time making “I” statements
Instead, the world revolved around what others did
and what had somehow just happened
The newspaper article about the pickup truck that landed in our side yard was masterful in this
Beginning with police finding the driver about 500 feet from the crashed vehicle
And saying things like “The crash happened” about 2:30 pm
And “two homes were evacuated.”
But there were agents for all these action—
There was a driver to whom one could say, “You are the man”
A driver who was no longer with the truck when it crashed
But who is not thereby absolved of any responsibility for what happened
We are called on to take the log out of own eyes before we take the speck from our neighbor’s eye (Mt 7:5)
Where is it that we might be blind to our own actions?
power?
bias?
part in the problem?
Where can we take responsibility
action
be accountable
Makemie is a “Matthew 25” congregation
This PCUSA initiative focuses has three foci:
Building congregational vitality by deepening and energizing our faith and growing as joyful leaders and disciples actively engaged with our community as we share the gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed
Eradicating systemic poverty by acting on our beliefs and working to change laws, policies, plans and structures in our society that perpetuate economic exploitation of people who are poor
Dismantling structural racism by fearlessly applying our faith to advocate and break down the systems, practices and thinking that underlie discrimination, bias, prejudice and oppression of people of color
Now the first response to the question of racism is frequently to state that one is not a racist
And, while this can be a great starting place, our Matthew 25 commitment means this is not enough
Matthew 25—the initiative and the Scripture itself asks for greater action than not being racist
Matthew 25—the gospel overall, asks us to take action for those who are hungry
thirsty
strangers
naked
sick
imprisoned
Meaning that it’s not enough to refrain from being racist
Calling us to go beyond that to be anti-racist
To take actions, to be active, in combatting racism
I’m taking a class on combating racism sponsored by the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice
Last week a new person showed up to our class
And it turned out he was there to see if we were the real deal or if we were full of [fill-in-the-blank]
He himself was full of examples in his own life where he had gotten along fine with black people
And didn’t buy that there was racism in the world, much less in him
But this is as if David held the parable of the sheep at arm’s length
Blaming the problem on that rich man
Demanding justice for that situation
But not seeing the parallel to his own situation
This kind of attitude belies the Christian gospel, which is predicated on the understanding we are sinners
So that we are asked to see our own part in it all
Do we hear those crying out for justice?
Do we see how our lives have been easier because of who we are
And harder for others because of who they are?
And how are we working to change this?
Because, when it comes to change, we are the ones God works through to make a change
A change that can then radiate beyond us to our church
community
country
world
Let us pray….
bjhlog 