David had it all! A life of no worries. He had food, shelter, clothing:
he lived like a king. He WAS a king! But with all these things, he felt empty
inside. He coveted. He wanted more. Much more.
By the time the first escapade chapter is over, things were different. He
had betrayed his nation by staying home when he should have been on the
battlefield. He was derelict in his duty, and his kingship was a mockery. He
had betrayed his honor with a married woman. Worst of all, David had betrayed
his Lord: Who gladly would have given him more if he asked.
He was in the wrong place by choice. He kept making wrong choices. He
couldn't keep his eyes of this woman - what was her name? Messengers found out
the lady in the bath was Bathsheba. Other messengers retrieved her as an
object of gratification. David ripped apart marriage vows. He lied. Schemed.
There were consequences.
What now? What can be done? Can David fix it or make up for it? no.
He tried to fix his brokenness with a cover-up. But Uriah (a foreign
low-born foot soldier whose only claim to fame was wooing and wedding a wife)
was honest. He kept his integrity and honor - once, then twice - more than his
king. David's cover-up failed.
What now? What can be done? Can David fix it or make up for it? no.
So David set a murderous trap, and tried to bury the reality and escape the
consequences.
He wrote Uriah's death sentence, put it in the soldier's pocket, and sent
him to die. Joab read - and knew - and obeyed - - the trap sprung and the
honorable Urriah was murdered.
What now? What can be done? Can David fix it or make up for it? no.
2 Samuel 11:26 tells us exact words. A beautiful woman wept for the man
she loved. Uriah's fiancé, lover, and husband wept for her empty arms and the
loss of her mate. She was no longer Uriah's wife. Her willing consent to
adultery was the explosion, which caused the avalanche of events. She was also
party to adultery and murder. She wept.
Months past. 8 months. Uriah's wife gives birth to David's boy. Perhaps
in this birth they could soothe their pains and forget the past.
But God does not forget.
Sin is an ugly cancer that gnaws at souls to consume them. David felt the
gnawing. But David did NOT repent.
In today's Gospel, another woman had wept over sin while Simon looked on.
Simon refused to see that he personally owed a debt that he could never repay
God, just like this woman owed God. Simon, like David (and like each of us),
did not want to admit the enormity of his sin.
What now? What can be done? Can Simon fix it or make up for it? no. He
thought he could; and by doing so was a worse sinner than the woman.
How would YOU punish David? Remove his crown? Banish him? Send him into a
hopeless battle? Hang an albatross around his neck? Kill him on the spot?
Maybe recite the old western a line: "hangin's too good fer `em!" What would
YOU do? BUT! What does G-O-D do?
The LORD sends Nathan to tell a story, a story that will help David see
himself and what is going on. With righteous indignation, King David decrees a
four-fold restoration! Then Nathan turns and points at YOU! He says YOU are
the one!!
This story starts in Second Samuel 11 when the king SHOULD have been out
fighting for his native land. Heaven is your native land. Are you going to
war and defending it, or are you in your comfy palace? Do you go where you
should - or where you should not? Perhaps you have not directly committed
adultery & murder, but there are other sins - sins you try to hide from others,
and from God. When we ask God to forgive us our "trespasses", we are admitting
we have gone places we should not go.
You may not realize it, but compared to over half the world, you live like
a king or queen; and will still have a higher standard of living than them a
year from now. God blesses you with incredible prosperity and opportunity. If
that isn't enough, He is willing to give more for the Kingdom.
But the movies, magazines, friends, family, and the old sinful nature
inside us fill us - with empty dissatisfaction and discontent. Many times a
poor foreigner is more faithful to God's Word than a life-long Lutheran. Even
today, your debt is un-payable, like Simon the Pharisee.
What now? What can be done? Can we fix it or make up for it? no.
YOU are in the story.
Nor does Nathan quit. The Word of the Lord continues to cut every excuse
to tiny shreds. David's and yours.
Why? In spite of God's blessings, you go your own way. Then expect God
will bless you as you keep living life your own way.
David pronounced the consequences of his actions on himself. We often make
our own bed and have to lie in it.
Where was God in all this mess? Still there. He still loved David even
after all these hideous actions. He still loves us. He does not wish us
damned.
The Holy Spirit had used a simple story to crush the heart of a king.
David saw the enormity of his evil. David was genuinely sorrowful. He was not
sorry about being caught, not whining about God not being fair, or having a
pity party about the mess he put himself in. David was sorry for his own
actions.
God sees your every failure, each evil you do, your moral lapses and
general catastrophes. Furthermore, He knows your thoughts. Matthew 12:36
Jesus says that you will have to give an account before God for every idle word
you utter. The world may not know, but you can't hide your sins from God.
What now? What can be done? Can we fix it or make up for it? no.
The real question is this: will you be like Simon - who refused to admit
he owed any debt to God, much less an unpayable debt? Or will you be like the
un-named woman who had absolutely nothing, except the hope of God's mercy and
forgiveness?
Faith waits eagerly for Nathan's words: God has put away your sins. Faith
does not depend on perfume, tears, or long hair for a towel. Faith empties
itself of everything, so that it can be filled with forgiveness.
Nathan pronounced absolution. When Simon heard Jesus, he realized Jesus
wasn't pronouncing absolution - Jesus was taking the place of God and forgiving
sins directly!
God does not want us to live in sin or be condemned to hell. He is not
satisfied with things on earth. He, too, had it all like David - and more -
and was dissatisfied. God wanted more. He wanted you to be His child.
So God went where fallen human logic says He should not have gone. "And
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." He came out of the comfort of the
heavenly palace to experience your hurts and needs beginning in a manger
outside Bethlehem.
He spent His whole life helping us. Then He spent His life on the cross.
This time the King carried His own death sentence, and all of His friends and
even His Father abandoned Him on the field of battle to die.
But by this battle, the Kingdom was saved. This time, the sin really was
defeated. All of it. Forever. And by His grace, like the woman in the
Gospel, we have total forgiveness, forever.
What now? What can be done? Can we fix it or make up for it? no And we
don't have to. Christ did it all. His life and death are the proof of God's
love.
God's forgiveness does not remove the earthly consequences. The enemies of
God looked at the mistakes of David and they mocked God. They mock God for the
blunders of Christians, too.
For the rest of his life, David was embroiled in wars. Absolom revolted,
and was killed by Joab - eventually, four of David's children died. And
Bathsheba? God forgave her as well, and David and Bathsheba's second son was
named Solomon.
Strange as it seems, each Christian needs a Nathan. We need to be caught.
You need to be regularly confronted with your sins: or you will fall into the
evil of Simon. Taught to see our sin clearly, realize there is no way out, and
we have no ability to repay God.
We find Nathan when God's Word is clearly taught. God's holy Law strikes
down our self-righteousness and pride. We are caught when we read the Bible,
gather for worship, listen to the liturgy, sermons, and songs. The Bible isn't
a book of information, stories, moral codes. It is a book of history that
shows real people whom God loves dearly (like you and me). Unlike all other
religious books, it flatly says "you can not save yourself." We confess, like
the unknown woman or well-known King David, this is most certainly true. Then
we realize that the same eternal and changeless mercy they felt is still there.
We are still saved by grace alone. God still forgives. us in Christ He wants
us as His own beloved children.
David faced consequences for his sin. So did the un-named woman. So do
we. But God promises forgiveness. Even more, He promises to be with us to
help us in every need. Ps. 50:15 Call on His strength in trial; and on His
grace in failure. He loves you. Amen.
Pastor Michael Harman,
St. Peter LCMS - Newell, IA
vacancies at ...
Immanuel, Pomeroy
First Evangelical, Fonda
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