Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I’ve been watching a wonderful series on TV about Henry VIII of England. We don’t have Kings in America and it is hard for us to understand what a King means to people who live in and are committed to monarchy as a form of government. Monarchs were a combination of rock stars, movie stars, Presidents and the “Donald Trumps” of their time. They epitomized and symbolized the values of what Jesus would call “this world.” They had power, fame, prestige, honor, glory – everyone wanted to be in their company and to be in their good graces. People wanted to be near them, touch them. Modern psychologists would call them “projections” of the deepest human desire. It is primitive, at best, “medieval legacy”, that still persists. Princess Diana knew, better than any modern royal, how to use the notoriety that she was given. She used it for good most of the time and drew attention to social causes she wanted to champion, but her notoriety had a dark tempting side which she succumbed to at times too. As St. Paul said “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
We have in our lesson this morning the story of another fabulous King: King David. David was King Henry VIII, a Princess Diana, a combination rock star, folk hero, national champion and projection of Israel’s corporate identify as a people. The prophet Samuel, God’s acknowledge voice on earth, anointed him to be King. It was a position of awesome power. David had incredible faith – itself a gift from God. He went up against the Philistine warrior Goliath when he was still a teenager. Goliath was twice his size, a mountain of muscle, fierce and threatening and David was armed only with a slingshot. Only a fool or someone who was utterly convinced that God was with him would have been so crazy to attempt such a thing. David believed in and trusted God. He was a model of faith.
Yet, in today’s lesson we see the sinful side of David, the very human side. We are, all of us, a complex mixture of saint and sinner. David sees Bathsheba from the palace balcony bathing – we presume he sees a lot of her and begins to covert her. Covet means to desire what belong to someone else. Bathsheba was married to one of David’s best army officers, Uriah, a man utterly loyal to him. David and Bathsheba commit adultery and to cover their sin David sends Uriah into battle and secretly orders his other army officers to abandon him, let him be surrounded by enemies so that he dies. David kills him as sure as if he had plunged the sword into Uriah’s body himself. He has violated commandments 5, 6 and 10 knowingly and willfully.
In our lesson, Nathan, the prophet Samuel’s successor confronts David with his sin. David and Bathsheba were married at this time, Bathsheba was with child. Nathan predicts that the child she carries will die and that it is God’s punishment.
These words are some of the most troubling in scripture. Along with the hardening of Pharoh’s heart, God’s asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a test; these worlds trouble me in a profound way. David and Bathsheba were guilty but the baby was innocent. I don’t know what to do with these words. One out of every five babies died in Israel before reaching childhood – an infant’s death was common. Was Nathan forecasting with God’s permission? Did God cause this child to die?
I have struggled for years with this passage. Perhaps God knew that this child would grow up to be a ruthless, evil monarch and was sparing Israel real disaster. In all things God works for good. We don’t know the whole story, we never will until God reveals the divine will to us.
We will always have questions this side of heaven. It is good for us to stand in awe of God. The bottom line, the result of this passage is that David is restored, cured of his pride, his arrogance and his hubris and he composes Psalm 51, one of the most beautiful in all of scripture.
We turn to the gospel lesson. This sinful woman is conscience of her brokenness too. She dares, dares to come into God’s presence in Christ and show her sorrow and begs for forgiveness.
The Pharisee Simon stands in for us as a reminder and a warning. He judges the woman he even judges God – because Christ is God. And Jesus tells him the parable. His hope is that before we judge others we do an accounting of our own sin and avoid walking down the road of judgment. God says judgment is mine, I will replay. Judge not, lest ye be judged.
The Good News is that our judge is also our Savior. The one who condemns her also takes our punishment onto himself. We resist sin.
Indeed we should because sin destroys the relations of love we have with one another and with God. Jesus reminds the Pharisee Simon, that God isn’t interested in us taking the judgment seat and looking down on others. No, God’s fundamental goal is to restore all things and all people to their purpose – which is living a life in harmony with what he wants for all of us – a life of charitable love and compassion.
Whom do you judge? The lessons today invite us to see beyond the gross sins of these sinners and at the very least pray for them. As good returns good for evil, so God also wants us to return good for evil. Recalling that we, too, are always included in the category “sinner” makes our show of compassion easier to do.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen
Who We Are