A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .

DAVID'S SIN

2 Samuel 11:1-27, Preached at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, September 16, 2007

Once a young soldier was traveling through the countryside, when he stopped to rest his horse in a small hamlet. Walking about, he spied a wood fence, and on the wood fence were some forty small, chalk circles, and right in the center of each was a bullet hole. What incredible accuracy, the soldier thought as he examined the fence. There isn’t a single shot that has failed to hit the bulls-eye. The soldier set out to discover the identity of the sharpshooter and was told it was a young boy. “Who taught you to shoot so well?” “I taught myself,” the boy replied. Not yet satisfied, the soldier pressed further, “To what do you attribute your great skill?” “Actually, it isn’t very difficult. First I shoot at the fence, and then,” said the boy, “I take a piece of chalk and draw circles around the holes.” If only life could be that simple.

Our text this morning is about drawing a circle around a really bad shot, and still not being able to make things right. David, in fact, ended up making it worse with premeditated murder. Now David may be an extreme example, an intensified example because of the power and possibilities that lay at his disposal, but this is still the rather simple matter of sin, an act of disobedience that he came to regret with bitter tears and prayers. And sin is not what other people do; it’s what we all do.

This is the perspective we should take toward this story; not that David was a jerk, and then occupy the high and distant judgmental seat. No, no, we should pull up the seat close as we can to the fire, the seat of an interested party trying to learn from another person’s mistakes.

This reminds me of the story about the minister who told his congregation, "Next week I plan to preach about the sin of lying. To help you understand my sermon, I want you all to read Mark, chapter 17." The following Sunday, as he stool in the pulpit to deliver his sermon, he asked for everyone who had read chapter 17 to raise their hands. Just about every hand went up. The minister smiled and said, "Mark has only sixteen chapters. I will now proceed with my sermon on the sin of lying." Now I’m sure that wouldn’t happen here, but…. Remember, this is David, the only person ever cited in the Bible as a man after God’s own heart. This is David, whose biography occupies sixty-two chapters of the Old Testament, and no less than fifty-nine references of the New Testament have us take note of him—more by far than any other biblical character. So if David fell, the way is open for all. As Scripture says: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” 1Cor.10:12 So stay humble. Fear your failings and their effects, which are different than our failures. Nobody is immune to God’s moral laws and the results that will inevitably follow from violating them. Like the great seventies TV show Baretta sang, “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.”

What we want to see this morning is that choosing sin, even in the heat of passion, leads us down the wrong path to face some harsh consequences.

The fact is if we do not flee from temptation we will be caught in its snare. When God has evaporated and become unreal, and all that seems real is what our passion-filled mind desires, we will eventually reap what we have sown. The only sure defense is to flee, to take flight. Don’t resist. Don’t fight. For great is that power that we are facing, and greater by far than is ours. God doesn’t mind a coward when it comes to this fight. For in all of creation there is only one who is stronger, and that is Christ Jesus. So put aside your pride. Come down off the pedestal; after all, the higher we climb the farther will we fall.

Now at this point in his life, David is about fifty years old. He has been on the throne for some twenty years. He was a hero when he slayed Goliath, a man of God when he survived Saul’s pursuit and wrote many psalms, ruthless yet merciful as an outlaw leader, a king who brought true worship back to all of Israel, and a ruler of compassion and loyalty to one of the least of his kingdom, the son of his deceased best friend, Jonathon. David is in his prime. He will reign twenty more years. But they will be far different than these past twenty years. The reason will be highlighted in the choices he makes toward Bathsheba and Uriah. Although he will receive God’s forgiveness, the consequences of his sinful choices will bear fruit for the rest of his life, mostly for bad, but fortunately, in Solomon for good.

 God is good, all the time, even when we fail. Not only does God love us enough to forgive us, when we repent, but from the ashes we can rise to a new life. Look, God created us all from dirt, as Scripture declares, in Adam, so when we hit rock bottom morally and spiritually, we are not beyond God’s capacity for creation. Don’t ever give up on yourself. God has an infinite number of starting points for you. Nobody passes beyond the pale of God’s power to redeem and restore. As Scripture says, “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak….” Ez. 34:16a There are some sitting here, and in every church, who have been pulled back from the edge. God’s Spirit took control of your life and heart. You finally agreed to agree with the Lord, and what a wonderful difference it has made. By grace we are all saved through faith, not by our own doing, but this is the gift of God. Thanks be to God.

David had a choice that late afternoon as he stood on the veranda of his palace and watched Bathsheba bathing. He had a choice between good and evil. He could have sent for one of his wives. Instead, David chose to do what he knew to be wrong and ordered Bathsheba be brought to his room. Bathsheba becomes pregnant. David tries to cover it up by bringing her husband back from the battlefield, but his plan failed. And then things really get sticky. It is one thing to be overwhelmed by desire. It is another to let go of the reins of character. David plots the perfect murder. He assigns Uriah to the front lines. He places him in a situation where Uriah will be killed, and is killed. After this, Bathsheba becomes his wife. So David’s affair leads him to murder, and then his life starts to unfold. The child of that illicit affair is born, but soon dies. David’s eldest son, Amnon, learns from his father to take what he wants and rapes his half-sister, Tamar. This leads to another son, Absalom, to murder Amnon for the shame he brought Tamar. Later, Absalom leads a rebellion against David and Absalom is killed in the battle. There is no soap opera on television that is filled with more intrigue and tragedy. The choices which we make between right and wrong have an influence for good or evil in the lives of others. A poet expressed this sense of consequences when he wrote: “Disturb a flower and trouble a star.”

Several years ago a man wrote to Ann Landers. His letter contains a lesson to us all. "Dear Ann Landers: Ten years ago I left my wife and four teenagers to marry my secretary with whom I'd been having an affair. I felt I couldn't live without her. When my wife found out about us she went to pieces. We were divorced. My wife went to work, and did a good job educating the boys. I gave her the house and part of my retirement fund. I am fairly happy in my second marriage, but I'm beginning to see things in a different light. It hit me when I was a guest at our eldest son's wedding. That's all I was a guest. I am no longer considered part of the family. My first wife knew everyone present, and they showered her with affection. She remarried, and her husband has been taken inside the circle that was once ours. They gave the rehearsal dinner, and sat next to my sons and their sweethearts. I was proud to have a young pretty wife at my side. But it didn't make up for the pain when I realized that my children no longer love me. They treated me with courtesy, but there was no affection or real caring. I miss my sons, especially around holiday time. I am going to try to build some bridges, but the prospects don't look very promising after being out of their lives for 10 years. It is going to be difficult re-entering now that they have a step-dad they like. I'm writing in the hope that others will consider the ramifications before they jump. SECOND THOUGHTS IN P.A."

"DEAR SECOND THOUGHTS: I could use the rest of this column to reflect on 'sowing and reaping,' but it would serve no useful purpose. I'm sure you also know that a father can't disappear for 10 years and expect his sons to welcome him back with open arms. Sorry, Mister, your wife has earned their respect and devotion, and what's left over is going to the man who is now making their mother happy."

Can we experience forgiveness for our sin? Of course, we can. God is gracious and compassionate. God is ever eager to remove His children's sins and to heal our lives. Can we undo the wrong we have done and put our lives whole once more? That is a more difficult assignment. When we break the laws of God, we not only hurt ourselves. Often we end up hurting those we love most. In human relationships there will always be people who are maimed because someone they loved did not keep their promise. We ought to make every effort to help others be free of their pain, especially when it comes because of something we have done. Make amends. Seek forgiveness. Give aid to the part of the person who wants to be reconciled. Make it easy, so far as it is in your power, for that to happen. You may have to give some blood, sweat and tears, but this is only to balance blood for blood and sweat for sweat and tears for tears. Remember, we were redeemed for a price, the cost being Christ’s blood, which cleanses us from all sin. 1 Jn. 1:7

Now of course, there are some people who make this work easier than others. Judi was walking by the jewelry store one day in the midtown mall. She saw a diamond bracelet she really liked. In the store she went. "Excuse me," she said to the saleslady behind the counter, "Will a small deposit hold that bracelet until my husband does something unforgivable?"

In several Psalms, David wrote of his pain and his need for God to forgive him. When he refused to acknowledge his wrong-doing, he was tormented, “my body wasted away.” He felt God’s hand heavy upon him, and his “strength was dried up as by the heat of the summer.” But this is what David did. He acknowledged his sin to God, and he stopped hiding from his wrongs. He was forgiven. Likewise, we ought to confess our transgressions. Let us admit to God where we have done wrong, for there is mercy and kindness, forgiveness and grace with the Lord our God. If you are weary in heart, confess and the Lord will strengthen you. If you are wounded in spirit, pray to God, and the Lord will heal you. We are made to stand, and not to fall.

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