The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY (Retired)
Today's readings give us almost an embarrassment of riches...many, many
themes to think about and pray about. The overwhelming theme, however, is that
of God's, and Jesus', great love for us, and how we respond to that love.
We begin with the story of King David's great sin...or rather, sins...from
the second book of Samuel. It's a well-known story and we might be tempted to
deal with it quickly by pointing out that even kings do wrong once in awhile.
But there is far more than that to be learned from a careful reading, so let's
get down to it.
You notice that we are first told that David had stayed at home in his palace
instead of going out to war with his army. That was really shocking. David had
been chosen king partly because he was such an excellent leader of the army, to
begin with. Then, at that time and in that culture, kings always
led their armies into battle. For the Hebrew people, the king always led his
army, and marched at the head of that army, with the Ark of God, that contained
the tablets of the Commandments, accompanying him; this meant to the people that
the king chosen by God, with all God's power and promises, led them into battle,
and so they could not possibly be defeated...who is stronger than God, after
all? For David to stay home would be seen as failing in his duty, and would have
done tremendous damage to the morale of the army and the nation.
Then we are told that David strolled in the pleasant weather on the roof of
his palace, and happened to notice a beautiful woman bathing. She was most
likely bathing in the courtyard or on the roof of her own house, and that was
the custom. Roofs in Palestine were, and still are, flat for the most part. They
have little rain, and the flat roof is used as living space or storage space.
There will be an enclosure, like a roofless shed, for privacy in bathing, and
harvested crops or unused furniture may be piled on the roof. Families will
lounge on the roof to enjoy the cool of the evening and catch the breeze off the
sea or the hills. Bathsheba was not immodest; she would be bathing in her
enclosure, and the only reason that David could see her was that he was on a
higher roof, his palace roof, instead of being off at war where he should have
been. She probably was not aware that she was being watched at all.
Well, David was very taken with her beauty, and sent someone to bring her to
the palace. Women at that time were treated like property, and she would have
had no choice but to go when the king's servant commanded her to do so. Later,
she apparently returned home.
Some weeks later she discovered that she was pregnant, and informed the king.
Now, he had to figure out how to cover up what had happened. So he sent for her
husband, Uriah, who was a Hittite...not a native-born Israelite. Uriah was with
the army in the field.
Uriah arrived, and reported to the king, who questioned him about the
progress of the war. Then David dismissed him, telling him to go home, and
sending along with him a basket of food. The idea was that Uriah and his wife
would have a good dinner and a night alone together before Uriah had to return
to the army. Hopefully, David thought, the child would be taken to be Uriah's.
But David did not know that Uriah was a God-fearing man. The book of
Leviticus says that soldiers going into battle must purify themselves, and avoid
relations with women prior to going to war. Uriah was mindful of these laws, and
so he slept in the guard room of the palace instead of going home to be with
Bathsheba. When David found this out, he was very worried. His plan had failed.
So he wrote a note to the commander of the army, telling him to put Uriah in the
position of greatest danger so that he would be killed. He sealed the note with
his ring, and sent Uriah, carrying his own death sentence, back to the army. Of
course this amounted to arranging the murder of Uriah...which promptly happened.
What all this amounted to was that King David had first failed in his duty as
king, to lead the army; and then, he had used his royal powers for his own
profit, which is of course a crime. That kind of thing is still going on, as we
all know...it's in the papers all the time, from treasurers who embezzle from
their company up to presidents who feel they are above the law. Then he had
committed adultery with a married woman, a crime which could have resulted in
both David and Bathsheba being stoned to death. We don't know if he had forced
her to cooperate, which would have amounted to rape, or if she had come
willingly, but what choice did a foreign woman have when ordered by a king? And
finally he had plotted and ordered a cold-blooded murder to cover up the
adultery.
Although it is not part of today's reading, we are told later in this chapter
that Nathan the prophet confronted King David and read him the riot act. And
David confessed, and expressed his contrition and remorse. The religion of
ancient Israel encouraged public confession and public sacrifices in the Temple
as a way of showing repentance. We also have David's Psalm 14, which is David's
own meditation on his actions. We note that sin is really a statement that we do
not think that God has the power or the right to tell us what to do...and when
we learn differently, and learn that we are accountable, it brings us tremendous
guilt and pain.
The letter of Paul to the church in Ephesus tells us how much God loves us,
how willing God is to forgive us all our wrongdoing and restore us to his favor
and love, if we repent. This is what God did for David, as we know from the rest
of the chapter in Samuel. But it is true for us, today, too. Forgiveness might
as well be God's middle name, you know. There is nothing God will not forgive,
if we are honestly sorry for our misdoings.
The story of the feeding of the five thousand is yet another proclamation of
God's immeasurable love. John tells us that Jesus saw the people and was filled
with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
Compassion comes from two Latin words that mean to suffer with,
or alongside. And so Jesus, in his role as shepherd of the people,
relieved their suffering by providing for their greatest need...food. He had, of
course, been feeding them with the Word of God all day, so both their bodies and
their spirits were fed, through God's great love and tenderness for his
people...for you and me.
One thing we might want to do, after thinking over these readings, is to
simply confess to God our own sins and failings. Forgiveness is sure, if we
confess and sorrow for our sins. Another thing we might want to do is to pray
for those who misuse their powers or authority, and ask God to guide them to a
more righteous use of the power and authority that they have been given. And,
perhaps, we should give some thought to how our own society and our own church
treat sinners...do we look down our noses at them, and brush them off, or do we
help them repent and confess, and restore them to fellowship? That, I think, is
part of our obligation to God and to each other, to bring sinners back into the
confidence of God's love. Amen.
