We need a little back story to set the stage for what’s going on in the first reading. In Samuel's old age, he appoints his sons as judges, but they are unworthy, and so the people clamor for a king.
God tells Samuel to anoint David of Bethlehem as king. Saul's son and heir Jonathan befriends David and recognizes him as rightful king. Saul plots David's death, but David flees into the wilderness, where he becomes a champion of the Hebrews. David joins the Philistines, but continues secretly to champion his own people, until Saul and Jonathan are killed in battle.
The elders of Judah anointed David as king, but in the north Saul's son Ishbaal rules over the northern tribes. After a long war Ishbaal is murdered. David is then anointed King of all Israel. David captures Jerusalem and brings the Ark there. David wishes to build a temple, but the Prophet Nathan tells him that one of David's sons will be the one to build the temple.
Much of what is included in Book of Samuel is not a particularly pretty story. David eventually commits adultery with Bathsheba and plots the death of her husband Uriah
In today’s episode, David faces the consequences. God sends the prophet Nathan to haul him over the coals. God has looked with favor on David and bestowed many blessings on him; but David has been consumed by the corrupting influences of power.
For the remainder of his reign there are problems: one of his sons rapes one of his daughters, another son kills the first, his favorite son rebels and is killed, until finally only two contenders for the succession remain, one of them Bathsheba's son Solomon. As David lies dying, Bathsheba and Solomon plot Solomon's elevation to the throne.
This all makes the headlines in the today’s tabloids look like a children’s fairy tale. We don’t like to hear stories like these in church. They are too real. We want nice stories that comfort us and give us hope. Yet these stories are our own story—the unfolding of our history as a faith community from the time of our ancestors, the people of Israel. Some of those people did bad things. Some of them, like David, who had a position of power did awful things: deception, betrayal, murder.
We’re neither unfamiliar nor immune to all that. People walk into theaters and nightclubs and churches and schools and shoot and kill unsuspecting adults and children—so many that we’re immune from the shock. Children bring guns to school. People randomly stab innocent folks. Women are raped and sexually harassed.
Politicians embezzle money while some athletic and religious leaders molest children and young adults. People plot against each other and lie and cheat and do all sorts of things to gain and retain power. It’s nasty stuff, sadly, but it’s life.
My brother and sister-in-law are visiting from Delaware and rented a house for a few days in Walnut Beach—just down the street from us. They were going to the Creamery for ice cream on Wednesday night.
There were a few black teens on the corner, going for ice cream as well. A burly white guy came running out of his house and began yelling racial slurs at the kids—you know, that nasty “N” word. Using vile expletives, he told them to get out of his street; they didn’t belong there. Then he told them if they didn’t go he’d kill them. My brother and other witnesses dialed 911; several police officers responded and eventually took him away. He has been charged with four counts, including threatening and a hate crime.
We may never murder or do the evil things that David did nor such a hateful violent thing like that guy in Walnut Beach did but how do we fight against evil like such blatant racism? Remember that in the prayer of confession in our Prayer Book we confess not only what we have done, but what we have failed to do. And we are all at one time or another called to be a “Nathan”—to stand up and say “your behavior is really bad” or “what you are doing is just wrong. Just stop it!”
People do bad things and people in power sometimes do awful things. And we can all be victims of the evildoing of others. People hurt, betray, lie, cheat and even kill—either literally or metaphorically. I think we are experiencing a culture and era of disrespect which can manifest in even little ways like the way some people drive or act out on an airplane or in degrading name calling and labeling.
The good news for us who are willing to recognize our faults and transgressions is that God gives second, third, fourth, and many, many more chances to seek God’s forgiveness, reconcile with those we have harmed, and be restored to the fullness of life that God has intended for us.
In the end, David acknowledges his sin and God forgives him. As does God for us when we ask. And God gives us courage to speak out in the face of bad behavior and blesses us for our chutzpah. And God heals our broken hearts and distressed lives when we have been the brunt of another’s wrongdoing. And that’s the happy ending to the Samuel story.
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