A few
points to remember as we consider the passage we heard read this morning:
·
it
was usual during war time for the King to be with his troops, not comfortable
at home.[i]
·
Bathsheba
was considered property. Any crime was committed against her husband, the theft
and misuse of his property, rather than a crime against Bathsheba.
The
part of the reading that we skipped over this morning, is where David tries to
cover his tracks by having Uriah come home from the battle, so that the child
might be considered Uriah’s, but…
Uriah
stayed outside,
“The sacred chest and the armies of Israel and Judah are
camping out somewhere in the fields with our commander Joab and his
officers and troops. Do you really think I would go home to eat and drink and
sleep with my wife? I swear by your life that I would not!” [2 Samuel 11:11]
Uriah
did what was expected while his comrades were at war, he slept outside. Note
also that Uriah is named as a Hittite, not even a Jew, yet he is living within
the norms of the community.
David
tries to get Uriah drunk in the hope he will forget the protocol and go home to
his wife. When that doesn’t work, David sends orders for the commander of the
battle to put Uriah at the front of the battle, so he might be killed.
My
guess is you are all familiar with the story, it is a blot on David’s story,
one that until now was about David being anointed to be King, rather than his
older brothers, because of his good heart; David killing Goliath – victory over
immense odds due to trust in God; David becoming King after Saul’s downfall.
Then this??
Bathsheba
is doing what was required by the law, she has no say in what happens to her.
If you are summoned by the King, you go; and who is going to believe you if you
say the King raped you.
Last
week I mentioned that the story of Rahab is in the book of Joshua and she later
appears in the genealogy of Jesus. There are 4 OT women mentioned in the
genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1:
While Tamar, Rahab and Ruth are mentioned by name. this woman is called
the wife of Uriah.
A
few weeks ago we looked at the ten commandments, to me this story shows us
again what happens when we move away from the covenant relationship we have
with God. David saw the woman and wanted her and took her. She was considered
property. Notice how she is referred to - Her
name is Bathsheba. She is the daughter of Eliam, and she is the wife of Uriah
the Hittite.
David
coveted another man’s wife
David
took another man’s life
David
took another man’s wife
After
the David and Bathsheba, and David and Uriah stories, we hear from Nathan, a
prophet sent to David by God.
Nathan
doesn’t go and tell David he has sinned
Nathan
doesn’t go and yell and scream at David
Nathan
calmly tells David a story - a parable
If he had
confronted David about his behaviour, I suspect the response would have been
very different. Often, we are moved by a story, or an experience, more than by
the harsh reality of the effect of our behaviour. We all need Nathans in our life.
We all need someone who will hold a mirror up to us and show us what we are
really like, to call out our bad behaviour.
Who
does God use to challenge you?
Who
holds up a mirror to you?
We
all need people like Nathan in our lives.
The Royal
Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has held up a
mirror to the churches and other institutions with the care of children.
Through the Royal Commission we have heard of horrific abuse of children, which
has had long lasting consequences for the victims and their families. We have
also seen and heard about the poor response of organisations. Churches where
the perpetrators were moved to a different Parish or school, or children who
were punished for speaking out about abuse rather than perpetrators being held
to account.
The full
effects of the Royal Commission are yet to be seen.
As a
denomination the Uniting Church, along with other churches, continues to look
at ways to encourage safe church practices. Some of that is training for lay
people in leadership roles and people who work with children. Things like Safe
Place training and the State Government required Working with Children Checks.
Ministers
also complete Safe Church training and WWCC, but also twice-yearly Ethics
conversations and regular professional supervision. We also work under a Code
of Ethics[ii].
If you want
to know more, I can show you the Code of Ethics for ministers.
There is
also a code of conduct for lay leaders and members of the Church.
Yesterday I was at a workshop for
people involved in the three Synod committees that hear complaints against
Ministers – the processes deal complaints of sexual harassment and abuse;
bullying and other behaviour unbecoming a Minister. Such behaviour is not
ignored or accepted
Like
David we need to recognise our sin, corporately and individually. Like David we
need to say, and mean, “I have sinned against the Lord".
We need
to acknowledge and confess our sin. God is always ready to forgive us, but we
need to do the hard work of confession, of seeing ourselves as we really are.
Seeing ourselves as broken people in a broken world. We need to do the hard
work of accepting that some of our choices have negative consequences for other
people.
Confession
is not the end, confession is the beginning. Just as David could not undo murder,
betrayal and sexual abuse; we cannot undo the consequences of sin. That is why
I say confession is a beginning. It is not about us feeling better about
ourselves, but recognising our weakness, and our involvement in inequality and
abuse in the world. Confession signals a change in us, because in confession we
not only acknowledge our wrongdoing, but we commit to live as new people, God's
people.
With
confession comes the awareness of the hurt we have caused others, it hopefully
leads to greater awareness of our behaviour.
And
to greater awareness of people’s pain –
- the pain of
abuse
- of poverty
- of
oppression
- of racism
and sexism
- the pain of
exclusion
How
do we live in ways that gives life and hope to all people?
How
do we live as people of the living God, of the resurrected Jesus?
[i]
http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=599
[ii]
https://assembly.uca.org.au/images/stories/Regulations/2012/A5_-Code_of_Ethics-2010-UPDATED-and-_CORRECTED-2012.pdf
