TEXT: 2 Samuel 11:25-12:13

2 Samuel 11:25-12:1325 David said to the messenger, "Thus you shall say to Joab, 'Do not let this matter trouble you, for the sword devours now one and now another; press your attack on the city, and overthrow it.' And encourage him."26 When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him.27 When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son.1 But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord, and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, "There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds;3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him.4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him."5 Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die;6 he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity."7 Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul;8 I gave you your master's house, and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more.9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.11 Thus says the Lord: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun.12 For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun."13 David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan said to David, "Now the LORD has put away your sin; you shall not die.

Psalm 51:1-121 Have mercy on me, O God,according to your steadfast love;according to your abundant mercyblot out my transgressions.2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions,and my sin is ever before me.4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned,and done what is evil in your sight,so that you are justified in your sentenceand blameless when you pass judgment.5 Indeed, I was born guilty,a sinner when my mother conceived me. 6 You desire truth in the inward being;therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.8 Let me hear joy and gladness;let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.9 Hide your face from my sins,and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,and put a new and right spirit within me.11 Do not cast me away from your presence,and do not take your holy spirit from me.12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,and sustain in me a willing spirit. Ephesians 4:1-161 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called,2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift.8 Therefore it is said,"When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive;he gave gifts to his people."9 (When it says, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.)11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.

"INTERPRETING LIFE AS ACHIEVEMENT OR GIFT"

TEXT: 2 Samuel 11:25-12:13

When I hit the ripe old age of forty a number of years ago I joined a men's group, a glorified group counseling session to be honest with you, in which we spent a great deal of time dissecting the male psyche. Joseph Campbell and his work with mythologies was all the rage at the time, and thus we really dug into the myth of Iron John as an analogy for male. I noted to the group at the time that for me the tale of King David had much the same kind of developmental impact on my personal self-understanding.

As I have journeyed through those fabled mid-life years, King David and I have become quite good friends. While in terms of "life position" or "socio-economic status" we have absolutely nothing in common, it has been impossible for me to read the biblical account of his life without noting far too many similarities between us. Let me hasten to add that the similarities are not found in the adulterous affair, murder plot and political cover up perpetuated by King David, nor is it in my thinking of myself as a King. But none the less the similarities are there and they are strong between our stories, and I trust that as I share with you some of my reflections as I exit mid-life you will find yourself in the story as well.

First let me note that so-called "Mid-life" is a funny stage to find oneself in. In our younger years we struggled trying to decide what we would be when we grew up. Then we planned and studied and labored to make it happen. And then we hit the so-called "middle years"-middle age-only to wrestle with the results of all that planning, studying and laboring. Middle age-those magic years when we tend to look back-to evaluate whether it has been worth it. For many it has been a time of making strategic--and at times major--changes in career direction. For some, its the time of breaking loose from all the restraints that had focused their lives to that point. For some, it is a time of putting life into coast. For some it's the time for wild flings, for breaking marriage covenants. For some it's the time of tasting much of what one has denied oneself to that point-second childhood, or second teen years.

Yet for others it is a time for grabbing for more. Mid-life for me has held elements of all the above to one degree or another.

"Achievement" is a key word for many of us when we reach mid-life.

Time of missed opportunities, of choices made, of "what might have been" but also a time of trying to make oneself feel better

A time for some to began to feel or think of what they are and how they have arrived at their place of importance.

A time when we review our story.

The story of King David is one of mid-life. (tell it quick!)

David had sinned, and done it good. His tracks were covered as best they could have been. He was home free and no one was the wiser. Or so he thought!
"You are the man!"
His story was confronted by God's story.

"Gift", not achievement, is the main topic laid on the table when it is God's turn to talk. The speech is rehearsal of past graciousness. All that David has: his kingdom, his domestic bliss, all have come as gift. What David thought of as his autonomous achievement is, in reality, gift

The word from God was one recounting God's gracious gifts to David. David's forgiveness granted again as a gift. He would still have to face the fallout from his sin, but he was forgiven.

Mid-life is a time to reflect on God's gracious gifts

The thing that enrages the Lord is how David has abused the gifts.

David was seduced, not by Bethsheba, but by the royal lie that he was so smart, so powerful, so free, and accountable to no one.

There is no attempt here to sort out the personal from the political, the subjective from the social…. Sin is of one piece, so much so that the story sees David's lust as somehow tied to his politics, his use of Bathsheba as somehow linked to his use of Israel. We have seen it in our own day-in the White House, the investment house, the penthouse, and our house.

When David finally says "I have sinned," truth arises not from what Immanuel Kant would have called the "realization of self-evident moral law" or Joseph Campbell would label the actualization of mythic Iron Man's freedom nor does it arise from a possibly neurotic exercise of self-scrutiny such as I personally am prone to do. "I have sinned" arises out of a clash of stories.

Having been caught red-handed, trapped, one might think this is the end for David. Here we have David's swift, outright confession followed by the prophet's swift, outright pronouncement "Now the Lord has put away your sin."

The prophet's counter story has evoked a new David (or is it the old David in the best sense of the designation?) who is yet able to submit, to admit to the truth of God's account of things. Our story reads "achievement" by "autonomy," "freedom," "fulfillment of desire." God's story says "Gift," "Covenant," "Responsibility."

In retrospect, perhaps David's sin is his futile, petty attempt to live as if he had no story, as if he were not already spoken for by God.

Which means that you, like David, when exposed to the right Bible story, on the right day, are subject to great forgiveness.

Issue is not so much what you have done (and the good Lord knows most of us have our own private confessional diaries that we would be hard pressed to reveal to anyone other than God)-but rather what are you going to do about what you have done-and what you are going to do once you remember what God has done.

Did you here Paul's word to the church at Ephesus and by spiritual extension to all Christians through the ages, even to us, about giftedness. Listen to them again:

I … beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

And then he enumerates a few of the gifts which God has given to us.

Like David, I am a gifted person. Each of you is a gifted person. We are gifted people. Oh, in our times of smugness, we may think that we are self-made people. Yes, we have used the gifts which we have been given to shape and mold who we have become, but when all is said and done, we are the recipients of God's blessings, of God's gifts.

When we look at life from mid-life, perhaps the real question which me must face in the mirror of God's story is what have we done with that giftedness. We hunger for life. We thirst for the gusto. But first, we must confess our self-will to receive God's will for us.

Bread of life available

Invitation to the Lord's Table

So when the church spreads its eucharistic banquet, take this tale as your invitation to the Lord's Table. This meal is for sinners, only us sinners need partake.

God's story holds that harsh mirror called "Truth" before us, and we hear sin, condemnation, and death

To come to church all dressed up, polished, pure, good. To be told a story about someone else only to have the story turn on you. "Thou art the man!"

And then God offers a gift-the gift of life-the very Bread of life.

In this bread, says today's gospel text-this sometimes hard, crusty, difficult to swallow bread, this bread of truth which is Christ-is our life.

PASTORAL PRAYER:
God of love, fountain of prayer, we confess that our silence is noisy, our minds filled with distracting chatter, our thoughts focused on problems, and our eyes bombarded with temptations. How hard we find it to be still and rest in your holy and healing presence. And how hard we make it by driving ourselves to busyness and fatigue. God of love, usher us into your holy presence. Teach us the words to pray and the silences to keep. Refashion our days and hours so we may always walk in constant thanksgiving of your amazing grace.

Our times are in your hand. We say the words, we sing the words, but we don't hear the words. If we truly embraced them, O God, we would be forced to face the disparity between our actions and the words. Too often we meander aimlessly to do "good works" in your name irrespective of your wishes, your desires and your kingdom plans. Draw us back to the secret place beneath the shadow of your wings, where you reveal your truth before those who become still and call upon your holy name.

We bring before you this morning our corporate concerns for those persons and situations that we have both listed and heard. {Name them}

We, also, lay before you the concerns that are found in the silent recesses of our hearts and minds. {Silence and then…}

Amen

BENEDICTION:
We put ourselves under your orders today, Lord Jesus.
As we leave this place and go to work, let us do everything in obedience to you and for the glory of your name,
knowing that nothing is too slight or out of the way to be used for your glory.
Amen. (adapted from prayer by Eugene Peterson)