2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a

Click here to view the full sermon video, titled "Is there a Nathan for our time?"

Our story today is a continuation of the story we heard last week. Last Sunday we left off at the point in the story where David is attempting to cover up the harm and chaos he had caused by ordering Uriah to his death on the front lines. Today we pick up only a few verses later, with Bathsheba learning of her husband's death. Last week Matthew talked about realities of living in a world filled with sin and today Nathan and David’s interaction, invites us to talk about why it is important to name and claim the sins in our world. If last week we were talking about the deep pain, and harm sin causes, then this week we are asking the question: Where do we go from here?

There is a children’s book, maybe you have heard of it, maybe you even know it by heart. It is called - We are going on a bear hunt. It’s the story of a family trying to find a bear, and they go through all of these obstacles like tall grasses and mud to find it. and each time they come to a challenge they say: We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it, we can’t go around it… we have to go through it. David really thought he could get around this mess. He truly thought his power and status as king would help him rise above his actions, but what Nathan tells him  is - David, you have to go through this. But Nathan, he doesn’t just come right out and say it - Nathan goes about this in a smart way, he leads David to this moment by telling a story. In some ways the story of Nathan is very different. David’s sin is one of Adultery and murder, while the story Nathan tells is one of economic oppression. It’s a story that is separate enough from David’s own experience that he is able to recognize the sin and harm done, and call it out. And it opens the door for Nathan to call David by saying - You are the man. You have done this same thing in your own way. Nathan is able to help David see the harm caused by his sin, to say you cannot wipe away the pain you have caused. You cannot hide from Your God.  and he opens the door to begin discerning how to move forward. David can’t go over the sin, or go under, or around, David has to go through the pain and suffering his sin has caused.

 When I was growing up the youth choir in my home church used to sing a piece called “Is there a Nathan for our time?” The opening words to the song go, Is there a Nathan for our time, a prophet brave enough to stand against deception and conceit.”The song talks about the importance of prophets to faith traditions as well as in the ancient world. Prophets held a hard position, they were often the ones who God called to speak truth to power. The ones who held their kings and leaders accountable for their actions and often held the tension between the dreams and movement of the Divine and the rulers they shepherded. Prophets are the ones who had to call out the Kings mistakes, and in this case, Nathan has to tell the man who just ordered his own soldiers execution that he has disgraced God, and that he has sinned. Friends, I don’t know about you, but I do not envy Nathan’s job at this moment. And yet Nathan finds a way to help David realize how badly he has screwed up. And then to add icing on the cake, he relays the message that God will handle this in front of Israel, while David tried to cover this up in secret. It’s a blazing reminder that nothing, not even the most fractured sinful parts of creation can be hidden from God. there is no where we can go, there is nothing we can do where God cannot find us. We cannot go around it, we cannot go over it - God will make us go through it.

This story about David and Nathan help us understand why. Recognizing sin, naming where we fall short. Being called in, is not so much about punishment. Rather it is about doing better. We cannot change what we do not claim. We cannot heal what we do not name. We cannot fix what we cannot see as broken, and we cannot be forgiven if we do not believe we have sinned. This is hard and holy work, but as Nathan tells David - it is necessary work. It is a life and death kind of work. It is the work we are called to by the God of Justice. We cannot wipe away the sins of the world. Just like David cannot bring Uriah back from the grave. We cannot erase the damage done to others when we fail to consider the impact of our choices, but we can move through them, we can learn and do better. But we have to be willing and open to hear where we have caused harm.

One of the quotes I live by is from writer and poet Maya Angelou. She writes, “I do the best I can, and then when I know better I do better.” If we are always trying to hide or erase the sins we have perpetuated or the sin that plagues our world, then we will never be able to do better. If we continue to act like they never happen, then we will keep spinning our wheels right where we are. And we know from scripture, from this story - that this denial, this is not of God. This is humanity playing God. And as it is made plain here - this is not something God stands for.

After the story of the rich man and poor shepherd, David is reminded that God has held him, and anointed him, has guided him - and how does David respond in return? He uses his power to act as God himself. In ways that are self serving and harmful to God’s people. and this angers God. Not only because David abused his power, but because then he tried to cover it up. This moment between God and David is a reminder that when we try to forget or cover up our sin, to go around it, to erase it, God teaches us that this only furthers the harm. We have to work through our sin. Grappling with the pain we have caused and navigating how to heal, and giving those harmed the space to heal as well. We know this is what God wants because God says, what you have done concealed, I will do in front of all of Israel. This isn’t all about punishing David, but his actions affect the community. And so the healing and restoration will too.

What a text we have before us, as children and teachers, parents, and principals prepare for their first week of school. It feels daunting to preach this after blessing our bags and celebrating our young people, and all of those who begin this new year. And yet, as I prepare to send my daughter to her second year of school here, I can’t help but reflect on the importance of this passage, the reminder that we cannot outrun what we have done. There is nowhere we can go that God is not. And as Matthew told us last week, God does not want to punish us from our sin - God wants to stop us from destroying ourselves and one another. This passage, while one of Divine Punishment, is also one of awakening. Awakening to the pain we have caused and the pain caused to others. I sat here as my friend called me crying saying that her children were no longer able to learn black history because of new laws in their state. I think of the girl I used to nanny - who watched her friend have her hijab yanked and mocked in the lunchroom. I think of the teenagers I worked with - who were given out of school suspension - because of their tardiness due to working jobs to support their families before coming to school. Sin is not immune from our children’s lives and people like me, like many of us, are the ones whose power in this system perpetuates what does and does not happen. And yet, we can also be like Nathan, and speak up and help our young ones to do the same. Like my friend who when the curriculum tried to erase her people’s history and experience - spoke out to the school board and the ACLU. The girl I nannied stepped between herself and the bullies to protect her friend, and those teenagers who were given suspension organized and worked with school to be given alternatives to being late so that this would not affect their ability to get a high school diploma. We cannot erase the harm done to those on the pages of our history books, but we can stop a little girl from being bullied for who she is and what she believes. We cannot erase the harm done to those in our communities over the centuries, but we can come to terms and see the truth of the violence and oppression pushed on them, and work to create a more just and safe place. There is hope in this text even if it feels heavy and convicting. Because hope doesn’t show up when it's easy - hope comes in the hard places, in the daring to dream the world and our lives into a new way of being. And this David story is one of hope - of willing to say “I have sinned.” To move through this sin, not around us, and to live in a new way, with God, one another and our community. amen.