John 6:56-69 Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

Three ministers gathered at the local coffee shop one morning, and the talk turned to a problem all three of them had in common-bats in their churches. One said, “I just don’t know what to do. I’ve called in exterminators and I’ve had the entire church sprayed, and the bats are still there”. Another minister said, “I know how you feel. I’ve used noisemakers and I’ve filled in all of the holes where they could come in, and the bats are still there”.

The third minister said, “I solved that problem. I baptized them and confirmed them and I haven’t seen them since.”  

When you were children, did you ever play a game called “Follow the Leader”? Well, for those of you who didn’t, or for those of you who have never heard of the game, let me explain how it is played. First, you choose a leader. Then you follow him wherever he goes and do whatever he does. You stomp through puddles, climb over fences, or swing from a tree---all to stay in the game because no one wants to be a quitter.

 

The Gospel passage we heard from John 6:56-69 a few minutes ago is an example of people who did not want to play follow the leader. The passage marks the end of the “bread of life” discourse that we have heard for the last several weeks. Today, it reaches its climax. Jesus tells his followers that if they abide in him-that is, live in him and believe in him-he will always be with them. Jesus is the source of our life and our sustenance. We need to stay connected to him to be fruitful. Just as God gives Jesus life, Jesus in turn gives his followers eternal life if they believe in him.

 The choice to accept Jesus is a difficult one. Godly people will still face difficulties in life, including persecution. God’s ways are not our ways, and that is why the Gospel message is hard to accept. It is costly because in order for us to accept Christ’s death and resurrection as the way to eternal life, we also have to experience our own form of death and resurrection. We have to die to our worldly way of life and rise to a new life in Christ. There are times when our faith in Christ will be harder than we expected. Each of us must answer the question, “Where can we go?” Jesus promises us eternal life. We face troubles in this life here on earth, but they pale in comparison to the joy of Christ revealed in us as mentioned in Romans 8:18.

Worldly life and godly life are always in conflict because they are so different. Worldly life always tempts us with the sinful desires of greed, envy, jealousy, sex, drugs, alcohol and other things. The Christian life calls us to live godly lives now in exchange for a heavenly life later-even if our present worldly life is full of pain and persecution.  

Jesus wasn’t interested in whether he was causing offense or not. That does not mean that he did not care for the people he was talking to. On the contrary, he deeply cared for them. Because he cared for them, he preferred to speak the truth instead of speaking what was pleasing. Jesus wanted his hearers to know that what he is saying is the truth, even though it is hard to hear. In other words, Jesus used tough love, in contrast to some preachers who want to “tickle the ears” of their congregations.

Jesus did not try to talk unwilling disciples into staying with him, nor did he try to make things easier so that they would reconsider their relationship to him. He wants eager followers who understand the cost of following him. The Gospel message is not easy to hear and accept. The church is often tempted to soften the impact of the message by removing the offending parts or by preaching something similar to the Prosperity Gospel. Most people do not want to hear this message because it calls on them to change their way of life. It calls on them to give up the world’s ways in favour of a life that will lead them to heaven. The truth is so confronting and so painful that we are often hell-bent on hanging on to our sinful way of life. That does not mean that everyone will refuse to accept the message. Some, like Peter and the disciples, realize that Jesus is the key to eternal life. In return, he will give us the strength we need to be strong in our walk of faith. That strength will mean taking a stand for Christ and being counted. It will make a difference both in us and in the lives of everyone we come into contact with.

The picture that this portion of John’s Gospel paints is not a pretty one, but it is a realistic one, especially when our Christian walk of faith is difficult. The picture is also one of belief and faith, especially when we keep our eyes on Jesus. It produces love, joy, peace, hope and eternal life.  

The purpose of the Gospel message is not to convince detractors or turn the hearts of rebels. That is the job of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel message is the means by which our hearts respond to God. The disciples who left heard what Jesus said as a threat—a threat to their way of life, their accepted notions and their grip on reality. Those who stayed heard what Jesus said as a challenge to their way of life, their accepted notions and their grip on reality.

The disciples who continued on with Jesus might not have completely understood what he said, just like sometimes we can’t completely understand what he says. We, like the disciples, might not even be completely comfortable with it, but we are intrigued by what he said. In the Bible, faith is a verb. It is an action by which we consent and act. It is also a process. Peter and the others, like us, need it to grow stronger.

If the disciples-the great heroes of the faith-had doubts, it should not be surprising that we will have doubts. What we can do is embrace them and take them to the one best source for answers-Jesus. Jesus provides the spiritual power that we need in our lives. Without it, we will be overwhelmed by the spiritual and mental challenges we will face. We will be too tired to serve in ministry and will be too weak to engage in spiritual warfare.

 If we have faith in Jesus, we have to spread the Good News. We have to be public witnesses for Christ. Sometimes our witness will be in the form of words, but mostly it will take the form of our actions, especially the choices we make in life. If our actions, words and deeds contradict our Christian faith, we are being hypocrites.

 If Jesus walked into your dining room tonight to have dinner with you, how would you answer two questions he might ask?

1.      Are your goals in life God-centered goals?

2.      Are you putting as much energy into loving others as you do in living for yourself?

The Spirit brings forth spiritual fruit in us, equips and deploys us with gifts in service to others, and gives us strength to witness for Christ every day. Our thoughts, feelings, priorities and daily practices are changed to match what Jesus would feel, think and do if he was in our place. We become like Jesus and in turn we love and serve others as Jesus would.

There will be times when our faith is tried and tested. At times like these we must remember that to abandon the faith of Christ will lead to desolation, ruin and death. We must fall back on our personal experience of a living God in which the truth is wrapped up and made flesh for our benefit.  

I’m going to close this message by telling you a story about a little girl named Inga. Inga had two older sisters and the two older sisters were in Girl Scouts. Inga watched her sisters go to Girl Scout meetings and she wished she could go and be a part of that real important stuff that they did. She asked her mother if she could go and her mother said, "But, Inga, you're not old enough to go."  Inga said, "Well, when will I be old enough to go?" And Inga’s mother said, “Soon.” 

Finally the day came and Inga joined Brownies. She got a little brown skirt jumper and a little brown hat with a little brownie and she got little half socks with a little brownie on it. Her mother even bought her some brown shoes and she dressed up and went to her first meeting and it was just wonderful.

Well, much later when she and her mother and father and sister were coming to church, she asked her mother this question: "I heard about belonging to Jesus. How do I know that I belong to Jesus? We don't have a uniform like the Brownies. I know I belong to the Brownies because I have a uniform. How do I know that I belong to Jesus?"

Her mother replied, "Well, where do you go on Sunday morning?" Inga said, "I go to Sunday school to learn about Jesus." 

Her mother continued, "What's that book in your hand?"  Inga said, "It's the Bible and the Bible is the stories of Jesus." 

And her mother said, “How else do you know that you belong to Jesus, Inga? What do we do always before we go to bed?” Inga replied, “We talk to Jesus every night before we got to sleep.” “And Inga, where do we go after Sunday school?” “We go to the big church.”” And what do we do in the big church? We learn about God and we sing about Jesus." 

Then Inga got this big smile on her face and she said, "I belong to Jesus." And her mother said, "That's right."

When we come to the Lord’s Table to take part in Holy Communion, we know that we draw near to Jesus when we eat the bread and drink the wine. We, like Inga and her mother, also understand that Christ lives in us in a new way, and that we abide in Christ and he abides in us. The Holy Spirit gives us the assurance that we are believers. As Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”. Only then can we have the inner conviction and witness of the Holy Spirit that we are children of God.

 Bibliography

 

1.      Stanley, C.F., The Charles F Stanley Life Principles Bible, NASB (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 2009)

2.      Swindoll, Charles; Swindoll’s New Testament Insights on John (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Inc.; 2010)

3.      Exegesis for John 6:56-69. Retrieved from www.sermonwriter.com

4.      The Rev. Dr. David Lose, “Words of Eternal Life”. Retrieved from www.day1.org

5.      Dr. Bill Bright, “A Communist Youth”. Retrieved from Insights_with_Bill_Bright@crosswalkmail.com

6.      Charles H. Spurgeon, “Sustained by Feeding”. Retrieved from www.christianity.com/devotionals/faiths-checkbook-ch-spurgeom

7.      Berni Dymet, “Believe in Which Jesus?” Retrieved from www.christianity.com/devotionals/christianity-works-berni-dymet

8.      Michael Youssef, PhD, “Bearing Fruit”. Retrieved from mydevotional@leadingtheway.org

9.      Greg Laurie, “The Witness of the Holy Spirit”. Retrieved from Greg_Laurie_Daily_Devotions@crosswalkmail.com

10.  T.M. Moore, “The Holy Spirit & Affections”. Retrieved from www.colsoncenter.org

11.  Sergei Sosedkin, “The Right Diet”. Retrieved from today@thisistoday.net

12.  Leslie Snyder, “Where Would I Go?” Retrieved from Homeword@crosswalkmail.com

13.  Christopher J. Harris, “Power Outages”. Retrieved from www.stramingfaith.org

14.  Jude Siciliano, O.P., “First Impressions, 21^st Sunday, (B)”. Retrieved from www.preacherexchange.org

15.  Jim Penner, “Spirit-Filled Living”. Retrieved from positiveminute@hourofpower.cc

16.  The Rev. Beth Quick “Offended”. Retrieved from www.bethquick.com

17.  The Rev. Charles Hoffacker, “The Flesh God Has Married”. Retrieved from www.sermonwwriter.com

18.  Jamieson-Fawcett-Brown Commentary. Part of Lessonmaker 8 Bible software package.

19.  “No Turning Back”. Retrieved from www.sermons4kids.com

20.  Roland McGregor, “Children’s Sermon for Pentecost 13, 8/26/12”. Retrieved from childpage@,cgregorpage.org

 

 

Luke 9:28-36 The Transforming Power of Bloopers

Many of you may remember a TV show called "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes". Well my friends, bloopers have never been limited to television shows. In fact, some of the funniest bloopers have appeared in church bulletins. For example:

1. Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack's sermons.

2. The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on Water". The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus".

3. The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing "Break Forth Into Joy".

The disciples in this morning's Gospel reading this morning also made a BIG blooper, but not on purpose. Peter, James and John were in the presence of God in an extraordinary moment, but they did not see the miraculous-only the mundane. Peter definitely did not get it when he suggested that they stay on the mountain and build shelters for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. He wanted to capture the moment and remain there. He wanted to freeze that one moment in time, but doing so would have shut off the possibility of the next moment.

Jesus, on the other hand, knew that in order to fulfill His destiny, they had to leave and travel the long road to Jerusalem-the road that would eventually lead to His death and resurrection. He was not afraid to talk about his death and resurrection, because they transformed death into victory over sin and the grave, and they also transformed a sinful world into one where salvation and glory are possible. Prayer transforms us. God's grace makes us lively; however, it is a good thing to "go up" to a great experience with God, but we will be very disillusioned if we do not remember that eventually we have to "come down" again. We must always remember that we should not stay up on the mountain so long that we forget what it is like to be in the crowd.

Why did Moses and Elijah appear to Christ on the mountain? Moses represented the Law, and Elijah represented the prophets. Jesus represented the coming together of both the Law and the Prophets into the New Testament. The spotlight moved from Moses and Elijah to Him. He looked beyond His present state to see into change. Jesus had a vision where the saints and liberators of the past came together in Him to empower and strengthen His resolve to open for us a way of salvation.

Jesus also rebuked the disciples' desire to imitate Elijah. God himself tells them to listen to Jesus and not to the heroes of the past. Peter wanted a typical response to their situation. He wanted to build an altar, light candles, burn incense, etc. Peter represents our desire to see everything in the Sacred. The past was symbolically removed when Jesus died, especially when the curtain in the temple was torn in two. Peter's reaction was distorted because he liked being there in the rosy, gilded world of his "natural high". We, on the other hand, can't stay here and sleep. We have a duty to spread the Good News. We need to listen to God and Christ. We need to put our liberator first in our eyes. We need to make sure everything we do, say and think centers on Him. The ancient people saw the world as a thin place where God can enter and speak to them at any time. God was alive and communicated with them. We can still hear and see the divine today. We can experience the holy, receive guidance, intuit wisdom and energy, and channel God's healing energy. Encountering God changes everything and calls us to new behaviours. Unfortunately, we might have to veil our encounters so that others can understand our experiences, much like the cloud on the mountain veiled the disciples from God.

Faith, hope and love are to be earnestly desired, but they are not part of a hierarchy. Moses' faith, Elijah's faith and hopeful vision of a liberated future with love had their day, when the future is now and visions belong only to yesterday. Love will be still be alive, because it never ends or dies. The greatest of these-faith, hope and love-is love. Faith has revealed to us in our transformation love for those who share our journey of faith. Jesus and his disciples were given a vision of the end of their journey. The one who was about to suffer blows and lashes of the whip, the one about to be rejected and abandoned, the one about to be defeated by His enemies, was none other than God's beloved Son. He shared the brightness and glory and very nature of God the Father. After the humiliation, there would be victory. After the cross there would be resurrection. After the defeat, there would be God's victory. Jesus gave the disciples a vision of the end, without which he knew his disciples would not just run out of gas, but give up the journey altogether. It was a brief glimpse of the transcendent, a peek at the reality that lies just beyond everyday life.

Christ's transfiguration marks a change in the focus of Luke's Gospel from Jesus' preparation and ministry to the response of others to that ministry, as well as a shift to a concern with discipleship. The mountain becomes a metaphor for the place to encounter God, where communion with God helps set a direction of action. Prayer becomes a metaphor for Luke. God's voice from the cloud becomes a metaphor for a lack of comprehension of the magnitude of what was happening. Certainly the disciples didn't understand what was going on. The transfiguration marked a shift from adherence just to the Law and the Prophets to adherence to a faith in Christ. We are like the disciples because we too are not sure what to do. We ARE the body of Christ and we are called to move forward as best we can, praying that we are doing God's will.

When we enter into a relationship with God, we realize that our life is not our own. It comes with a price. We learn to imitate Christ and check with the Lord about everything-work, family, vacations, etc.-so He will guide us and enable us to do and say the right thing at the right time. Many of us are like Peter. We want the experience of seeing Christ's glory or goodness, but we need to remember that most of the journey of faith is not lived on the mountaintop but in the valley. We need to taste the future so we can endure anything. If we know that suffering has a limit and a destination, we can endure it.

Our experiences with God and living touched by the Spirit of God give us the power and inspiration to get through difficult times. When we embrace Christ and follow his path, we find our human nature and our divine nature become more and more reconciled. His message is not to worship Him, but to love and serve God with all our heart and all our soul, and with all our mind and with all our strength-just as we are commanded to do in the 1st and Great Commandment. When we hear God, it is important that we do indeed listen to Him. To neglect this command is to sin. Jesus is the promised Messiah and he is granting us a hearing similar to a hearing in court proceedings. If we hear Him, He can work in and through us. Climbing a mountain lifts us above the normal plane of activities to the very presence of God and his views on the matters of life.

To become divine is not to become God, but to remain as human and be transfigured, to be filled with divine light. By God becoming human, He gave us the chance to be transformed and be fulfilled with the divine light. We need to listen to Christ and what He is telling us so we can be transformed by Him. We need a picture of what our lives can be. God has that picture. As the Master Sculptor of our lives, he takes the block of stone called our lives and transforms it into something magnificent. We have to step onto the platform and throw away the stone chips when He cuts them away.

Peter's vision of Christ's transformation from human to divine can shine in our lives also. If we can see Christ in His glory, dying on the cross for our sins, we know the love of God and His saving power and grace. The greatest glory in life is to serve God, since he gave himself to serve us. We assemble here in this church after doing our usual daily things. Here we have the bible explained to us. In a place of worship, through the words of scripture, the words of the liturgy, the words of the hymns, and the Sacraments, the meaning of the events that took place in Jerusalem are made clear to us. Moses and the prophets give witness of the events in Jerusalem, so the crucified Christ is made plain before us. But after the cross lying ahead is the resurrection.

In this worship service we too are beholding a Christ that is shining with the glory of the resurrection. Worship services lift us into another, spirited world. We will be given works to do when we take our position in the spiritual world. That period of time will be better than any other time we have ever had. We are facing a glorious time, just like Jesus did when he was transfigured. The Holy Spirit gives a transfigured person power to do what he or she could not do before. Authority stood on the mountaintop. The same authority and light guides us through and out of whatever wilderness we may be in, whatever horror we face. That same light is the profound blessing of being part of a faith community.

We are the body of Christ and we are called to move forward as best we can, praying we are doing God's will. Jesus saw people as they are, NOT as they appeared. Mahatma Gandhi once said, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world". Jesus lives that out in His life every day and calls us to do the same today. God speaks to all of us and calls to an encounter with Him. Will we heed that call? Not everyone does. An encounter with Christ can "blow us away" and instantly make us into something different.

Jesus didn't fit peoples' expectations. Does He fit our expectations? A better question to ask is do we fit HIS expectations? The temptation is to fit Christ into our expectations, to immobilize Him, to tie Him down and have Him for ourselves. That is the main reason why Peter wanted to stay on the mountain and build the three shelters. Christ will continue to baffle and amaze us. He will never fit the categories we have come up with. While we may know Him, there will always be a sense where He remains a mystery to us.

John 6:35,41-51 Soul Food

John 6:35,41-51 is part of the lengthy “bread of life” discourse in which Jesus shows that he is the only way we can satisfy the hunger we have in our souls. Hunger is a powerful motivator. When we are physically hungry, we get something to eat. When we are spiritually hungry, we look for something to satisfy it. Just like there is physical food that can best be described as junk food, there is also spiritual food that can also be described as junk food. Take, for example, some TV evangelists. I know of one who promotes the physical and material blessings you will receive if you call in and order his prayer handkerchief.

We all suffer from soul hunger. We all hunger for something more in life. Some people try to satisfy their spiritual hunger through beauty, power, prestige, sex, drugs, alcohol or other worldly means. The world’s way is the way to sorrow and despair. You only have to consider what happened to people such as Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, and John Belushi to see what happens when people try to satisfy spiritual hunger by worldly means. Jim Bakker lost his ministry and was sent to prison, Jimmy Swaggart lost his ministry in disgrace and the others died from drug and/or alcohol abuse.

On the other hand, Jesus offers to fill us with his love. Only he can save our souls, change our tomorrows and grant us peace and joy for today. Jesus takes the initiative in our salvation, even if we confess him as our Lord and Saviour. He creates a longing within us. His love and presence and the difficulties he allows to enter into our lives force us to open up to him. Jesus takes the initiative and we choose to cooperate with him. That is the very definition of the Christian life.

God works in us to create spiritual hunger because he loves us and wants us to get to know him and love him in return. He uses the spiritual hunger to convict us of our sin and convince us to turn to him.

There are parallels between the manna God gave to the Israelites in the desert and Jesus. The manna came at night, and Jesus comes into our spiritual darkness. Manna was God’s gift to the Israelites, and Jesus is God’s gift to us. All we have to do is claim it for ourselves, and we will never be spiritually hungry again. The manna from heaven was associated in the minds of the Jews with the giving of divine teaching, and Jesus sees his own teaching as being just as essential as our daily bread.

We need to receive Jesus’ spiritual food on a regular basis, just like the Israelites needed to receive the manna and quail from God every day. Without it, we will always be spiritually hungry. We can’t get enough spiritual food by going to church only at Christmas or Easter or on special occasions such as weddings, funerals, baptisms or confirmations. Our spiritual hunger can only be satisfied by regularly studying God’s Word and applying it to our lives. This means regular attendance at Sunday worship services, including services such as the ones here at Queens Manor.

In order to live with Christ, we have to die to our worldly way of life and take up his life-a life of forgiveness, goodness, trust and service. If we are grounded in Christ’s unconditional love, we are free to lead like Jesus and love and serve others. It will not be easy, but God has drawn us to faith in him, and that faith will sustain us.

 Bibliography

1.      Stanley, C.F.; The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, NASB (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.; 2009)

2.      The Rev. Ken Klaus, “Bread of Life”. Retrieved from www.lhm.org

3.      Steve Arterburn, “Soul Hunger”. Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com

4.      Online Devotional-Day 167. Retrieved from www.leadlikejesus.com

5.      Billy Graham, “How Do I Begin to Give God a Chance?” Retrieved from www.arcamax.com/news/billygraham/s-533004-396571

6.      Billy Graham, “Who or What is the Holy Spirit?” Retrieved from www.arcamax.com/news/billygraham/s-841447-120453

7.      Dr. Ed Young, “A Daily Word” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com

8.      Jude Siciliano, O.P., “First Impressions, 19^th Sunday (B)”. Retrieved from www.preacherexchange.org.

9.      Matthew Henry Concise Commentary. Part of Lessonmaker Bible software package.

10.  John Kenrick, O.P., “Do Not Waver, Hold Fast”. Retrieved from http://torch.op.org/preaching_sermon_item.php?sermon=5697

2 Samuel 11:26-12:13, John 6:24-35 God Sees All and Knows All, Especially Our Hunger

There is a program on the Investigation Discovery Channel called “I Almost Got Away with It”. The story of David and Bathsheba would be a perfect one for that show, especially the part where the prophet Nathan confronts David. David thought that he had committed the perfect crime by having an affair with Bathsheba and covering it up by killing her husband. Unfortunately, he was caught by the one true, perfect, all-seeing and all-knowing God. David forgot that God sees everything that his people do. It reminds me of the line from the Christmas song “Santa Clause Comes to Town” that goes like this:

 He sees you when you’re sleeping

He knows when you’re awake

He knows when you’ve been bad or good

So be good for goodness sake.

This passage deals with the ethical and moral failings that have plagued Christians throughout history. Greed and selfishness cause believers to do whatever it takes to get something that they want. Believers and non-believers have to accept the consequences of their actions.

The world has no sympathy for honesty these days. Sure, people give it lip service, and we tell our children to be honest, but if we stop and think about it, many of us would rather have our children be shrewd than honest. We teach them to be suspicious, to protect themselves and to ward off people like the typical used car salesman or politicians.  

The story tells us about ourselves and our sinful nature, how we covet what is not ours, and how we often try to cover up our sins. Our sinful nature often causes us to forget who we are and who we are supposed to be. Our sins cause us to discover our true nature, and it is far from what we imagine ourselves to be.

We, like David, are not perfect. We often sin and either try to cover it up or think that our sin will not be discovered. We need to remember that God sees all and knows all-including our sins. God’s Word presents people as they are, not as later writers wish they would have been. To quote Numbers 32:23, “…be sure that your sin will find you out”. Evangelist Jimmy Swaggart’s fall from grace is a good example. He had it all--fame, fortune and a successful ministry—but one moment of indiscretion with a prostitute hurt him. His confession to God even made it into the video for the song “American Dream” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in 1988. It follows the line “Now you think about reaching out, maybe get some help from above”, which is repeated twice. He might have thought that he could get away with it, but he got caught. As another verse of the same song goes:

 Reporters crowd around your house

Going through your garbage like a pack of hounds

Speculating what they might find out

It don’t matter now

You’re all washed up

In fact, it was only a few years later, when he got caught with a prostitute again, that he and his ministry were washed up for good.

Another example involves our own ‘local’ evangelist, the late Pastor Perry F. Rockwood, and it was told to me by my own brother. My brother used to work in the Engineering Department of several Halifax radio stations. One day several years ago my brother and his boss were asked to go to Perry’s recording studio to repair some equipment. After they were finished, my brother’s boss gave Perry the bill. He did not want to pay it, stating that the work should have been done for free because his programs aired on the particular station that my brother worked for at the time. The boss explained why they couldn’t do the work for free, so Perry went to a table in the same room, started opening the mail that was on the table, took a fistful of cheques (without even bothering to record who they were from and the amounts), gave them to the boss, and said, “Here, take these!!!!”  

Nathan used the story as a case for David to judge. In Nathan’s story, the traveler represents David’s lust, and the lamb is Bathsheba. The story itself represents the commandments David broke-the ones regarding adultery, murder and coveting. It makes the point that no one can misuse God-given authority and power for selfish ends.

Nathan rebuked David, but he did so indirectly through the story he told. Nathan used a story that reminded David of his youth to break through David’s resistance and bring him to a place of true repentance. We do not have to go looking for other people’s faults or sins, but sometimes we can’t ignore them. Like Nathan, we must correct others in love with the hope of restoring them, and an approach bathed in prayer and led by the Spirit will accomplish more than our own self-righteous arguments even can.

Jesus outlined a good approach to use when correcting sinners in Matthew 18:15-17:

1.      Confront the sinner in private. If he/she listens to you, great!

2.      If the sinner does not listen to you, go with two or three others and confront him/her. Two or more witnesses will be able to back up what happens.

3.      If the sinner refuses to listen to you and the witnesses, bring it before the church.

4.      If the sinner refuses to listen to the church, he/she is to be removed from the church.

David “saw the light” when he was confronted with his sins. The enormity of his crimes and the condemnation by Nathan represent conviction by both the earthly judge Nathan and the heavenly judge God. You might be thinking that if it says in the Bible, “Judge not lest ye be judged”, Nathan broke this commandment. You must remember though that Nathan was an agent of God, and God is the one who judges people either directly or through people such as Nathan or other good Christians.

The story of David, Bathsheba and Nathan reflects the battle between our struggle to live the Christian life and the earthly life that constantly tempts us. This conflict reminds us of our constant need for grace and forgiveness. We, like David, are only human. There will be times when we will stumble and fall in our Christian walk. We gain insight into our weaknesses so that we can improve our control over our weaknesses.  

The story also reflects a sense of entitlement. Here was David, the boy who became king, who had more opportunity and power than anyone could imagine, and had everything he wanted. He had a sense of being entitled to privileges. This sense of entitlement led him to give in to temptation. Unfortunately, the situation still exists today. For example, some experts claim that the current recession was caused by corporate greed-greed that led American banks to make mortgages available to people who could not afford them. The result was the failure of several American banks, and like the old saying goes, “When America sneezes, Canada catches the cold”. American politicians told the banks that what they did was wrong, just like Nathan told David that what he did was wrong.

We must be careful that we do not fall into an attitude of self-indulgence. We must also keep as far away from evil as possible. Evil and sin diminish the respect others have for us, weaken our authority and cause unnecessary headaches.

We need more people like Nathan today-people who are not afraid to tell us what we need to hear. We need more people who will tell us the truth no matter how hard it is to say or hear. Nathan and people like him are motivated to speak the truth because the holiness and beauty of God are offended by the wickedness of sinful people. Sin is the great problem keeping people from the knowledge of God. Even when people shrug their shoulders and say, “Everyone else is doing it”, we must stand firm and say that this is wrong. When sin is public, visible to all and scandalous, those who know this have a duty to speak up and use words of strong condemnation. The word of forgiveness follows quickly when we admit out guilt. God’s forgiveness and abundant mercy are now available through Jesus.  

This story is also an example of our hunger. We are hungry for control of our lives. We are hungry for a world that is not controlled by sin and our sinful human natures. We often try to satisfy that hunger with material goods, alcohol, drugs or sex (like David did). The only way that our hunger can truly be satisfied is by the true bread of life-that is, our faith in Jesus. Jesus said in John 6:51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If a man eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world”. Just like the 5,000 people were still hungry after Jesus miraculously fed them with the five barley loaves and two fish, we will still be hungry if we try to satisfy our hunger in the way the world wants us to satisfy it.

This story is not about sin as much as it is about forgiveness. When David was confronted with his sin, he repented and was restored by God-even though he still had to accept the consequences of his actions. It is better for us to confess our sins before we are forced to do so by getting caught. When we do, the burden of guilt will not be able to limit our spiritual growth and our worship and prayers will not be hindered.

We also need to repent of our sins so we can be restored by God, but we must also be prepared to accept the consequences of our sins. God’s anger toward sin is righteous anger. God will not let sin go unpunished. It is this righteous anger that leads to restoring our relationship with God. God cares about how we live our lives. If we show contempt for God’s law, we will be punished. God does not take our actions lightly, but if we deal with our sin genuinely, openly and immediately, God will lessen the severity of our discipline

We often try to straighten out our own problems like David did, but Jesus has already straightened our problems for us. He put our sins away. He paid the penalty for our sins on the cross at Calvary. We do not have to do anything more than what Christ has already done for us. All we have to do is accept what he did, repent of our sins, and accept him as our Saviour.

Bibliography

1.      Stanley, C.F., “The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, NASB” (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.; 2009)

2.      Lectionary Homiletics, Aug.-Sept.., 2012 (St. Paul, MN: Luther Seminary)

3.      Lisa Harper, “What is Righteous Anger?” Retrieved from www.christianitytoday.com

4.      Matthew Henry Concise Commentary. Part of Lessonmaker 8 Bible software package

5.      ESV Study Bible. Part of Lessonmaker 8 Bible software package

6.      Mike Benson, “Apologize”. Retrieved from www.forthright.net/kneemail

7.      Mike Benson, “Confront”. Retrieved from www.forthright.net/kneemail

8.      Les Lamborn, “Collision Course”. Retrieved from noreply@rbc.org

9.      T.M. Moore, “The Courage to Condemn”. Retrieved from www.colsoncenter.org

10.  Jude Siciliano, O.P., “First Impressions, 11^th Sunday in Ordinary Time ©”. Retrieved from www.preacherexchange.org

11.  Dr. Charles F. Stanley, “When We Act Deceptively”. Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com

12.  Chafir, K.L. & Ogilvie, L.J., “The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 8:1,2, Samuel” (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc., 1989)

13.  Stanley, C.F., “The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, New King James Version” (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)

14.  David Zanstra, “Clear Confession”. Retrieved from today@thisistoday.net

15.  Charles Swindoll, “The Consequences of Sin”. Retrieved from www.insight.org

16.  Harold Sala, “The Steps to Adultery”. Retrieved from www.guidelines.org

17.  T.M. Moore, “Truth to Power”. Retrieved from www.colsoncenter.org

18.  Jim Coleman, “Straightening Your Way”. Retrieved from www.hourofpower.cc

19.  Pastor John Barnett, “David’s Lust Led Him to break all of the 10 Commandments”. Retrieved from www.dtbm.org

20.  Pastor John Barnett, “David’s Sin, God’s Grace & the Inescapable Consequences of Sin”. Retrieved from www.dtbm.org

21.  Randy Kilgore, “Moving Past Sinful Failure”. Retrieved from ww.rbc.org

22.  Jim Liebelt, “God Pursues Us When We’ve Sinned”. Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com

23.  Amy Erickson, “Commentary on 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15”. Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org

24.  Bob Deffinbaugh, “David and God (Nathan)”. Retrieved from www.bible.org

25.  Lloyd H. Steffen, “On Honesty and Self-deception: ‘You Are the Man’”. Retrieved from www.religion-online.org.

26.  Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on 2 Peter (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, Inc.: 2010)

27.  Roland McGregor, “Spiritual Hunger”. Retrieved from www.mcgregorpage.org

28.  Daniel B. Clendenin, PhD, “Human Desires Divinely Filled: Jesus the Bread of Life”. Retrieved from www.journeywithjesus.net

29.  Rev. David Shearman, “John Shearman’s Lectionary Resource, Year B-Season after Pentecost-Proper 13 Ordinary 18”. Retrieved from http://lectionary.seemslikegod.org/archives/year-b-season-after-pentecost-proper-13-ordinary-18.html