On this Father’s Day, we are going to hear about Men Behaving Badly from two of our scripture readings today: First up is King David from our first reading. We remember David, David who slew Goliath, King David who defeated King Saul and the 2nd Book of Samuel tells us that he was blessed by the Lord.
In our reading for today, it was a time of war in Israel. King David had dispatched his troops with Joab in command. David was living in Jerusalem. One day on his rooftop; since he is the King, his house is the largest, and he can see down upon many of the houses nearby, he sees a beautiful woman bathing nearby…
He is captivated by her beauty and sends someone to find out about her… She is Bathsheba…wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s top soldiers… She is married…but David doesn’t think about that, he has his own harem but he wants Bathsheba… He invites her over and they have a one night affair and Bathsheba becomes pregnant. David brings Uriah home so that he can be with his wife and lie with her so that he will believe that the child is his…but Uriah refuses to leave David, his King, and go to the comforts of home while his fellow soldiers are in the field…David tries and tries…
Finally, David sends Uriah back to the front. He carries a note from the King to Joab, the note says to send Uriah into battle and to pull back the troops and thus have Uriah killed. And thus, David’s problems would be over… Joab does not get the chance to implement David’s plan, for Uriah is killed in battle, in a mistaken error on the part of Joab and his siege of the city… When the news arrives in Jerusalem…David celebrates, Bathsheba mourns, and Joab covers up his mistake… After her period of mourning for her husband, Bathsheba becomes David’s wife, the child is born and all seems to work out for David.
But that’s when in today’s reading, it becomes clear that the whole affair has displeased the Lord. It may be the adultery and the attempted murder or the lust and deceit, the Evil plans… The sin is not specified, but we could assume that the Lord was angry about it all… So what is the Lord to do with his anointed king? Enter Nathan the Prophet. Nathan tells a parable, one that David is not ready to hear…
A rich man without pity takes from a poor man his only lamb whom he loved and cared for, when the rich man could have used any of his flocks to feed a traveler who has entered his house…he takes what is not his… David is furious. The rich man should die for an act such as this! Returning the lamb four fold… Stealing from the poor He deserves no pity… David stands self-condemned for Nathan says to him; You are the man! His deceit, his lust, his adultery, his murder, everything has come into the light…David is shamed…you are the man.
David acknowledges his sin, he is forgiven, but like a pebble thrown in the pond, the reverberations from his sin reach his family, and tragically the child becomes sick and dies… It is a story as old as the bible and still alive today…
Then secondly, there is Simon the Pharisee, the other man behaving badly… He has invited Jesus to his home for a meal, he is curious about this man from Nazareth… A woman in the city having heard where Jesus was, also entered into Simon’s home, bathing the feet of Jesus with her tears and anointing his feet with ointment… Simon is upset that such a woman has entered his home, such a sinner, and he questions how prophetic Jesus is because he is letting this woman touch him. Jesus knows what is in Simon’s heart, and tells a parable just like Nathan did to David, to show his hypocrisy. A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt."
And Jesus goes on to tell Simon that he is right BUT as Jesus entered his house; Simon had no water for his feet, he was not greeted with a kiss (a sign of peace) and there was no oil for his head, but the woman has bathed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair, she has not stopped kissing his feet and she anointed the feet of Jesus with ointment. Jesus says, “I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven and Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Remarkable! The woman was who identified as sinner, although we do not know what her sin was, is forgiven by her loving acts. Simon is the man who neither sinned much nor loved much and in turn is not praised like that woman! David and Simon were both taken to task for not living up to what God asks of us… We have seen this happen with people (those who have affairs) and we have seen this happen in other areas of our lives too (people who sacrifice everything for their work; or for a material thing (car, jewelry) or money or power); and those who love so little, and through it all they estrange their relationships with their families and their friends…
So why does this happen to us? Because we are not satisfied with who we are and what we have. I am not saying we shouldn’t dream or strive for greater things…but I think we first must look inside ourselves to our core. If we do not love ourselves, if we do not see the image of God inside of us, feel the goodness of God’s creation (right here (heart)) that we fall into the temptation to look outside ourselves for satisfaction & salvation. We lust for things to help us feel better…and often we miss what is right beside us, our family and friends, the relationships we do have…those that enrich us and love us…instead we seek out things that in the end, will destroy what we do have…such is the sad fate of many who fall like David to the temptation of adultery or murder and to Simon who seemed to love so little.
Forgiveness is always possible, because God will be there waiting for us, with forgiveness. We will all face situations like David and Simon, it is part and parcel of our human nature; however the temptations that come before us, will give us opportunities to follow God’s will and avoid them or we may hear the words from God “you are the one…”
May we follow our hearts, our hearts that are turned to God and follow the right road, away from such sin, so that our lives are filled with the glory of God and what we give to others is love and forgiveness because that is what God has given to us. Amen.
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