Where would we be without God’s Word?
Proper 6 C
2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-14
12 June 2016 Redeemer
Where would King David be without Nathan? He would be secure, comfortable, and happy. He would be a wonderful and blessed King in the eyes of the people and he would be damned.
Do you remember David’s sins? It’s like an Old Testament soap opera. In the Spring of the year when Kings led their men to war David stayed home. David was home alone, with a city full of women whose husbands were gone. If you’re married, don’t find yourself alone with the opposite sex – not on Facebook, not on a business trip, not ever. David spies Bathsheba taking a bath, invites her over for happy hour to the palace and the next thing you know she’s pregnant.
David tries to cover his sin. Don’t we all? He summons Bathsheba’s husband Uriah home from the battle in the hopes that he’ll sleep with his wife, but Uriah is too decent a soldier to do that. He won’t enjoy the comforts of home when his men are discomforted in battle. Uriah won’t help David cover his sins, so David covers Uriah, about six feet under. He dispatches Uriah to the front lines and commands his general to pull back the troops. Uriah dies. Bathsheba mourns. David waits, but not too long before he marries Bathsheba. Everyone in David’s Kingdom looks upon him as a kind and compassionate king caring for a war widow and now they’re going to have a baby together. Isn’t that special?
David got away with it. Nobody knows, at least nobody who would dare confront the King. Isn’t it a relief when no one knows your sins? When you can hide them in the darkness of your home or in the recesses of your mind or in that distant city of your last trip out of town? You drove home after too many drinks, but you made it. Your cutting words against your neighbor never reached his ears. You were able to excuse your actions with a lie or by pinning it on someone else. You’ve got it covered as did David. He was relieved. He was safe from everyone, except the Lord. The thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
The last person you want to see when you’ve successfully pulled off some serious sin is your pastor. One of the hardest tasks for a man of God is rebuking a sinner. I can imagine that Nathan didn’t want to knock on the King’s office door and also that David wished he had never opened that door. Nathan goes because the Lord seeks to save the lost and David is lost, as are you if you think you can cover your sins.
Nathan preaches a little parable to David. A rich man has an out of town guest, but instead of making lamb chops from one of his own lambs, he swipes the little lamb, the only lamb, the family pet lamb of his poor neighbor. It’s a great sermon and because it is God’s Word it works effectively upon David’s heart. He is outraged at the rich man. If that man lives in his kingdom there will be hell to pay. “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die.” Then Nathan drops the hammer of the Law on David’s cover up and shatters the King, “You are the man.”
Where would David be without Nathan? He would think that sin unseen is not sin. He would think that if the people say you’re a good King you are a good King. He would believe the lie that the fig leaves of his cover-up could shield him from the all-seeing gaze of the holy God. God called His prophets, as He called His apostles, as He calls His pastors to preach His Word of Law into the ears of sinners. This is a grand and good work, but it hurts, it makes people angry. Nathan could have lost his head, as did John the Baptist for a similar sermon. Did you ever get mad a pastor for not letting a relative go to communion? For telling your daughter she shouldn’t have sex with her fiancé? For calling you out for your prejudice against immigrants or your slander against the president? God’s Law hurts, but it is good. His Law teaches us the truth – you are the man, I am the man, a sinful sinner who sins, and I cannot cover it up.
If David had not heard God’s Word he would never have said, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And if David had not been crushed by his sin, Nathan’s words would not have been so sweet in David’s ears, “The Lord has put away your sin. You shall not die.” If you have no sin, God’s Word has nothing for you. If you have no sin, Jesus hung on the cross for no reason. If you have no sin, the best the church can offer you is some friendships, rituals, and opportunities to serve – and the Legion, VFW, or Lions do that better than we do. The Lord speaks the truth through His Word, by His men like Nathan, for your good. Where would David be without Nathan?
Where would Mary Magdalene be without Jesus? Everyone in that Pharisee’s house knew what kind of woman Mary was. They thought the absolute worst of a woman like her. A woman letting her hair down in public was considered indecent. They all knew her sin – many of them knew more of her sins than she did.
If that is what people thought of Mary what did God think of her? Have you ever been with Mary? Filled with shame, so burdened with your sin that you believe God Himself could never, would never love you. But Mary had heard of Jesus. She had heard of this man who cast out demons, who raised the dead, and most unbelievable of all “ate with sinners” and forgave them. So there she was, hiding nothing, weeping at the feet of Jesus, hair unbound, taking the spot of the lowest servant. She was not worthy of His love, but if He did indeed love her with forgiveness of her sins, then she was not ashamed to wash his feet with her tears, and wipe them with her hair, and anoint them with her perfume, right in the midst of those Pharisees.
If Jesus loved her? There are no “ifs” about Jesus’ love for sinners. “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim 1:15, ESV) This is God’s love toward sinners – when Jesus says to Mary Magdalene and to you, “Your sins are forgiven.” Jesus was born to bear our sins. He was born to suffer God’s judgment against sinners. He was born to die. This is God’s love for you – that Christ Jesus died for your sins. Where would Mary Magdalene be without Jesus? She would be despairing of God’s love. She wouldn’t know that her sins are forgiven, that she is the beloved child of her heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. She would not know that though her sins were seen by everyone, God her Father had covered them in blood of the Lamb.
What do these two Biblical stories tells us? We need God’s Word. We need God’s voice speaking in our ears. We need someone outside of us to tell us, “You’re the man who murdered and stole and took God’s place.” We don’t want to hear that Word, but where would be without God’s Law? Secure in our sin and damned. We need someone to tell us, “Your sins are forgiven.” We don’t always like that word either – especially when that forgiveness goes to someone like Mary, who has sinned too much for us to forgive. But no sin is too great for Christ’s blood to wash away. No conscience too stained that His blood cannot cleanse. What do we need today and every Lord’s day? We need God’s Word to tell us the truth of our sin – you are the man. We need His Word to tell us the truth of our Savior – your sins are forgiven. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
12 June 2016 anno Domini