2 Samuel 11:1-15
Illustration
2 Samuel 11:1-15
One thing tennis coaches and golf pros teach novice students is how important follow-through is to each of those games. If you swing your tennis racket or golf club and make contact with the ball, that’s well and good; but, if you stop your stroke right there each time, at the moment of impact, you’re a pretty sorry golf or tennis player. The ball isn’t going anywhere it’s supposed to be.
The story of David’s sin is a story of a man who demonstrates poor follow-through. When the prophet Nathan ultimately confronts him, David will learn a painful lesson: it’s not enough to simply pay lip-service to the demands of the spiritual life.
2 Samuel 11:1-15
A reporter was interviewing a man with a rags-to-riches story. He asked the man how the change in his circumstances had affected his life. The man thought for a moment and said, “It was much easier to resist temptation when I had little means of taking advantage of it.”
Lord Acton wrote, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton in “Letters to Bishop Mandell Creighton,” as quoted by Eleanor Doan, Sourcebook for Speakers [Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1968], p. 291).
That’s not exactly right. Actually, power reveals the corruption that was always there but hidden away for lack of opportunity.
2 Samuel 11:1-15
A vandal manned with spray paint vandalized the statue of John F. Kennedy that stands in Boston. The white paint on the black statue had the effect of a mask such as that worn by the lead actor in Andrew Lloyd Webben’s popular show, Phantom of the Opera. To some degree we all wear masks, wearing what we hope the public will see and hiding what we prefer they not see. Even the most popular leaders are subject to self-delusion. Some may even believe the mantle of leadership confers license to transcend both the laws of humanity and the laws of God.
A tipster led the Boston police to the home of a man obsessed with the memory of Marilyn Monroe. The alleged culprit vandalized the statue on the anniversary of Monroe’s suicide because he believed the rumor of an extramarital affair between Kennedy and the actress. Our concern is not the veracity of the rumor, but the challenge to recognize the fact that we, too, may wear a mask.
2 Samuel 11:1-15
Fireproof is a movie with a strong agenda: Stay married, lead an honest life, and let your faith in Jesus Christ guide you. Actor Kirk Cameron stars as Caleb Holt a firefighter whose marriage is in trouble. After a decade of marriage, Caleb and Catherine have drifted apart and to the point where they could move on without each other.
While Caleb enjoys his status as a hero, it comes at the expense of his marriage. His wife, Catherine, is tired of being alone in their relationship and wants him to devote more time to their family. When she points out that he has worked 43 straight days Caleb replies, “That doesn’t mean I have to stop.” The remainder of the movie shows how he does stop and reconnect with his wife.
In a recent interview Kirk Cameron reflected on his own seventeen-year marriage. “To love somebody unconditionally, you have to stop and think about what that means. Love is not a feeling that you simply fall into and fall out of.”
With so many movies glamorizing broken relationships almost to the point of encouraging affairs, Fireproof is refreshing. Cameron concludes his interview with these words, “Hollywood ought to take notice.”
King David was at the height of popularity and perhaps he thought he could do no wrong. Driven by lust he commits adultery with Bathsheba, another man’s wife. His affair leads to deception and ultimately murder. This episode would eventually lead to David’s downfall. Those of us who are married need to “fireproof” our marriages by proactively spending time together.
2 Samuel 11:1-15
This is a most unusual case. Not the shotgun wedding aspect of the story, where David weds the pregnant Bathsheba. No, it is the other aspect of the story that is so unusual. Tragically, the newscasts of today are full of stories of women being raped then murdered by the perpetrator. That seems to be a common modus operandi. But David doesn’t murder Bathsheba to cover his crime. Rather, he has her husband, Uriah, killed. That took care of the rape charge. All that was left to do was marry Bathsheba, which he did. Is it any wonder that the Lord was displeased?
Ephesians 3:14-21
When perusing a bookstore’s novels, one of my critical “inspection points” is the first word on page one. If it’s “I,” bells go off. I’ve become weary of “first-person crazy.” First person means the story is viewed and told from the perspective of one person, contrary to a third-person point of view — a perspective from beyond the characters involved. Many novels (especially on the sale table) are first-person crazy, in which the author portrays every form of perversity and insanity that can be imagined.
Paul’s letters also give a first-person point of view: First person redeemed — not perfect, but freed to serve God. Paul isn’t ashamed to say “I.” However, always a giant third person (or even three persons) hover behind Paul’s writing. What he writes isn’t about him. When Paul must write about himself, he apologizes or praises God. In Ephesians 3 we hear Paul’s wonderful sanity as he worships God and commends God’s gracious bounty to our worship.
Ephesians 3:14-21
Jesus not only taught love; he is love. He gave examples of what love is like, and in his life as a human being he demonstrated love. But more than that, we have come to understand him as the love of God in human flesh. His love surpasses reason and analysis. Indeed, it even surpasses all knowledge because when we experience the love of God in Jesus Christ it is more than knowledge of the head. It is knowledge of the heart.
Ephesians 3:14-21
When I was in Egypt in 1995 on a mission trip, the things that we saw each day were just overwhelming. I remember how we all scrambled to get our cameras out the first time the pyramids came in sight, and how we marveled the first time we saw the Nile River. Throughout our time there, our group was in a constant state of amazement.
What was surprising to us was how the people who were showing us around were so blase to all of that. There we were seeing some of the great wonders of the world, but those Egyptians acted like it was nothing. They had become so used to all of that, that they were no longer able to appreciate just how amazing it all was.
Paul’s prayer is that we might fully appreciate the wonder of what God has done for us.
Ephesians 3:14-21
There’s a Br’er Rabbit story in which all the animals get together and decide to build a house. Anyone who helps build the house is allowed to live in it; but if anyone tries to sneak out of doing the work, well, they will just have to stay outside. So everyone gets to work— except Br’er Rabbit.
“Br’er Rabbit, you’re not going to be able to live in the house if you don’t get to work,” Sis Sparrow scolded.
“Oh, I’m working,” said Br’er Rabbit, and he pulled out a pencil and a ruler. “I am measurin’ and markin’.”
“You’re what?” asked Br’er Snail.
“I am measurin’ and markin’,” said Br’er Rabbit. “You can’t build a good house without somebody measurin’ and markin’.”
So Br’er Rabbit climbed all over that house, measurin’ and markin’ and measurin’ and markin’. When that house was built, Br’er Rabbit got a room right in there with the best of them — although what exactly he was measurin’ and markin’, nobody every really knew.
Ephesians 3:14-21
The new Christians in Ephesus are urged to lead lives of patient love, using their various gifts in the unity of the Spirit, while growing toward maturity in Christ. Roles of service are varied, but there is a oneness at the heart of the faith and its goal. All believers’ efforts are meant to strengthen the body of Christ.
The family of God derives its being and identity from God. Relationships within this household come from a relationship with God. The writer of these verses desires for us to be strong in our inner being, rooted and grounded in love. It’s important to be strongly supported and properly grounded when storms of a human nature come to uproot us. A firm grounding in Christ and our strong inner being can help us weather life’s storms.
How can we stay rooted and grounded in love as the world pounds us one way or another? We are strengthened through the Holy Spirit. We must rely on God’s strength, just as a plant relies on the gardener to plant the seed deep enough that the roots are strong and deep. If God is planted within us, we will be strong enough to face all the storms of life.
John 6:1-21
Back in the days of Colonial New England, it was the custom for churches to charge families for rental of their pews. These were the old box pews, with wooden partitions around them and a little door you opened to get in. The well-to-do families sat up front, while the common laborers who couldn’t afford the rent sat on rough benches in the balcony.
The roof of this particular church began leaking. Some sections of the sanctuary experienced a steady drip, drip, drip in a heavy storm, while others were bone dry. One day, the pastor ascended the pulpit and made an appeal for contributions, so the roof could be repaired.
One well-to-do gentleman met the pastor at the door afterward and declared that he had no intention of contributing to the campaign — because, he explained, it wasn’t raining on his pew.
The boy on the hillside in Galilee could have taken the same attitude. He could have said, “I have my lunch; these other people aren’t my problem.” But he didn’t. The boy gave all he had to Jesus, and his gift made all the difference.
John 6:1-21
A little boy had five barley loaves and two fish. Jesus received these meager foodstuffs and blessed them, and they fed a crowd of over 5,000 people. We are foolish if we bypass the miraculous power of Jesus’ blessing upon our meager sustenance. Tithing is a covenant. God does for us and we in turn do for God. We either believe that God will bless us or we don’t. Even if events transpire that sharply reduce our income, tithing needs to continue. One hundred percent of an income unblessed by God is less than ninety percent of an income that is blessed by God. Tithing is a spiritual discipline that focuses on our trust, faith, and belief in God’s ability to bless. Our income is not given for our use exclusively, but rather for us to use to help others. We are blessed by God in order to be a blessing to others.
John 6:1-21
If you saw a restaurant with a sign out front that read: “Steak dinner, complete with soup, salad, dessert, and beverage — only $1.50,” wouldn’t that make you a bit suspicious? Wouldn’t that make you think that something had to be wrong with the food in order for it to be that cheap? Jesus takes matters a step farther, as he offers a meal that is not only cheap, but also is free.
On the first Saturday of each month the Methodist church in town has been offering a free lunch. You just show up and eat. You don’t have to pay a dime. It’s an opportunity for folks to get together and socialize and share a meal. But one week the Methodist minister told me how the church’s phone rang and a woman wanted to know what they were serving for the free lunch. I suppose she wanted to make sure that she would be getting her money’s worth if she came.
John 6:1-21
In a year with economic uncertainty the church faced the tough decision to cut the budget. The chair of the finance committee stood before the congregation to deliver the grim news — many ministries would have to be curtailed for the rest of the year.
Diane interrupted him saying that they should not cut any of their mission budget. “Our mission money helps so many people,” she stated. Others in the congregation nodded in agreement.
In spite of the budget cuts Diane took it upon herself to continue the church’s mission. She personally talked with people in the church convincing them of the importance of the various mission projects the church supports. She made flyers and disturbed them to everyone she came in contact with in the community.
Amazingly at a time when the church’s budget was being cut, giving to missions increased. In fact as people in the community heard of the church’s commitment to local missions they were drawn to the church.
While the disciples could not see any way to feed so many people, it took the faith of a young boy to demonstrate that with faith even a little bit goes a long way. “Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.” There was more than enough food for all 5,000 present that day.
John 6:1-21
Alma was a daughter of the Great Depression. She learned to make a little go a long way, and even though she now had ample resources, she never deviated from those hard-learned lessons. Once when her nephew was with Alma on a camping trip, he was distressed to see his Aunt Alma take a can of tuna and proceed to make sandwiches from a whole loaf of bread. Needless to say, there was not a lot of tuna in each bite. But, tuna does go a long way!
Jesus made several fish and few loaves of bread go a long way, too. But unlike Alma’s tuna sandwiches, one gets the sense that everyone had a hearty meal of fish and bread. There were even leftovers for the next day’s lunch!
One thing tennis coaches and golf pros teach novice students is how important follow-through is to each of those games. If you swing your tennis racket or golf club and make contact with the ball, that’s well and good; but, if you stop your stroke right there each time, at the moment of impact, you’re a pretty sorry golf or tennis player. The ball isn’t going anywhere it’s supposed to be.
The story of David’s sin is a story of a man who demonstrates poor follow-through. When the prophet Nathan ultimately confronts him, David will learn a painful lesson: it’s not enough to simply pay lip-service to the demands of the spiritual life.
2 Samuel 11:1-15
A reporter was interviewing a man with a rags-to-riches story. He asked the man how the change in his circumstances had affected his life. The man thought for a moment and said, “It was much easier to resist temptation when I had little means of taking advantage of it.”
Lord Acton wrote, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton in “Letters to Bishop Mandell Creighton,” as quoted by Eleanor Doan, Sourcebook for Speakers [Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1968], p. 291).
That’s not exactly right. Actually, power reveals the corruption that was always there but hidden away for lack of opportunity.
2 Samuel 11:1-15
A vandal manned with spray paint vandalized the statue of John F. Kennedy that stands in Boston. The white paint on the black statue had the effect of a mask such as that worn by the lead actor in Andrew Lloyd Webben’s popular show, Phantom of the Opera. To some degree we all wear masks, wearing what we hope the public will see and hiding what we prefer they not see. Even the most popular leaders are subject to self-delusion. Some may even believe the mantle of leadership confers license to transcend both the laws of humanity and the laws of God.
A tipster led the Boston police to the home of a man obsessed with the memory of Marilyn Monroe. The alleged culprit vandalized the statue on the anniversary of Monroe’s suicide because he believed the rumor of an extramarital affair between Kennedy and the actress. Our concern is not the veracity of the rumor, but the challenge to recognize the fact that we, too, may wear a mask.
2 Samuel 11:1-15
Fireproof is a movie with a strong agenda: Stay married, lead an honest life, and let your faith in Jesus Christ guide you. Actor Kirk Cameron stars as Caleb Holt a firefighter whose marriage is in trouble. After a decade of marriage, Caleb and Catherine have drifted apart and to the point where they could move on without each other.
While Caleb enjoys his status as a hero, it comes at the expense of his marriage. His wife, Catherine, is tired of being alone in their relationship and wants him to devote more time to their family. When she points out that he has worked 43 straight days Caleb replies, “That doesn’t mean I have to stop.” The remainder of the movie shows how he does stop and reconnect with his wife.
In a recent interview Kirk Cameron reflected on his own seventeen-year marriage. “To love somebody unconditionally, you have to stop and think about what that means. Love is not a feeling that you simply fall into and fall out of.”
With so many movies glamorizing broken relationships almost to the point of encouraging affairs, Fireproof is refreshing. Cameron concludes his interview with these words, “Hollywood ought to take notice.”
King David was at the height of popularity and perhaps he thought he could do no wrong. Driven by lust he commits adultery with Bathsheba, another man’s wife. His affair leads to deception and ultimately murder. This episode would eventually lead to David’s downfall. Those of us who are married need to “fireproof” our marriages by proactively spending time together.
2 Samuel 11:1-15
This is a most unusual case. Not the shotgun wedding aspect of the story, where David weds the pregnant Bathsheba. No, it is the other aspect of the story that is so unusual. Tragically, the newscasts of today are full of stories of women being raped then murdered by the perpetrator. That seems to be a common modus operandi. But David doesn’t murder Bathsheba to cover his crime. Rather, he has her husband, Uriah, killed. That took care of the rape charge. All that was left to do was marry Bathsheba, which he did. Is it any wonder that the Lord was displeased?
Ephesians 3:14-21
When perusing a bookstore’s novels, one of my critical “inspection points” is the first word on page one. If it’s “I,” bells go off. I’ve become weary of “first-person crazy.” First person means the story is viewed and told from the perspective of one person, contrary to a third-person point of view — a perspective from beyond the characters involved. Many novels (especially on the sale table) are first-person crazy, in which the author portrays every form of perversity and insanity that can be imagined.
Paul’s letters also give a first-person point of view: First person redeemed — not perfect, but freed to serve God. Paul isn’t ashamed to say “I.” However, always a giant third person (or even three persons) hover behind Paul’s writing. What he writes isn’t about him. When Paul must write about himself, he apologizes or praises God. In Ephesians 3 we hear Paul’s wonderful sanity as he worships God and commends God’s gracious bounty to our worship.
Ephesians 3:14-21
Jesus not only taught love; he is love. He gave examples of what love is like, and in his life as a human being he demonstrated love. But more than that, we have come to understand him as the love of God in human flesh. His love surpasses reason and analysis. Indeed, it even surpasses all knowledge because when we experience the love of God in Jesus Christ it is more than knowledge of the head. It is knowledge of the heart.
Ephesians 3:14-21
When I was in Egypt in 1995 on a mission trip, the things that we saw each day were just overwhelming. I remember how we all scrambled to get our cameras out the first time the pyramids came in sight, and how we marveled the first time we saw the Nile River. Throughout our time there, our group was in a constant state of amazement.
What was surprising to us was how the people who were showing us around were so blase to all of that. There we were seeing some of the great wonders of the world, but those Egyptians acted like it was nothing. They had become so used to all of that, that they were no longer able to appreciate just how amazing it all was.
Paul’s prayer is that we might fully appreciate the wonder of what God has done for us.
Ephesians 3:14-21
There’s a Br’er Rabbit story in which all the animals get together and decide to build a house. Anyone who helps build the house is allowed to live in it; but if anyone tries to sneak out of doing the work, well, they will just have to stay outside. So everyone gets to work— except Br’er Rabbit.
“Br’er Rabbit, you’re not going to be able to live in the house if you don’t get to work,” Sis Sparrow scolded.
“Oh, I’m working,” said Br’er Rabbit, and he pulled out a pencil and a ruler. “I am measurin’ and markin’.”
“You’re what?” asked Br’er Snail.
“I am measurin’ and markin’,” said Br’er Rabbit. “You can’t build a good house without somebody measurin’ and markin’.”
So Br’er Rabbit climbed all over that house, measurin’ and markin’ and measurin’ and markin’. When that house was built, Br’er Rabbit got a room right in there with the best of them — although what exactly he was measurin’ and markin’, nobody every really knew.
Ephesians 3:14-21
The new Christians in Ephesus are urged to lead lives of patient love, using their various gifts in the unity of the Spirit, while growing toward maturity in Christ. Roles of service are varied, but there is a oneness at the heart of the faith and its goal. All believers’ efforts are meant to strengthen the body of Christ.
The family of God derives its being and identity from God. Relationships within this household come from a relationship with God. The writer of these verses desires for us to be strong in our inner being, rooted and grounded in love. It’s important to be strongly supported and properly grounded when storms of a human nature come to uproot us. A firm grounding in Christ and our strong inner being can help us weather life’s storms.
How can we stay rooted and grounded in love as the world pounds us one way or another? We are strengthened through the Holy Spirit. We must rely on God’s strength, just as a plant relies on the gardener to plant the seed deep enough that the roots are strong and deep. If God is planted within us, we will be strong enough to face all the storms of life.
John 6:1-21
Back in the days of Colonial New England, it was the custom for churches to charge families for rental of their pews. These were the old box pews, with wooden partitions around them and a little door you opened to get in. The well-to-do families sat up front, while the common laborers who couldn’t afford the rent sat on rough benches in the balcony.
The roof of this particular church began leaking. Some sections of the sanctuary experienced a steady drip, drip, drip in a heavy storm, while others were bone dry. One day, the pastor ascended the pulpit and made an appeal for contributions, so the roof could be repaired.
One well-to-do gentleman met the pastor at the door afterward and declared that he had no intention of contributing to the campaign — because, he explained, it wasn’t raining on his pew.
The boy on the hillside in Galilee could have taken the same attitude. He could have said, “I have my lunch; these other people aren’t my problem.” But he didn’t. The boy gave all he had to Jesus, and his gift made all the difference.
John 6:1-21
A little boy had five barley loaves and two fish. Jesus received these meager foodstuffs and blessed them, and they fed a crowd of over 5,000 people. We are foolish if we bypass the miraculous power of Jesus’ blessing upon our meager sustenance. Tithing is a covenant. God does for us and we in turn do for God. We either believe that God will bless us or we don’t. Even if events transpire that sharply reduce our income, tithing needs to continue. One hundred percent of an income unblessed by God is less than ninety percent of an income that is blessed by God. Tithing is a spiritual discipline that focuses on our trust, faith, and belief in God’s ability to bless. Our income is not given for our use exclusively, but rather for us to use to help others. We are blessed by God in order to be a blessing to others.
John 6:1-21
If you saw a restaurant with a sign out front that read: “Steak dinner, complete with soup, salad, dessert, and beverage — only $1.50,” wouldn’t that make you a bit suspicious? Wouldn’t that make you think that something had to be wrong with the food in order for it to be that cheap? Jesus takes matters a step farther, as he offers a meal that is not only cheap, but also is free.
On the first Saturday of each month the Methodist church in town has been offering a free lunch. You just show up and eat. You don’t have to pay a dime. It’s an opportunity for folks to get together and socialize and share a meal. But one week the Methodist minister told me how the church’s phone rang and a woman wanted to know what they were serving for the free lunch. I suppose she wanted to make sure that she would be getting her money’s worth if she came.
John 6:1-21
In a year with economic uncertainty the church faced the tough decision to cut the budget. The chair of the finance committee stood before the congregation to deliver the grim news — many ministries would have to be curtailed for the rest of the year.
Diane interrupted him saying that they should not cut any of their mission budget. “Our mission money helps so many people,” she stated. Others in the congregation nodded in agreement.
In spite of the budget cuts Diane took it upon herself to continue the church’s mission. She personally talked with people in the church convincing them of the importance of the various mission projects the church supports. She made flyers and disturbed them to everyone she came in contact with in the community.
Amazingly at a time when the church’s budget was being cut, giving to missions increased. In fact as people in the community heard of the church’s commitment to local missions they were drawn to the church.
While the disciples could not see any way to feed so many people, it took the faith of a young boy to demonstrate that with faith even a little bit goes a long way. “Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.” There was more than enough food for all 5,000 present that day.
John 6:1-21
Alma was a daughter of the Great Depression. She learned to make a little go a long way, and even though she now had ample resources, she never deviated from those hard-learned lessons. Once when her nephew was with Alma on a camping trip, he was distressed to see his Aunt Alma take a can of tuna and proceed to make sandwiches from a whole loaf of bread. Needless to say, there was not a lot of tuna in each bite. But, tuna does go a long way!
Jesus made several fish and few loaves of bread go a long way, too. But unlike Alma’s tuna sandwiches, one gets the sense that everyone had a hearty meal of fish and bread. There were even leftovers for the next day’s lunch!
