Did Bathsheba Really Have a Choice? Sermon on 2 Samuel 11 & 12

Rev. George Miller
Oct 21, 2018
2 Samuel 11:1-5, 26-27, 12:1-9

Last week we talked about choices: how the average person makes about 70 choices per day, 25,000 choices per year, and 2 million choices in a lifetime.

We discussed how life is filled with choices and how there is almost always a choice we can make.

Today is going to challenge that statement, as we confront a timeless tale that is also perhaps the most tragically misunderstood story there is.

It is the story of King David and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah.

In an age of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, and a country caught up in the hearing of Brett Kavenaugh, this reading has the ability to speak volumes to us, even if the subject matter is sensitive and triggering for many.

The story starts during a time of war. The author tells us that as the king’s army is ravaging and besieging cities, the King is enjoying a mid-day nap.

He wakes up, goes for a walk and sees a beautiful woman bathing. He asks about the woman, who is named Bathsheba, and though she is married to one of his soldiers, the king decides he wants to enjoy an afternoon delight.

The NRSV tells us in vs. 4 that he sent messengers to “get her”, BUT do not be fooled. That is a softened translation.

The real Hebrew text tells us that the men were sent to “take her” much the same way one would take a city.

Bathsheba comes to the King in which he has his way with her. She becomes pregnant, which sets off a chain of events in which the King eventually has her husband and other innocent men killed as opposed to owning up to what he has done.

Choices. Last week we talked about choices and how in life we almost always have a choice.

Forget everything you’ve been taught in Sunday School. Forget what other preachers or authors or Hollywood producers have tried to teach you about this story.

Instead, focus on Bathsheba. Did she have any real choice in this story?

Sure. She made the choice to take a bath. She did so at a time in which there was no indoor plumbing or running water. She also did so during a time in which social ethics dictated that if you saw someone bathing or in a state of undress, you were to avert your eyes and turn your head.

Did Bathsheba have a choice to come to the palace?

When the most powerful man in the country knows your husband is away and sends his goons to take you, what kind of choice do you really have?

To go along? Or to say “No” and deal with the consequences?

Can an insubordinate really say no to a king who has all the authority and power?

If Bathsheba said “no,” would they have accepted her decision or would they have dragged her there kicking and screaming?

If she said “no”, what other consequences could’ve befallen her and her household?

And then Bathsheba becomes pregnant. At least, unlike the King, she takes some form of responsibility and makes the choice to tell the King the news.

But the King? What are we to think about him?

Look at all the choices he has before him, as the most powerful person in all the land-

He could be at the front line fighting alongside his men, but instead he’s napping and walking along the roof of his palace.

The King could have averted his eyes when he saw Bathsheba bathing, which would have been the right thing to do.

He could have chosen not to send messengers to take her.

He could have chosen not to sleep with her. He could have chosen not to engage in an act of adultery.

As the King of Israel, personally selected by the God of his ancestors, he could have made the choice to not break at least 4 of the Commandments.

He could have chosen to take responsibility for his actions.

He could have told Bathsheba’s husband the truth.

He could have come before God, admitted his sins and begged for forgiveness.

The King had choice after choice after choice after choice; whereas Bathsheba basically had one-two choices which were really a no win situation.

This narrative is about the arrogant misuse of power for personal pleasure and how a nation’s leader exploits others for his own self-interest.

The King is manipulative, capable of lying, cheating, and killing.

And yet this is Kind David, the one who will be the greatest king Israel had ever known. King David was someone after God’s heart.

Numerous Psalms were supposedly written by him, numerous books of the Bible make reference to him, and the Messiah was said to come from his family tree and be a modern day version of him.

And yet if King David was alive today…if he was here to engage in a Supreme Court hearing…if he was here in an age of #MeToo, #TimesUp and Harvey Weinstein…

…If he was here in an age in which women and victims of sexual violence are sick and tired of being sick and tired and done with being silent or scared, where would King David and the nation of Israel be???

Nearly 3,000 years after the events of today’s reading, Bathsheba has finally been given her moment to testify and the truth of her encounter is being seen for what it actually has always been.

So….what do we do with this story today, in worship, during a time in which we have gathered to hear the Good News and leave service feeling refreshed?

What do we do, knowing all too well that roughly 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused, and those children grow into adults.

Which means that in this congregation, as with any congregation in America, sit those who have been abused, and those who did the abusing.

What do we do?

We could take the easy route.

We can say that this story is further proof that God uses imperfect people to do God’s work in the world, and King David was no different.

But is there a difference between being imperfect and having committed a crime like murder and rape?

We can say that even people who have flawed pasts and made bad choices can be redeemed and forgiven by the Lord.

But are there certain acts that should automatically disqualify someone from places of power, regardless if it happened when they were 18, 36 or 72?

We can say that this story is an illustration about how God looks beyond who we were and instead looks at who we are yet to be.

But all these things feel like a theological cop-out in today’s social, political climate.

So where is the Good News? What can be said that will leave us feeling as if we had an uplifting church service?

Maybe today the Holy Spirit is not asking us to be uplifted, but is asking us to be uncomfortable with the questions and to wrestle with what we just heard.

….Maybe there is something we can do…

Last week we talked about choices, but we also talked about Jesus Christ.

We shared that as Protestants, we believe that the ultimate revelation of God is Jesus, which means that if you really want to know who God is, what God is about, look no further than the life and ministry of Jesus.

Want to know who God is, how God loves, how God is concerned about justice, kindness, and compassion?

Look at what Jesus said, did, and what he taught.

In doing so, we take a look at Jesus, and we witness his relationships with others, and we witness his relationship with women.

If Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God, what do we see?

We see that when a woman is accused of adultery, Jesus does not join the mob in condemning her and casting stones.

Instead, he stands beside her and challenges the others to look inwards at themselves and if they are free from imperfections, blemishes and skeletons in the closet, then they can cast the first stone.

When Jesus meets the Samaritan women at the well during a time of day in which it is just the two of them, he does not take advantage of her.

He does not shame her for being a different religion or a different nationality. He does not shame her for her past relationships.

He spends time with her. Talks with her. Offers her the gifts of Living Water. Allows her to make the choice to accept or not, and to come and go as she pleases.

When Jesus accepts the radical hospitality of Martha and Mary he does not take advantage of them. He does not assume that if a woman invited him into her home than she must be “asking for it” or “wanting something more.”

No, both Martha and Mary are safely and appropriately able to be their full authentic selves with Jesus while within the privacy of their own home.

Jesus is able to enter the bed chambers of Peter’s mother-in-law and the soldier’s daughter and offer gifts of healing as opposed to anyone worrying about what may or may not take place.

Jesus welcomes children and warns those who would do anything to harm a child.

He uses his position as the Son of God to fill fishermen’s nets with fish, to turn water into wine, offer health care to all, and to make sure thousands of hungry peasants have enough food to eat.

And the one time Jesus falters, the one time he makes the mistake and insults a foreign woman and her daughter by calling them “dogs”, he is quickly reprimanded by the woman, held accountable for his words, and he learns a valuable lesson in which he never repeats that mistake again.

What is the Good News in today’s message? That if we want to best know who God is, we do not need to look towards King David or Moses or Noah.

But we can look towards Jesus, the man who was willing to eat with sinners, who was willing to offer light in a time of darkness, who was willing to offer everyone a choice of whether they wanted to receive his gifts or not.

We look towards Jesus, who taught us to pray, not about fast cars or filet mignon or the Kingdoms of Man, but to pray for the Kingdom of God, in which daily bread, forgiveness, and God’s desire for justice and kindness prevail.

Today’s scripture is a difficult one. There is no denying that. The choices Bathsheba had were few and not easy.

The choices King David had were many and mostly all wrong.

But as Christians, we get to make choices too. About 70 each day, 25,000 each year, about 2 million before we die.

No matter what choices we have made in the past, no matter what bad decisions we have done, or hurt we have caused, we can start the process today, and every day after that, looking towards Jesus, looking towards Christ, and trying our best to do what is honest, doing what is right, and doing what is good.

None of us can ever undo what has taken place in the past, but by following Jesus we can make better choices in our days, our weeks, and our months ahead.

For that, we can amen and amen.