6/17/07 - Pentecost 4 - 2 Samuel 11:29-12:13

YOU ARE THE ONE!
- You have sinned against the Lord
- You have been forgiven by the Lord

The eleventh chapter of 2 Samuel begins in this way: “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army” (2 Samuel 11:1). David didn’t go out to war. He wasn’t doing the job he was supposed to be doing as king. And so he had some time on his hands. It’s no wonder he got himself into trouble. One night from the roof of his palace he sees a woman taking a bath. And he likes what he sees. That was his first sin. But then he sinned again when he ignored his servant’s words, “Isn’t this Bathsheba… the wife of Uriah the Hittite” (2 Samuel 11:3)? And, of course, he sinned yet again when he called Bathsheba up to his palace to sleep with her. But that was just the beginning. After he found out Bathsheba had conceived a child, he tried to cover up what they had done by bringing her husband back from war, hoping that her husband, Uriah, would sleep with Bathsheba and no one would be the wiser. Uriah, though, wouldn’t go home but slept in the palace courts out of respect for his fellow soldiers still in the field. And so David sent Uriah back, instructing his army commander to place Uriah in the front lines and then to pull back the rest of the men so that Uriah would be killed.
These are some nasty sins committed by the famous King David. Ugly sins. Disgusting and almost unthinkable sins. But we have yet to come to the worst one. The most damaging sin David committed wasn’t adultery in action or in thought. It wasn’t the attempt to cover up his crime. It wasn’t the order he issued to have an innocent man murdered. The sin that trumped them all was the sin of unrepentance. That’s why we see the prophet Nathan confronting King David in our text for today. That’s why we hear the story about the poor man’s lamb stolen by the rich man and made into a meal. That’s why we are witnesses of Nathan’s condemning words, “You are the man! You are the one! You are the sinner!” Nathan wouldn’t have said that, he wouldn’t have even been there, if David had already repented. If David had confessed his sins and asked the Lord for forgiveness - he would have received forgiveness for those sins. But David would not repent, he would not admit it, he would not confess his sins and fall down at the feet of his Lord. And so unrepentance was the worst sin of all because by it David refused the Lord’s free and full forgiveness.
You have committed some nasty sins as well, haven’t you? Ugly sins. Disgusting and almost unthinkable sins. But those sins don’t really concern me. Those sins you know about. Those sins bother you. Those you have repented of and so those sins have been forgiven. The sin that concerns me is the sin of unrepentance. And don’t think you’re immune to that sin! It is in our nature to deny our sins, to convince ourselves that what we thought or what we said or what we did really wasn’t a sin after all. We’re always trying to justify our actions in our own minds because we don’t want to admit that we messed up.
David surely tried to justify what he did in his own mind. He had plenty of time to do it because by the time the prophet Nathan confronted David, Bathsheba had already given birth to their son. So for at least nine months David refused to repent of the sins of adultery and deception and murder. Maybe David convinced himself that, “Hey, Bathsheba shouldn’t have been taking a bath in full view of my palace in the first place. She’s the one to blame… She came up here and slept with me - she didn’t have to do it. She wanted to… If Uriah had obeyed his king and had just gone home to his wife like I told him to, there wouldn’t be a problem… I really didn’t kill Uriah. He died in battle just like many of my soldiers have. He was one of my best fighters, after all! He is known as one of the 30 Mighty Men! Why wouldn’t I put him in the front line?” Are these excuses all that far-fetched? Are they much different than the excuses you use yourself?
“I didn’t tell the truth yesterday, but it wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t to deceive someone - it was for their own good… What I said to that person last night wasn’t a sin. He deserved it. He asked for it. If he weren’t so unpleasant I wouldn’t have had to be so unpleasant to him… What I thought about so-and-so yesterday was the truth. I can’t help it if she does things that makes herself to be so unlikeable. What else am I supposed to think about her?” Do these excuses sound familiar? What other sins do you constantly try to convince yourself are really acceptable behaviors in the given situation? This is a dangerous game you are playing. Because unrepentance refuses the Lord’s forgiveness.
King David needed someone to point that out to him. And we need to have someone point that out to us at times. So listen to what the Lord says to you. “A man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths” (Proverbs 5:21). The Lord sees everything you do, he hears everything you say, and he knows everything you think. Nothing is hidden from him. And he doesn’t buy your excuses. He isn’t convinced by your arguments. He isn’t fooled even if you fool yourself. David came to understand that fact. In Psalm 69 he says, “You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from you” (Psalm 69:5). Neither is yours. Neither is mine. God knows our guilt. And he holds us accountable. “You are the one,” he says to us. “You are the one.”
“Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’” David took these words to heart. He knew he had sinned. He admitted he had sinned. And he repented of his sins. “I have sinned against the Lord.” These are the words recorded for us in 2 Samuel, but we have an extended version of David’s confession in the book of Psalms. Psalm 51 is perhaps the most well-known psalm in Scripture. And it happens to be inseparably linked with our text for today. The heading of Psalm 51 says, “A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.” Psalm 51, then, is David’s confession. These are David’s words of repentance that are worth saying ourselves. Because we, too, have sinned. We, too, need to repent. And so let us do that by using some of David’s words in Psalm 51. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
“The Lord has taken away your sin.” It’s as simple as that. As soon as David repented “Nathan replied, ‘The Lord has taken away your sin.’” The moment you repent of your sins the Lord immediately takes them away. He doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t demand that you make up for your sinfulness in some way. You are forgiven. Your sins no longer count against you. You guilt no longer weighs on your mind. Your punishment no longer hangs over your head. God’s forgiveness is free, complete, and it is everlasting.
It’s amazing what forgiveness can do, isn’t it? In an instant all of the sins we have ever done are wiped away. The ugly sins, the disgusting sins, the secret sins, the sins of unrepentance. There’s not a trace of them left. They are completely gone, because when we throw ourselves down at the feet of the Lord in repentance, our sins are thrown on the shoulders of Christ. King David gloried in that gospel message. He felt the full benefit of God’s grace through forgiveness, and he expressed that Christian joy in Psalm 103: “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases; he redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:3-4,10-12).
I especially like that last line: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” East and west are opposite directions. Technically they should never meet. So if you can find the end of east, then you can find the end of the Lord’s love for you. If you can catch up to the end of west, only then will you catch up to the guilt and punishment of your sins. The Lord has removed those sins as far away from you as possible so that they will never hang over your head again. The only place they will hang is on the cross.
Because your sins aren’t just taken away, never to be seen again, you know. Your sins are taken away from you, but only so that they can be placed on Christ. “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Jesus was the one who suffered for our sins. He was the one who took the punishment. He was the one who felt the guilt. And you are the one who is forgiven because of that. Christ on the cross made forgiveness possible. There would be no such thing as forgiveness if Christ hadn’t died on the cross. Sin had its consequences and so Jesus took it upon himself to take them upon himself. And he did it for all sins of all people of all time. Even those people who refuse to believe in him. Even for those people who refuse to repent. Christ’s forgiveness is for all. And I thank the Lord that he has led us to see both that forgiveness and our awful sinfulness that it has wiped away.
You are the one. The one who has sinned and the one who has been forgiven. It is important to remember both. Because on one hand, you never want to forget where you have been, what you have done, and where you were headed because of it. That will keep you humble. And it will give you a constant desire for Christ. But don’t forget you are also the one who has been forgiven. You need not despair. You need not dwell on your sins, feel guilty because of them, or bring them up ever again. They have been taken away from you onto Christ for your good. That’s about the simplest message you could hear. And the most beautiful. And one never more important.
Amen.

“You turned our wailing into dancing; you removed our sackcloth and clothed us with joy, that our hearts may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord our God, we will give you thanks forever.” - Psalm 30:11-12