Rev. David Holwick ZK Women of the Incarnation, #2
First Baptist Church (first service only due to cantata)
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 8, 2013
2 Samuel 11:1-5
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I. Finding your roots.
A. Visiting an old church on Thanksgiving.
1) On our vacation we took a short side-trip before eating
our traditional feast.
2) We drove to a small German village called Rothenbergen.
a) In 1742, a young man named Johann Jacob Holben left
this village and sailed to America, settling near
Allentown, Pennsylvania. He is my ancestor.
b) The church he would have attended in his hometown is
still there, though the records are kept in the
next town.
c) We were able to see the actual ledger that recorded
Johann Jacob's baptism in 1718.
3) It is always interesting to see where you came from.
B. This sermon series looks at some characters in Jesus' line.
1) Some of them were rather shady.
2) The Christmas story has a little of everything.
a) Babies, violence, royalty, drama of escape, and sex.
b) Mary and Joseph didn't have sex at this point,
but Bathsheba did.
c) She is the bad girl of the Christmas story.
C. God's plan of salvation can turn the shady into saints.
1) He did it for Bathsheba, and he can do it for you.
II. Bethsheba has been tarnished for centuries.
A. Her claim to fame is almost anonymous.
1) Matthew's genealogy of Jesus has this line:
"Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife." Matt 1:6
2) She doesn't even rate a mention of her name.
3) Was she really that bad?
B. It began innocently enough.
1) King David went for an evening stroll. 1 Sam 11
a) The flat roof of his palace would have had a nice breeze.
b) It was probably higher than most of the other buildings
in the area.
2) He saw a woman bathing.
a) He looked long enough to see she was beautiful.
b) Then he investigated her - and found she was married to
one of his bodyguards. (Her dad was a soldier too.)
c) Then he sent someone to get her.
d) They had sex, and she got pregnant.
C. Who had the power in this relationship?
1) David instigated the affair.
a) You can argue that Bathsheba went along with it.
1> Some say she timed her bath deliberately so David
would see her, but I doubt it.
2> I suppose she could have said "no" to the king's
messenger.
b) But did she really have any choice?
1> It is difficult to turn down a king.
2> You should note that God blames David for the sin.
A> Both of them were responsible for their actions.
B> David, having power, was more responsible.
(Consider example of Gen. David Petraeus.)
2) David tried to cover it up.
a) He tries to entice Uriah to sleep with his wife, but
fails.
b) So David compounds the adultery with contract murder.
III. There are always consequences.
A. It might have seemed like they got away with it.
1) Uriah was dead and she acted like a widow.
a) Going through the acts of mourning must have eaten
away at her soul.
2) David married her and made her a queen.
3) The baby is born.
B. Only God knew.
1) He knew, and he wasn't happy with them.
2) God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke David. 2 Sam 12
a) He lures the king in with a tear-jerking story, then
springs the trap.
b) David falls for it hook, line and sinker.
C. The punishment was harsh.
1) Their baby died.
2) David's family disintegrated over time, just as the prophet
foretold.
3) Bathsheba would personally encounter the effects of this.
IV. God can use anyone.
A. Everyone has some darkness in their background.
1) There are shady characters among your ancestors.
2) You have been pretty shady yourself.
a) Maybe you have done what Bathsheba did.
B. Your life can be transformed.
1) Jesus can take you from where you are, and make you into
something new.
2) It doesn't matter what your failings are, what your sins
have been, or what mistakes you've made.
3) If you are willing to repent, Christ can take those very
things and use them for his glory.
C. Bathsheba had another child.
1) His name was Solomon, which means "peace."
a) The Bible says God loved him. 2 Sam 12:24
b) God is blessing a marriage that shouldn't have happened
in the first place.
1> Perhaps this is to teach us that there can be life
after adultery or divorce.
2> Not just life, but abundant life -- if we surrender
our lives to God. #64294
3> It is a beautiful example of God's grace to sinners.
2) David and Bathsheba actually had three other children.
a) 1 Chronicles 3:5 tells us they had Shimea, Shobab, and
Nathan.
b) Nathan is the prophet who confronted them with their
sin, and yet they name one of their sons after him.
c) That is clearly a byproduct of salvation: appreciation
for those who rebuke you when you are going the
wrong way.
d) In Luke 3:31 we learn that Jesus' lineage is also
traced through Nathan.
D. Solomon was not his oldest son but David chose him to be king.
1) (Bathsheba had to remind David of this at a critical
moment.)
2) Solomon became a great king and is an ancestor of Jesus.
a) So Bathsheba has two sons with this honor.
V. When God saves, he does it right.
A. God doesn't just forgive, he elevates. #12629
1) Bathsheba is not barely saved, but wonderfully saved.
2) She is deemed worthy of a crown.
B. The example of an exemplary pastor.
Many people have been deeply impressed with the writings of a
man called Gordon MacDonald.
Billy Graham said of one of his books: "It struck me right
between the eyes with conviction and I wish that I had
read it many years ago."
Another prominent Christian leader described him as "one of the
most Godly men I have ever met."
He was the pastor of the largest church in New England and
taught at my seminary.
He became the president of the InterVarsity evangelistic
organization, one of the biggest in America.
Then it came out.
A sin from a few years previously was exposed, and MacDonald
was forced to resign.
The sin was adultery.
After his national humiliation, he slowly regained his
reputation.
In 1996, when President Clinton's affair was revealed, Clinton
asked Tony Campolo and Gordon MacDonald to mentor him.
Every week they met with the president and challenged him on
his moral choices.
When the media found out, how did they introduce MacDonald?
"Gordon MacDonald, a leading pastor who was exposed after
committing adultery."
He will never live it down.
After his fall from grace, Gordon MacDonald recalled an
encounter with a friend that had taken place some time
before:
"My friend asked a strange question: 'If Satan were to blow you
out of the water, how do you think he would do it?'
I'm not sure I know, I answered.
All sorts of ways, I suppose; but I know there's one way he
wouldn't get me.'
'What's that?'
'He'd never get me in the area of my personal relationships.
That's one place where I have no doubt that I'm as strong as
you can get.'"
A few years after that conversation his world broke wide open.
He says a chain of seemingly innocent choices became
destructive, and it was his fault.
Choice by choice by choice, each easier to make, each becoming
gradually darker.
And then his world broke - in the very area he had predicted
he was safe - and his world had to be rebuilt.
MacDonald says:
"My perception is that broken-world people exist in large
numbers, and they ask similar questions over and over again.
Can my world ever be rebuilt?
Do I have any value? Can I be useful again?
Is there life after misbehavior?
"My answer is yes.
That is what grace is all about.
A marvelous, forgiving, healing grace says that all things
can be new.
The escape route from sin is Jesus.
The wellspring of forgiveness is Jesus.
The power to mend broken lives and set us on our feet again
is Jesus.
The one who can guard us against the devastation of sin is
Jesus."
#376
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 376 “The Fallen Can Rise Again,” Rev. Jonathan Pryke of Jesmond Parish
Church; adapted by David Holwick from Pryke’s sermon “Achan,”
September 14, 1997.
Kerux Sermon #12629 “Bathsheba’s Hope,” sermon by Rev. Jay Herndon,
Three Cities Assembly of God; Burlingame, California;
<http://www.3ca.org>, December 17, 2000. Abe Kudra Collection.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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