You Are That Man
The stories of King David and his moral failures offer us the opportunity to reconsider our own choices and their consequences. And learning to pray using David’s “journal” – the Psalter – provides language for us to confess to God our anguish, our hope for transformation, and our joy that follows a truly broken and contrite heart.
The Glimpses of Grace podcast is a ministry of Grace Episcopal Church in Gainesville, Georgia. We are passionate about supporting the spiritual growth of souls, and we hope these sermons and conversations meet you where you are and enrich your soul as we all continue to make meaning in the world today.
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Transcript
“Thou art the man!”
One of the traits that we excel in as humans is righteous indignation. “How dare he do such and such!” “Oh! You should’ve seen what she did! Shameful!” “That – whatever the ‘that’ is – is SO wrong!”
Sometimes, I think that our expressions of moral outrage about a situation are as much to remind ourselves what things are beyond the pale as they are to express to others our opinion about a situation.
We have a seemingly insatiable appetite for pointing out where someone is at fault, usually contrasted with how much not-at-fault we feel. This sort of rationalization can easily turn into a diet of moral junk food, I’m afraid.
Was King David at fault when he committed adultery with Bathsheba? Absolutely. Was he at fault when he arranged to have Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband killed? Absolutely. Was Nathan’s cleverly delivered indictment against David’s moral failure an exquisite piece of rhetoric? Absolutely. Is anyone here ready to throw the first stone?
I didn’t think so.
We cannot continue to confuse our penchant for spectacles with faithfulness or discipleship. Those in the first camp might be described as “fans” while those in the second camp would be “followers.”
Jesus spoke to this difference the day AFTER the feeding of the 5,000 from last week’s gospel when the crowds followed Jesus to where he went next. He recognized that they were following him not because of the words he said, the lessons he taught. He had fed them when they were hungry. And he recognized that they were following him because they were hungry again for someone else to feed them without them having to work for it, not because they wanted to learn more about what he was teaching.
Forty-eight years ago, President Jimmy Carter provided endless fodder for late night talk show hosts with his frank admission in an interview with Playboy magazine that he had committed adultery in his heart because he had lusted after women while married to Rosalyn. He understood that, according to the spirit of the law as Jesus had taught it, he was as much at fault as if he had acted on his thoughts. Why he agreed to be interviewed by that particular magazine still confuses me. But, this is a man whose diet is not made up of cheap grace. He appears to feed on the bread of life that Jesus offered.
With so much partisan rhetoric in our public spaces today, we also are in danger of substituting indignation for contrition; that is, limiting our reflections to what we find wanting in another person instead of searching our own conscience for signs that we are also missing the mark.
In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul literally begs the people to grow up! Each of us, he says, is given a gift from God and the gifts all vary so that when we work together, the whole beloved community is more resilient than any one person in it. Which resiliency works as an asset that we can hold to when we fear that in our individual struggles we can no longer hold on.
Yes, there will be times when we must speak difficult truths to each other – but these conversations are always motivated by love. Mirror moments, as Nathan had with King David, where Nathan helped David to see for himself where he had betrayed God. Nowhere, however, do I find “judging others” as one of the spiritual gifts. Very likely because a habit of judging others has virtually no positive effect on developing a heart that seeks and serves Christ in others.
And, we must also bring grace to judging our own lives. Some personality types see themselves as peacemakers, somehow responsible for making everyone feel better. Others, see themselves as the cause of every problem, immediately assuming that if there is discord, they must be to blame. However, the antidote to both of these extremes is uncomfortable, because it involves tolerating ambiguity. Not rushing to explain or make sense of events whose many aspects may well be beyond our knowing.
But, developing this ability to tolerate ambiguity is also another way of learning to see the movement of the Holy Spirit in situations and individuals. This kind of sight helps us to collaborate with the divine work of God to cure fundamental problems in this world, rather than focusing on superficial tidiness.
It may mean risking others judging us as “indifferent” or “uncaring” when neither of those things is true at all.
But, family systems problems include deeply tangled stories that God alone can sort. Jumping in too quickly because we cannot stand it when people disagree or trying to take the blame and shame for something that isn’t on you does not help anything.
King David’s actions with Bathsheba and Uriah precipitated consequences that would ripple for generations. This king described as a “man after God’s own heart” would have his own heartbroken many times over before he died.
We have inherited the repository of his reflections in his personal journal known as the Psalter. For centuries, praying through the psalms daily over the months and years has become the soundtrack for the story that is humans struggling against themselves, each other, grieving, rejoicing, celebrating, hoping, trusting that there is indeed a divine purpose to our lives.
When you find yourself heartsick, unable to find words to pray, go to the Psalter:
“For behold, you look for truth deep within me, and in secret you help me to understand the wise thing to do. Give me the joy of your saving help again and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.” Amen.