Pastor Sherry’s message for 7/28/24, 

Scriptures: 2 Sam 11:26-12:23; Ps 51:1-12; Eph 4:1-16; Jn 6:24-35

What’s our Standard?  What yardstick do we use by which to measure our behavior?

Many people today recommend human reason (including scientific findings) as their standard.  They maintain that we can solve all of our social, economic, and political problems by just agreeing with certain “experts”—even social media—and acting on what they recommend.  But I have to say I don’t really trust human reason all that much.  

In my counseling office over the years, I have heard people justify all kinds of wrong behaviors:  theft; betrayal; harming or ignoring the needs of a child; continuing an addiction; and even murder.  Isn’t it true that we can do all kinds of wrong things for what we may consider right reasons?  We justify lying to keep someone from firing us or leaving us. We justify stealing because we think we need or deserve whatever it is.  We have to remind ourselves that in God’s Kingdom, the ends never justify the means.

And haven’t we learned since the outbreak of Covid that the supposed facts of Science can be altered to support a particular political agenda?  We learned later on that masking, social distancing, and business, church, and school closures didn’t really help.  I’m glad I didn’t die from Covid—I’m glad that no one in this congregation died from Covid–but the second vaccine shot eliminated my sense of smell—thank God it wasn’t my eyesight—and I still can’t smell much of anything after all this time.  I maintain a healthy skepticism of human reason.

Another standard some folks tend to trust in are traditions. These are time-tested ways of thinking, believing, and acting. Some traditions are worth adhering to: Giving to the disadvantaged at Thanksgiving and Christmas; and patriotism for our country, thanking our service men and women for their service, and respecting our flag. But some are misguided and passé. The traditional view that the world was flat, and the belief that you would fall off if you sailed too far, restricted world exploration by sea for centuries. Wrapping a feverish person in multiple blankets to aid him/her in sweating out a fever, instead of trying to cool them off, probably killed a lot of folks. How about blood-letting to allow harmful “vapors” to escape an already weakened patient?  I just learned that General Stonewall Jackson of the Civil War did not die from having his arm amputated but from being told by field doctors to lie flat as he recovered.  As a result of his bed posture, he died of Pneumonia.  Singing “We are the Boys from Old Florida” at the start of the 4th quarter of Gator football games, when many UF students and fans are women, is fun but outmoded.  

I’m as careful about evaluating traditions as I am about accepting human reason. Hold off your acceptance. Take time to carefully evaluate human reason and traditions.  For my money—and I believe for yours too—I find the Bible provides us with the truest and best standards to follow.

Our Scriptures today all express this truth:

A.  In our Gospel lesson (John 6:24-35), Jesus conveys several profound and trustworthy truths:  (1) He is able to correctly perceive human motives.  He knows the crowd has followed Him across the lake for more food.  He tells them (v.24, NLT)—I tell you the truth, you want to be with Me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.  Just previous to this, He had fed the 5,000 (including uncounted women and children, the number was more like 15,000) at the Sermon on the Mount.  Rather than (2) appreciate Jesus’ multiplication miracle, or (3) His authority over material things, they come looking to see if He would again manufacture food for them.  Instead, He directs them to (4) believe in Him because He is the Bread of Heaven (All of His I AM statements in John’s Gospel are Jewish ways for Him to say He is God.  Because He is God, He is able to create food enough to feed a multitude from just a little (5 loaves + 2 fish +Jesus= food for 15,000 and 12 baskets of leftovers).  The truth is Jesus is God.  He loves us and He can supply all our needs. (He may not supply all our wants, but He does take care of our needs.)

B.  King David, in our Old Testament reading (2 Samuel 11:26-12:23), provides us with a set of colossal sins and David’s Biblical responses to them. He has sinned by coveting and entering into an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife; and by arranging for Uriah’s death when their adultery results in a baby.

Though his sins are state secrets, Scripture records he did not get off “scot-free.”  Only Bathsheba, the servants who David sent to gather her, and Joab, David’s general, know of his treachery, and they are not talking! They realize he could have them arrested and executed.  His secret sins are relatively safe, but nevertheless, King David feels wretched. Several of the psalms he wrote at this time, including today’s psalm, Psalm 51, tell of his great, private shame, remorse, and misery: (v.4) For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  In Psalm 31:10, he wrote—My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.   Similarly in Psalm 32:3—When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  We could say that the Holy Spirit has brought him under conviction and he is suffering the resulting emotional and spiritual anguish.

The only One who knows of his sins besides those who refuse to talk is the Lord. Notice that God does not abandon King David. Instead, He sends the brave prophet, Nathan, to call him to account. Nathan tells David a story about a poor man taken advantage of by a rich man.  David, thinking this is a report about someone in his kingdom, is outraged! He wants the rich man brought to justice. So Nathan confronts him (v.7)—You are the man!  The story was only a metaphor. Nathan conveys God’s disappointment in David. God had given him so much!  In fact, he already had 6 wives by this time; Bathsheba made #7. (How many wives does a man need?  Often one provides enough drama and interest.)  But David’s sinful actions convey to God that David instead lacks gratitude to and has contempt for the Lord. What a novel way to consider sin: Our sins show our contempt for God. YIKES!

Now David has 3 choices in the way he could respond:  (1) He could deny his sin altogether—as so many government leaders do today (This is an example of human reason at work).  (2)  He could have had Nathan executed—as any despot or dictator would (a “time honored” but ignoble tradition).  (3) Or he could admit the truth, the Biblical standard. This, and the fact that David never was an idolater, is what makes King David a man after God’s own heart.  He desperately desires to recommit himself to God.  So, He admits his sin, he repents, and he asks God to forgive and restore him.

Remember, this is a saga from the Old Testament. It predates the saving work of Jesus Christ.  God graciously forgives David and Bathsheba.  He spares them the punishment for adultery (and murder) which would have resulted in them both being stoned.  But God does not prevent the grave consequences of David’s sin from affecting him. Notice how the Law of Sowing and Reaping then plays out in David’s life:  (1) The child born to Bathsheba, a firstborn son, dies after birth (his death for Uriah’s death).

(2) Later, one of David’s other sons, Amnon, covets and rapes his beautiful step-sister, Tamar (a sexual sin, rape, for a sexual sin, adultery).   (3.) Absalom, Tamar’s full brother, kills Amnon out of revenge (another death for a death).  (4.) Still later, Absalom will try to wrest the throne from King David (lawlessness and rebellion against David for lawlessness and rebellion against God).

C.  King David models for us in Psalm 51, that we can return to a close relationship with God when we honestly acknowledge our sins.  As we read responsively verses 1-12, it is clear that David has sincere grief and regret over what he has done.  He openly begs for God’s forgiveness, asking for mercy.  He also recognizes that it is only God Himself who can cleanse him (v.10)—Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.   He affirms his faith that God will forgive him because he has asked (v.15)—O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise, and (v.17)—The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken spirit and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.  

D.  Paul advises his protégé, Timothy, in 2 Timothy 4:2-4a—Preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke, and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction—for the time will come [and is now here] when men [and women] will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth….. In our Ephesians reading today (Ephesians 4:1-16), Paul asserts that we grow up or mature in our faith when (v.14)–>…we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.   In other words, we become mature Christians when we are able to discern Biblical truth from human reason or tradition.

The Truth is contained in Scripture.  Jesus Christ is the way, the Truth, and the life.  Our standards are spelled out for us in the words of The Bible and in the way that Jesus modeled for us.  Remember back in the 1990’s when many people wore bracelets that said “WWJD”?  That stood for “What Would Jesus Do?” There’s our standard.  Let’s be skeptical of human wisdom and of human tradition. Let’s look to our Lord for how we should live and what we should believe.  AMEN!  

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams