The Limits of Leadership: The story of David and Bathseba
November 18, 2012 |
Anita Retzlaff | 2 Samuel 11
Grace and peace to you from God the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus the Christ. As often as we tend to shrink from stories of the Old Testament we are well advised to recognize that they have much to teach us about life. I was hesitant to talk to the children about today’s story of David and Bathsheba because it is not the garden variety bedtime story. And yet our children are growing up in an atmosphere infected with leadership scandals and a vast assortment of indiscretions that make headlines and spread like wildfire by the way of electronic media. So I suppose we cannot spare them but how to we tell the stories in such a way as to convey honesty about the realities of life without creating huge anxiety while still proclaiming hope; that God is good? How do we hear the stories as adults? This is scripture we are tackling here and we seek to uncover the good news of God as we go. And today we are going to do so through a story of murder, adultery and deceit.
We have come about a quarter of the way through the pages of the Old Testament covering a lot of the ancient story to date. In Genesis we hear of the creation; how God chooses a particular time and place to walk with humanity. As these people, of God’s choosing, learn about God’s ways they continually make grievous mistakes so that the flood, servitude and the desert wanderings become a part of the story. As this people Israel wanders about the desert searching for home, for the land of promise, they are continually instructed in the ways of the commandments, through the Law, as to how to live well with each other and with God. They keep messing up and that is why we need to pay particular attention because we do too. 40 years of wilderness living and they do not appear to be much the wiser for their rough journey and yet beat up and travel weary they finally arrive: they have found home. To what do they arrive: a great opportunity that they incrementally and decisively ruin and defile as we read in the stories of the Judges. Yet even so, woven throughout the narrative thus far are glimmers of hope and oases of mercy. Not everyone messes up completely and God is almost always ready to grant amnesty and forgiveness in the face of confession and contrition. The story of Ruth and Naomi and Boaz is such an example of a story of love and good will. So we have it all in these stories from the bible.
It seems to me that the dramatic tension replayed over and over again in the biblical story has to do with a really basic question: Who is in charge? Whom do we follow? As God’s people have morphed from family into 12 tribes and then from tribal community into a tiny nation they become disoriented and lose their God focus. The two books of Samuel tell the story of this fledgling nation desiring to be like the big guys next door, like the other nations; they want a king! After everything they have been through with God leading them by cloud and pillar of fire, delivering them from plagues, providing manna in the desert, Israel is not satisfied with their leadership structure. God alone is not enough for them. Israel wants to keep up with the Joneses. They demand a king to lead them.
Enter Samuel, the priest, judge and prophet whom at a young age and under the tutelage of Eli, God calls in the middle of the night. God and Samuel have their discussions about the folly of kingship. In fact God tells Samuel, “…the people have rejected me from being their king.” (1 Sam.8:7) Israel will lose sight of God as their leader and Samuel tries to dissuade the people. “But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, “No! but we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.(1 Sam. 8:19-21)
Eventually God capitulates sending Samuel out to anoint Saul as Israel’s first king. It does not take long however and Saul’s leadership begins to show signs of weakness and David comes on the scene as Saul’s competitor. From the outset kingship in Israel is not a resounding success just as God had warned.
So now we come to David’s story. He also was anointed by Samuel. David: the most revered king in all of biblical history, a writer of psalms, the link between the first man Adam and Jesus Christ in a story that is as yet far off. David: described in 1 Samuel 16, “Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome.” So was Saul - by the way – handsome, that is. Physical beauty is important for leadership? Some things don’t change! David is our quintessential hero. He arises from meager beginnings and taking on the big guy, slays the giant Philistine Goliath and remains humble and obedient and faithful through all things. He shows great human friendship to Saul’s son Jonathan and tries to stay out of jealous king Saul’s way for Saul is so threatened by David that he tries repeatedly to have David killed. Great leadership wouldn’t you say? Really? They wanted a king!
David’s exemplary character, however, cannot be emphasized enough. He is perfect! He disarms enemy tribes, worships God faithfully and deals justly with his people. Everything he does is blessed by God because he defers to God in all things. Perfect!
“It happened late one afternoon…” Big sigh! This is a tragic moment because we can see at a glance - for the text is spare and pointed - that David is about to change the course of his life and mission. When he arose from his couch “and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house…he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him and he lay with her.” Just like that! It is that simple and that quick. The golden boy, the Lord’s Anointed, takes another man’s wife because he can. He is the king after all. David has reached the pinnacle of power, his leadership is widely respected. He is adored by the people. In a moment of bad judgment he sins – against Bathseba, against Uriah, against God and against the trust of his people. He isn’t malicious or conniving. David just takes what he wants. Bathseba becomes pregnant because of this encounter and now David becomes conniving. Here begin the consequences and there will be many for the rest of his life. David tries to talk Uriah into going home to Bathsheba with the expectation that Uriah will sleep with his wife and thus her pregnancy will arouse no suspicion. However, true to a soldier’s loyalty Uriah does not sneak home during a military campaign even though David orchestrates three opportunities for him to do so. Finally when all of his other attempts have failed David makes arrangements to have Uriah sent into the heat of the battle where the fighting is most intense. Uriah is killed. Mission accomplished. David is told of Uriah’s death and after Bathsheba’s time of mourning is complete, David sends for her and marries her and their baby is born.
Big letdown! David has just broken 3 of the 10 Commandments – coveting his neighbour’s wife, adultery and murder. We are disappointed and so is God! What now? What do we do when a respected leader sins? It is not lost on any of us that at this moment in the United States people are trying to make sense of a situation that has rocked their moral sensibilities with revelations of an extramarital affair by the head of the CIA. It happens in every country, town and community. People make some serious mistakes. How does our society handle such disappointment and what do we do in the church? These situations force us to make judgments. Where do we go from here? And let’s be honest. We likely expect more of our leaders than we do of ourselves. Maybe the most important question is: how does God deal with David?
God sends a prophet, Nathan; a gadfly, a conscience-stirrer who confronts David. Nathan, by way of a parable in the next chapter of 2 Samuel, exposes David’s sin before him – and David immediately confesses, “I have sinned against the LORD.” (12:13) So, God has something to work with; a contrite heart. “Now the LORD has put away your sin,” Nathan informs David, “you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child that is born to you shall die.” (12:14) Consequences. Fallout. Collateral damage. The cycle of destruction has been set into motion and there is more death and more heartache ahead.
Yet God forgives those who seek reconciliation and we bear the consequences of our indiscretions. That’s fair enough. So what has this story to say to us about leadership? Like Israel we want to be like other nations. We want a king to fight our battles for us, to protect us and make us safe, to be morally responsible on our behalf. We want a God that will spare us pain. We want to live in a country that will take care of all of our needs and keep us wealthy. We want church leaders who live perfect lives of faith and accountability. We want friends who never let us down. We are always at risk of signing up with a platform that promises to get rid of temptation and provide a security that is not realistic. And we abandon God when we ally ourselves with these empty promises.
Kingship did not solve Israel’s problems. Instead of providing the clout and the glory that they hoped for, kingship in the last analysis, weakened their community and isolated Israel from the heart of God. Individuals became less accountable. Leadership is essential in community life but it has limits. Human beings disappoint. That is the truth of being the created ones. Kingship will not keep us safe; will not keep us from ourselves. Even the most gracious and thoughtful leader will not do for us what we must do for ourselves. Each one of us is called to do mercy, love kindness and walk humbly with our God. We do not designate anyone else to do that in our stead. We rely first on God as our leader so that we might support and empower our fellow-leaders to do the work that we commission them to do. So we will not be unseated by scandal and human failing but will remain confident in the one promise that is above all. God is with us always, in the past, in the future and now. Eternal life with God: that is our hope; that is our joy.
Prayer – LORD of life, you who brought your people through flood and firestorm, fear and failure, move in our midst. Create in us the calm that we need to see rightly that you alone are our leader: our redeemer. With you we can do all things and where we do wrong we seek forgiveness. Help us to help each other accomplish the ministries that you have entrusted to us so that we might be your hope, your love, your peace in the world. We ask this in the name of the One who promises eternal life. AMEN
