Episode 1460: The Weight of the Word

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1460 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:07] Sebastian Schug: I do challenge you to invest in yourself. You know, I challenge you to invest others in the future, even though that it is uncertain and the paths may sometimes be rocky, but in doing so I'm hoping that it can develop an influence.

[00:00:24] Uh, I'm hoping that it can impact the world, you know, utilizing your time, your talent, and treasures to live out your calling, whatever they may be. It may not even be in the same creative avenue that I've, uh, explained, but I'm hoping that it can be general enough to help you come to that conclusion. You know, having the ability to adapt with faith as your journey progresses is of course key.

[00:00:50] Understanding that root of why you choose to do it in the first place. In plugging this show, one way to be inspired is to listen to [00:01:00] Inspired Stewardship.

[00:01:02] Scott Maderer: Not just because David was someone who was after God's own heart, that's how he's described, but also because David, whenever he acted wrongly, whenever that was pointed out to him, whenever he heard the message, he recognized in himself the wrongness of his actions, and he bore the consequences of those wrongness as well.

[00:01:24] Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you

[00:01:50] In today's Spiritual Foundation episode, I talk about 2 Samuel 11 26 12 13, I share how we often see [00:02:00] ourselves in scripture and how that can be both a good and a bad thing, and I also share how we can often overlook the consequences and the other in our messaging. 2 Samuel chapter 11 verse 26 through chapter 12 verse 13 says, When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him.

[00:02:23] When the morning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord, and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.

[00:02:40] The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He brought it up and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his meager fare and drink from his cup and lie in his bosom and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man and he was loathed to take one of his [00:03:00] own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.

[00:03:08] Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die. He shall restore the Lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he has no pity. Nathan said to David, You are that man. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul.

[00:03:31] I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judea. And if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Amnionites.

[00:03:53] Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your [00:04:00] wife. Thus says the Lord, I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in broad daylight.

[00:04:11] For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and in broad daylight. And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. So This is the rest of the story that we were talking about last week, or at least some of the rest of the story you keep reading to get the rest of the story and see the impact of this event on David and his time as the king and on the people of God.

[00:04:39] And you can keep reading to find out the impact of this event on Bathsheba, but the problem is you won't find anything. We know next to nothing from this text. of what Bathsheba was doing, what her motivations were, what the consequences were, what happened, what are the interpretations. At least in this version [00:05:00] of the story, she is kept silent throughout the telling of the story.

[00:05:03] Even the label, she changes from being Bathsheba, her name, last week, to the wife of Yura. She doesn't seem to be a person any longer in her own right. And at some level, this is argued that's because we're trying to focus on David's sin here. But it does make Bathsheba out to be a pawn in this whole thing.

[00:05:27] She's basically had her own personhood taken from her. And this matters because although I can't really reclaim her identity, the truth is that there are people around today who feel overlooked, who feel like their personhood is being taken from them. They are victims of the systems and the politics and the patriarchy and all of the other things that are set up that consistently overlooks them.[00:06:00]

[00:06:00] Whether it's women or other small groups. are other large groups. There are groups that are ostracized and cut out and women often are one of those. And there is a lot of blame if you go look up these passages and how they're interpreted and how they're treated. There's often a lot of blame painted for Bathsheba, as if somehow she's responsible for all of this.

[00:06:25] And yet you'll notice her power is not. It's emphasized throughout this that she has no real power. We talked last week about confession and the process and this week the text begins with a woman who is weeping and an angry God and God does what he does when he's angry. He sends a preacher and Nathan tells a story.

[00:06:49] He tells David a story and David gets caught up in this and he recognizes in the story injustice and abuse of power and yet [00:07:00] he had just done something even worse and didn't see it in himself. This is often what happens whenever we proclaim the word in worship. It doesn't just explain the text. It doesn't just relate to the text.

[00:07:15] It can open up a new way of seeing ourselves, seeing the world around us, and seeing how we are present in the world. The world. It allows us to make connections, to build relationships, to weave our story and the gospel story together in a transforming, disciple making way. Sometimes preaching calls us to account.

[00:07:39] Sometimes this happens, and of course, this kind of personal message isn't necessarily something that happens from a pulpit, but we can find this sometimes when we're reading scripture. And I think whenever we read scripture and it calls us out in terms of our own behavior and changes we need to make in ourselves, it's a good thing, but I've also seen [00:08:00] people Try to read into scripture stories and messages that others should get.

[00:08:07] In other words, reading this and using this as an example of why someone else should respond or change or act in a certain way. Using it, in other words, to judge others is very different than using it to transform ourself. And notice what David does in response to this. Despite his behavior throughout the event, he still recognizes that he has done something that has angered the Lord.

[00:08:35] He recognizes his wrongness in the action, not because Nathan called him out in a judgmental way, but because Nathan allowed him to find himself.

[00:08:49] This is why those actions have consequences. This is why the story of David is so important. Not just because David was someone who was after God's [00:09:00] own heart, that's how he's described, but also because David, whenever he acted wrongly, whenever that was pointed out to him, whenever he heard the message, he recognized in himself the wrongness of his actions, and he bore the consequences of those wrongness as well.

[00:09:19] Thanks for listening.

[00:09:20] Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor, go over to facebook. com slash inspired stewardship.

[00:09:46] And like our Facebook page and mark it that you'd like to get notifications from us so that we can connect with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving you to the best of our [00:10:00] abilities with time and tips there. Until next time, invest your time, Your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact the world.