12/10/23 2 Samuel 12:1-7a, 11-13 “You Have Been Busted!”

07 Dec 12/10/23 2 Samuel 12:1-7a, 11-13 “You Have Been Busted!”

12/10/23    2 Samuel 12:1-7a, 11-13        “You Have Been Busted!”

This is the time of year when we are preparing for Christmas, hence the term Advent.  We are preparing for the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Lord of all people in every place in the world.  It doesn’t matter who you are, Jesus is for you.  You can even deny it but it won’t change the fact that Jesus loves you.  After making a statement like this I feel especially good.  Then it just amazes me that we open up our newspapers or news apps and read about these people that want to take Christ out of Christmas.  One of the thoughts I have about this is that if you have a different god, a false god that you follow, why don’t you ask him or her or whatever to get your own holiday and leave Christmas alone?  I was reading on the internet one time about what one person thought was the reason so many people are now rejecting Christmas.  As people move farther and farther away from God, they get closer and closer to their sin.  They begin to love their sin.  They love their sin so much that they don’t want anyone to remind them that what they are doing is sin and it is wrong.  Just look at all the terrible, immoral things that we accept in today’s society.  There are several things in this world that are so terribly wrong and yet we accept them as normal.  So why would these people want to celebrate Christmas when this only reminds them that they are unrepentant sinners?  I think that this is a pretty good point.  Now, if you are one of these people who don’t think that God is right, then listen up to our story today as we take a look at the terrible mess that David put himself in and how he survived.

I remember back one time when I was in about third grade.  I loved to eat cereal for breakfast and my favorite was one called Sugar Crisp.  We didn’t have computers or cell phones so we would read the cereal boxes.  I think they still make this cereal but they can’t call it Sugar Crisp because it just isn’t correct to have the name sugar in any product anymore.  We have sure become a goofy society!  Anyway, in those days there was always some contest or something on the back of the cereal box that you could enter.  My mother was always against these types of things.  Anyway, I decided that I had to enter this particular contest because if I won, I would get this great Erector set that included an electric motor.  So, I did; and wouldn’t you know, I won!  So, one day I came home from school and this great Erector set with a motor was sitting on the kitchen table.  My mother asked me where this came from.  I had been busted.  I did something that I was not supposed to do and I got caught in such a way that everyone knew.  Busted!  David was a great king but he was also human like you and me and he also gets busted.

Before we can really appreciate what is happening in our reading, we have to make sure we understand what had been happening.  David was now the great king of Israel.  He was also a great warrior.  It was his practice to go out and lead his troops in the battles against their enemies.  This one particular year, David decided not to lead the armies and he stayed home in Jerusalem, you know, playing video games, watching TV and just taking it easy.  While there he spotted a woman, Bathsheba, who struck his fancy.  Well, David is king so he can pretty much do what he wants.  He summons Bathsheba and they have an affair that ends up with her being pregnant.

Now Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, is a fierce and loyal warrior in David’s army.  To solve this situation, David gives the order to put Uriah in the front line where the fiercest fighting occurs.  He is killed and that was the intention.  For all practical purposes, David put Uriah to death in a very sneaky fashion.  So, we have the greatest king on earth who does this deed which is so dirty and rotten. He is an adulterer and murderer.

But we aren’t done yet.  He then marries Bathsheba and they have the baby.  Now it is a year after the death of Uriah and it is time to come to terms with what he has done.  In other words, he has spent a year in his guilt.  He knows that he has done wrong but he has let his king mentality rule his life.  He is king and all is well.  No one can bust King David.

This is the mentality we have in this country today.  Also, this is something that is not new.  We have always had this mentality but each generation has to discover it for themselves.  If you remember about 50 years ago, we had a president who thought he was privileged enough to break into a place and he stole an election.  I don’t know if he ever really admitted his wrong doing.  Within the last 30 years we have had a president who got caught in an affair with an aide.  He denied it and denied it and denied it.  Today, I think that Congress and the President think they can just take taxpayer money without any consequences.  We have a pedophile island where our leaders can wallow in their sewer.  I’m sure there are many more examples from our leaders.  And this isn’t happening in just our leaders.

I was listening to a local radio talk show where they were talking about how and why young people are staying away from church.  The reason they came up with was that church was too demanding, too judgmental and too hypocritical.  I think that these are all bogus reasons.  The reason young people, old people, any people stay away from church, and I just stated this, is that these people are in love with their sin and they don’t want to be told by God that these things are wrong.  They want to be always right and we had better change the Bible or else.  The sad part of all this is that the ‘or else’ is about them and not the church.  They are closing their door to their salvation and this is sad.  Now maybe we can do things better but you are in the ultimate position as to where you will spend eternity.  The decision is yours.  Ask Jesus to be Lord and Savior of your life and do it today.  Now I have been a modern-day Nathan as you know the prophecy of your future.

So, let’s turn to Nathan in our story as he is a prophet sent from God to tell David what he has done.  I would guess that Nathan has to be a little scared.  After all, how in the world do you tell the most powerful man in the world that he is a low-down murdering adulterer and thief?  So, Nathan comes up with this story, or God does, of a rich man who basically steals everything from a poor man.  David gets so riled up that he says that the rich man must pay for his misdeeds and he must pay heavily.  Then Nathan tells David that he is the rich man.

You see, David has spent the last year telling himself that he is right; that he has done nothing wrong.  After all, he is king and who can say anything against him.  He is all powerful!  Every time I read this story; I can’t help but wonder what the people around him thought.  There had to be many aides who knew about this.  This isn’t something that you can just cover up.  I think that the people around the king were either secretly laughing at him or were so afraid for their lives that they didn’t dare say anything.  Either way, David was in denial, thinking that he had gotten away with it, gotten away with murder.

When was the last time you had something like this happen to you?  I have had this happen, being busted, to me many times over the years.  Entering the contest on the cereal box was only one of minor times that I was busted.  Perhaps you have done things as serious as David and your life has been changed by making a bad decision.  David was quick to point out the faults in other people as we see when Nathan told the story and David faulted the rich man.  Most of the time we like to point our fingers of blame to other people.  Many people feel that it can’t be their fault.  It has to be someone else’s fault.  The blame game has been around since the beginning of time also.  Remember, Adam blamed Eve, even though he was standing right there.

One of my pet peeves is how much we like to blame everyone else.  Have you ever noticed that no matter what happens, we look to blame someone?  Sometimes it is a little ridiculous.  If we have an earthquake, then we blame FEMA for not being ready.  If the weather isn’t just right, we blame el Niño.  When our children misbehave, we blame the schools.  Take note of this next time you see something on the news.  Just about every time, we like to blame something or someone else first.

This doesn’t only happen in the news and to others around us, it also happens in our own lives.  I think you can all name instances in your lives where you have blamed other people first for your own shortcomings.  It is only after some reflection that you see that it is really your problem or fault and not someone else’s.  The problem lies in the fact that many people never own up to their shortcomings and always blame others.  Basically, they never grow up!

This is where David had been for a year.  He had been living in his guilt and blaming others.  Nathan has shown him that he, David, is the problem.  You have two choices when you come to this juncture in your lives.  You can either continue to deny the problem, the sin.  Or you can confess it to Jesus and get cleansed.  For people who don’t know Jesus, there is only one choice as you cannot be cleansed of your wrong doing without Jesus.

I think that it is also important to understand that the exposure of the sin of David did not ruin him or his kingship.  Now don’t get me wrong, there were going to be consequences, severe consequences because of his sin, but he wouldn’t be ruined.  He would have to deal with the consequences for the rest of his life and his family would turn on him but he was still alive and still king.

This is something that is very hard for us to understand.  We don’t like to think of the person who is sitting on death row as someone who can come to Jesus and have their sins washed away but he can.  I don’t like to think of any person who commits a heinous crime like this as forgiven but they can be if they confess their sins to Jesus and ask Him to live in their lives.  Jesus is for everyone!

People also have a tough time with forgiveness as they often times think that their largest sins are unforgiveable.  Often time’s people think that their sin is so huge but the fact is that no one really notices because it is so small.  However, please remember that whether the sin is large or small, God hates it.  He hates all sin and that is something that we tend to forget as we live in this very permissive, sick society.  Basically, what I’m trying to say here is that no matter what sin you have committed, big or small, chances are your life will continue and it won’t be ruined.  There may be consequences, severe consequences to your actions but you won’t be ruined.

I can make statements like this because of a very important point here in our story.  David was sure that God would give up on him and there would be nothing left for him.  David was also sorry for all he did and he felt that he didn’t deserve another chance.  Therefore, David came before the Lord and he was truly repentant.  We not only read about it here but we also get a real feel for the depth of the emotion when we read the Psalms from David.  He was asking the Lord to forgive him even if he thought he didn’t deserve it.

And you know what?  God forgives David.  God forgives David immediately as we see in verse 13 when Nathan replies, “The Lord has taken away your sin.”  It is that simple.  It is us who try to make this hard by saying that our loving God is too important or too busy to bother with little old me.  This is the great news for all Christians everywhere.  This is a great place for non-Christians to look.  David committed murder, deceit and adultery plus I would gather he probably did an array of other sins.  But there wasn’t a sin too great that God didn’t forgive and the forgiveness came without hesitation.

You see, God loves you so much that He will forgive you of anything if you just come to Him.  You might have to suffer some consequences but they will be small compared to feeling the actual love of Jesus that will surround you when you confess.  If you think that your adultery, your greed, your envy, your coveting things is so great that God won’t forgive you, think again.  He will forgive you and forgive you and forgive you.

This is Advent season and this is the Sunday of peace.  Think about the peace you can have when you have been busted after you have presented your sin to Jesus.  Jesus knows all that you do and you can hide nothing.  Take your troubles, take your worries, take your joys to Jesus Christ.  He wants you to tell Him even though He already knows.  Jesus loves you so much that He has shown you the way to Him through these stories and events of the Old Testament.  He loves you so much that He wants to make you as great as King David.  He loves you no matter what you have done.  I praise Him for all this love that He shows you in so many ways.  And thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.