The Power of Bathsheba

Introduction

You may remember a time when the mayor of Toronto was famous - his fifteen minutes mostly spent smoking crack. It is weird, is it not, the way our world is devolving. The wider the gap between rich and poor the more the rich can get away with.

A marijuana story puts this in perspective from the non powerful side, and may be relevant in our newly legalized society... why legalize pot? Some cynics see it as a way for the government to make money - and it is.

But consider this. 99% of all people arrested and imprisoned for marijuana use in Canada and the United States are first and foremost poor - and at least in the states, black.

Smoking marijuana is something you arrest people for when they are undesirable and you have no other reason to arrest them. Thus legalizing it is actually a social justice issue. Poor people are getting in trouble constantly for something the middle class and rich people are not worrying about.

Donald Trump proves my point from the other side. Be rich and put in a position of power and .... well... is there anything Trump cannot do? It seems every day there is some moral or criminal line crossed.

The Ford brothers are even doing well for themselves...

Not only does power corrupt - but it creates impunity...

It is only when the outrage over the impunity begins to grow that anything actually happens. Look at the Catholic Church right now ... so many priests are in trouble for assaulting so many victims - but what really makes people angry is that they got away with it... that is was covered up... that the church believed they were above the moral and actual laws that protect the victims.

So let’s talk about God’s preferential option for the poor. This is what we too often forget, or pave over, in church. God stands on the side of the victim, of the little person, of the slaves, of the outcast, of the widow and orphan.

The heroes of God’s stories are not the rich and powerful but the carpenters and shepherds.

So which side are we on?

Going Deeper

Why did you do that?

That is a pretty innocent way of saying what I first thought this passage was about when I read it. Why did you do that? What the...

Let’s talk about David for a minute. Small town boy made good – defeated the champion of the enemy army, a giant no less when he was young – goes on to be king... and a really good one, way better than Samuel.

So David the king is hanging out at the palace one day while his army is off fighting a war. See, the opening sentence of this story should already make us say, what? Kings go and fight wars – they do not hide back in the castle. What is going on...

Then there is this woman who is doing absolutely the right thing – taking a bath in her own house – washing after her “time of the month” as her religion says she must – with every confidence that she is alone and innocent. When who should decide to spy on her but the King, who should be off at war anyway... and what does he do then – sends armed guards to get her, bring her to the palace, and rapes her...

What in the name of God was he thinking would be the end of all of this?

You know the other thing I cannot help but think of... Donald Trump. I do not want to, I know I should not care, but really... does this story not sound just a little bit like it is about him?

Then David conspires to have Bathsheba's husband killed and eventually makes her his concubine, she then presumably gives birth to David’s child. This is not the way things are supposed to go.

Bathsheba is a victim. She is innocent. There is no good, no reason, no blame for what happens to her that goes on her shoulders. Right then and there David has lost everything. In that moment he loses his credibility, his reliability, and his morals.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely...

So why is this story here? What about this tale makes it worthy of remembering thousands of years late, much less being part of something that we think of as a holy and sacred guidebook for our faith?

I think the answer to that is simple – and it is the prophet Nathan.

Nathan and David grew up together in the palace after David killed Goliath. They were best friends. One became the king and one became the prophet.

Despite friendship, despite being part of the royal court  - Nathan goes to David and says, you screwed up. This is not right. God is angry...

If you keep reading chapter 12 you will see that Nathan tells David God is so angry that something horrible is going to happen – and even after David please, repents, prays, fasts, says he will never do it again – Bathsheba's child dies seven days later.

You cannot do the wrong thing without repercussions. That is a very real moral of this story. Of course, it is awful all the way around – everything about this story is the subject matter we try to hide from our kids – rape, unwanted pregnancy, murder, violence, revenge and miscarriage... It is a horrible story from start to finish.

But remember the two things it says in no uncertain way – Bathsheba was blameless – David was wrong.

Faith speaks truth to power. Faith sides with the innocent. Faith stands up to the abuser. Faith is willing to call out sin  - no matter where, or when, or why it happens.

Conclusion 

In most Bible stories you can imagine yourself being one or another of the characters – sometimes we are like the poor man and sometimes the rich, sometimes like the vineyard worker and sometimes like the vineyard owner...
                                     
Not this one.

In this story there is only one person we are meant to be. Only one position we can take. We are Nathan. We are the ones who stand up and say – this is wrong! That is the only faithful response.

It is hard, this standing with the victim, this preferential option for the poor... When the church does it we do not make any friends. It was the Methodist church in the 1800’s that started the whole anti-slavery movement. It was the United Church in Canada that started advocating for equality of LGBTQ peoples. It was the United Church who first said we were sorry for the way we treated the aboriginal people of Canada...

We have always been the ones who are supposed to take the hard road of saying, that is not right, and doing something about it. I think the story of Bathsheba is a cautionary tale – that even the chosen of God can become someone who needs stopping. We just need to find our voice.