Flemming Rutlage wrote that, "Advent is designed to show that the meaning of Christmas is diminished to the vanishing point if we are not willing to take a fearless inventory of the darkness." In his genealogy of Jesus, Matthew has forced us to look at the darkness. Tamar and the hard-hearted and hurtful hubris of Judah, Rahab and the sickening sin of the Cannanites, and the sad reality of family and death in the story of Ruth. And yet, in each of these dark stories, light begins to break. They all prepare us for Jesus. And then Bathsheba, or maybe we should just say, like Matthew says, "the wife of Uriah the Hittite". Lust and murder bound up in the light coming. God's mercy of the victimizer and the victim. What grace! What scandalous shining in darkness!

Transcript

Good morning once again. This is a little bit of an abnormal passage on Christmas Eve, but this Sunday is not only Christmas Eve (which we will celebrate this evening), but it is also the last of the four Sundays of Advent. Today is the last day when we sit in waiting for the coming of our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace. And so we have before us a story that once again highlights the deep need of the world and of us, you and me, for our Prince of Peace to come, come and right the wrongs of the world.  

Once again we have scandal before us. We’ve looked at the scandal of Tamar and Judah, where God brought his grace to an incestuous situation. We’ve looked at the scandal of how God brings his mercy in his judgement when Rahab the prostitute becomes a paradigm for the faithful. We looked at the scandal of bringing outsiders in when we looked last week at Ruth, a Moabite - a nation which also came about through incest, was brought in to the people of God. Now, today we’re looking at a passage that just makes you blush. You may have noticed that Bathsheba wasn’t actually mentioned by name in the genealogy in Matthew. She’s just called “the wife of Uriah.” One commentator said that it is as if Matthew can’t even bring himself to mention this woman by name because the story is such a high-point of scandal in the story of God working through Israel. But this is the story that is before us. And again we see God’s scandalous mercy.

 In the early 1960s, President Kennedy would often call his friend, the Prime Minister of England, Harold Macmillan, on the phone. They would talk about Cuba, they would talk about Charles de Gaule, they would talk about the Soviets. The conversation would often end with Kennedy asking Macmillan, “How’s it going with Profumo? What’s the latest?” You see, Profumo was Macmillan’s Secretary of State for War. And of all things, he had gotten tangled up in an affair with a  young woman at a pool party at the notorious country estate of the Astor family. That’s rather sketchy and ripe for gossip as it is, but this young woman, 19 year old Christine Keeler, was also romantically involved with the Soviet Attache to London, Yevgeny Ivanov, and as everyone but the youngest of schoolchildren know, a Soviet Military Attache is also a Soviet spy. Well, the affair between Profumo and Keeler lasted a few months and then rumors got their way. When Profumo was caught, he panicked and lied. He tried to cover up. The Secretary of State for War in an affair with someone who runs in the circles of Soviet spies!? 

 A little while later, at the wise proding of his wife, Profumo came clean. He admitted to what he had done. And the newspapers sold well that day. “Scandal!” “Liar!” “Adulterer!” “Man of Poor Judgement!” 

 The scandal had such an effect that the Prime Minister, Macmillan, nearly resigned and a year later his government collapsed. He was the last conservative until Margret Thatcher became Prime Minister some 20 years later. 

 Scandal. Now, I imagine that you hear a story like that and you think, “Who does that?!” But then your mind goes immediately to people like politicians like George Santos, news anchors like Matt Lauer, comedians like Louis C.K. and the seemingly unending list of pastors that get all caught up in stuff like this. Or maybe you go into your own mind and think of yourself. Maybe you wonder who would you have been with the power of these kinds of people? Who would you be with those looks? Who would you be with that money? Who are you?

 With that question in mind, let me tell you this story of David and the wife of Uriah, Bathsheba, by considering the characters in the story. 

  

David - A King Like Us

 ¹⁴ “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ ¹⁵ you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. ¹⁶ Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ ¹⁷ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. ¹⁸ “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, ²⁰ that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

 So those are the laws concerning the kings of Israel as they are found in Deuteronomy 17. He’s not to trust in power like the kings around him (that’s what the horses are about). He is not to acquire many wives (he’s not to abuse his power sexually), he isn’t to pursue excessive wealth and he is to follow God’s commands.

 Ok, well, here is how 2 Sam 11 starts:

 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.The time when the Kings go out leading their people in battle, David remains. Sounds a bit like lifting himself up over his brothers. 

² It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. ³ And David sent and inquired about the woman.

 So David is supposed to be leading his people as their King, but he is sitting on his couch and then going out for a stroll and as Benjamin Franklin said, “Idle hands are the Devil’s playthings.” David, not doing what he was supposed to be doing sees Bathsheba and objectifies her. Now how do I know that?  

Let’s continue. 

³ And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” ⁴ So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. ⁵ And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” 

 First, David sees, he inquires, and he takes.

 Second, this response to his inquiry was “She’s Eliam’s daughter and Uriah’s wife.” That should have been more than enough for David. You see, david had a group of 39 men that were known as David’s mighty men. Of all others, they were the best in battle. When he would go out, they would go with him. Sometimes he and they would go out on expeditions together. They probably camped out a lot together. They probably shared many meals together. David no doubt knew each one of their names. You can read those names in 2 Samuel 23. Both Eliam, Bathsheba’s father, and Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband are listed there. So David is told her name, he is told her father’s name and he is told her husband’s name. And he takes her and he lays with her. 

 But now she is pregnant.

 So what does he do? He goes into coverup mode. Let me read the rest of the story for us.

 ⁶ So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰ When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” ¹¹ Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” ¹² Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. 

¹⁴ In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵ In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” ¹⁶

 So David is sitting at home when he is supposed to be out to war. He sees a pretty lady and objectifies her - he never mentions her name in this whole story. He depersonalizes her. He get’s her pregnant. Then he gets her husband to come back from war to sleep with her and when he doesn’t, David has him killed.

 Woah! Man, the Bible is way more intense and crazy than we think.

 Ok, let’s consider Bathsheba for a second.

 Bathsheba - A body like Her’s

 Ok, we have rather little about Bathsheba here. In fact the focus in this story seems to be on David and Uriah. What we do know is that Bathsheba was very beautiful. In fact, it doesn’t just say “beautiful,” it says “very good appearance.” She was good to look at.  People think that her bathing mate have only been the act of ritual purification that is mentioned in verse 4, but we don’t know. It’s certainly a pious act that is mentioned, but she is also outside right by the wall that the king could walk on. She may have been flaunting her stuff, we don’t know. She is summoned to David and we don’t know if he sent her some sort of sexual proposition and she willingly came. We don’t if he just sent for her to find out if she knew how her dad and brother were doing in the war and they took advantage of her. We don’t know. We don’t know if she came to David and he made a move on her and she reminded him about the instructions for Kings from Deuteronomy and the what the law says about adultery. We don’t know. We don’t know if she just felt like she couldn’t say no to the king or if she was playing the gold digger. We don’t know. 

 So we know all kinds of ways that David was breaking the law of God - all kinds of ways. We know that he was not leading like he was supposed to, we know he abused his authority, we know that he committed adultery and that he committed murder, but we don’t really know much about Bathsheba. 

 We know that she was following the purification laws and so we should be inclined to think well of her, but we don’t know if she loved the attention of David, if she tried to be faithful to her husband and to God’s law. So much is unknown here..

Ok, now let’s consider Uriah

 Uriah

 Ok, now the first thing we know about Uriah is that he is a Hittite, that means that he was part of the ancient people that possessed the land North of Canaan. But somehow in the course of things he had come to worship and serve the God of Israel. So he is a Hittite. 

 The next thing that we learn about him is that he is where David was supposed to be, in Battle with Joab.

 Third, we learn that Uriah is very faithful.

 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”  -   And he doesn’t do that thing even when David gets him sloshed!

 He’s faithful to God, to David and to his fellow soldiers.

 So here are the characters of this scandal: David, Bathsheba and Uriah. David, the King who consistently goes against the ways of God in this story. Clearly he is a victimizer. Bathsheba, this beautiful woman who we really don’t know much about in this story. Is she a victim? Very possibly, but we don’t totally know. And Uriah, a foreigner who shows faithfulness beyond all of the others who is clearly a victim here.

But who is alive at the end of the story? David and Bathsheba! What an injustice! What a scandal. 

 And what happens with them? Well, the prophet Nathaniel calls out David on his sin. David repents - that’s what Psalm 51 is, but he doesn’t get to build a permanent house for the Ark. He is forgiven of his sins, but they have some consequences in his life.

 And Bathsheba? Well, the child that she is pregnant with died seven days after being born. She had another son, Solomon, who went on to become the king of Israel after David and one of the wisest and greatest men in the history of Israel.

 So David and Bathsheba both seem to have consequences for their sins, but God forgives them? And the righteous one in this story, the foreigner, dies!

 What a scandalous mercy! I mean, it just shouldn’t happen this way!

 Here we have yet again a story that is full of sexual misconduct and here we have yet again God showing his mercy in the midst of scandal. 

 Let’s get back to Profumo.  

 So Profumo was caught. He was caught in his adultery. Everyone hoped he would disappear. And he did. A few years later he reappeared and declared himself rehabilitated. He said he deepened, he matured and he wanted to stand for parliament to serve the public. “It all depends on the voters. My candidacy is in their mercy.” Well, people didn’t want to think they were unmerciful. Profumo won in a landslide, worked his way up to party chief, and 12 years later ran for prime minister, his past quite forgotten, expunged, by his mounting triumphs.

 But that’s actually not what happened. No, he did not make some political comeback. In fact, he did the opposite. He knew what he did was horrible and he went away. He never asked for political power again. He went to go work with the poor in a rundown settlement house in the East End of London called Toynbee Hall. He worked as a social worker among the poor. He visited prisons, he visited the criminally insane, he helped in the housing of the poor and in workers education. And this wasn’t for show. He worked there for 40 years. He didn’t do interviews until he retired. When he retired he was the president of Toynbee Hall. 

 In November 2003, to mark the 40th anniversary of his work, Profumo gave an interview to an old friend. “Jack,” said W.F. Deedes, “what have you learnt from this place?” After a pause for thought, Profumo said: “Humility.”

 “Humility.” 

 “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

 And the story of the wife of Uriah is the story of a humble and faithful Hittite showing the King of Israel the way of humility, just like Tamar was used to bring Judah to repentance and Rahab teaches us all the way of faith. When I first started studying for this sermon, I was struck that Bathsheba isn’t mentioned by name in the genealogy of Matthew. But God had shown grace to Bathsheba and to David back in 2 Samuel. Here Matthew highlights Uriah. God shows grace to Uriah. 

Today is the last day of Advent, this time when we particularly focus on our sin and the need for the coming Savior. And here we see God’s mercy even for us. Maybe you are one who finds yourself caught up in sexual sin, God’s grace is for you. Jesus came for you! Maybe you find yourself idle and using your idle time in ways that you shouldn’t. God’s grace is for you. Jesus came for you! Maybe you are one that objectifies others. We know the pornography industry is worth more than the MLB, NHL, NBA and NFL combined, but maybe you don’t objectify women or men in that way but you use your friendship for your own benefit. Maybe you’re a ghost friend. God’s grace is for you. Jesus came for you. Maybe you are one that finds yourself going along with with the pressures about you. Maybe you are showing yourself off. God’s grace is for you. Jesus came for you! Maybe you are one who has been victimized, objectified, used. God’s grace is for you. Jesus came for you. Jesus came not to objectify, but to dignify. 

 What does this teach us about Advent, the coming of God? It teaches us that he comes for the victim and the victimizer. His grace is for all of us. Jesus, God in the flesh, the One who was named because he would forgive his people of their sins, his grace if for you. We who know how we have broken his law, he comes to us. We who might not know his law, he comes for us. Jesus came for those in power and those without power. Jesus came for those who abuse their power and those who are abused by power. Jesus comes to bring the scandalous mercy of God. 

 Come to God if your an adulterer, if you don’t know what’s going on, if you have been idle and looking at things you shouldn’t. Come to him if you have used your beauty or your position for your own gain. Come to him if you are an outsider. Come to him, all of you. When the Lord came he didn’t look upon the crowds and the people that would come to him as objects to be used, but as people to be love. He came for the poor, for the wealthy, for licentious, for the pharisee, for the abuser and the abused, for the victim and the victimizer. He came not to objectify, but to restore and to dignify. 

 Come to him in humility and he will give you his scandalous grace.