2 Samuel 11:1-15
Saint John 6:1-21
In the movie The Dark Knight, fictional District Attorney Harvey Dent says: “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”1
King David has been in power for a number of years. He has moved Israel from being a ragtag group of nomads to a powerful nation with an effective military. David has had a number of political, military, and economic successes. Perhaps that accounts for why he believes that he can do anything he wants. A lot of powerful, successful people come to believe that the rules are made for everybody but them. They can do anything they want without fear of reprisal.2
We know what that is like because we know leaders who believe the same thing and behave in the same ways.
As one said, “when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Whatever you want. You can do anything.”3
Looking out from his palace window which, high above all the other houses, David the King, has a view of everything going on down below. He is literally and figuratively above it all, not limited by societies norms because he’s got it all and he knows it. He was a slayer of giants, a military leader unlike any ever known, a builder of outstanding buildings, an all around stable genius, and most important all he was King. And it is here we find him wallowing in his greatness. If he had a mirror, he would probably stand before it every morning and say: “Dang! You’re hot!”
We know his story all too well. It even seems that we are living in this story. Everyday we hear about another fallen emperor. Everyday there is another tawdry episode about a politician, or entertainer, or journalist, or tycoon who didn’t remember what his teachers and his mother, I hope, taught him when he was little: “Keep your eyes on your paper and your hands to yourself.”
David’s eyes are wandering. The house of one of his most decorated generals, Uriah, is below him and he spots Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, bathing. The great king has reduced himself to being a peeping Tom, a voyeur, a creep.
But he doesn’t stop there. He sends for the woman he has been spying on and takes her. At this point he is all “take.” He sees what he wants and takes it.
Sarah Ruden, in her book The Face of Water has wisely pointed out that this is a pivotal moment. “In this story, this shift is where the most trouble starts, when David could have held back the wrecking ball.”4
Before he knows it he has hit bottom. His actions can only be described as deplorable.
I have absolutely no intention of going into the specifics of what happened between David and Bathsheba on that hot night but it is only the beginning.
“‘The oldest lie,’” says Lex Luthor, ‘in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, ‘is that power can be innocent.”5
As we have heard over and over again it is not the crime but the coverup. But when you are a king, you have absolute power and as the old saying goes: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”6
Powerful people have the potential to be bad people. At this point in his life David was a very bad man.
The king invites the Bathsheba’s husband over for drinks, gets him tipsy, and the next morning while Uriah is still hung-over, sends him to the front lines of battle where he is killed.
This is a sorry tale of human brokenness that can occur with anybody who is only a taker. David not only takes innocence from Bathsheba he conspires to take the life of her husband Uriah to cover up his crimes.
Now if anybody tells you that the Bible isn’t relevant to our day point them to this passage. It has the misuse of power written all over it. Some who pretend to have read it and still want other books banned may wish to start with this chapter and these verses. It’s always amazing to me that some scribe, down through the ages, didn’t look at this story, blanched, and then took out an Exacto Knife and carefully cut it out.
Yet, it is there, as a reminder that for those who only think of themselves and have spent their lives only as “taker” wickedness can be very appealing.
It is warm enough in here without leaving you all “hot and bothered.” I can’t leave you in despair.
We’ll leave beloved King David to think about what he has done and stew in his own juices until next Sunday because if the only thing you come away from church is the feeling that “as it was so shall it ever be” you might not come back. I can’t leave you in despair. Power does not always have to lead to unbridled passion sometimes it can lead to compassion.
We know the kind of power Jesus had. He could still storms, heal the sick, even raise the dead. This is the kind of power no king or political leader will ever have. And this is the kind of power we are to be inspired to emulate.
Saint Mark remembers in his Gospel that when Jesus lifted up his eyes and saw the crowd his heart and mind were full of compassion.
Now I know you have heard this story countless times in your life. Actually, you hear it every year at about this time because it is recorded in all of the Gospels. You were probably sitting there as I read this saying, “Oh yes, this old saw. I remember it: thousands of people, two fish, two loaves, big meal. Speaking of which, I wonder what we should have for dinner.”
But hearing this story in light of David’s untidy little tale gives it new meaning. To put it directly: King David is all about power used for passion. He is about taking! It is all about his wants, needs, and desires.
Jesus uses his power to show compassion. He is about giving.
David knew the name of the person he was taking advantage of. Jesus had no idea who he was feeding, and he didn’t care! When “Jesus was asked to feed people, he showed an unimaginable love. When he gave his disciples this charge, he said, “Feed ’em! Feed ’em all! Every one of them.”
Nowhere does either Jesus or his disciples’ question who the five thousand people were or might be. Nowhere does either Jesus or his disciples eliminate, segregate, or exclude. Jesus doesn’t ask the disciples to sort the five thousand by socioeconomic status or by test scores or by academic degree achieved or by strength of their individual faith—or by any faith, for that matter—or by culture or by ethnicity or by gender or by age. This table was open to all, not because of who they were...
He said, “Feed ’em! Feed ’em all! Every one of them.”7
He gave and they took. But they didn’t take more than they needed.
Did you ever think about this? Saint John tells us:
Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So, they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.8
Did you hear that? There were leftovers! The people didn’t take more than they needed. They ate their fill and there was bread and fish enough to fill twelve baskets.
As Debbi Thomas points out:
When Jesus fed the multitudes, people sat down together, taking only what they needed so that everyone got enough. The point was not to scheme, conserve, or quantify. The point was not to clamour for more. The point, very simply, was to enjoy the gift of a single day's portion in the company of others. Abundance didn't have to lead to gluttony.9
The people took what they needed, no more, no less.
What Jesus taught the crowd that day is something that some of the powerful in any place, and any time, forget and when they forget all they can do is take.
What the crowd discovered, and we can discover too is that he life of faith is a matter of give and take. The life of faith is about giving and receiving. It’s about following Jesus who gave and gave freely. It’s about following Christ who took bread, broke it, and shared it. It’s about being a part of that crowd on the mountainside who took bread graciously and received it gratefully.
King David thought only of himself. Jesus thought of others and so should we, living out the charge of John Wesley:
Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.10
Follow that and while we may never be a king or queen, we will be a faithful follower of Jesus and that will always be a gift that is more than enough.
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1. Curtis Farr, “Commentary 2: Connecting the Reading with the World,” Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship, Year B, 3, no. 3 (2021): 181–83.
2. William H Willimon, “"Abuse of Power,” A Sermon for Every Sunday, July 22, 2024, https://asermonforeverysunday.com/.
3. Rachel Ravesz, “Donald Trump’s ‘grab Them by the P****’ Quotes in Full,” The Independent, November 17, 2017, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/read-donald-trumps-lewd-remarks-about-women-on-days-of-our-lives-set-2005-groping-star-a7351381.html.
4. Sarah Ruden, The Face of Water: A Translator on Beauty and Meaning in the Bible (New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2018).
5. Farr, loc.cit.
6. Gary Martin, "'Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely' - the Meaning and Origin of This Phrase." Phrasefinder. Accessed July 28, 2018. https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/absolute-power-corrupts-absolutely.html
7. Mark Eldred, Mark, "God in My Pocket." Sermon preached at The Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, July 26, 2015.
8. St. John 6:11-13. (NIV) [NIV=The New International Version]
9. Debie Thomas, “Enough and More,” Journey with Jesus, July 22, 2018, https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/1848-enough-and-more.
10. "A Quote by John Wesley." Goodreads. Accessed July 28, 2018. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/12757-do-all-the-good-you-can-by-all-the-means
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