2 Samuel 11:26 - 12:13a
Proper 13 (18) - Year B
Nathan's name means "gift."
What a gift it is to see ourselves as others see us.
O wad some power the gifte gie us,
to see ourselves as ithers see us.
It would from many blunder free us
and foolish notion.
--Robert Burns
A clearer part of this would be seen if this pericope weren't cut before verse 14. We would see forgiveness and consequences of behavior living side-by-side.
This is not a forgive and forget policy, but a forgive and live-and-learn policy.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/august2003.html
Ah, sweet fleshpots! There is nothing sweeter than vain imaginings that something other than a worthy life will satisfy. We look for that "more" in sex and getting what we want through betrayal. We look for that "more" in "the good old days" (that really weren't). We look for that "more" in controlling unanimity using fear of the "other" to keep us in line. We look for that "more" in fullness of stomach and pocketbook.
The John passage in particular is antidote to the prosperity theology so popular these days. Always looking for one more buck, one more sign, these "theologians" continually miss life-bread in the simplicity of living oriented toward deeper meaning. As long as the Ponzi Scheme of prosperity theology holds, folks will give untold dollars for a food that perishes. In short, short-cuts bring us up short and cut us to the quick. There is no slot-machine God who will consistently pay out - it is all a ploy to pay out a little, because we remember that, in order to suck us in further and further -- all the way to bankruptcy.
- - -
our transgression
needing untold mercy
is the violence
to which we will go
to get a full stomachno matter how we cover it over
sin is connected with violence
this is its ultimate ending place
little by little we accommodate
and fear fear enough to instill feara clean heart restores joy
so lacking in short-cuts
that lead to violence
so focus on joy
sustain a willing joyjoy-gifts touch us
deeper than tokens of fear
joy that sees abundance
all around
reveals the lie of violence
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html
Regarding Bathsheba, what did David do that displeased G*D? The initial lust? The lying with? The lack of contraception? The plotting and lying to Uriah? The betrayal by instructing Joab? The waiting for an official mourning time to be up revealing hanky-panky before she came to David’s house?
Where along the way had David stolen Bathsheba from Uriah? What was the trigger point for G*D’s displeasure?
If it was the final straw of waiting so David’s behavior would be noticeable by others, how is that different than the covering up of abuse by clergy? If it was earlier, was G*D still hopeful that things could be put right - that David wouldn’t act on his lust? Would be discrete if he did? Would ’fess up if he did? Wouldn’t employ a final-solution? Would support a widow from afar?
Where along the way would you have G*D send Nathan with a story of theft?
Did G*D really forgive David by killing a child instead - a sacrificial lamb, as it were? Wouldn’t you like to know the backstory to this face-saving by G*D - was it simply a royal promise that couldn’t be taken back to always support David? How many other children have been sacrificed by the church to save its face?
If this were April this could be tied to Child Abuse Month. Since it is not April, what has been going on in your setting that needs calling out?
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/08/2-samuel-1126-1213a.html