Sermon Notes July 29 II Sam. 11, Eph. 3:14-21

I notice in school that children are told that they make good or bad choices that are connected to consequences. When a celebrity or a politician does something untoward, we say things such as ‘what were you thinking” or how could they have been so stupid. I was very disappointed with President Clinton’s memoirs, but he did say something insightful about the Monica affair, he did it because he could. Sin is not a rational process, nor is it only making a mistake. It can be heedless of consequence; its desires well up again and again not in spite of the harm they cause but perhaps due to the harm they cause. When I was young I hung out in bars a bit and listened to the talk. (Perhaps, I was learning how men talk, as my father was killed when i was very young).One time, a beautiful woman appeared on the TV and the chorus of comment started. Then a man said something that stuck in my mind: “no matter how good-looking the woman is there is a guy tired of being with her.” Sin feeds and grows in the empty recesses of the self. Its outlets are always on the prowl. King David has plenty of wives, but it seems that he has become indolent in his power and bored with royal duties. From his high vantage point, he sees a beauty, and he treat her as a thing to be possessed: the verbs carry the freight: take, send.I wonder if she is ever a person to him until, perhaps, he gets the word that she is expecting. We don’t get a hint, as I read it, about her feelings, if any, but being used, at this point.Then, he treats that as a political machination, and the machinery of state works overtime to eliminate the problem. It amazes me how quick we may be to read into the story and try to find a way to blame Bathsheba for being david’s latest conquest, especially as he moved away from battlefield conquests. Mel Brooks had a character say: “it’s good to be the king.”Power is an aphrodisiac said Henry Kissinger. It can also be an attempt to fill an inner or natural power void with another. David’s power allows him to first try to cover-up his sin. God sees. The desire goes all the way back to Adam and Eve,and their denial. Senator Edwards apparently created a pool of money to keep one of his apparent mistresses quiet when she was expecting, but it also appears that his minions lifted the money for themselves. What causes his desire to cover up his wrong, what causes him to eliminate his rival? Would this multiplied-married king have fallen into disrepute for being with yet another woman? Insecurity may be part of his sin’s root. Maybe part of him is always the young brother, the surprise anointed one.He needs to prove to himself that he still has it, even as he has grown older and is not longer the young brigand. When sin senses being invisible and insulated, it wait sfor a chnace. . Great power means not being told you’re wrong. Great power creates a cocoon of insulation around consequences for one’s actions. Sin has many sources:rebellion and boredom, the sight of people being mere pawns or objects, senses of lack v. abundance, what am I missing?. From the outside it can appear that one has it all. that does not quell the gnawing sense that more should be mind that fuels both lust and gluttony. sin feeds and grows in the empty recesses of the self. Its outlets are always on the prowl. Ephesians has enormous confidence that being rooted in love, being empowered by the Spirit, seeing oneself as part of the Biblical pageant. Only such a large faith can counter such a large force.