September 7/8/9, 2013
Pentecost 16 sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Text - 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15
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    I’m going to tell you about a man named Achan who got into some
real trouble.  He was with the Israelites when they entered the
promised land and captured Jericho.  But there he did some plundering
or stealing that God had forbidden.  Later he went with other soldiers
to capture another city that should have been a push-over.  But instead
Israel was defeated.  What Achan had done was the reason.
    When God gave the opportunity to confess, Achan kept quiet.  He
did not step forward and honestly say, “I am the one, the one who is
guilty.”  So the search kept narrowing down until Achan was identified
as the guilty sinner.  The consequences were terrible for him and his
family.  If they would have had a Father’s Day then, they would not
have felt at all like honoring him as a good father.
    Would you want to have something terrible happen to you and your
family if there is some sin you have covered up and finally God steps in
with judgment - if not sooner, then certainly on your last day?
    Achan would not acknowledge his sin and honestly say, “I am the
one who is guilty.”  Are we ready to say, “I am the one”?  With that
statement - “I AM THE ONE” - let’s move on from Achan to a well
known Old Testament person, King David, and then also to ourselves.
“I AM THE ONE!”
I    IT IS EASY TO SEE SIN IN OTHERS.  (12:1-6,9)
    1. King David heard a story. (9, 1-4)
        a) Like all people, David was a sinner, including a glaring sin in
his past referred to in these words in our text: “You struck down
Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own.
You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.” 
        b) Lust, adultery, murder - but David had no conscience about
this. So God sent a prophet to tell a story, a parable.
The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said,
“There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other
poor.  The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle,
but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had
bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It
shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms.  It
was like a daughter to him.  Now a traveler came to the rich man,
but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or
cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him.
Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and
prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
    2. David easily could see sin in others. (5-6)
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan,
“As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to
die!  He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did
such a thing and had no pity.”
        a) Here David very correctly saw the wrong being done.
        b) The problem is that he saw sin in others, but not in himself.
    3. How about us?       
        a) Sin is all around us, even though newspapers don’t refer to it
as sin.  Its presence, the terrible things it does - there is no problem at
all in seeing that.  But do we fail to see sin in ourselves?
        b) Let’s face the fact that it is easy to see sin in others but not in
ourselves, like thinking a sermon applies to others but not to me.
    4. And what about condemning sin?
        a) We can’t fault King David for saying something was wrong. 
        b) And we certainly aren’t saying that we should not point out sin
and wrong and condemn what is sin and wrong.
        c) But the point is that it is easy to condemn sin in others and,
like David, not recognize - as has been said - that when we point a
finger at others there are three fingers pointing at ourselves.
II    WE NEED TO SEE IT IN OURSELVES.  (12:7a:11:26-27)
    1. The fact of sin being involved was clear.  (26-27)
When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she
mourned for him.  After the time of mourning was over, David
had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore
him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.
        a) Lusting and adultery happened.
        b) And then murder, when David deliberately put the husband
into a battle line that guaranteed the husband would be killed.   
    2. Now David was accused. (7a)
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!”
        a) I am sure some people knew - but who would accuse the king?
        b) God would.  God knows all.  And He will accuse.
    3. What accusations could God bring against us?
        a) Let’s say we fault our children for cheating, but we cheat on
an expense account or on our income tax forms; - we get upset about
disobedience in our children, yet they see us disobey traffic and other
laws; - we tell our children to respect father and mother, but then they
don’t see father and mother treating each other with respect.
        b) The point here is not that cheating and so on should be
overlooked, but that we need to look at ourselves also.
    4. Listen to what Jesus said about this subject.
        a) In John 8 Jesus spoke to some people who were ready to stone
to death a woman caught in sin.  He said, “If any one of you is
without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
        b) Or listen to these words of Jesus in Matthew 7: “Why do you
look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no
attention to the plank in your own eye?”
        c) Here Jesus did not approve of sin.  But His point is that we,
like David, need to look at ourselves and see our own condemning sin.
III  THIS CALLS FOR REPENTANT HEARTS.  (12:13a,10,14-15)
    1. David penitently acknowledged his sin. (13a)
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
        a) Do you notice that this was not just recognizing he had made a
bad mistake, or being sorry he got caught and didn’t get away with it?
        b) No, he recognized that what he had done was sin, that little
word the world doesn’t use.  He had sinned against the Lord! 
    2. There would be consequences to his sin. (9-10,14-15)
“Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil
in his eyes?  You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword
and took his wife to be your own.  You killed him with the sword
of the Ammonites.  Now, therefore, the sword will never depart
from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of
Uriah the Hittite to be your own.”
        a) David’s confession could not undo what was done to people.
“But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the
LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.”  After
Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s
wife had borne to David, and he became ill.
        b) Do you see here how sin can often involve, hurt the innocent?
    3. So there may be consequences for us.
        a) Uriah stayed dead; violence would continue; a son would die.  
        b) Young people and all of us, recognize that our stupid and
unthinking and sinful actions can bring consequences that will continue
for us and for others - like the party you go to and the things you do
there that you should not, and too late you realize that some results,
like Uriah being dead, or innocent parents hurt, can’t be changed.
    4. But let our repentance be sincere. (13a)
        a) Start out by recognizing that what God calls sin is sin.
        b) Then with David say, “I have sinned against the LORD.” 
        c) Do that truly recognizing, as God’s Word says, that the wages
of sin is death - not just physical, but an eternal separation from God.
IV  THEN PRAISE GOD FOR HIS FORGIVENESS.  (12:7a,13)
    1. David was forgiven. (13)
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin.  You are
not going to die.”
        a) David showed his true penitence in these words he wrote in
Psalm 51: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing
love; according to your great compassion blot out my
transgressions.  Wash away all  my iniquity and cleanse me from
my sin.  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always
before me.”
        b) Not because of David’s doing, but because of the Lord’s doing
- His mercy, His love, His compassion - David could then go on to
pray (as we shall sing after this sermon), “Create in me a clean heart,
O God. - Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your
Holy Spirit from me. -  Restore to me the joy of your salvation.”
    2. Yes, God brought good out of bad.
        a) David was not killed, as he deserved, but was forgiven, his sins
not held against Him.  The joy of salvation - what marvelous grace!
        b) And while David’s child died here - and that consequence we
leave in God’s wisdom, God had promised and planned another child
who was to come from David’s line, a descendant of David.  The
people referred to Him as the Son of David, remember?  This Son,
God’s own Son, would die too, not from His sickness, but because of
our sickness of sin.  Jesus took that, all of it, on Himself on the cross,
and with His innocence atoned for us the guilty.
    3. God still promises us His goodness.  (7a,13b)
        a) Yes, earthly consequences may come for breaking a law, like a
fine having to be paid. - “You are the man!”
        b) But where there is true repentance before God for sin, there is
no eternal consequence or “fine” or penalty.  Because of Jesus’ atoning
death for our sins we hear Him on the cross saying, “Father, forgive
them.”  What wonderful goodness!  We too, because of our Savior,
can hear what David heard: “The LORD has taken away your sin.”  
     4. Praise God for the joy of our salvation!
        a) I am sure that many fathers today will hear expressions of
thanks.  That’s good - and not just on Father’s Day.
        b) But don’t forget our Father in heaven.  For Him let every day
be a Father’s Day, a day to say thanks for the forgiveness of our sins of
which we have so many, sins which cannot condemn us anymore
because Jesus is our Savior.
        c) May the Holy Spirit by Word and Sacrament strengthen us
firmly in such saving and rejoicing faith.

    Let’s sum up now by going back to our sermon theme.  Who easily
sees sins in others?  “I AM THE ONE.”   Who needs to see sin in
himself or herself?  “I AM THE ONE.”    Who needs to have a
repentant heart?  “I AM THE ONE.”  And who should praise God
for His forgiveness?  “I AM THE ONE.”  Let’s all - out loud or to
ourselves - say that together right now: “I AM THE ONE.”  Amen.