I'm preparing for next Sunday when I'm due to preach at a URC in Halesowen and thought I'd take a look at the "pointers for preachers" feature in the Methodist Recorder.
Each week the "pointers" carry a short commentary on the appointed lectionary readings. Sometimes they can be very helpful, other times can be a bit obscure. The "pointers" are unsigned so we have no idea who actually writes them.
The "pointers" for next Sunday (June 13 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time) are written by a particularly sensitive soul. The set Old Testament readings are about the horrendous consequences of King David's adultery with Bathsheba. It is, to say the least, a meaty passage with many, many lessons for today - infidelity, hypocrisy, the courage of a prophet, and the consequences of sin.
I well remember hearing several sermons on this passage when I was a child, it didn't frighten me.
However the writer of "pointers" complains "..set in the context of polygamous relationships and wives being viewed as the possessions of the husband, the story can be somewhat challenging to modern ears. Then we are told that God struck one of David's children because of his sin. I shan't be preaching on this passage".
There are many parts of Scripture that are tough going, especially those that deal with sin. I'm not certain that a good pastor and preacher should sanitise Scripture to make it only acceptable to what he understands as "modern ears". For example I personally take encouragement that an obvious and at times odious sinner such as King David could still achieve so much.
There is much to be learnt from the witness of Nathan and his fearless denouciation of the King's double sin. Oh that we had such courage today!
Finally, perhaps there is much we can learn from the disaster that polygamous marital arrangements can bring upon a family. We modern people pride ourselves on the rejection of polygamy, yet many of our children grow up in households where the adults have swapped partners several times. Serial polygamy and polyandry are facts of modern life.
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The consequences to David and his family of his polygamy were disastrous. It led to rivalries, incest, rebellion against paternal authority...
It's so contemporary, of course we should avoid it ;-).
The dead child as a judgement. Well, do we believe in the resurrection, paradise, God's Justice and Mercy or don't we? Is the child in God's hands? Those who avoid this passage do not believe in the very heart of the gospel. The child never knew the law and cannot be condemned. therefore it must be saved and without the agony of life on earth.
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