CSI Series :Coveting

Pastor Meyer's Sermon

Sunday, March 26, 2006

My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, welcome to another episode of CSI Holy Land . And we continue the tradition of having a crime scene. The difference here is we have multiple crime scenes and the first crime scene is over here. Once again, we have, just like last week, a dead body. This particular person looks like a warrior, a soldier, but the interesting thing about this crime scene is we are on a battlefield and the troops seem to have been way back here because you can tell there are other casualties back here, but this particular person was killed right here. It's almost as if the troops stepped back, allowing him to be vulnerable and guaranteeing that he would be killed.

And, over here, we have another crime scene. And this crime scene is Uriah giving the note to his commander, Joab. And this note says, “I want you to put Uriah on the front line. Not only do I want you to put him on the front lines, I want you to put him where the fiercest battle is. Not only do I want you to put him where the fiercest battle is, but I want you to step back, to have your troops step back so he will be killed.”

We have another crime scene, and it is here at David's palace. And here you have King David and Uriah eating and drinking, acting as if they are best of friends, even to the point where they are eating and drinking to the point where Uriah gets drunk and it's all a masquerade because all King David wants to do is to get Uriah drunk and get him to go home to sleep with his wife because King David wants to cover a sin he had committed.

Then we have another crime scene, and here again it is at David's palace. David receives a messenger. The messenger comes in and he says, “The woman whom you've slept with is now pregnant.”

And we have another crime scene. It's David on the roof of the palace and he's looking around. He's surveying his kingdom when he sees the woman, Bathsheba, bathing.

Now let's take a look at David. David was riding a crest. He had broken the Philistines' power in Canaan, and he had captured the old fortress of Jerusalem , something everybody said he would not be able to do because it was impenetrable. He had brought the arc of the covenant out of oblivion and brought it into Jerusalem , and he had begun to consolidate the nations of Israel together. He was a leader, and he was loved. Yet, at the very heart of this success, lurked danger. Because, you see, David wasn't happy with what he had, the blessings God had given him. He was unhappy, and he started to covet that which he didn't have. And that, my friends, that unhappiness was the cause of each of these crime scenes.

Now, as I was preparing for this sermon, it was laid on my heart to talk about the confrontation where the prophet, Nathan, confronts David about his sin. Now, in the CSI series, there are two high points of the television program that the whole franchise is built around. The first one is, of course, the crime scene, even to the point the actors themselves do not get to see the crime scene until the day of shooting. The second high point is the confrontation when the suspect is confronted and the reasons why are made known. Nathan was aware of David's poor choices but here to challenge. When you see someone who is making poor choices, they are going down a destructive path causing crime scene after crime scene after crime scene, what do you do? Now I'm not talking about the little things, like the agonizing decision whether to tell someone their zipper is down or whether they have bits of broccoli stuck in their teeth. No, I am talking about serious life issues that have serious implications. It may not be an extramarital affair but maybe one of your coworkers is stealing money from your company. Maybe it's a friend who has a particularly vicious and critical spirit. Or maybe it's a family member that you notice is starting to drink a little more and a little more and you can see the effects it has on them. You see crime scene after crime scene in this person's life because of the choices they are making, and what do you do? Do you talk to them? Well, now, that might be too scary because, after all, we're afraid of damaging the relationship and we're also afraid of having rejection. So it's easy for us just to keep silent and pray things will work out for the best.

But, my friends, speaking truth also has risks involved. There is a price to pay sometimes, and some of us are here this morning because they have paid the price because you decided to speak and act on truth. You might have had your spouse leave you, leaving you as a single parent. Or maybe you have a daughter that is no longer speaking to you because you had to speak the truth in love. Doing that can cause pain. It can be painful. It can be hard to do. But here's the principle I am convinced is in scripture: That is “I must care more about their relationship with God than how they respond to me.” It's not easy but, again, “I must care more for the relationship they have with God than the way they respond to me.”

Now some people talk about the bible and they say, “Well, it says in scripture you're not supposed to judge another Christian.” And then they'll cite Matthew 7:1, “Stop judging others or else you will be judged.” But if you read a few verses later, you have Jesus saying, “How can you think of saying, ‘Let me help you get rid of the speck in your eye when you can't see past the log in your own.' Hypocrite. First, get rid of the log from your own eye and then possibly you can help get the speck out of your friend's eye.” These verses are not warnings against correcting someone. They warn against hypocritical judgment and correction. In fact, the bible gives us a lot of instruction on how to go about speaking the truth in people's lives. What are the appropriate steps to do so and what are the reasons for speaking that truth? Of course, a lot of us just immediately want to go to the practical. “Let's talk about Step 1, Step 2, Step 3 and then let me be.” But I also need to talk about the heart. Where is our heart? We need to ask the question, “Why are we doing this?” Because, if we just do the practical steps without our hearts being in the right place, these steps will become fruitless and even counterproductive. So why are we doing this? Why are we going to someone about their difficulties, about their problems? We do this because it follows the example of Jesus. When you read the life of Jesus in the gospels, you see Jesus unafraid to speak truth. Often he has hard conversations with those who live a kind of hypocritical faith. He was regularly rebuking and correcting the disciples for wrong behavior and wrong attitudes, but His disciples never questioned whether He loved them. To a woman who was caught red-handed in adultery, Jesus didn't sidestep the issue. He didn't ignore this sin. No, He called it for what it was. But He immediately offered forgiveness. God is not afraid to speak truth to us, to say, “You are sinful. You are lost. Your heart is far from me.” The bible says the heart is desperately wicked, and God says we are alienated from Him. But He also has other words for us. He has words like “I want to forgive you,” words like “I love you,” words like “I sent my Son for you.” The full expression of God's character is not only in the truth He speaks but also in the Son He gives.

So we do this because Jesus does it. But we also do it because love demands it. We have no choice when we love people. 1 Corinthians 13:6 says, “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” It's like when your child gets a splinter in their finger, what's the first thing you need to go get? A needle. You need to inflict a little pain in order for them to be healed. In order for there to be ultimate healing, there must be a little bit of hurting. So when you really love, sometimes you're left with no choice but to speak the truth.

So let's talk about the practical aspects. How do you actually speak truth in people's lives? Nathan was King David's friend and a prophet of God. And he comes to speak to David about his relationship with Bathsheba. So what are some of the practical issues and steps we can learn from how Nathan handles this sensitive situation. First, we need to get very clear about the issue. In 2 Samuel 11:27, it says, “The thing David had done displeased the Lord.” So this was clear cut. There was no fuzziness here. We know what David did was wrong, and he had sinned. But let's be honest. When we look at our friends or our family members and we see those issues in people's lives, they're not always clear cut. They're not always black and white. So, as you think about those things that you're concerned about in somebody's life, we need to ask the question, is this issue unbiblical? Is it unwise or is it unimportant? Does scripture specifically say this particular action is wrong? Or maybe it's your own personal experience that you know if this person continues doing this, they will end up eventually in destruction. Or maybe the issue is not either one of these. Maybe it's a personal preference. And really, in the whole grand scheme of things, it's really unimportant.

The second thing is to ask God if you are the person to address the issue. God didn't come to David in a dream or God didn't shout down to him from heaven. No, he sent a person. And Nathan went in response to the leading of the Lord. There should always be in us a reluctance to go to the person about an area in their life that might need correction. In fact, if you're looking forward to going to that person, you may not be the one to do it. If you can't wait to get into their face and to tell them about what they've done, you might not be the one. Have you ever known someone who was like a one-person wrecking ball? They feel like their call is to speak truth no matter how insensitively they do it, so they slice and they dice people verbally. And then they rationalize it by saying, “I just call ‘em like I see ‘em.” No, no. You're just being insensitive. You never have a license to just indiscriminately, like a wrecking ball, crash people's lives and destroy them with your words. No, you build on the relationship you have with the person. And that's what Nathan does. He has a relationship with David, and God prompted him to go to David. The more of a relationship you have with the person, the better. The deeper the relationship is, the more likely the person will be able to handle the truth in a positive way. When I know you really love me and you care for me and we have a history together that shows you love me unconditionally, I will be more apt to accept the truth from you.

Now the third step is to talk about the issue in person. Nathan came to David in person. Jesus reiterates this in Matthew 18 when He says, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault just between the two of you.” And the apostle Paul also shows this in Galatians 2:11 where he says, “When Peter came to Antioch , I opposed him to his face because he was clearly in the wrong.” Do it in person. Living in the 21 st Century, it's so easy for us just to shoot out an e-mail or maybe to send an anonymous letter. Address that person in private and do it in a place and in a way where they will not feel humiliated or embarrassed.

And then the next step is to approach them in a gentle but honest way. In the story, I love what happens here. Nathan didn't just come and show up at the door, start wagging his finger, and say, “David, what did you do?” No, instead he tells a story. He gets David to identify with the story and then to realize that he had sinned. But the problem is this is where the ball gets dropped. Too frequently, when people go to another person, they don't do it in love and in compassion but rather they do it in anger and frustration and hurt and disappointment and we end up verbally unloading on them and no one gets helped. It's not just about speaking truth in love. It's about how you speak truth in love. Paul tells us in Galatians 6:1, “Dear Brothers and Sisters, if another Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back on the right path and be careful not to fall in the same temptation yourself.”

And lastly and most importantly, assure them of God's forgiveness. When David hears the story and then Nathan looks him directly in the eye and says, “You are the man,” David's heart is broken. And David says, “I have sinned. I have done what was wrong in the eyes of the Lord.” I love what Nathan says. The next phrase he says, “The Lord has taken your sins away. You are not going to die.” So, my Friends, God is in the restoring business and the goal of your going to your friend is the purpose of restoration, not retribution. The goal is not for you to say you were right. The goal is to bring them back into the family and to put them back on the right path and restore their relationship to God. And it's been my experience when you go to someone and you address their sin and they come to realize what they've done, the first thing they want to do is to feel guilty, to feel condemned, and they start saying things like, “God can never forgive me for doing this. God could never use me again. How can God love me now?” Part of what God wants to do in you and through you is to talk to your friend and assure them of God's forgiveness. So let me encourage you to stick with them. Don't just unload and then abandon them but, in the days following, call them and encourage them and pray for them. Let them know you're with them. Because love is not just spoken. It's seen. It's not just declared but it's also demonstrated.

So is there a name you have in mind? Is there a situation where you would say, “Lord, I love this person too much not to get involved. Give me the courage and grace and love to help.” Who knows what could happen if, in a loving, prayerful way, you went to that person to try to turn them back to the right path? Amen.