Call to Confession

You know that face your mom used to give you when you did something disappointing? That’s the face the writer of 2 Samuel 11 has as the first verse is written. It practically drips off the page: “But David remained at Jerusalem.” Ouch. Kings are supposed to go out to battle. That’s how the verse begins. “But David remained at Jerusalem.” You know it isn’t going to be good with an introduction like that. And it isn’t. It is about as far from good as it can get. Some argue that this is the beginning of the end of David. This event, this abuse of power, is where David’s decline was launched. There was bad decision after bad decision following this dalliance on the roof of the palace. The king, who is still held out as the pinnacle of the royal experiment, is revealed to be as human, as much of a sinner in need of redemption as any of us.

There have been attempts throughout history to exonerate David by laying the blame at the feet of Bathsheba. She was simply too beautiful, too available, too accessible, and visible to resist. David was helpless before her power. Those arguments have the feel of those who blame rape victims today who supposedly brought on their attack because of their mode of dress or behaviors. It is clear where the power is here. The writer is careful to explain Bathsheba’s behavior. It is David’s behavior that is being challenged here.

When Bathsheba sent word to the king that she was pregnant, the king continued his sinfulness. Continued? Expanded, compounded, made impossibly worse. First, he tries to cover up this wanton act, and when that doesn’t work, he plots murder against an innocent man, a faithful, patriotic man who honored his king and his country, while defending the purity of his wife. So honorable is this man that his name is preserved in the genealogy of Jesus that Matthew records. The offense against Bathsheba and Uriah is laid bare for all to see. Is it redeemed by the relationship with the Messiah who came to redeem the world? Redeemed? Hard to say. It depends on what you mean by redeemed. Erased? No, not in the least.

What do we do with this story? We could, and in this election year maybe should, proclaim warnings about the abuse of power. Remind hearers that no one is exempt or immune from bad behavior. But even that seems too volatile for these days in which we live. Too pointed or too political. Yet, here we are, in second Samuel, reliving a story that makes us all uncomfortable. We don’t even get the rest of the story until next week. So, what are we to do with this story?

We return to worship, and we hear a call to confession. No one particularly likes the prayer of confession in worship, admittedly. Most of us who lead worship have been asked, sometimes directly sometimes more indirectly, if it would be possible to just skip it most of the time. “We’re good people,” we think. The prayer sometimes has us saying things that we feel aren’t true. “We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, and we have not heard the cry of the needy” (“Confession and Pardon,” United Methodist Hymnal, 8). Isn’t that a bit much? We are a loving community; we pay attention to and are engaged in missions with the needy. Why do we need to beat our chest and claim that we are not doing this when we are? Worship is supposed to be a happy experience; I am supposed to feel better about myself when I come out of worship, not worse. Let’s just skip over the whole confession thing.

Except. We do gather each week with regrets. Maybe not on David’s scale; we haven’t arranged a murder to cover up an adulterous affair. But we have, on occasion, wounded those we love with unkind words or hurtful acts. We have walked or driven past someone seeking something from us and pretended we didn’t see them, when, in fact, we did, but we have felt helpless in the face of the systems of poverty in our hometowns. We come carrying burdens that sometimes feel overwhelming to us, and when all we do is set them aside while we sing praises to God, we walk away with those same burdens, same guilt, same sin. That is why we need confession. Even when the words of the corporate prayer don’t quite mirror our personal experience, there is space to offer our own prayers.

When we bring our whole selves to worship, a lot comes along with us. Like David, there are questions about how we use our power, even if we don’t think we have any. There is the fear of being caught out that sometimes haunts our every step, our every decision. There are, we have been taught to say, things done and things left undone that weigh on us. Here is where we can offer all that up to the God who loves us. Here is where we can find absolution, forgiveness, and blessing that allows us to start over again and seek to be who we want to be, who God calls us to be. So, let us hear the call to confession as we worship.

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Rev. Dr. Derek Weber, Director of Preaching Ministries, served churches in Indiana and Arkansas and the British Methodist Church. His PhD is from University of Edinburgh in preaching and media. He has taught preaching in seminary and conference settings for more than 20 years.