Welcome Bishop Piers

Bishop Lyle Piers
Bishop of the Midwest, Congregational Episcopal Church

Today at Highland Meadows Church we welcomed Bishop Lyle Piers of the Diocese of the Midwest.  We thank Bishop Piers for a very moving homily covering a difficult topic.  We also thank Bishop Piers for staying after the service to share time with our congregation.  May the Lord bless Bishop as he travels through Texas and Arkansas with Bishop Duff the next week.

The Blame Falls On Me

By Bishop Lyle Piers

Bishop of Province 5 (Diocese of the Midwest)

David, David, David what did you do? You killed Uriah to hide the fact you and Bathsheba committed adultery. You and she had a child who ended up paying the price for your sin. David you were a murdering, adultering son of a so an so, but what does it say about God to take the life of a child who had nothing to do with the sins of you and Bathsheba? What kind of a monster do we worship? Is it justice that the innocent pay for the sins of others?

Well, let us take a moment to calm down and read what 2 Samuel 12 tells us. Yes, David hears Nathan relate a story of a lamb that was stolen from a poor man by a rich man who had many flocks. Yes, David shows anger when he hears of this. David demands not only the death of the thief but also that the poor man be recompensated. Nathan points to the fact David is the rich man in the story. David had choice of all single women in Israel and instead chose the wife of one of his men. Then has Uriah killed to hide his sin. Then as punishment God says the child of David and Bathsheba shall be taken by illness after it is born.

Again, God is punishing the innocent for the sin of another. Why not put David and/or Bathsheba to death? Why the innocent child? Well look at Deuteronomy 17:6, there must be witnesses to the adultery to put one or both to death. There were no witnesses, only David and Bathsheba knew. God would not break His own stipulations. With that resolved, why the child? It seems there was a gross injustice on the part of God.

Perhaps, but consider this: Without the intervention of God in the first place the adultery of David King of Israel who was supposed be without reproach would never have been known to Nathan the Prophet or the Rabbinical Council of Israel. David would have hidden it and it would have festered against David and Israel to judgment before God. Remember, Israel as a whole agreed to be responsible for the sins of the King of Israel. Saul sinned and Israel paid for it by a civil war that pitted followers of Saul against the followers of David. Saul's own son Jonathan turned against him to follow David. Consider also, millions of infants died during the flood in Genesis 7. Today innocent people die and innocent people suffer. The fact of this shows not that God is indifferent or malevolent, but that God may not be fair but is just. Fairness is not God's goal but justice is.

The child of David and Bathsheba was born. David performed extraordinary fasting and prayer to have God relent His verdict. It did not work. When God decides we can fast and pray all we wish, but the will of God is going to be done. That is justice, not fairness. Consider the logic we use as humans: Death is always wrong. Not so fast with this. Hear me out.

Death is not always wrong nor is it always bad. My own mother suffered so badly with cancer it was a relief when the Lord in His mercy took her home. She wailed in pain her last days. It tore our hearts to see and hear her suffer. Her death and many other deaths like hers are not wrong or bad, but may be seen as an act of mercy by a loving God. The children taken in the flood were victims of grave sins committed against them by sinful adults. It says rape ran wild through the land. The same for the children killed by Joshua in the conquest of Canaan. Children were known to be sacrifices for Baal and other gods. Incest was a right of fathers as was the rape of unmarried girls to rich men. Humans were doing far worse to children, so much so one could say their death ordained by God was an act of mercy. See this through the lens of justice and not fairness. God was taking His vengeance on the sinners but showing His mercy to the innocent. The children got Heaven and the sinning adults got Hell. That is God's justice.

Now look at the child of David and Bathsheba and consider this: This child is the product of adultery of the King of Israel. What right will this child have both then and as an adult? The child would have zero rights and would most likely would have been put to death after David's death. This child could have no claim, ever, to David's or Bathsheba's names. This person would have been an outcast in all levels of Israeli society. While the child was taken by God, David and Bathsheba had their hearts tore out. They paid for their sins. David was under the curse of the sword the rest of his life as well. The child was spared a life of misery while David was punished as fully as God could. So much so that many times we read David begging God afterward to take his life. God left David to live a long, long life. Bathsheba we are told mourned this child the rest of her life. While we think an innocent child suffered, actually David suffered greatly. The child died of fever and went immediately to God's arms. David spent the rest of his life suffering to keep Bathsheba, to keep his sons alive, to keep Israel united, and to keep his own life.

David came to realize that the blame for all his suffering fell on him. David for the rest of his life called to God for deliverance from his guilt and to forgive his sin. God did, when David died. God made David live the rest of his life in repentance. And David we are told was a man after God's heart. As are we all. God also allowed His Son to be beaten, humiliated, and crucified for our sins. Crucifixion was the most shameful death a Jew could suffer. The proper sentence for a Jew was to be stoned by fellow Jews. To be crucified by Gentiles was the most shameful death a Jew could suffer. A sign that God's Son was achieving something far beyond Jew and Gentile understanding. Jesus may have died, but the story did not end there. Jesus rose to the Father's glory and took His place on the throne of Heaven. The story did not end there for the child of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel either. That child was taken into the very Kingdom of God. His little eyes opened to see the King of all the Universe looking back at him. That child got the glory and David got the struggle. That child got freedom and David got slavery to his own sins.

Just when we think our logic makes sense we come to realize God's is far beyond our own. Death is not always bad nor wrong. Sometimes death is all God has to be merciful. “O Blessed Day when we arise to our Savior's glory. When our eyes behold the salvation story.” Remember that hymn? It tells of when we see Jesus greet us in Heaven with His outstretched arms, we see the nail marks and know our Savior lives. We shall know also that we live, so O Blessed Day. We also sing, “Death where is thy sting? Hell where is thy grip? The Savior has ransomed and set free all who sing.” God does not give death, God frees from death. To be in God's Kingdom is to be more alive than any who live on this planet. To live in God's presence is to be alive with a life of eternity. That is a life worth living. A life worth living here is to look to that blessed day we shall behold our Savior and know our Savior lives.

Death for a Christian is freedom and the first step to resurrection. What we shall not have on this Earth we gain far more in Heaven. What life shall be taken here is given in eternity in Heaven. Which would you choose: Heaven for eternity or an hour here? Give me Heaven and you can stay here. Right? See now what I am saying. Let me sing at the King's throne and you can sing in church. Let me behold my Savior and you can behold church furnishings. O blessed day of our dear Lord's rising. Just think, men we shall have our hair back. Ladies, you all will have those figures back. We wills shine brighter than the brightest star and we will look at one another and say, “Look at you! You never looked so good!You go on with your blessed self child.” And we will respond, “O I'm going on alright, going right to the Throne of Jesus to behold my blessings.” O blessed day! Here endeth the lesson. Amen.