Series: Serving One Another

Title: We All Need a "Nathan"

Text: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15

I. Indiscretion (Adapted from Sheila Adcock drama script which was performed at the 10:30 service)

Recently I read a short story about two real estate investors who became extremely wealthy by buying dilapidated homes in foreclosure, fixing them up, then reselling them for a tidy profit.

Tom and Dave had begun their business as a way of helping the needy and keeping low income neighborhoods from deteriorating.

After a while Tom had become more and more concerned about making bigger and bigger profits.

One day Tom was all excited about a property on which he believed they could turn a 50 or 60 thousand dollar profit.

He was going to have to get the appraiser to fudge the numbers a little bit.

He was going to have to get the inspector to ignore a few deficiencies.

Sadly, Tom seemed to not even notice the family that was being put out on the street.

He had allowed his conscience to become seared.

He could no longer tell the difference between right and wrong, between business as usual and legal larceny.

But on the other hand, his business partner, Dave, was beginning to realize something wasn’t right.

After Dave’s parents faced mounting hospital bills, they finally decided to sell their home.

The home that Tom was hoping to make an ungodly profit on, was the home of Dave’s parents.

Dave reminded Tom of their altruistic beginnings:

How they gotten into this business to help the needy, not to harm them.

How they had hoped to improve the neighborhood, not to exploit it.

How they hoped to make an honest living, not to use others as a means of gaining personal wealth.

Then Dave confronted Tom with his greed and self-absorption, with his utter lack of concern for others.

Tom was struck to the heart:

He didn’t fight it.

He knew Dave was right.

He knew he had wandered far from his initial good and godly intentions.

 

 

When you or I stray for the straight and narrow way Jesus has called us to:

We need someone to love us enough to confront us (Matthew 7:13-14).

We need someone who will not condemn us, not abandon us, not talk behind our backs.

We need someone who will confront us for correction.

 

When young children play with hot pots and pans on the stove, we don’t hesitate to confront them for correction.

We don’t say, "Well, it’s none of my business."

We don’t say, "If she really loved me, she wouldn’t play with that pot of boiling spaghetti sauce."

We don’t say, "I guess she’ll just have to learn the hard way."

No, we grab them and yank them away from the stove. We scold them. We discipline them.

We confront them for their correction, not because we feel superior, not because we dislike them.

We confront them for their correction, because we love them and we don’t want anything to harm them.

 

If you know a friend who has had too much to drink, you have a choice:

1. You can avoid offending him, by letting him drive away, possibly killing himself and others.

2. You can risk offending him, by loving him enough to keep him from getting into that car or even taking his keys.

A true friend will lovingly confront you of your self-serving, destructive, sinful behaviors.

The truth is, true friends are rare.

Usually people, either:

1. Confront you to condemn you, to make themselves feel superior to you.

2. Avoid confronting you because they value a superficial peace over your spiritual health.

It is a rare friend indeed, who will love you enough to risk your rage, to confront you for your correction.

III. Nathan Confronts King David

King David had such a friend. His name was Nathan.

In our reading from 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12, the Lord used the prophet Nathan to confront David with his sins of adultery and murder.

David was not a pagan. He was a true believer.

He wrote half the Psalms.

He established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

As a child he had defeated Goliath, not so much with his sling and stone, but with his deep faith in God.

 

Little David told Goliath:

"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied…. ⁴⁷All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give all of you into our hands."

1 Samuel 17:45-47 (NIV)

David was a man of great faith!

The Bible tells us in First Samuel 13:14, that David was "a man after [God’s] own heart."

 

Yet, in a moment of weakness, he fell and he fell hard. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and then tried to cover it up by having her husband Uriah murdered!

In our reading from 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12, the prophet Nathan literally risked his life by confronting David with his sins:

He told a story of a rich autocrat who had thousands of sheep and cattle.

Yet, he stole the poor man’s pet lamb and had it for supper.

David had no idea Nathan was talking about him. Why? Because our sins can blind us.

As Second Corinthians chapter four reminds us:

4The god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV)

As First John chapter two says,

9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
1 John 2:9 (NIV)

Often our sins blind us to our need for repentance. Often we need someone who will love us enough to remove our blindfolds.

King David was blind to his sin. He had so seared his conscience, that he could no longer discern right from wrong.

First Timothy chapter four describes those, "whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron."
1 Timothy 4:2 (NIV)

That was David. He saw others sins, but not his own.

How did David respond to Nathan’s story of the rich man who had stolen the poor man’s "little ewe lamb" and had it for dinner?

David was furious! He burned with anger! He said,

"As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!
2 Samuel 12:5 (NIV)

Then prophet Nathan said to David,

7You are the man!...

9Why 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.
2 Samuel 12:7 & 9 (NIV)

David could have denied it.

He could have made up some lame excuse to justify his sin.

He could have silenced the prophet by having him put to death. But he didn’t.

With true sincerity and a repentant heart, David said to Nathan,

"I have sinned against the LORD."

2 Samuel 12:13 (NIV)

Immediately Nathan replied,

"The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die."
2 Samuel 12:13 (NIV)

God’s goal – through Nathan – in confronting David with his sins was:

Not to condemn him.

Not to embarrass him.

Not to usurp his kingly authority.

God’s goal in confronting David with his sins, was to bring about a changed life, a life of wholeness and holiness.

In obedience to God and in love for his friend David, Nathan confronted David with his sins.

We all need a Nathan in our lives. And at times, we all need to be a Nathan in the lives of others.

IV. My Nathan

Several times Noland has been my Nathan:

He doesn’t enjoy confronting me with my shortcomings.

He doesn’t talk about me behind my back. He’s no gossip.

He loves me enough to correct and direct me.

Because I know he loves me, because I know he desires to help, not harm me:

I never fear his counsel.

I always welcome his words.

For me, Noland is a rarity among men; he’s a true friend. He cares more about me, than about maintaining a superficial and false peace.

I encourage you to love enough to be a Nathan and to be humble enough to receive a Nathan.