Called To Challenge Injustice
On the first day of Black History month 2022, a recently fired Black NFL head coach (Brian Flores) filed a lawsuit against the NFL and 3 specifically named NFL teams. The lawsuit, among other things, claimed discrimination in the hiring practices of the NFL against Black candidates for top management positions (including head coach). Filing suit against the powerful NFL took an extraordinary act of courage on the part of Brian Flores, particularly given the fact that he is currently in the interview process for open head coaching positions in the NFL. Some have speculated that filing this lawsuit will effectively end Brian Flores future in the NFL. In our scripture for this week (2 Samuel 12:1-9; 13-15), David had committed the sin of unjustly murdering Uriah in order to take Uriah’s wife (Bathsheba) for himself. Although David committed this sin in secret, God called the prophet Nathan to courageously confront king David about his sin and its consequences. I pray that when God calls on us, that He would give each of us the courage to challenge injustice around us.
The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” (2 Sam. 12:1-6) Notice that this scripture begins with the words “The Lord sent Nathan to David”. It is natural that many people are reluctant to approach powerful people with the assessment that they have done something wrong. We are often afraid of losing friendships, jobs or positions as a result of speaking truth to power. In this case, Nathan was literally risking his life by confronting king David about his transgressions. But God sent Nathan to confront David with his sin. It is often the case that when we sin, we justify and rationalize our sin and we resist the prodding of the Holy Spirit to repent of our own volition. It sometimes takes God sending someone to confront us with our sins before we can begin to acknowledge that what we did was wrong. Nathan confronted David by telling him a parable that triggered David’s sense of justice. David immediately perceived the injustice of the rich man in the parable and correctly applied the law of Moses in his judgment of capital punishment against the rich man and fourfold restitution of property for the poor man. When you refuse to see your own sin, God can use someone else to illuminate them and call you out!
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why 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 Sam. 12:7-9) We can often see the sin in others even when we refuse to acknowledge that same sin in our own lives. Having gotten David to recognize the sin of the rich man in the parable, Nathan turned the story into a personal indictment of David. “You are the man!” With that statement, Nathan jolted David into the recognition of sin and injustice he had committed in killing Uriah and taking Uriah’s wife (Bathsheba). God’s indictment against David was that with all that God had blessed him with and was willing to further bless him with, David still decided to commit the sins of murder, deceit and adultery to get more. While David attempted to commit these sins in secret, they could not be hidden from God who knew every sordid detail. Although you may try to ignore what you have done wrong, God can use anyone or anything to cause you to realize that “you are the man!” and that your sins convict you.
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the LORD, the son born to you will die.” After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. (2 Sam. 12:14-15) There is a reason that David was said to be “a man after God’s own heart”. It wasn’t because David never messed up…It was because David loved God and knew to go to God in deep contrition to repent of his sins. God’s judgment against David took into account David’s repentance. God didn’t issue a sentence of capital punishment for David, but His punishment of David was still severe…the son recently born to David and Bathsheba would die! And although it is not in this scripture text, God also turned the sword against David’s house by causing his family to attack one another. In all, David would lose 4 sons because of his transgressions (fulfilling the fourfold penalty that David had pronounced in his judgment of the rich man in the parable). No matter your position or privilege, God has a “Nathan” who He will call to be courageous and allow themselves to be used to change your direction to turn back to Him.
After he was confronted by Nathan, David repented and he subsequently wrote Psalm 51. In Psalm 51, David asked the Lord to have mercy on him (Ps. 51:1), to create in him a “clean heart” and to renew a “right spirit” within him (Ps. 51:10). David acknowledged his sin to God and turned back to God in repentance. But none of that would have happened if Nathan had not confronted David about his unjust and sinful actions. When God calls you, like Nathan, to speak out about injustice when you see it, He wants your response to be “here am I Lord”. It is said that all that’s necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing. God calls us to speak up in the face of injustice and to speak truth even to those in power. When we challenge the injustice that we encounter, we are engaging in what Congressman John Lewis called “good trouble”, but even more importantly…we’re doing what God has called us to do!
Blessings,
Rev. Glenn
