The Connected Life: The Severity of Sin and the Scandal of Grace

"In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem." 2 Samuel 11:1 How do we remain connected to Christ and each other in an age that promises connectedness, but only undermines that connection? Sin is often borne in passivity. Sin is rarely without warning. Sin is compounding in its deception and destruction. Sin is no match for Grace. . Normally, kings go out to battle in springtime. But in today's text (2 Samuel 11) we see that David chose to hang back. After a long period of success, he’s on cruise control, allowing his officers to handle things. He even arises from his couch "in the afternoon"! It seems that David is just being lazy. Note well that his fall didn’t begin with him looking down at Bathsheba, but when he chose to stay home and not be out with his men in battle. A large part of our life in Christ is simply being where we are supposed to be. Before we can be obedient to Christ, we need to show up as an active participant. Show up, so you do not fall into sin! . The road to sin is littered with a lot of road signs. Not only was David at home when he should have been in battle, but David was looking from his rooftop and thus seeing things no one was supposed to see from his position of power. Then, after he looks on Bathsheba illicitly, David inquires about her and his counselors tell him that she is connected to three separate men in his inner circle. Warning sign after warning sign arises on David's path to adultery and murder. We get way too comfortable with sin in our lives and find ourselves ignoring the warnings. . Sin compounds its deception and destruction. Immediately when David gets word that Bathsheba is pregnant he begins trying to cover it up. Uriah (Bathsheba’s husband) refuses to fall for David’s coverup so David kills him by sending him to the front line. Note that the tactic that David uses kills many other people in battle. And after all of this, the last line in this chapter is “because of this, David displeased the Lord.” Treat sin with the weight it deserves. But, thankfully, sin is no match for Grace! David, despite the pronouncement of destruction against him, is given a second chance. He confesses his sin, and God gives him grace. God mercifully tells David he will not die despite David’s own pronouncement of his death! His actions cost him severely, but grace is still there! Your sin will tell you that you are too far gone to receive God. But that is a lie. You are never too far gone. Even after all the treachery, God gave David the opportunity to have another chance to show up - and go to the city and attack it. God gives us second chances to be where we are supposed to be - flaws and all, injured by failures, but just needing to show up! God’s grace keeps offering us chances. At the end of the story, David got a second chance at a son and family . The biggest scandal of Grace is that Jesus would come from the lineage of David through this very son! Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more!