Missed it by THAT much

August 05, 2010

2 Samuel 11:22-12:13 Ephesians 4:1-16 John 6:24-35

Scripture reading: 2 Samuel 11:22-27

22

The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 23 The messenger said to David, The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. 24 Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the kings men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.
25

David told the messenger, Say this to Joab: Dont let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it. Say this to encourage Joab.
26

When Uriahs wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD. -------------------Have you ever tried to do something and very nearly succeeded but failed all the same? You know what I mean, its like horseshoes when the shoe is almost there but not quite, when you shoot but miss the bulls-eye by just a hair or two. There are also those times when you tried to do good but somehow things went wrong and peoples feeling were hurt instead or you tried to so someone a favor and succeeded only in making them angry. From 1965 until 1970 the television show, Get Smart, starring Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, popularized the phrase, Missed it by that much. Sometimes life is good, and sometimes we miss the mark. In our scripture lesson this morning we heard a war report brought back to King David in his palace. Uriah the Hittite is killed but David sends an encouraging word to Joab, the General in charge of the attack. The problem, if you know the story, is that this is all a ploy to cover-up a serious error in judgment that David had made. Lets continue reading from where we left off (2 Samuel 11:26 12:13a)
26

When Uriahs wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD. 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. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 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.
5

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.
7

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. 8 I gave your masters house to you, and your masters 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. 9 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. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.
11

This is what the LORD says: Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.
13

Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD.

David tried to cover up his infidelity with Uriahs wife by having Uriah killed accidently in combat. Joab even helped by sending a courier to tell David so that everyone in the Kings court would hear that Uriah had died at the hand of the enemy. I would think that most everyone who could would have been there. Who wouldnt want to hear the latest dispatches from the army while it is away fighting a war? Everyone wants to know how things are going, who is winning, and possibly who has died. A nation at war has always been and always will be front page news. Perhaps David and Joab had people fooled into thinking that David was being honorable by taking in Uriahs widow even if it was rather sudden but God was not fooled. David tried to hide his sin but he missed it by that much. In John 6:24-35, we again find crowds of people following Jesus but here we discover that they are following him for the wrong reasons and Jesus is onto them.
24

Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
25

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, Rabbi, when did you get here?

26

Jesus answered, Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.
28

Then they asked him, What must we do to do the works God requires? 2

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Jesus answered, The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.

30 31

So they asked him, What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
32

Jesus said to them, Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
34

Sir, they said, always give us this bread.

35

Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Its like Jesus has to keep repeating himself, its not about the bread, its not about the bread the people knew that there was something special about Jesus but they were looking for free food more than freedom from sin. They almost had it right but they missed it by that much. In Ephesians 4:1-16, the Apostle Paul urges the church not to miss the mark. Paul probably remembers David and he calls on the followers of Jesus Christ to live up to a higher standard As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called ; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
11

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. No one wants to get to heaven and her Jesus say that we missed it by that much. We all make mistakes and we all fall from time to time. Some of us have old habits and addictions that were trying to break and some of those old habits have a firm hold on us. Even so, Paul says we should strive to live a life worthy of the people we have been called to become. Our calling is to build one another up, to learn and to grow and, as John Wesley taught, to move toward perfection every day. The reality is that most days we are going to miss it by that much. 3

Paul reminds us that we are called, by grace, to strive for unity through a bond of peace. The goal isnt to reach a place where we can shrug our shoulders and remark that we missed it by that much, but to become mature Christians that can withstand the waves, the winds, and the storm. Mature Christians will see and understand the manipulation of teachers that try to twist the word of God and see through those who try to deceive us and those around us. We are called to become more than baby Christians but to become mature adults who work together in love so that Christ may be built up. Our goal is to build one another up, to have the determination, the maturity and the discipline to do what it takes to get stronger each day. The Greek word for sin translated literally into English means to miss the mark just as in archery when an arrow misses the bulls-eye. Be encouraged. David was called a man after Gods own heart and even he missed it by that much, but each time he failed, he sought Gods face, asked for forgiveness, and kept on striving to do better. Were not perfect. Some days we will miss it by that much, but we should never settle for that. Let us follow the example of David. Let us keep on striving, keep on struggling to do better, keep on growing and building each other up so that we might all become mature Christians.
14

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry heights in Massillon, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.