Leaders of Morality – 3/29/09

Sex, Lies, & Video Tape. That’s the name of a movie that came out in the late ‘80’s. It’s definitely not one for the family-friendly, Movie Club we have here at Hope. Too often those words seem to be more than just a movie title. You don’t have to look very far in the newspaper or on line to find a whole series of scandals involving sex and lies and, sometimes, video tape. In fact, look no further than our elected officials today and throughout the years. Time Magazine had a whole online article about the Top 10 Political Sex Scandals. It all started with Eliot Spitzer.

One of the things that drives us crazy about these stories is the hypocrisy. Eliot Spitzer was a very aggressive attorney general in the state of New York. He worked tirelessly to protect consumers and shareholders from corporate fraud and financial scandals in New York. He even pursued the break up of several prostitution rings. But when he transferred $10,000 from his bank account, people started getting suspicious. They were right and they were angry. David Vitter was another hypocrite. He was an aggressive supporter of Conservative positions on abstinence-only education and same-sex marriage. At the same time, his phone number was found on a client list for the “D.C. Madam.” The hypocrisy is really disappointing. The lying is really frustrating.

This was the case with John Edwards as he ran for President. He vehemently denied any wrong doing for days, if not weeks. He offered to take a paternity test to prove that he wasn’t the child’s father and that he hadn’t had an affair. When it didn’t work, he admitted the truth on TV. Of course, no one lied better (or worse) than Bill Clinton. Bill’s denials are the most famous and outrageous and they never convinced anyone. These sex scandals are unfortunate where you find them and they are found everywhere. You have Republicans like Larry Craig and Mark Foley and Democrats like Gary Hart.

I know that it feels strange to be talking about sex scandals in church. It sounds like something that belongs on the pages of the National Enquirer. It feels like gossip. It feels like you’re invading someone’s private life and nosing in on their business. Often, the argument goes, people’s personal decisions and private life have no bearing on the way they can govern. Very few of these scandals resulted in public outrage. Most people don’t really care whether or not their politician is promiscuous or faithful in their marriage. The two Biblical passages I share with you this morning are for the purpose of wondering whether we should. We heard this morning how sex and politics have been tied together for quite some time.

Some of Wil’s favorite stories in his little children’s Bible are about David; especially David and Goliath. David is a hero in many a Sunday School class because of his defeat of the great giant and the great power he has in battle. No doubt modern-day Christians are the first to admire David and look to him as an example. I’m sure the people of his own kingdom looked up to him and that little boys wanted to be like him. It’s possible to see how all of that praise and admiration could go to someone’s head. As he looked out over his kingdom it’s possible to imagine how David could see it all as belonging to him; even that beautiful young woman named Bathsheba.

The scandal comes and goes pretty quickly, but the cover up goes on for quite some time. At least, David tries to cover it up. If you remember, when David can’t get Uriah to sleep with his wife, he has him killed on the field of battle. Imagine if this were more than a story in the Bible. What if this was the story on the front page of the Grand Rapids Press and it was about the President of the United States. These would be serious allegations. The media would be all over it. In David’s case there was no media, but there was a prophet. His name was Nathan.

The fascinating thing about this story is that Nathan would often serve as David’s trusted advisor, the President’s Chief of Staff. He would advise him on the upcoming battle’s and tell David whether or not the Lord was with him. This thing that David had done with Bathsheba and Uriah had displeased the Lord and Nathan was coming to tell him about it. But he couldn’t just come out and accuse him. Nathan had to draw him in with a story. It’s about a rich man and a poor man who live in the same city. In fact, they live right next to each other. The rich man has a large flock and the poor man has just one ewe. This little lamb would eat food from the dinner table and crawl into the poor man’s lap. It was like a daughter to him.

When a dinner guest came to the house of the rich man, he really didn’t want to take one of his own flock to feed the guest. So he took the poor man’s lamb and fed it to his guest. It’s an unnerving story and David is rightly agitated by it. The arrogance of that man! The heartlessness of that man! The cruelty of that man! He says to Nathan, “That man deserves to die! Whoever that man is is going to restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and had no pity.” Nathan says to David, “You are that man.” You can almost see the blank stare on David’s face. You can watch his mind work through his eyes as he searches his experience. Perhaps he wonders if Nathan really knows about what he had done.

Then we find out that Nathan isn’t the one who was paying attention. Nathan isn’t the one who has an issue with David. It’s someone up the chain of command who has been watching. “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul, and I gave you everything that a king needs and desires, and I gave you Israel and Judah, and if that had been too little, I would have added that much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?” David had brought trouble on his house by sneaking around in secret, but it would become public as his own family struggles for the throne. Thankfully, there are no lies in this story. David says to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

It wouldn’t be long after this episode that David would write the words we heard this morning from Psalm 51: have mercy on my, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. There is a humility in these words, a brokenness in this Psalm that turns God’s face back to David to restore him. This is why David was considered a man after God’s own heart. Not so much because of the power and the might, but because of his faith and his humility before God. If only we could say the same thing about Herod.

Herod is the one who brings scandal to the gospel of Mark. Herod wanted to be like David. At least, he wanted the power and the might. He wanted the prestige that came with being the one who would rebuild Jerusalem and its temple. He would do whatever it took; including marrying his brother’s wife. I’m not sure what political purpose this served but John, playing the role of Nathan, was not going to let him get away with it. He had been telling Herod that it was against God’s law to take his brother’s wife in such a way. Herodias had some aspirations of her own, it seems, so she developed quite a grudge against John who was ruining her plans. She wanted to have John killed. Instead, Herod arrested John the Baptist and bound him and threw him prison. Of course, the story doesn’t end there.

Herod did protect John while he was in prison. He had this strange fascination with John. Herod knew that John was a righteous and holy man. He liked to listen to him. It’s as if Herod knew what John said was true but, at the same time, was too afraid to admit it. Herod was bound by his desires for fame and fortune and saving face. So, all of Herod’s feelings would be sorted out when he threw a banquet for all of the important Galilee. All of his officers and courtiers and the leaders of Galilee came out to help Herod celebrate his birthday. Herodias’ daughter would help as well.

She came in to dance for all of the men in the party. She dances well. Herod is pleased and makes a rash pledge to the girl: Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it. He solemnly swears to the girl and, more importantly, before all of his guests: Whatever you ask me, I will give you even half of my kingdom. Rather than reply, the girl runs out to find her mother. It’s almost as if they had set it up ahead of time. Herodias tells her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist. Adding her own twist on the request, she rushes back to Herod and says, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” Nice girl.

The king was deeply grieved. He liked to listen to John. He feared John. Deep down he knew John was right. But he also knew that if he didn’t keep his oath before all of his guests his control would be undermined. He would be seen as weak by the very people over whom he had power. Without a moment’s delay, the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head and shortly thereafter John’s head was brought on a platter and given to the girl who, in turn, gave it to her mother who put it on the mantle over the fire place. Not really, but this story is gross and disturbing. Imagine seeing this one on the front page.

These stories have a lot in common. They are both in the Bible. They are about politics as they both involve a king. In each story the king feels that his power affords him certain privileges that others might not have. Each king feels he is above the law and takes a woman for his wife that is married to someone else. But what I really want us to notice is that in each story there is a prophet who confronts the king about his sin. There is a representative from God who feels he has the authority to question the king’s motives and actions. These representatives use their voices to advocate for a more upstanding leader.

This season of Lent we have been talking about various practices that we can do to achieve a more just world. We can live more simply. We can care for the creation. We can offer charity to those in need. We can enter into a ministry of reconciliation that restores relationships across gender, race, and class. Today and next week we’re taking a look at advocacy. Christians don’t always feel like they have a place in advocacy. Church and state are separate, we say. But this morning’s passages offer us a look at how God’s representatives, God’s prophets, address those who are in power. This morning’s passages seem to say that, as God’s people, as ambassadors for Christ, we should care about who is holding positions of power and how they are using that power; for service rather than scandal.

It’s not just about the sexual scandal. Even the modern-day stories we began with this morning aren’t just about the sexual scandal. The stories reveal the side of people that says we can have what doesn’t belong to us, that we don’t have to admit mistakes, that our private actions don’t affect other people. You don’t have to be a politician to fall into that trap. This morning’s passages suggest that if what our leaders are doing is against God’s word or God’s law that we should say something about it. We should say that those who are serving the country are ultimately serving God. We should care about the morality of our leaders and be leaders of that morality. I realize that that’s a scary thing to say because that’s what the Taliban believe and what other radical groups have believed. That’s why our focus is always on Jesus who came to serve.

When James and John asked for the seats of power and Jesus’ right a left hand, Jesus told them that they had missed the boat. They had it all wrong. They, too, were focused on the power and might of David’s kingdom and they wanted Jesus’ kingdom to be the same. Jesus told his followers, “You know that among the nations those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you.” Jesus would go on to tell them that whoever wishes to become great among you must be a servant and whoever wishes to be first must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not be served but to serve. So, then as we look for those who will lead us, we should stand in the tradition of Nathan and John and advocate for leaders who will not serve their own desires. We should use our voices to call for leaders who won’t serve their own power, nor their own institutions or ideologies, but serve the Lord who gave his life as a ransom for many.

As this season of Lent draws to a close we begin turning our eyes to Jesus’ throne, to the place where Jesus was crowned as Lord of all. It is because of the cross that we don’t have to grab things for ourselves, but can humbly serve one another. It was in Jesus on the cross that we see what it means to be king, to be a faithful ruler. We see in him God’s mercy and God’s steadfast love and all the things that David wrote about in his humble and contrite Psalm. On the cross, our transgressions were blotted out. On the cross we were washed thoroughly from our iniquity. On the cross we were cleansed from our sin. On the cross, Jesus paid the price that would set us free from our bondage to fame and fortune, to power and prestige. So, it is through the cross that we return to God and by taking up our cross that we praise the Lord knowing that it is God who will lift us up and raise us to new life. Amen.