Not too long ago, I ran into a definition of the various emphases within the Christian community that I think most people can understand.

For example, how many TV evangelists does it take to change a light bulb? One; but for the message to continue, send in your donation today!
How many Catholics does it take to change a light bulb? None, they use candles.
How many charismatics does it take to change a light bulb? One to change the bulb and nine to cast out the spirit of darkness!
How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb? Change!
How many from the United Church of Canada does it take to change a light bulb? This statement was issued. "We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your own journey you have found that a light bulb works for you, that is fine. You are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your personal relationship with your light bulb or light source or non-dark resource, and present it next month at out annual light bulb Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions, including incandescent, fluorescent, three way, long-life and tinted- all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence."

In the next two weeks, we will be considering aspects of the life of David. I have titled the sermons "Tough Love" and "Tough Reality".  The story, both for today and next Sunday, follows David's affair with Bathsheba. Most of us are aware of that story, which raises some serious questions about David's ability to be the King of Israel or to be a hero of the Jewish people. We need to follow up and discern what took place within the life of David that made him such a great religious hero.

We can say with certainty that David was one of the remarkable men of the Old Testament. He was a capable musician and a beloved poet. He excelled as a military leader and king and was, in the words of the Bible, "a man after God's own heart". Yet, in spite of his illustrious achievements, David had some grievous faults- not the least of which was his conduct with Bathsheba, and the inhuman treatment he meeted out to her husband Uriah.

David, you will recall, saw Bathsheba bathing, and he summoned her to the King's residence. There, the affair was consummated - it sounds like a contemporary movie, to me. Shortly thereafter, Bathsheba informed David that she was pregnant. David then sent for her husband Uriah, a leader in the army, to come to the King's residence. After conferring with Uriah, David sent him to his home, where hopefully, he would spend some time with Bathsheba. Uriah refused to go, reciting some patriotic traditions that soldiers were not to share in marital happiness while their comrades were in the fields of battle. David even got Uriah drunk, but he still would not violate the military tradition.

Being unsuccessful in disguising the reality of his affair, David sent Uriah back to battle with instructions to the military leader Joab, to have Uriah lead the next invasion. This being done, Uriah, as front man was killed. When David heard this, after allowing Bathsheba sufficient time to adhere to the expected mourning time, David brought Bathsheba into his own house and she became his wife. Now, I submit, that is not the stuff that one chooses as a story to tell Sunday School youngsters, nor is it what we usually think of as appropriate behavior for a religious leader.

The problem was, who was capable of confronting the king? Who was capable of exercising tough love?  Enter Nathan; a crusty old prophet with nothing to lose. Nathan came in from the country side and said to King David. "There were two men in a certain city; one was rich and the other poor. The rich man had many flocks of sheep, while the poor man had just one little ewe lamb which had become very much a companion and household pet. A traveler came to the house of the rich man, and when it was meal time, the stingy rich man was unwilling to take a lamb from his own flock to prepare a meal; instead, he took the one lamb of the poor man and made that the lamb for dinner.

David was incensed by the story, and said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, that man deserves to die, and he should restore the lamb to the poor man four fold." Nathan said to David, "You are the man!" David said, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan said, "The Lord has forgiven you, but justice will be served."  In this case, the child of David and Bathsheba became sick and died when just seven days old. But the consequences didn't end there. Three other of David's children died, Amnon, Absolom and Adonijah, and two of them, Absolom and Adonijah revolted against their Father's kingly authority. Four deaths and untold grief by two disobedient sons who led revolts against their Father's regime, give the story an intriguing answer to David's interpretation to Nathan- "that rich man should pay the poor man fourfold for his selfish act."

The question is obvious-what does this passage mean for us, today? The first observation I wish to make is that power is the ultimate human elixir. We see it in every age in many circumstances. In a letter written to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887, Lord Acton wrote, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Great men are almost always bad men (we would say humans). We've seen it often in our life time.  Individuals are elected or appointed to positions of power and authority on the promise of correcting bad situation.  But within a short period of time, they fall into the temptations of power, and become tyrants themselves. The list is endless-Robert Mugabe, Sadam Hussein, a host of African leaders like Charles Nelson or Idi Amin, Bernie Ebers, Kenneth Lay in industry and many other powerful business and political leaders in our own country and province thatb are well known to most of you. In every case, these leaders came to power and the people they led or governed had high hopes that they would lead well. In each case, a fall from grace was not foreseen, yet all became victims of the power that was entrusted to them. Prominent personalities fall into this category as well, members of the Hollywood set and professional athletes; all are abusing their powerful roles, frequently turning from their innocent lives prior to wealth, prestige and power only to fall victims like many before them, thus tarnishing their perception forever.

David, as king, became a different person than he had been as a shepherd boy and a young man sensitive to the dictates of the Lord God. It was Nathan who called this reality into check and, in the case of David, saw him repent and seek God's forgiveness and direction. But the laws of God are eternal. People, who abuse power, may repent and receive forgiveness from God and maybe even from their mates and their special friends.  Yet the scars remain.  Never again will they be seen in the same light. Suffering, sorrow, disgrace and apprehension follow grave errors, or sin as the Bible calls it.  God's moral order is not compromised, even when God's forgiveness becomes a reality.

Just a few weeks we saw an icon of professional basketball come under a severe accusation. As Kobe Bryant said on television, I have to answer to my wife and my God. That is true; but beyondthat, regardless of what happens in court, Kobe will carry this stigma with him for the rest of his days; his public perception has been severely tarnished.

It was Nathan, a prophet of the Lord, whose commitment to justice and truth was greater than any consequences that might befall him, who challenged King David. It is not easy to take on a King, telling him he is wrong and has offended God, yet Nathan did just that. That remains the task of the Church and of Christian believers- to highlight evil and inhumane practices, and to call people to compassionate and respectful lives of faith in the spirit and acceptance of the God we worship. We have no right to require people to believe as we do, but we do have a responsibility to articulate the consequences of evil, to care for the disenfranchised and downtrodden, and to love our fellow humans; and that is the tough one. It is not easy to love those who offend us, or act contrary to our belief system, yet that is what we must do.

Secondly, this passage is just one more reminder that we live in an imperfect world, and that we are called to live our lives as best we are able, with God's help, within that environment. People of faith do not retreat into their subjectivity. We live in a world, among people who do not care one bit about the life style that we live and proclaim. Sociologically, in our day and age, it is O.K. not to be religious; yet God chooses and uses imperfect people to perform his work.  In a sermon entitled 'Perfect in Weakness', Barbara Brown Taylor, hailed as one of the 10 greatest preachers in America, and a good friend of Chris and myself, tells this confusing story. A woman, whose life was coming apart at the seams decided to go to a nearby convent to be part of a silent retreat- a totally new experience for the woman. After arriving and getting her room assignment, she was standing in the dormitory waiting for the elevator when a short plump sister stepped inside with her. After pressing the floor button, the sister asked, "what brings you here, my dear." The woman spewed out her heart. "My Mother just died, I think my Father may be an alcoholic, my marriage is falling apart and I feel like I am going crazy". Before she could say more, the elevator went ding and the door opened. As the sister left the elevator she smiled and said, "God must love you very much" and disappeared.

God must love you very much! What does that mean? We don't tend to make a string of catastrophes as a sign of God's love; yet it sounds very much like Paul, when he wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 2-10, "A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness, so that the power of Christ must dwell in me."

I'm not sure I understand this! Perhaps it was because Paul was constantly in trouble. He was thought to be crude, tactless, volatile and manipulative. People thought he did not exhibit the characteristics of a true apostle; he didn't perform enough miracles and they didn't like the fact that he was beaten up many times and in and out of jail. Paul was forced to stand before the Church and defend himself, which he did, stating his credentials and flaws and saying this is silly stuff to be boasting about your own life and ministry.

Paul prays, he begs God to take this weakness away from and the answer he gets is, "my grace is sufficient for you.-power is made perfect in weakness." Doesn't that sound like you and me? "I can't do it Lord, I'm not religious enough." -my grace is sufficient for you. "I can't serve Lord, I hate those meetings, I get upset and even angry"-my grace is sufficient for you. "Everything is changing God and I don't like it;' why can't things be like they used to be"-my grace is sufficient for you. You see, the game is rigged. No matter how you see yourself, or how insecure and insufficient you feel, God can use you; my grace is sufficient for you.

Maybe this is how God protects us from those super apostles of the world, those stainless steel Christians who want to rid the Church of problematic people. David and Paul are proof that God is not willing to go along with them. God knows that being problematic is part of being human. Every one of us suffers from some weakness. Everyone of us has had some shipwrecks in our lives. Every one of us, in some way is tactless, insecure, weak and uncertain but the good news of God is none of that disqualifies us.  The fact of the matter is that the faith survives with people like David, and Peter and Paul, and that lady at the silent retreat and you and me. The Church survives.  Remember, it was never called to be successful, just faithful; the church survives with people like us!

That is the way life is. Our lives are not lived only with like minded people. Like wheat that grows along with the weeds, we live our lives amidst a hostile or indifferent society, and we are called to live our lives within this culture, loving and forgiving those who don't understand us- or worse, don't even care.  Now we are into the tough stuff. This is where the rubber hits the road. Over my 43 years of ministry, I have heard some of the most strident words of hatred and censure uttered by Christian people. No group persecutes Christians as much as fellow Christians. Chris and I have a dear friends in India. We have stayed in the home of Kenaz and Kamjah Solomon. Kenaz superintends 54 Congregational Christian Churches in South India.  He states that he and his people have very little problem with the Hindus or even the Moslems. Their biggest problem lies with the evangelical Christian and Catholic missionaries who tell his people and all others who will listen that the Congregational Christians are wrong, because they don't require belief in this little specific or that.

I think that is a terrible indictment. What does that have to say to people outside the Church? What are we saying to the world when some Churches refuse to allow other Christians to fellowship at the Lord's table? No wonder our younger generations of people have trouble getting into the Church. They've seen too much disharmony, too much hatred, too much, "I'm right and they are wrong", too much prejudice and too much rejection within the Church. They will go with their friends to the sports field or to the pub-they are more accepted there: yet, if we listen, Jesus saying in sad voice-"let the one who is without sin cast the first stone".

Tough Love! David was confronted and he repented. Paul didn't receive the answer that he sought. You and I wrestle with our weaknesses, our fears and our shyness. Beloved, right here, today, in this Church there are enough resources to turn this community upside down. We can dwell on our weaknesses: that's easy, because we all have them- or we can truly believe, "My grace is sufficient for you".

David's weakness became his strength. Paul's weakness became his strength. Think of all the awful and wonderful things that have happened to us! "God must love us very much!