2 Samuel 11:1-15 Psalm 14 Ephesians 3:14-21 John 6:1-21

Our shepherd king David seems to have fallen into ill repute.  His actions of which we read in today’s lesson from 2^ndSamuel are akin to those of a sexual predator and an adulterer.  As if this was not bad enough, David concocts a scheme to cover his indiscretions with an act of premeditated murder, ordering Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba and his most faithful and loyal warrior, sent to the frontlines of the heaviest battle where Uriah is to be abandoned “so that he may be struck down and die.”  David essentially calls for the execution of Uriah in a way that his complicity is carefully disguised.  

How can David possible be reconciled with God after such egregious actions?   Will God abandon the great King David?  

With pastoral care as a priority of my call to ministry, I spend a lion’s share of my time exploring faithful living and faithful dying.  Death is part of life, and we should all spend time reflecting on our concerns about our earthly deaths.  Very often in discussions with those facing the reality of their latter days, I encounter concerns over goodness and faithfulness. Often, feelings of doubt are expressed with hesitance.  “I’ve not lived my life as I should have.”  “I’ve done things I should not have done.”  I’m just not sure I’m good enough to go to heaven.”  “I’m not sure I have the faith I need.”

These are very human questions; these are questions we all might have as we ponder the reality of our earthly death.

Of course, our answer – our peace – comes in the reality of our justification by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ.  We don’t earn our way into heaven.  We might even say we don’t earn our way out of heaven.  Jesus has paid the price of our justification.

Our redemption and justification by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ, however, is not something we take lightly.  Yes, God wants only what is best for us.  Like anyone who truly loves us, God wants to please us.  In turn, because we love God and are grateful for God’s grace and mercy, we desire to please God by remaining faithful to his guidance.

There are many ways within the scripture that we confirm the fact of our justification by grace.  We confirm this fact in today’s Gospel lesson.  The feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle account included by all four Gospel writers.  This account is a stunning confirmation of the grace of Jesus Christ shared and multiplied to immeasurable degrees so that all are fed to the fullest with even more left over once the great crowd is fed to satisfaction.   As described in all four accounts of the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, the left-over portions – the remaining fragments – are gathered by the disciples as Jesus instructs them.  “Gather up the fragments left over,” Jesus says, “so that nothing may be lost.”

David, diverted from his humble place as a child of God by his own sense of power and prestige, distracted from his faithfulness to God by his selfish lust for a beautiful woman, maddened by his obsession to hide his sinfulness, will indeed be punished by his sins for the duration of his earthly life.  And, like all of us, David will stand before God to be confronted with his sinfulness.  But, David will not be lost to God.  David will be punished by his sins, but not for his sins.  God took that punishment upon himself through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

David will not be lost to God, not because David is good, but because God is good.  God declares humankind good at creation, but only God’s goodness is perfect; if we were “good” in the sense we understand goodness, we would not need God – we would be God.  But, we are not God, and like David, we need to be reminded that we are dependent upon God – God who is loving and merciful; and none of us is lost to God.

Commenting to a friend yesterday that I still insist that my children call me when they get home at night, she responded that she never understood that until she was a parent herself.  The ideal of the human family helps us understand the unconditional love of God.  There is nothing our children can do to make us love them any more than we love them now; there is nothing our children can do to make us love them less.  This is the love that God plants within our hearts when we are conceived.  God is love.  God loves us unconditionally.  

As we reflect on our imperfection and fears regarding our earthly death, our reflections are bathed in the unconditional love of God – God who loves us even beyond the immeasurable love of loving earthly parents for their child.  

Our shepherd king David has fallen to a low place in his earthly kingship, but he will not be lost to God.  The feeding of the 5,000; after which the fragments are gathered, assures us that God’s grace is sufficient for all and that none is lost.