Title: Caught In The Spin Cycle
Text: 2 Samuel 11:1-12:13
Introduction
Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” He was of course talking about science. But what if we applied it to life? What in your life have you repeated over and over again and expected a different result? It was a question that we asked at Celebrate Recovery. The follow up question was this. What is it that you are looking for?
We are creatures of habit by nature. And we can quickly establish patterns in our lives. Sometimes they are healthy; sometimes they are not. And before we know it we can be caught in a vicious cycle of repeated behaviors. And it can be hard to break. At times it feels like it is downright impossible.
And we move through the cycle of action, to guilt, to promises not to do it again, to doing it again. Have you ever been caught in the cycle of sin?
Common Ground
One more swig; just one more hit; one more drag; just one more look on the internet; it’s just a few dollars that no one will even notice are missing; it’s just a simple shopping trip. It’s the cycle. And before we know it, we are caught in the cycle of insanity brought on by sin. We repeat things over and over again hoping for; longing for; or even expecting a different result.
Reason For Message:
How do we break that cycle?
I want to filter this question through our story today.
As we identify a Principle Truth:
Principle: Sin will function at its highest efficiency when it operates in isolation or secrecy.
Today’s Text:
2 Samuel 11:1-17; 12:1-13
Read 2 Samuel 11:1-17
Today’s passage is the story of a man named David. He was king of Israel during her Golden Age. And while Scripture tells us that David was a man after God’s own heart, David was also prone to huge lapses in judgment.
And so at a time when kings would normally go out to war, David stays in Jerusalem. He remains safe and secure. He does not go out with his men to fight. Instead, he remains at home alone. Idle hands end up being the Devil’s playground.
After waking up from an afternoon nap, he takes a stroll in the cool breeze afforded on the palace roof and he looks over the city. And he sees a woman who is taking a bath on the roof of an adjacent house.
It may sound odd to us, but this would have been a normal practice. In David’s time there were no hot water heaters. Tubs were placed on the roofs of homes to let the sun warm the water. That’s where this woman was.
David sees her exposed and admires her extraordinary beauty. He is so intrigued that he risks an inquiry about her. “Who is this woman?” he asks. He receives word back that this woman is named Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.
I love that response. In it Bathsheba is more than just an object of David’s desire. She has a daddy, and she has a husband. David had objectified Bathsheba making her an object of his desire when he asks about her. Moreover, this woman is married to a man who serves in David’s army. Now the honorable man would leave the situation alone. If David had stopped, the cycle would have stopped. But David does not. And the spin cycle of sin continues.
He sends a message that he wants to see this woman. One thing leads to another, he sleeps with here, and word soon comes back that Bathsheba is pregnant. This is troubling news.
Historical Context:
It is more than a political scandal for David to overcome. Under Old Testament Law, David and Bathsheba could have been taken out of the city and stoned to death.
They along with the child might die.
Remember or principle - Sin functions at its highest efficiency when it operates in isolation and secrecy. David attempts to cover up his sin / he wants to keep it a secret. By doing so, he wants to limit the damage that it can cause. He devices an immediate action plan.
He brings Uriah back from battle in hopes that he will spend a little quality time with his wife. So he invites Uriah back from the field of battle and sends him home to Bathsheba. You know what David is doing right? He hopes he can make the claim that the child isn’t his own.
Plan “A” flops. Uriah will not even go to his wife or even his own house while the other men and the Ark of the Covenant are on the field of battle. So David goes with plan B.
And plan “B” is much more sinister.
David sends a message to his General Joab. Uriah is to be placed in the front lines of the battle where the fighting is the worst. And then Israel is to withdraw from the battle leaving Uriah isolated. Uriah is set up to be killed in battle.
Plan B works. Once Uriah is eliminated from the picture, David quickly takes Bathsheba to be one of his wives.
It’s sin in isolation and secrecy. While there would certainly be rumors about the length of the marriage before the baby was born, the situation was still manageable.
He could spin that. It could not be positively proven that the child was conceived out of wedlock. Do you see the black side of sin? Sin likes to spin the truth to meet the situation.
When we get caught in the spin cycle we believe that
The Spin:
Point One A - I can manage sin better by covering it up
Cover it up / manage it on our own. We do not want the sin to be discovered. So we hide it. We cover it. It’s the temptation. Sin functions at it’s highest efficiency when it operates in isolation and secrecy. So shame will drive sin to seek cover.
But the reality is this
The Reality:
Point One B - Sin that is covered up and self managed will quickly grow.
Illustration
I like C.S. Lewis Books the Chronicles of Narnia. I especially like the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. In this book we are introduced to Eustace. He is precocious and self- absorbed. So when he and his cousins are magically transported into the middle of the sea in the world of Narnia, Eustace is not pleased. They end up being rescued by Prince Caspian who is sailing the ship (the Dawn Treader) to uncover the mystery of some missing kings.
As the story progresses, the ships crew stops at a mysterious island to find supplies for the journey. Eustace, being Eustace wanders off from the campsite to avoid helping. He wanders the island alone. When he catches the glint of the sun off something shiny, he sees a cave. And when he explores, he stumbles onto a cave filled with treasure. Gold coins, and silver goblets rimmed with precious jewels. Eustace is rich!
He immediately determines that the treasure he has found is his and his alone. He found it first. What he does not realize is that the treasure is cursed. Anyone who takes from it is doomed to a magical transformation. He awakes in the cave the next morning and is frightened by the sound of a dragon breathing. He flees from the cave back toward the camp.
But when he gets back, his cousins and the crew of the ship do not recognize him. HE is the dragon. And everyone flees. Eustace is alone.
The story goes on to tell how he sits down in front of a pond and stares at his reflection in the water. And he begins to reason that there is still a boy under all those scales if only they could be removed. So he digs his dragon claws under the scales as deep as he dares and peals the skin back. Oh, it hurts terribly. When he can stand the pain no longer, he looks at his progress. He is still a dragon – even bigger than before. The more he tore away on his own the more the cycle grew.
Application of Illustration
Freedom from the cycle cannot come through individual effort alone. Why? Because the cycle of sin function at it’s highest efficiency when it operates alone. We do not have the power ourselves to defeat it. Try as we might, the scales of sin only resist our futile efforts. We will remain a growing dragon.
In our text, David thought he had his sin managed and covered; but instead it had grown to become something hideous. His adultery led to deceit, manipulation of men, and murder. Every effort to cover it to protect himself led him further and further away from the truth.
David believed the spin of sin and got caught in the cycle.
The Spin:
Point Two A - If I can cover my sin I can limit the scope of damage.
Sin is NEVER a private matter It will ALWAYS have an impact on other people. Emotionally, physically, and even spiritually.
The consequences of David’s sin involved
Willing participants – Bathsheba and Joab
Unwilling participants – Uriah, the other men who were killed in battle, and the families of those men who were killed.
David’s sin grew and the impact spread to people not even involved in the sin. It’s the way the cycle works – if you have ever been caught in the cycle you know it. We see it even in today’s society.
Someone who drinks and drives will eventually injure, cripple or kill someone who doesn’t. Someone who looks at pornography will see the intimacy of relationships crumble with his/her spouse and children.
The reality is this.
The Reality:
Point Two B – Sin that is hidden will always have a greater impact than we can imagine.
There is one other spin that we might put on the cycle of sin.
The Spin
Point Three A: No One has to know
But we go back to our text and the last sentence in 2 Samuel 11 tells us this.
2 Samuel 11:27b (NIV)
…But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.
When we think we have covered it up; when we think we have limited the scope of the damage; when we think we have gotten away with it and buried it; the truth is this.
The Reality
Point Three B: God already knows.
Sin cannot be hidden from God. We want to hide it. But when we do we get sucked into a vicious, growing cycle. The more “private” the setting of the sin, the more addicting it becomes.
Remember the principle! Sin operates at its best efficiency when it operates in isolation and secrecy.
So do we have to live in the cycle? Or is there a way out? Let’s look at the rest of the text. God sends a prophet named Nathan to King David. And Nathan shares a story.
Read 2 Samuel 12:1-7
Nathan exposes David’s sin to the light. He makes David personally accountable for his actions. YOU are that man.
This is probably the most important step because it has to be the first step in order to break out of the cycle. Before healing can take place we must
Action Step One: Expose the sin to the light
We have to stop trying to hide our sin – Sin operates at it’s highest efficiency when it operates in isolation and secrecy.
And the first step is often the most difficult because sin hates to be exposed.
Jesus said, “19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” (John 3:19-21)
If we have sin in our lives, it must be exposed to the truth. Without step one, we cannot begin to break the cycle of insanity – repeating the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.
That’s step one. Step two?
Read 2 Samuel 12:7-8
Action Two: We intentionally look to God’s blessings in our lives.
Sin will look at what we DON’T have; God wants us to see what we do have.
God directs David’s focus on what HE has been given. Do you see the blessings given David? Safety from Saul; wives; a palace; God is a generous God. Do you see the blessings in your own life? If you are caught in the cycle, list the blessings that God has given you and thank him for them. When sin comes knocking, break out the list of blessings from God. I think by listing blessings, we will also discover the answer to second Celebrate Recovery question “what are you looking for?”
These two steps will change our perspective. We won’t be able to sin and enjoy it as much as we used to. We will see sin for what it really is.
Action Three:
Call sin what it really is – sin.
Read 2 Samuel 12:9
God doesn’t pull any punches. You David are a murderer. You stole someone else’s wife to be your own. What you did was horrific and terrible.
Church, we often like to soften the edges / we like to blunt the blow. But God through Nathan labels sin as sin. Folks it’s not an affair; it’s adultery. Men, it’s not enjoying some "eye candy" it’s full blown lust that objectifies women. It’s not having a few too many drinks; it’s drunkenness. It’s not borrowing; it’s stealing. And it’s hideous and evil. And it brings terrible consequences. It did for David.
2 Samuel 12:10-12
We see sin for its deadly consequences. It no longer can hold value because it is a temporary fix or high. It’s deadly and brings deadly consequences. We know that when we sin, our sin affects us; hangovers, red eyes, calls from creditors. But did you know that when we sin, it also affects God himself. We sin against HIM. We mar his glory. Sin is never private. It wants us to believe that. Because sin functions at its highest efficiency when it operates in isolation and secrecy.
So we have to expose our sin to the light. Remove its efficiency. We have to take off the rose-colored glasses and call sin what it really is, sin. It’s ugly and hideous like a dragon. And we like Eustace are powerless to overcome it’s effects on our own. So listen to God’s heart.
Conclusion:
When David confesses his sin as sin; when he exposes it to the light; when David sees the consequences of his actions, 2 Samuel 12:13 (NIV) tells us, “Nathan replied, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.’” When David confessed the sin, the consequences were immediately removed.
Do you remember Eustace? The Dragon Boy? After trying to break out of the cycle of insanity himself, he fails. He lies down and weeps bitter tears. His fear is that he will be a hideous dragon forever. Through blurry eyes, he sees a Great Lion approaching. Aslan shows up. For those unfamiliar with the story Aslan is the Christ figure.
And Aslan asks Eustace if he wants to be a boy again. Eustace is hopeless, but he pleads with Aslan, YES. Free me from this skin. He warns the boy that the process could be painful. But Eustace is desperate. So Aslan flicks out his claws and carefully digs into Eustace’s dragon flesh. Aslan digs deeper and further and longer than Eustace had dared do himself. Eustace’s heart pounds wildly in his chest as Aslan tears away the scales and digs into the dragon flesh. Eustace would later in the book describe the pain as immense and good all wrapped up together – like removing a splinter. When Aslan is finished, Eustace looks reluctantly at his reflection in the pond again. And what image appears? It’s the image of a boy again.
It’s this renewing that Jesus Christ wants to accomplish in us.
Prayer
Invitation (If your congregation offers one):
“Disclaimer” at the end of this message:
Those who read ahead will discover that David’s son would die because of David’s sin. And that may be confusing. It doesn’t seem fair. So next week we are going to address that. As Paul Harvey might say, “We need to hear the rest of the story.”
