**Please note this service is based on the format of the Anglican Church
of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from the Book of
Alternative Services (BAS) and the hymns from the Book of Common Praise (BCP). Other
hymns and prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.
**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.
**This is for personal use at home as the church is unable to gather in
our houses of worship but together, we can worship in our own homes.
Opening Prayer
God of wisdom and love, without you neither
truth nor holiness can survive. Show your mighty presence among us, and make us
glad in proclaiming your deliverance in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Opening
Hymn – Lord Jesus, Think On Me (BCP #511)
Listen Here
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with
you all.
And
also with you.
Collect for Purity
Listen Here
The Gloria
Listen Here
Collect of the Day
Let us pray.
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without
whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, increase and multiply upon us your
mercy, that with you as our ruler and guide,
we may so pass through things temporal, that we
lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Readings
A reading from the Second Book of Samuel 11.1-15
In the spring of the
year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers
and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But
David remained at Jerusalem.
It happened, late one
afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of
the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very
beautiful. David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported,
“This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” So David
sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she
was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house. The
woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
So David sent word to
Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah
came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was
going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.”
Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the
king. But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants
of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When they told David, “Uriah did
not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a
journey. Why did you not go down to your house?” Uriah said to David, “The ark
and Israel and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my
lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to
drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not
do such a thing.” Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and
tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the
next day, David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him
drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of
his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
In the morning David
wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he
wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back
from him, so that he may be struck down and die.”
The word of the Lord.
Thanks
be the God.
Psalm 14
Listen Here
Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”
They
are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there
is no one who does good.
The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind
to
see if there are any who are wise,
who
seek after God.
They have all gone astray, they are all alike
perverse;
there
is no one who does good,
no,
not one.
Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
who
eat up my people as they eat bread,
and
do not call upon the Lord?
There they shall be in great terror,
for
God is with the company of the righteous.
You would confound the plans of the poor,
but the
Lord is their refuge.
O that deliverance for Israel would come from
Zion!
When
the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob
will rejoice; Israel will be glad.
A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians
3.14-21
For this reason I bow
my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes
its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that
you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and
grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all
the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know
the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all
the fullness of God.
Now to him who by the
power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we
can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all
generations, forever and ever. Amen.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks
be to God.
Gradual
Hymn – Rock of Ages (BCP #522)
Listen Here
The Lord be with you.
And
also with you.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to John 6.1-21
Glory
to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
After this Jesus went
to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A
large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing
for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples.
Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw
a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy
bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew
what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy
enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew,
Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley
loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make
the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they
sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he
had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the
fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples,
“Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they
gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by
those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign
that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come
into the world.”
When Jesus realized
that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew
again to the mountain by himself.
When evening came,
his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea
to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea
became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three
or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and
they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then
they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the
land toward which they were going.
The Gospel of Christ.
Praise
to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon
Content Warning: Rape
May only truth be spoken and only truth received. Amen.
Fair warning, the passages of 2 Samuel 11:1-15 & 11:26-12.13a are explicit, thus my conversation with you will be explicit. Having the choice of 4 texts each week means I could choose to avoid the hard stuff, but I think it’s important that we examine the Bible in its entirety, not just the easy stuff.
To put it bluntly, the rest of the book of Samuel that appears in this liturgical year is about rape, deceit, and murder.
Some of the stories found in the Bible will shock your senses. They will test your faith. They will stretch you. They can hurt you and hurt others.
Many of us sanitize these texts, disinfecting the wounds they leave behind, honing their sharp edges. In this way, we besmirch the memory and struggles of our forebears in the faith. When we “fix” their stories, we silence their struggles and muffle their cries.
The story of David and Bathsheba is one such story we have often sought to “fix.”
David was supposed to be the king of kings, the one who cared about the people, who went to battle beside them, who didn’t care about wealth and power.
David was supposed to be the humble people’s king, a human representative selected by the Divine ruler.
Did he live up to this assignment?
David, King of Israel, fully entrenched in his power, living it up in his palace rather than down on the front lines with people, as he had promised.
Lounging on a couch, instead of being at war with his soldiers, David sees Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop and decides that he wants her.
Doesn’t matter that she is the daughter of an important advisor, and the wife of a loyal Hittite soldier.
He wants her, so he takes her. To be clear, “takes” means to send his soldiers to fetch her and then David raped her.
Neither the soldiers nor Bathsheba had the option to refuse.
Ultimately, Bathsheba sends an announcement to David that starts a horrific chain of events: “I’m pregnant.”
David’s first reaction is to try and hide what happened. First, he calls Uriah home from war and tells him to go home and be with his wife. His hope is if they sleep together, it will be assumed that the baby is Uriah’s.
But Uriah’s honour is greater than David’s and he says, “no way will I lay in my comfortable bed with my beautiful wife while my troops lay on the ground.”
David’s plan B was to get Uriah drunk so that he would forget his honour and go lie with his wife. This plan failed as well.
Uriah refuses to lie in his own bed when his comrades are in the midst of war. His honor – which is in stark contrast to David, who is sitting on his couch during the war – is about to do him in.
In the end, David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.”
Uriah is dead, and Bathsheba can only lament in a political system that disempowers her and in a story that ignores her.
As we move into next weeks reading (2 Samuel 11:26-12:13), Bathsheba cries bitterly when she hears about the death of her husband Urijah, but then life moves along at a brisk pace with David marrying the newly widowed Bathsheba and their son being born a couple of months later.
We might imagine that David would simply get away with the conspiratorial execution of a faithful soldier so that he might possess a woman he desired.
The prophet Nathan arrives on David’s doorstep, but there is no indication about how much time has passed.
However, it is evident that God is displeased with David, which resulted in God sending Nathan to confront him.
In order to get the King to admit what he had done, Nathan tells a story. He paints a compelling picture of a poor man who had a pet female lamb who he treated like a child, who slept in his bosom, and who ate from his plate, only to have a rich man who had many possessions and livestock come by and take the little lamb in order to serve up a meal of roast lamb to his dinner guests.
When David, displaying some hint of moral fibre, replies in outrage about this injustice, Nathan responds with the famous words: “You are the man!”
In dramatic fashion, Nathan uncovers the injustice that for many months had been covered up.
While the lectionary stops there, as you read on in Samuel, God strikes down David’s child, David grieves and repents, David goes to Bathsheba again and, after many other children, she bears him a son, Solomon, who will go on to succeed David.
The story of David and Bathsheba is not an easy one to hear, but it is often pushed aside or glossed over.
From the security of his royal house, David saw, he sent, he took, he lay . . . he effects his deadly will through proxies, messengers, secret communications, and commanders.
David did as would be expected of a king in that time. Except that David was supposed to be different than all other human kings, right?
This characterization of David represents a stark contrast to the person who was once lauded as “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14b).
The David who takes shape in this text bears no resemblance to the David we met in 2 Samuel 7:1-14a, who was anxious for the house of the Lord.
This David’s only concern is for his self-indulgence, keeping secrets at all costs, and the preservation of his total grip on power.
In a literary sense, Bathsheba’s rape is about David. She is a character in his story, used to show how low he sinks, how penitent he becomes and how much God loves and forgives him.
We are accustomed to hearing theological explanations for David’s actions, some of those actions being morally and ethically problematic.
I can’t do that, though. I can’t, in good conscience, theologically explain away David’s actions.
Bathsheba’s story is one of the most famous examples of victim-blaming in history.
The way that Bathsheba is treated is telling.
She is treated - in the text itself and in much interpretation of the text - as voiceless.
Objectified and known only as a body and an object of a powerful man’s desire.
The story implies that her nakedness is to blame for the death of her husband, her child, and the division of the Kingdom itself.
For this, she is treated in history as a temptress.
History has gone on to tell of David’s greatness, but often leaves out the part about cowardly avoiding war, then raping a woman and killing her husband, who was, by the way, fighting honorably in the war David should have been at in the first place.
The sex act itself is utterly dependent on a coercive use of power.
The story is not complicated by love, or speculations about the psychological condition of David, or even a reference to a divine plan.
These may be inferred but they are not given by the text. It is not a crime of passion: the routine and premeditated character of David’s actions point primarily to the calculations of power and not towards the recklessness one expects from unreasoning passion.
Calculation and lust, yes, but passion in the complex sense of the word, no.
Would you consider the marriage of Bathsheba and David one of two people mourning together who fell in love? Or a woman being entrapped by a man using his power to get what he wants?
The enslavement of women and children in the international sex trade, the use of rape as a tool of war, and high-profile sex scandals (some involving rape, all involving the abuse of power) of leaders who hold the public trust imply that this text’s descriptive work is not finished at the threshold of personal indiscretion.
Glaringly absent from this text is Bathsheba’s voice.
No part of this lectionary passage worries about Bathsheba’s humanity in any obvious way. In the world of the text, she may be as beloved as the poor man’s ewe lamb, but she is still property: a possession to be stolen.
She is known as “the wife of Uriah”, accentuating that David has done a wrong to Uriah above all else.
We do not hear whether Bathsheba welcomed or rejected David;
we know nothing of her opinion, of her state of mind, of the degree of her suffering.
The narrative gives no voice to Bathsheba whatsoever, making it complicit in her dehumanization.
And it is ironic that whereas she was lamenting for her husband, now when her child dies, we do not hear what had to be this bereaved mother weeping at the top of voice.
Perhaps Bathsheba’s silence in this text about the death of her child in addition to the events that led her to this place is fitting given the fact that so many victims of sexual violence today are silent and silenced.
Bathsheba’s story ends in 1 Kings chapters 1-2.
She and Nathan work together to get Solomon on the throne.
In Bathsheba’s last appearance in the scriptures, Solomon installs her on a throne at his right-hand side, gets up off of his throne and bows down before her.
This text is an important supplement to Bathsheba’s rape narrative in 2 Samuel because she survives the rape and David and thrives in spite of what he has done to her.
Over the last few weeks, we have seen the birth of Samuel, his call from God and subsequent prophetic ministry, the rise and fall of King Saul, and the anointing and maturity of young David.
We then followed the first few chapters about the reign of David and the beginning of his time as the King of Israel.
King David soared to great heights of military and political accomplishment in ancient Israel. He wrote exquisite poetry and played the harp. He was the most popular ruler Israel ever had.
Then David committed adultery, rape, and tried to conceal it with murder.
His personal life, his family relationships, and his kingdom never recovered completely.
Way back in our first week of this series, God told Samuel to inform the people that their king would eventually make slaves of them, but the people refused to listen.
In the end, David did just that.
And yet, David is still a founding father of our lineage, ending, eventually, with Jesus of Nazareth.
What do we do with this knowledge? That our royal and Divine lineage began with hope, pain, joyfulness, despair, deceit, rape, and murder?
We acknowledge it without glossing it over.
We look for reconciliation within ourselves and with each other.
And we live by God’s word of truth and love, and trust in God’s unending grace – grace extended to David despite his faults, and grace extended to us despite ours.
Amen.
Affirmation of Faith
Let us confess the faith of our baptism, as we
say the Apostles’ Creed:
I
believe in God,
the
Father almighty,
creator
of heaven and earth.
I
believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He
was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and
born of the Virgin Mary.
He
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was
crucified, died, and was buried.
He
descended to the dead.
On
the third day he rose again.
He
ascended into heaven,
and
is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He
will come again
to
judge the living and the dead.
I
believe in the Holy Spirit,
the
holy catholic Church,
the
communion of saints,
the
forgiveness of sins,
the
resurrection of the body,
and
the life everlasting. Amen.
The Prayers of the People
(By Joan
Merton)
Let
us pray to the Lord, saying, Lord, hear our prayer.
Let
us pray for the peace of the world: the Lord grant that we may live together in
justice
and
faith.
Lord,
hear our prayer.
Let
us pray for Canada, and especially for Queen Elizabeth, the Governor General,
the Prime Minister, and all in authority: the Lord help them to serve this
people according to God’s holy will.
Lord,
hear our prayer.
Let
us pray for children and young people: the Lord guide their growth and development.
Lord,
hear our prayer.
Let
us pray for the sick, the Lord deliver them and keep them in his love.
Lord,
hear our prayer.
Let
us pray for all who are condemned to exile, prison, harsh treatment, or hard
labour, for the sake of justice and truth: the Lord support them and keep them
steadfast.
Lord,
hear our prayer.
We
remember the prophets, apostles, martyrs, and all who have borne witness to the
gospel: the Lord direct our lives in the same spirit of service and sacrifice.
Lord,
hear our prayer.
God,
dawning on our souls, like the light of a new day, slowly, quietly, dependably,
bringing new opportunities, awakening us to the world around us, we thank You
for this new day.
In
this day that You have made, we pray for wisdom to use time wisely, we pray for
strength to face our problems courageously, we pray for patience to do our
tasks carefully, we pray for compassion to care for others sensitively, we pray
for faith to view the future hopefully.
We
pray for each other on this day, a day to worship when together we discover
Your
presence,
a day to praise You, when our spirits are elevated through singing, a day to be
penitent, when we receive assurance of Your grace, a day to hear the Scripture,
when insights penetrate our minds, a day to offer our gifts, when our thanks
are expressed in giving, a day to offer our lives, when we respond to Your
Word, a day to experience fellowship here, when we reach out in friendship to
one another.
We
pray for others on this day. We pray for those who are experiencing wildfires,
traveling and separated from us those who are shut ins wishing they could be
with us, and those who are depressed not wanting to worship.
Please
take time to offer your own intercessions or to pray in silence.
Keep
us grateful for this day and caring for others for whom this is not a good day.
Forgive
us when we quickly tell others to have a good day but do not help them to find
ways to make it a good day.
This
is the day that You have made. Teach us how to rejoice and be glad in it!
Amen
Confession and Absolution
Dear friends in Christ,
God is steadfast in love and infinite in mercy;
God welcomes sinners and invites them to the
table.
Let us confess our sins, confident in God’s
forgiveness.
Most merciful God,
We
confess that we have sinned against you
in
thought, word, and deed,
by
what we have done,
and
by what we have left undone.
We
have not loved you with our whole heart;
we
have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.
We
are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
for
the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have
mercy on us and forgive us,
that
we may delight in your will,
and
walk in your ways,
to
the glory of your name. Amen.
As we speak the truth of our lives, God who is
faithful and just, restores us and brings us home again and again.
Almighty God have mercy upon you,
pardon and deliver you from all your sins,
confirm and strengthen you in all goodness,
and keep you in eternal life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Peace
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And
also with you.
Offertory
Hymn – How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds (BCP #620)
Listen Here
Prayer over the Gifts
**Although
not physically at our church buildings to share our offering together I would
encourage you to set your offering of money aside so that it can be dropped off
or placed in the church once services resume, to mail your offering to the
church, or to make donations online. Please remember ministry is still taking
place.
Let us pray.
God of grace, accept all we offer you this day,
as we look toward the glory you have promised. This we ask in the name of Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
This service was created for live worship on Zoom. For
those worshiping on your own, you may either read the Eucharistic prayer, or
skip ahead to the Lord's Prayer and then the Doxology.
Eucharistic Prayer 1
The Lord be with you.
And
also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We
lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It
is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right that we should praise you,
gracious God,
for you created all things.
You formed us in your own image:
male and female you created us.
When we turned away from you in sin,
you did not cease to care for us,
but opened a path of salvation for all people.
You made a covenant with Israel,
and through your servants Abraham and Sarah
gave the promise of a blessing to all nations.
Through Moses you led your people
from bondage into freedom;
through the prophets
you renewed your promise of salvation.
Therefore, with them, and with all your saints
who have served you in every age,
we give thanks and raise our voices
to proclaim the glory of your name.
Holy,
holy, holy Lord,
God
of power and might,
heaven
and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna
in the highest.
Blessed
are they who come in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna
in the highest.
Holy God, source of life and goodness,
all creation rightly gives you praise.
In the fullness of time,
you sent your Son Jesus Christ,
to share our human nature,
to live and die as one of us,
to reconcile us to you,
the almighty God of all.
He healed the sick
and ate and drank with outcasts and sinners;
he opened the eyes of the blind
and proclaimed the good news of your kingdom
to the poor and to those in need.
In all things he fulfilled your gracious will.
On the night he freely gave himself to death,
our Lord Jesus Christ took bread,
and when he had given thanks to you,
he broke it, and gave it to his disciples,
and said, “Take, eat:
this is my body which is given for you.
Do this for the remembrance of me.”
After supper he took the cup of wine;
and when he had given thanks,
he gave it to them,
and said, “Drink this, all of you:
this is my blood of the new covenant,
which is shed for you and for many
for the forgiveness of sins.
Whenever you drink it,
do this for the remembrance of me.”
Gracious God,
his perfect sacrifice
destroys the power of sin and death;
by raising him to life
you give us life for evermore.
Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith.
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
Recalling his death,
proclaiming his resurrection,
and looking for his coming again in glory,
we offer you, God, this bread and this cup.
Send your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon these gifts,
that all who eat and drink at this table
may be one body and one holy people,
a living sacrifice in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory is yours, almighty God,
now and for ever.
Amen.
And now, as our Saviour Christ has taught us,
we are bold to pray,
Our
Father in heaven,
hallowed
be your name,
your
kingdom come,
your
will be done,
on
earth as in heaven.
Give
us today our daily bread.
Forgive
us our sins
as
we forgive those who sin against us.
Save
us from the time of trial,
and
deliver us from evil.
For
the kingdom, the power,
and
the glory are yours,
now
and for ever. Amen.
Breaking of the Bread
This is the body of Christ.
Behold what you are.
Become what you receive.
Amen.
Communion
This is the table of Christ. It is made ready
for those who love him, and for those who want to love him more. Come, whether
you have much faith or little, have tried to follow, or are afraid that you
have failed. Come. Because it is Christ's will that those who want to meet him,
might meet him here.
These are the gifts of God for the People of
God.
Thanks
be to God.
Share
in the Eucharist
Prayer After Communion
As we have feasted around the table, let us
pray.
God of grace, we have received the memorial of
the death and resurrection of your Son.
May your love, poured into us, bring us to your
promises. We ask this in the name of our Redeemer Jesus Christ. Amen.
Doxology
As a congregation, we declare our doxology, as
we say together,
Glory to God,
whose
power, working in us,
can
do infinitely more
than
we can ask or imagine.
Glory
to God from generation to generation,
in
the Church and in Christ Jesus,
for
ever and ever.
Amen.
Blessing
The peace of God, which passes all
understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and
of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: and the blessing of the Holy and Undivided
Trinity be with you and remain with you always, in the Name of Love, ☩ the Glory of Love, and the Power of Love. Amen.
Closing Hymn – All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name (BCP #321)
Listen Here
Dismissal
Go
forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit.
Thanks be to God.
