A new year is a bit like the start of a journey, particularly checking in for a flight
I saw a couple of people off at airports this Christmas
and I noticed something new about the process:
of course you need a you need a ticket
but because of the times we live in 
you are questioned carefully about your baggage.
Did you pack your case yourself or did someone else do it for you?
Has someone given you a package to carry?
Are there electrical components you have never used?
Are there any sharp objects, knives, scissors, needles ...

It has made me think, in the way preachers do,
about the parallels for our Christian life, our faith journey.
You would expect me to make the point about needing a ticket
and how in the free gift of Christ it is a free ticket
but we still need to receive Christ's offer in personal trust
and commit ourselves to the journey.
I want to concentrate today on the baggage we carry: Is some of it dangerous? 
Could we have been deceived into carrying stuff that will harm us and others?
Have we packed it ourselves and in control of it
or are there forces controlling us?

We could say it was like New Year for David
It was the spring in Jerusalem at the time when kings go off to war.
time for a fresh start after the winter.
What would we expect David to do, from what we remember of his story?
The young champion over Goliath
the man who is loyal to Saul, despite extreme provocation
and will not kill the Lord's anointed king
the close friend of Jonathan and a passionate defender of Israel
the king who loses himself in unrestrained worship of God
as finally the ark of God is brought into the city.
Don't we expect David to be out there leading his troops to a fresh campaign?
No, he sends Joab out to lead the army and stays home.

We are not told why, but David seems to be wanting to take it easy,
some kind of early retirement
Perhaps he had had a winter break from battle and wanted it to continue,
a bit like the rich fool in the gospel story
which we heard two Sundays before Christmas 
wanting an easy time to enjoy all the good things.
Only with David it was not the final judgement, thankfully.
His time out led to drastic testing and temptation.
In his time of idleness temptation attacked.
2 'One evening David got up from his bed
and walked around on the roof of the palace. 
From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,'
3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, 
"Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"'
4 Then David sent messengers to get her. 
She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 
Do you see the slide that David is on like a big water slide at a leisure pool?
The further down you go the harder it is to stop.
You could stop in the first few metres but after that it is impossible

Doesn't this illustrate James 1.13 p 1213
'When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." 
For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 
14 but each one is tempted 
when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 
15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 
16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. '

What kind of baggage of deception, laziness or arrogance
dragged David down a deadly slope that spring night in Jerusalem?
And who has packed our baggage this New Year?
Have we let the Holy Spirit guide us 
or has another spirit stirred our own natural desires?


We are not privileged to be a king walking on his palace roof at night
an ideal place for seeing beautiful women bathing
while their husbands were away serving at the front
but we have our opportunities that test how we are travelling.
It might be on the internet or on late night TV or on the top shelf of newsagents (or not even the top shelf);
are there not too many opportunities for men especially to see a Bathsheba,
and look again and want to know more and get more and more involved?
And it doesn't have to be a beautiful woman who puts us on the deadly slide.
It could be a lust to possess things, 
to have everything just nice and nicer than the neighbours
It could be our quick temper,
urged on by a desire to be in control and have everything done as we desire
It could be a crippling sense of self pity when things have not gone our way
and we lick our wounds and let disappointment harden into despair
You will know for yourself which of those things or other things
are like a poisonous or explosive substance in your baggage.

How then can we avoid the deadly slide?
How could David have acted differently?
Next week we shall look at the wonderful way
in which he was confronted about his sin by the Lord
and restored to God's friendship in c 12 of 2 Samuel.
but it will do us no harm just to stay this week with c 11
and to finish with two strategies for resisting that slide.

One (which I personally find helpful) is just to say: 'You don't have to do that ...'
David did not have to send for Bathsheba.
Yes, he wanted to, he was excited by her beauty
but he did not have to go down the slide. He could have said no.
You do not have to look at gilrie magazines or dubious videos.
Nobody has to spend money they not have for things they don't really need
We do not have to lose our tempers, 
when things don't work out as we had planned.
The story is told of a thief who was converted to Christ
simply by looking through a church door
and seeing the 10 Commandments written up.
There in big golden letters it said: 'You shall not steal'
and he took this not only as a command but also as a promise
that with God's help he could live in a new way without having to steal
When you are tempted down a deadly slide, say to yourself 'I don't have to ...'
The other strategy comes more directly from a little word repeated in the story.
The little word 'sent'
David sent Joab into battle while he stayed at home. V 1
He sent someone to find out about the beautiful woman. V 3
He sent messengers to get her. v 4
He sends word to Joab to send him Uriah v 6 and Uriah is duly sent 
and in v 8 a gift is sent after him, possibly as a pay off
and there's a few more until we read in 12.1 
that the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to confront David with his sin.
Do you see what is the root of David's wrong doing
He sees himself as someone who can send people here and there
who can send commands and devious messages
He thinks he is in control.
But surely the ultimate sender is God?
It is not for us to send but to be sent to do as he pleases.
When you feel the pressure to go a way that God might not approve
why not ask him: What do you think, Lord? What do you want?
'Here I am, send me the way you want!'

I wish you a pleasant and blessed journey through 2002.
Who knows how it will end for any of us?
But I urge you, pack your baggage carefully, prayerfully.
There's a lot of stuff there we don't need.
Let the Holy Spirit help you prepare for your journey
and set out with the servant heart
knowing you don't have to do things that displease God
asking rather that you may be sent to do what he wants.


There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord