SPIDERMAN & THE WEB
BIBLICAL STUDY: DAVID & BATHSHEBA
TOPIC: SEX & OTHER STUFF
INTRO: 5 years ago, my favorite Superhero was Superman. The Man of Steel, man he could do anything. What is your favorite Superhero? (allow talk here). But, I now have a new favorite…Spiderman. Just by watching the three movies is absolutely thrilling. And seeing the Sandman in the latest movie, I thought it was by far the coolest movie in superhero movie history (of course I haven’t seen Dark Knight yet).
TRANSITION: I like the fact that he desires to do good, but just can’t seem to get a handle on his life, his purpose, and sometimes ends up getting sort of stuck in his own web of life. Today, we are going to look at someone in the Bible who is also a Godly man, but tends to get stuck in a web.
BIBLE VERSE: 2 Samuel 11:1-17
1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged. But David remained in Jerusalem.
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 uncleanliness.[a]Then, she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant."
6 So David sent this word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.
10 When David was told, "Uriah did not go home," he asked him, "Haven’t you just come from a distance? Why didn’t you go home?"
11 Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!"
12 Then David said to him, "Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.
16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.
I. THE IDEA OF SIN
David’s First Problem…Doing Nothing: There are some older sayings from ages ago about “idol hands.” But in all actuality, there is a lot of truth about people who don’t do anything. When we are bored, we get into trouble.
PERSONAL STORY ABOUT A TIME: GOT IN TROUBLE FOR DOING NOTHING (BOWLING ALLEY)
TODAY: “THE SIT AROUND PERSON” Is more likely to try drugs, is more likely to not go to college, is more likely to become a video game addict, is more likely to be depressed, is more likely for a lot of things that are not beneficial to one’s life. David was bored and sitting around.
BIBLE VERSE: Proverbs 24:33-34: You sleep a little; you take a nap. You fold your hands and lie down to rest. Soon you will be as poor as if you had been robbed; you will have as little as if you had been held up.”
Looking Back at Scripture: Okay we see that David sinned. But what did he do before he sinned. He saw the sin and pursued it. He pursued it (repeat). Do you think most people who use drugs just get asked once and say, okay? Or do they secretly think about it for awhile and then decide to say yes?
II. THE SIN
Humpty Dumpty: Who here has ever heard the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty? (have someone say it for the group) Now, here is a good question…what is Humpty Dumpty thinking? Seriously, what is an egg doing on a wall? If I was an egg, I would be in an egg carton, protected as best as I can. David’s whole problem begins like sin always begins, by being in the wrong place!
BIBLE VERSE: Proverbs 15:19 The way of the sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is like a highway.
Criminal Choices: In the 1950s a psychologist, Stanton Samenow, and a psychiatrist, Samuel Yochelson, sharing the conventional wisdom that crime is caused by environment, set out to prove their point. They began a 17-year study involving thousands of hours of clinical testing of 250 inmates here in the District of Columbia. To their astonishment, they discovered that the cause of crime cannot be traced to environment, poverty, or oppression. Instead, crime is the result of individuals making, as they put it, wrong moral choices. In their 1977 work The Criminal Personality, they concluded that the answer to crime is a "conversion of the wrong-doer to a more responsible lifestyle." In 1987, Harvard professors James Q. Wilson and Richard J.Herrnstein came to similar conclusions in their book Crime and Human Nature. They determined that the cause of crime is a lack of proper moral training among young people during the morally formative years, particularly ages one to six.
Mouse in a Snake’s Cage: Take a little mouse and put him into a cage with a giant snake. The mouse immediately realizes that he is in trouble, so he frantically works to kick all the wood chips up into a pile and cover up the snake. Then the mouse thinks everything is just fine! Is he?
III. THE COVER-UP
Let’s Talk about Uriah: First and foremost, Uriah is not just a soldier. He is not just a great man. He was one of David’s “Thirty Valiant Men.” He had served with David back in the days when David was a fugitive hiding in the caves. That is probably why his house was so close to the royal palace. His nationality is a Hittite, but his name is Hebrew which means “My light is the Lord.” So he must have converted to serving God.
Let’s Talk about David: So David decides to sleep with the wife of his lifelong friend after his friend served as a personal bodyguard for him for the last 30 years. Wow. SEX IS A POWERFUL MOTIVATOR. Do not understand that. Do not underestimate that. Ever.
Kobe Bryant: Kobe Bryant is one of the best players in the NBA—many people believe that he is the best. But Kobe Bryant was wanted for assault by the state of Colorado (he supposedly punched out a woman). Kobe denies it, and for as far as we know he is innocent. But his statement reads like this “I deny all charges of assault, I am guilty only of adultery.” (paraphrased) Unbelievable.
The Contrast:
Where was Uriah? At War. Where was David? At Home. Where did David Send Uriah? Home. Where should David had been (he is the king). War. Who is Serving the People More Faithfully? Who is Serving God More Faithfully?
Safe Place: You know what, as it turns out, David would have been safer out fighting the battle with his soldiers than standing alone on his rooftop. We’re the same way. The only safe place for sin is away from the place that makes it possible to sin.
IV. THE MURDER
BIBLE VERSE (read the scripture again): 2 Samuel 11:6-16 Why did David send Uriah home to wash his feet? Why do you think David got Uriah drunk? What was the final straw, what did David do to cover up his sin?
Cain & Abel: Use a contrast version here of the story. Remark about Cain’s comment when he asks God “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Is there anything else than murder? And for what…to make yourself look good? Unbelievable.
College Cover Up: (Read appropriate parts/ The rest of the article is available after sources in the appendix).
Family, others question Michigan college murder cover-up
YPSILANTI, Mich. — As most students at Eastern Michigan University were heading home for the holidays in December, the school put out a news release announcing that student Laura Dickinson had passed away unexpectedly in her dorm room.
There was no foul play, the school said. Staff members assured students there was no reason to worry about safety. The campus fell into mourning, with candlelight vigils for Dickinson, 22, a member of the school’s crew team.
Neither students nor her parents knew investigators had found a grisly scene in room 518 of Hill Hall.
Dickinson’s body was lying on the carpeted floor. She was naked from the waist down. A pillow covered her head, and traces of semen were found on her leg.
For 10 weeks, neither her family nor fellow students knew state and campus police were investigating several suspects.
On Feb. 23, Orange Amir Taylor III, 20, a fellow Eastern Michigan student, was arrested. Only then did the university acknowledge the truth: Dickinson had been raped and killed. Her killer took her keys and locked the dorm-room door when he left.
The school’s secretiveness has left students and residents in Ypsilanti, a southwest Detroit suburb of about 22,000, shaken and outraged. For many, the bucolic Eastern Michigan campus had been violated.
The school "lied to us," said Laura’s father, Bob Dickinson. "They let us bury her thinking that a healthy 22-year-old girl died by some freak accident."
Protecting an image?
School officials will not say why they remained silent. But parents and the community think administrators endangered students in an effort to protect the university’s image.
An independent investigation initiated by the school’s board of regents agrees. In a report released this month, investigators with a Detroit law firm detailed how school officials violated the Jeanne Clery Act, a federal law that requires colleges and universities to disclose information about campus crimes and warn students of threats to their safety.
The report and court documents show that Eastern Michigan campus police either suspected or believed all along that the death was a homicide.
Some university administration officials did not know there was a criminal investigation and unknowingly passed along misinformation, according to the report. Others made a conscious decision to not warn the public or tell the family.
Sources:
Beehler, John. Humpty Dumpty. Bethel Presbyterian, Indiana: July 2003.
Christianity Today, August 16, 1993, p. 30.
Huffstutter, P. J. Family, others question Michigan college murder cover-up. Los Angeles Times: June 21, 2007.
Pattison, Paul. Blaming Bathsheba. Lockeport Pentecostal. Lockport, Canada: May 2005.
Appendix: Article Continued
University President John Fallon said he was misled by staff and was unaware Dickinson’s death was a homicide. Fallon repeatedly told the public and local media that university officials did not suspect a crime.
Fallon did not return calls for comment.
James Vick, vice president of student affairs who oversees the school’s housing and campus-police departments, told the Dickinson family no foul play was suspected when relaying news of Laura’s death.
"We probably should have said there are some suspicious circumstances here, and that probably would have ended the problem," Vick, who has been placed on paid leave, said Tuesday. "Certainly one could armchair-quarterback it, but to say there was a cover-up or some sort of insidious plan there is crazy."
The report says Vick ordered the shredding of a document from the university Department of Public Safety describing the scene in Dickinson’s room.
Vick’s attorney, Thomas Manchester, said Vick did not order the shredding. He said his client has been made the scapegoat for a systemic lack of departmental communication and policy.
In a June 13 letter to the board of regents, Manchester said Vick, eager to clear his name, has taken a polygraph test, which shows he is telling the truth.
The Department of Education is looking into whether the school violated the 1990 Jeanne Clery Act. Although the department has conducted 70 similar inquiries since October 2003, only three institutions have been fined under the law.
For Bob Dickinson, 51, the search for answers has been exhausting. Behind the counter of the family’s coffee shop in Hastings, he faces the pitying looks from customers as he froths milk and works the espresso machine. Photographs taken by Laura Dickinson while traveling with her boyfriend, Travis Scott, line one wall: the sun rising over a lake in Michigan’s upper peninsula, waves crashing on the Washington coast, a wild horse gazing on the plains in Wyoming.
After Laura Dickinson earned her associate’s degree from Grand Rapids Community College, she decided to get a bachelor’s degree in nutrition.
"We wanted her to stay close. She didn’t want to go too far away," Bob Dickinson said. "Eastern had a very good nutrition program and was close enough for her to drive home on the weekends."
In September, the family drove the two hours southeast to Eastern’s campus in Ypsilanti and her new home at Hill Hall, a 10-story brick high-rise.
Bob and her mother, Deb, gave her some last-minute advice before they left: Make lots of friends. Call if you get lonely. Always keep the door locked.
She followed their guidance. She joined the novice crew team, spending her mornings sweating on the water and her evenings hanging out with teammates.
The night Laura Dickinson died, she attended a team Christmas party where teammates swapped "Secret Santa" gifts. It was Dec. 12 — a Tuesday — and finals week.
Video surveillance cameras show she returned to Hill Hall at 11:12 p.m., carrying a stuffed toy inside a red-and-green holiday gift bag.
In her room, she called her boyfriend at Covanta Energy in Grand Rapids, where he worked as an engineer. It was the last time she used her phone.
When she failed to show up for exams, friends and family grew concerned and began calling her cellphone. For two days, there was no answer.
On Friday morning, a custodian, answering a complaint from one of Dickinson’s Hill Hall neighbors, opened the door to room 518 and found her body.
The investigation
As the school made public statements about Dickinson’s death, school police were interviewing four men as suspects, including Taylor, who told campus police he previously had roamed through dorms to steal electronics.
As the investigation progressed, seminal-fluid samples taken from Dickinson’s body and her bed matched Taylor’s DNA, police said. Surveillance cameras showed Taylor sneaking into Hill Hall early Dec. 13 and leaving 90 minutes later, carrying a gift bag, police said.
Dr. Bader Cassin, the Washtenaw County medical examiner who conducted Dickinson’s autopsy, issued his final report: She likely died of asphyxiation.
Taylor was charged with open murder, larceny, home invasion and two counts of sexual criminal conduct. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held in Washtenaw County Jail without bail. He faces trial Oct. 15.
Stephen Gillers, professor of legal ethics at New York University’s School of Law, said there are legitimate reasons administrators and school police would not comment about details of a case, particularly early in an investigation.
But to lie — and to the parents of the victim — is "an abdication of every responsibility a university administration has," Gillers said.
In the weeks after Taylor’s arrest, school officials held public meetings to let students air their complaints.
"I was specifically told I was not in danger, that we weren’t in danger, and unless you guys already had a guy in custody, we were in danger," student Jaclyn Armstrong said in one meeting, according to the school newspaper, The Eastern Echo. "And the fact that he is being charged with criminal sexual assault, not only were our lives in danger, but we were in danger of many other things."
NAME: __________________
SPIDERMAN & THE WEB
TOPIC SERIES: _________________________
INTRO:
BIBLE VERSE: 2 Samuel 11:1-17
1. ____________________________________________
David’s First Problem Was ____________________________________________
Personal Story: Bowling Alley
BIBLE VERSE: Proverbs 24:33-34: You sleep a little; you take a ___________________________. You fold your hands and lie down to rest. Soon you will be as __________________________ as if you had been _______________________; you will have as little as if you had been held up.”
2. _____________________________________________
Example: Humpty Dumpty
BIBLE VERSE: Proverbs 15:19 The way of the ________________________________________ is like a hedge of __________________________, but the path of the upright is like a ______________________________.
Example: The Tiny Little Mouse
3. _______________________________________________
Attributes of David: Attributes of Uriah:
4. _________________________________________________
Cain & Abel:
Eastern Michigan University: