2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:13a John 6:24-35 Ephesians 4:1-16
It is a common occurrence for people to reach prominent levels of achievement only to then feel as if they do not belong there. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, has said that, although few of them will say it out loud, every person that sits in the executive suites of national and international businesses experiences the feeling of not really belonging there. It’s so common that it has a name, imposter syndrome. Tina Fey said that she often bounces between egomania and feeling as if she is a total fraud. Nobel Laureate Maya Angelou said, “I have written eleven books, but each time I think, ‘uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’re going to find me out.'” Even Albert Einstein felt as if the acclaim that he had earned was too much. He once said, “The exaggerated esteem in which my lifework is held makes me very ill at ease. I feel compelled to think of myself as an involuntary swindler.”
But you don’t have to have a chair on the top floor of a Fortune 500 corporation to feel that way. Pastors feel that way all the time, and so do people of all levels of responsibility. It’s an almost natural thing for anyone who achieves something when they came from humble backgrounds or went through times in their lives when they had few possessions and resources.
And that describes King David. We all know the story. David was the youngest son, of a family that no one had ever heard of, from a small town that people barely remembered, and who belonged to one of the smallest and most unimportant tribes of Israel, but eventually finds himself, not only at the top of his own clan and tribe, but manages to reunite all twelve tribes of Israel and become the king of the reunited nation and a regional power with which other nations had to reckon. But how did David react to his ascension to power? Did he feel as if he was an imposter? Did he overcome it? Or did he overcompensate? Last week, we read the story of David’s poor decisions, his descent into sin, and his betrayal of an innocent, loyal, and honorable man. This week, as we read 2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:13a, we learn that David’s actions did not go unnoticed by God…
11:26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.
12:1 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
At some point in his life, David forgot how he got to the top of the pile and, at the same time, forgot who had put him there. When that happened, David put aside any imposter syndrome that he might have been experiencing and chose egotism instead. He was the king and could do whatever he wanted regardless of who got hurt. And the message delivered by the prophet Nathan makes it clear that God sees whatever is done in secret and will not be forgotten. There will be a price for our egotism and selfishness.
We see a different sort of test for imposters in the story of John 6:24-35. The morning after we witnessed Jesus feed more than five thousand people and saw Jesus walk on water, the people find him again in Capernaum.
24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Once Jesus says that he isn’t going to give people bread every time a crowd gathers, they want to know how they can tell if he is an imposter. People thought that Jesus might be the Messiah, but Jesus wasn’t the first person to claim to be the Messiah of Israel. There had been many before him and many came after him, and so the people ask what sign he will give to prove that he is not just another imposter. And so, Jesus says that the sign he will give is himself, that his followers will never be hungry for spiritual food that gives real life.
And finally, as Paul sits in yet another prison, he writes to the church in Ephesus and, in Ephesians 4:1-16, urges them to live lives that are worthy of the calling that God has put upon their lives.
4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why itsays:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows, and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Paul says that a life that is worthy of the calling of God is a life that is humble, gentle, patient, loving, peaceful, and in unity with one another through the Spirit of God. He knows that we are not perfect, but because we are not, God has given each one of us the grace to live with one another and with the people around us. Paul says that it is Jesus who sent us the gifts of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, and I would add the many authors of excellent books of spiritual teaching that have been given to equip us, God’s people, for works of service. In turn, our spiritual service is to build up the body of Christ until all of us are united in faith and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and become mature and attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
That last part, “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ,” should be remembered from last week. It means, that we are filled with the same powerful love that fills Jesus, and that we love others in the same way that Jesus loved. When we are mature, Paul says, we will no longer be tossed back and forth by the wind and the waves of faddish teachings, or the cunning, crafty, and deceitful schemes of those who would use the church or its people for their own selfish ends, but that we will speak the truth and work together to love one another and to love others.
David allowed his ego to take him down a path that he should have never followed and it destroyed the life of Uriah and the lives of many others. There is no need for us to suffer from imposter syndrome, but if we are to be worthy of God’s gifts to us, we must do as Jesus did, to keep God at the center of our lives and give of ourselves so that others can receive the gift of spiritual food that Jesus offers. A life that is worthy of the calling of God is a life that is humble, gentle, patient, loving, peaceful, and in unity with one another through the Spirit of God.
It is a high calling, but there is no need for us to suffer from imposter syndrome. Instead, we must give thanks for the amazing gifts that we have been given, and live lives that are worthy of them.
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