Great privilege
A few months ago, the staff that works with the Presbyterian Mission Agency had an event where we had conversations about race. This is an issue that has been in the minds of folks lately. This is also an issue that is impacting the life of the church. Terms like, speak anti-racism and cultural humility are part of an effort to be more intentional about speaking out on race and relationships.
One of the exercises had to do with reflecting on privilege… not necessarily on white privilege, which is the one privilege that gets mentioned constantly, but on privilege per se. We had to choose different colors of paper clips, according to the privileges we had. Here are some of the ones we chose from:
- Nationality privilege
- Class privilege
- Religious privilege
- Race privilege
- Sexuality privilege
- Abilities privilege
- Gender/Sex privilege
- Ordained office privilege
I actually kept my “privilege necklace”. It is hanging near my computer at home. It is a long necklace, but not as long as others I saw. Of the ones that I can remember…
- I’m privileged because I’m Puerto Rican, and therefore, I’m an American Citizen.
- I’m privileged because I’m a heterosexual.
- I’m privileged because I can speak and write in English very well.
- I’m privileged because I’m an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
- I’m privileged because I have a job.
- I’m privileged because I have a masters degree.
- I’m privileged because I’m a Christian in the United States.
With some of these privileges, I had the same knee jerk reaction that people often have when speaking about privilege. "But... I earned some of these things! I had to work hard for my diploma. Seminary is not easy. Do you think I learned how to speak English by osmosis? After all… isn’t the meaning of privilege, something that I have not earned? Something that I did not have to work for or that I don’t deserve because of that work?"
Then, I went to the dictionary, to find the meaning of privilege: “a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most." I have some rights, immunity or benefits because I’m an American Citizen… and I did not work for that. I have some rights, immunity or benefits because I’m a heterosexual… and I did not choose to be that. I have some rights, immunity or benefits because I’m a Christian in the United States (because there are places in this world where there are no immunities, rights or benefits to be had if you are a Christian)… and since I was born in the Presbyterian Hospital, from a Christian mother… well, you get the jest of it.
The thing is… that this exercise impacted my life in such a way… that I still keep my necklace as a reminder of the privileges I have… but also, of the responsibilities that come from those privileges.
Great abuse of privilege: David
Because you see… you have to remember that with great privileges come great power… and as Ben, uncle of Spiderman said… with great power comes great responsibility.
If you ask the question of privilege and impose it to the passage from 2 Samuel, you will find a man that did not remember that with great privilege, comes great responsibility.
I don't think there is a Christian that has not heard about King David. The road to being King was not easy for him, but God was with him every step of the way. We remember the shepherd boy, the man that killed Goliath, and the king. In between the blank spaces in our minds that do not remember other parts of the story, he worked with King Saul, he becomes a great warrior, Saul becomes jealous and is threatened by his growing importance, he tries to control him by marrying David to his daughter, and then tries to kill him.
In this passage, we see David as a king, a king that has risen to such power that he can have his battles fought for him. He has:
- Built a coalition of all the warring groups of Israel and now has established peace.
- Brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem.
- Established a standing army.
- Installed court officers.
- Made provision for the administration of the kingdom.
- And, until now, has acknowledged that all that he has and is has been given to him by God. God’s grace has made him king. (Grace= undeserved gift from God. Gave him some rights, immunity, and benefits. Sounds a little like privilege to me).
The problem is that David, as one of the commentaries that I read says, went from being “the anointed one to the grasping one”. He abused the grace that God had given him.
But, isn’t this story between David and Bathsheba a love story, between two star crossed lovers? Isn’t this a tale of adultery, where two people, unhappy with their marriage, find their true love? Wasn't that was what presented in the movie where Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward played this loving couple? I even found a soap opera, produced by Brazilian television about this love story. The poster makes the story look like "Game of Thrones" biblical style.
The problem with our revisionist, Disneyfied version of this story is that it's not what the Bible tells us that happened. There are several things in the passage that dispute this view of the story:
- “David sent someone to inquire about the woman.”: There is no backstory here. Their eyes did not meet before this instance. We also do not have any information about Bathsheba and Uriah’s marriage, so we do not know if it was unhappy or not.
- “David sent messengers to fetch here”: They did not go to invite her to dinner. The word for it in Hebrew is “take”. This connotes force, rather than consent.
- He laid with her… (Now she was purifying herself after her period): This does not say that Bathsheba resists the king’s advances; after all, he had the power and she did not. She did not have the luxury of our century to reject the king. Nevertheless it does say that she is a devout keeper of the covenant with the Lord, since she ritually purifies herself after menstruation. That is why she was taking a bath… not so that she could be looked at by the king, and this speaks of her character. She was not some adventurous female looking for a one night stand.
- She goes to the king to tell him that she is pregnant. He asks Uriah to come: The king, instead of using his power to admit that he has done wrong, uses his power to send for the women’s husband to see if he can hide what he has done.
- After trying really hard to get Uriah to have sex with his wife, he sends him to the front lines to be killed. Uriah’s refusal to go, shows that he is also a man of honor, faithful to his king because he wants to be ready to defend his master’s kingdom.
It is very interesting that in the commentaries that I read, our problem with this passage comes to light. One of them describes the difficulties of the people of Israel to reach this desired state with David as their king. The other two describe the situation as adultery, which is a common way to see this story… but can it be adultery if one of the parties is not consenting, and does not have power to say no? Can it be a love story if one of the parties abuses his privilege and power in such a way that condemns one women to being raped and one man to death?
Bathsheba is a woman. She is married to one that is not an Israelite. As Thomas H. Troeger invites us to do… imagine what is like for her when the royal officials show up at her door demanding that she comes with them. Imagine her standing in front of the king. She has no choice in the matter. She is a woman in a patriarchal society… and she cannot refuse what the king commands.
Or imagine being Uriah for that matter. He is not an Israelite. He is also part of an elite force of soldiers called “The Thirty” who are the best of the best and the most loyal servants to the king. He lives to serve the king and any sign of not fulfilling his duty is not an option. He cannot refuse his loyalty to the king.
I mean, don’t get me wrong… if I’m going to be fair, there are many things that David did right in his life. He has deep friendships and loyalties. He shows kindness to his enemies. He wants to build a house for God. He composed music and poetry that we still use today to praise God. Jesus is called “son of David”! But in this particular instance, in this particular moment… he abuses his privilege, his power and disregards the responsibilities he has as a king, as a man, and as God’s anointed… and his life will not be the same afterwards.
Our call as privileged people
Thomas H. Troeger makes a very interesting point about the New Testament’s use of “Son of David” as a name for Jesus, a point that reminds us of God’s grace and forgiveness… of our privilege of being an object of that grace. He says that “To call Christ 'son of David,' while remembering the evil as well as the good that King David did, is to affirm that God enters the mess of human history in order to redeem the world.”
Through that redemption, through God’s forgiveness, we are reminded of the great privilege that grace is. But we are also reminded that we are given grace, we are given the redeeming power of God through Christ… and that has to lead us to gratefulness, to gratitude.
As Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians says: “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." That is the privilege that we have! That is the power that has been given to us! We are called to live in Christ, in the fullness of God. We are called saints, but then it is up to us to live lives according to the name. I’ve heard it said that grace is a love that is bigger than we can imagine. We we strive to comprehend that grace… we will realize how privileged we are… and how much responsibility we have to love others, because God loved us first.
I invite you this week to look at your privileges… those things that give you a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by you beyond the advantages of most… and to be thankful, not by abusing those privileges, but by using them to help others that do not have them. Those privileges give you power... and if you use that power responsibly, you will have the power to raise your voice, to advocate, to change systems of oppression, to change the DNA of our society in such a way where no one is loved less, cared for less, accepted less... for the privileges that he or she supposedly lacks. Look at the grace of God in your life... and live in great gratitude, for that love that surpasses all knowledge.
