You're the man? He's the man.

By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works. —Ephesians 2:8-9

In recent times, "You're the man!" has become a common slang turn of phrase to declare someone 'cool' or 'in' or 'great.' We emphasis 'the' and turn it into a superlative. Not just a man, but THE man.

Monday night, we talked about the need not to make too much of our gifts or too little of our gifts. Making too little of our gifts dishonors the giver, our Lord who blessed us greatly with gifts and talents to use in our service to him. Making too much of our gifts, however, is another dangerous tendency. That might lead us to foolish self-reliance and the idea that we can be saved through our works and what we do.

In today's reading, there are two examples of places in our lives where we might make too much of ourselves... thinking we're the (wo)man instead of recognizing that He's the "man"... the one who has made all things possible.


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 deserves to 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 the house of 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 upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie 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." -2 Samuel 12:1-13

David seemed to think that he was "the man." He was given gifts aplenty... annointed as the king, wives, palace, etc. But he wanted more. Covetousness is the sign of a lack of contentment with what we have. And perhaps a part of David's fall was the fact that he thought more highly of himself than he ought to. If we aren't arrogant, we won't think that we deserve- the perfect house, another car, a better job, a more beautiful table. But... the interesting thing to point out here is that the Lord states that He "would've given [David] more." But the fact that David took without asking was the upsetting part... the fact that David thought he was the one in charge.

In my life, I've experienced so much of this. Only in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be able to make it in grad school, that I'd have a chance to continue studying in a top PhD program, to serve God in Brazil, to have a future husband who loves God and is so very attractive as well! I certainly would've been content with the change to use my bachelor's degree, with BVS even in the States, with a husband who loved God and wasn't quite so handsome. But, God gave me more... more than I could've dreamed for myself. He's the man! He has given me my dreams, blessings, talents... and for that reason, I desire to give it all back to Him... in His service.


10"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?

13"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

14The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight. -Luke 16:10-14

Money is another great trap for our egos, for making ourselves feel that we 'earned' something or 'deserve' something. This world teaches us that our money is ours. We work hard for it, so it's ours to use. It also tricks us into thinking that it's the only economy that matters... that money can buy all that we need- protection, sustenance, security. But time after time... we learn of all the things that money cannot buy.

Though we give money so much value, it is not what Good highly values. In fact... it is detestable in God's sight! Those are some pretty strong words! It's strange for a lot of girls to deal with me- an uncommon bride. I'm not really into a lot of the 'things' in the wedding. I can make fast decisions about things, because I never dreamed of my wedding. Ever since I can remember I'd say... "if I get married" when people would ask me about "when I get married." I only would get married if I really knew it was right. I never took it as a given, and I never thought up plans like I guess other girls do. So, for me... what I look forward to is the marriage, and the chance to celebrate that marriage with all the people that I love. And for me, all the special 'material things' in the wedding come attached to some special people in my life. And for me... those special relationships are all connected to my Father who has given me such a supportive and wonderful community to love me through all these years, and now to love both Brad and myself in our new life together. Another gift from my Father... the gift of community... He's the man!