One of the things that I like about being Australian is that element of larrikinism that is part of all our society. Sure we know that there are rules, but we like to bend them a little. Perhaps I should explain what I mean: - On the TV yesterday, they had some of the big ceremony celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the Army. In the middle of it all, there was a presentation from the Governor General to the army of a new Banner (which took over 1400 hours of stitching to make.) After the speech by the Governor General the regimental Sergeant Major took the banner and said a couple of the right things to say and then added and on behalf of the army let me say "Thanks mate".

This is not what the script called for, but it was so Australian, in the way that he didn't waste time with niceties. Thanks mate says it all and is so much about who we are as Australians.

What is great about this also is our downfall. We like to bend the rules, and have in our national spirit the idea that if no one is looking, we can get away with it. So we tend to think this applies to everything. But it is not just Aussies, but all people seem to think that as long as no one finds out everything is ok.

Once upon a time there was a king like that. He lived as all kings did in a palace on top of the city. One day he looked out and saw a young lady bathing on her roof and he fancied her. So he sent to find out who she was and even after he found out that she was the wife of one of his soldiers, he visited her and one thing led to another and she was pregnant.

Certainly not Good PR as the husband was away fighting, but the king thought - I have a plan, and so he invited the soldier to come back to headquarters. When it was too late to travel back to the front, he was sent home so that he could be with his wife, and so the child could be passed off as his own. But the soldier didn't read the script and remained at the watch-house because he didn't wish to have special privileges. And the plan was ruined.

So the king was in a dilemma. And so he sent word that the soldier should be put where the fighting was the heaviest and when things were really bad he was to be exposed and would almost certainly be killed. (Which is what happened).

For the king the problem was solved, for when the child came, every one would assume that it was the soldiers and his indiscretion was a secret. Indeed his indiscretions for he had added deception to adultery and murder to deception. But know one knew, so he married the woman after the appropriate period of mourning and every thing was all right.

But there was a problem, because this wrongdoing, even though others did not know it, changed his character and the way he understood right and wrong. And the way he ruled.

Enter God onto the scene. If you think about it - God knows everything and he certainly knew what the king had been up to and so God sent a messenger to the king and through a story, made the king realise that God knew even if no one else did.

This was written by the king:

Two ideas to hang onto - we can not get away from God and God knows all about us. Although these words are probably 3000 years old, they apply as much today as they did then. They apply as much to me as they did to the king.

Yet as Australians we think we can fool God in the same way that the king could fool the people. We think that we are all right, as long as no one finds out. But like a cancer, these wrong things we hold inside will change our character and make us into the people we don't want to be.

But the story did not end with the king being found out. He responded to the situation and confessed his guilt and failure and God was able to use him mightily.

The message of the Bible is more than just about right and wrong, but shows us a God who is waiting for us to respond. Jesus told three stories about this. About a women who lost a coin and search and seach until she found it. About a shepherd who lost one of hundred sheep and left the ninety-nine to go and find the one and about a son who did everything wrong. Leaving home, wasting his inheritance and living a life that made no one proud, yet when he was ready to come back he found his Father waiting and watching for him.

The promise in God's word is not about punishment for the rule breaker but about the possibility of forgiveness when we recognise what we have done wrong.

As Aussie, like the king, we prefer to think that because no-one knows, everything is all right. But God knows, and we cannot hide from him. He is indeed looking for us to come home.

Many people have responded to this promise already, but even so, sometimes we hold back leaving the things that no one knows about out of the picture. But it is never too late to own up to them and ask God for forgiveness and a new start.

Perhaps you might like to think about this while I re-read the words of the king: