Liz Morris – July 18, 2021
Good morning. My name is Liz and I am delighted to be speaking this morning and grappling with the lessons of God’s word with you. Before we begin, let us pray. Almighty God, we come before you to ask that your presence fall on us, heal us and grow our knowledge of You. I ask that my words be from your mouth and be planted in the hearts of your people as we walk into a new week by your side. Amen.
As I stand here this morning, I am faced with the beginning of a new term. I am high school English teacher and have the pleasure of working alongside teenagers every day. I often have conversations with students that are more about their pastoral needs than their academic needs and a common phrase I say is “high school is hard”. There will be a number of you who are current teachers, retired teachers or the loved ones of teachers, and you know the realities of what the profession entails. Those feelings of apprehension and the knowledge that with the beginning of the term comes bone-aching tiredness and that sustained adrenaline rushing through me to get me through another ten weeks are all too prominent. How do I give more than the minimum to God?
This morning, I see people walking different seasons of life. For some of you, the exhaustion of parenthood is overwhelming the joy of it. Some of you are finding your hands are not as swift as they once were. There are children who have returned to school or are about to start again this week; and with that come mixed emotions and reactions. There are those of you who are in a position you did not think they would find yourself and it’s hurting. In all of this, where is God and how do we give more than a little?
King David is a personality I like. It’s not because of the kingship he was granted, but because he displays someone who was unconventional and made many mistakes. Our Old Testament reading today comes before he meets Bathsheba and after he is criticised by Michal. Last week, Darren talked about what kind of king you wished to follow in relation to our Gospel reading. Would it be the one who brings John the Baptist’s head on a platter at the end of a party as one last show of bravado and abuse of power, or would it be the one who stands and offers a loaf ofbread and a cup of wine to his friends and community? We were asked the application question of “How does it change your life to choose that kind of king?”
When we are confronted by David, he is a difficult king because he is human, chosen by God, the direct family line of Jesus but a flawed individual. Although he isn’t the ‘serving decapitation for dessert’ type king, he isn’t also the king we see in Jesus. He has much to learn, as was suggested when he tried to mechanise the transportation of God’s Ark. This Ark of the Covenant was to be carried by men – the direct descendants of the tribe of Levi (from Koath’s family), but in 2 Sam 6, soldiers are recruited and they put the Ark on a cart! As Bible commentator, David Guzik explains, the Ark “represented the immediate presence and glory of God in Israel” and transporting it via cart was against God’s commands. God does not want mechanics when it comes to his presence. There is nothing mechanical about God’s presence – this cannot be transported beside you; it must be carried. We can humorously imagine what these men thought at the time – ‘look at our fancy new cart that will carry God’s Ark in the centre of our party for all to see. God will be pleased with our cart!’. They believed that technology and luxury covered up their disobedience and would be overlooked by God. The late British pastor, Alan Redpath said: “We want God’s presence very much, don’t we? But we like to hitch His presence to some of our new carts. We like to add Him to our list of organisations, to load Him on top of the mechanics of a busy life, and then drive. How much of our service is really in the energy of the flesh, I wonder? So often we put forth our hands, but not our hearts.” This brings me back to where I am starting tomorrow again – back at work, back with students, back to mechanising a lot of my faith instead of carrying it. Work affects us, children overwhelm us, age impedes us, circumstance scares us. But God commands us, and sometimes we are feeling too weak to establish firmly those commands in our lives.
Yet, David went a step further and wanted something for God that wasn’t commanded – but in a good way. In our Old Testament reading, David wants to build a permanent House for God. David sees that he himself is dwelling in a cedar house – something of value and expensive, and yet God’s Ark is dwelling in a tent. It’s the clamping versus camping idea. Although in Exodus, Moses was commanded to build the tabernacle, or tent, David decides he wants to do what God never asked, and build him a permanent temple. Nathan responds in verse 3, go ahead and do this – what’s wrong with building a temple? But God comes to Nathan at night and explains even our best intentions are not always God’s Will. God is surprised that David offered to build him a House. We see this in verse 5 when he asks ‘Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?’ It is a beautiful thing we see here because David danced in worship of the Lord (as we heard last week), knowing he could not mechanise the transportation of the Ark or his relationship with God, and now he wants to do more than God commanded. Instead of asking ‘what the minimum of what God is asking’, David said ‘how do I surpass this?’ Although God refuses David’s wish, he doesn’t do so in a way that suggests it wasn’t a good desire. God still honours David when he doesn’t accept this temple being built by David. If you look at verses 12-13, God says “When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up youroffspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”
Here is what God promises David (verses 10-11) – a permanent and secure Israel would be established and God says God himself will make David a house – the house of David will endure. Although God said ‘thank you, no thank you’ to David building God a temple, David’s intentions were received by God as gifts of faith. We know much about David – he started as a shepherd and became king, but also fought (and successfully fought) in many wars. God requires a man of peace, not a man of war, to build Him a House.
Verses 12-14a God says he will choose one of David’s sons to be king, a House will be built in God’s name and the kingdom will never be taken away from David’s family. David’s son, Solomon, partially fulfills this as he ruled on David’s throne, God never left Solomon throughout his rule even though he was also human and sinned, and Solomon built God a magnificent House. The prophets foretold a greater fulfillment of these promises.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 says “Someday, I will appoint an honest king, from the family of David, a king who will be wise and rule with justice. As long as he is king, Israel will have peace, and Judah will be safe. The name of this king will be ‘The Lord Gives Justice’.”
Portions of Isaiah 9 say “A child has been born for us…He will rule David’s kingdom and make it grow strong.” And the Gospels teach us ‘his Kingdom will have no end.’
In our New Testament reading, Jesus is so recognised by everyone at this time, that we are getting further into his Ministry and closer towards his crucifixion, but we hear that people “ran all over that part of the country to bring their sick people to him on mats. They brought them each time they heard where he was. In every village or farm or marketplace where Jesus went, the people brought their sick to him. They begged him to let them just touch his clothes, and everyone who did was healed.” (Mark 6:55-56). People ran to Jesus for comfort and healing because He is the living temple.
God’s promise of a house for David is completely fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus reigns and will reign forever more on David’s throne. God’s mercies never left Jesus even when He paid the price of our sins, and Jesus is building the Father a most incredibly magnificent, awe-inspiring andglorious House. So look around – although you may be weary, overwhelmed, getting older, finding yourself in hardships – around you is what God promised. We are his temple. 2 Peter 5 says “And now you are living stones being used to build a spiritual house”. Friends, we are the dwelling place of God’s Ark – and we carry his presence within us. We don’t need the mechanics of technology or luxury, because God’s Ark of the Covenant remains within us to carry.
It does not mean that the weariness you feel is easily pushed aside. We all enjoy and look to the mechanics of other areas of life that create temporary fixes. How ever you entered this space this morning brings with it validation of your feelings. Thankfully, Jesus says ‘in this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!’ (John 16:33b). Perhaps, however, God’s presence will be more prominent. Where you ask ‘what is the minimum’, or ‘how can I do more’, replace with the fact God knows you offer a human amount where you are at so that He can offer you a Divine amount. David wanted to build God a House and today, you see before you God’s House here as we meet, given to David, given to us because God loves you and His presence is within you. You are God’s House.
Let us pray. God, at the beginning we asked for your presence to fall. Let it now manifest itself within each of us. Where we are able, let us offer to you what you command and more than you command knowing that you take what we offer and create the most splendid results we cannot even conceive. For those who are struggling, settle them. For those who can only currently offer the minimum, meet them. For those bouncing off spiritual walls with many offerings, guide them. Take us into our week filled with the knowledge that we are your people, your House and your dwelling place. Help us to look to You and know You are with us. In Jesus’ holy name, Amen.