Monday, June 29, 2015

Dancing with David: Building a House


June 28th, 2015                          “Building a House”                     Rev. Heather Jepsen

Summer Sermon Series: Dancing with David

2 Samuel 7

          Today we are continuing with our summer sermon series, “Dancing with David.”  So far we have read and thought about David’s anointing by Samuel to be king over Israel, and David’s famous battle with the giant Goliath.  Last week we read about David bringing the ark into Jerusalem.  That story was full of surprises from the smiting of Uzzah, to the zeal of David’s dancing, to the sad tale of David’s wife Michal.  You may remember that for the writer of Samuel, the story of the ark coming to Jerusalem was all about politics and religion.  We will find those themes emerge again in our story today.

          When our reading begins, David is on top of the world.  By this time David has vanquished all his enemies and those who would speak against him.  He is at the height of his career as the King of Israel and I am inclined to believe that he is also at the high point of his whole life.  At this point the world is his oyster.  It is with this sense of bravado that David announces to the prophet Nathan that he is thinking about building a temple to keep the ark in Jerusalem.  Of course, David can do no wrong, so Nathan encourages him to go ahead with his plan.

          But, during the night, the word of the Lord comes to Nathan, making it clear that God has a whole different idea.  God says to Nathan that he has been happy to roam about with the people and the mobile ark.  He never asked for a house did he?  So Nathan should go remind David that it was God who plucked David up out of his life as a shepherd and made him King over Israel, and it is God who will build a house for David.

          This whole text hinges on a play on words that we lose in our English translations.  The Hebrew word for the temple that David is thinking about building is bet.  That word can also be used to mean house, like the city of Bethlehem which means “house of bread”.  The word bet also can be used to mean a dynasty.  That is where the whole passage turns.  David says he will build a house (bet) for the Lord meaning temple, but the Lord says he will build a house (bet again) for David meaning a dynasty.  The Lord promises that David’s family will always sit on the throne in Jerusalem.

          Well, Nathan takes this great vision to David and David is overwhelmed by God’s generosity.  Well, overwhelmed to a point.  Immediately David goes in to pray before the Lord.  At first David is humble before the Lord, showing deference to God’s will.  “Who am I to be so richly blessed?” he wonders.  Then David praises God, declaring that God is great and there is no other like him.  Then the prayer goes in a bit of a different direction, and one that readers up to this point find to be a common theme of David’s, demand.  “And now, O Lord God, as for the word you have spoken concerning me and my dynasty, confirm it forever as you have promised,” David says.  And again, he reminds God that God only speaks truth and so this promise of a dynasty, this promise of eternal power over the throne, should bless David’s family forever.  It’s quite the request.

           Now as I mentioned, the story of David is all about politics and this chapter is a shining example of that.  In fact, this chapter is central to the political themes of the Old Testament as a whole.  There is an awful lot going on here beneath the simple surface of Nathan’s vision and David’s prayer.  First of all, it is important to point out that this text has a complex history.  While the story of Nathan’s vision and David’s prayer certainly existed in the time of David, scholars are certain that it did not exist in this form.  Many writers have had their hand in this text, as is true for many of our favorite Bible passages, and so this text reflects the views of the later nation of Israel.

          Let me explain; politically this text is most significant for people after David’s time rather than during.  First of all, this text explains why David, the greatest king ever to reign in Israel did not build the temple, but that his son did.  Shouldn’t the best king ever have built the temple?  Well, this text makes it clear that God didn’t want a temple right then, but if David’s son built it that would be OK.  Along that line of thinking, this text says that God’s presence does not rely on the temple anyway.  This will be very important to the Israelites when the temple is destroyed and they are living in exile.

          As far as kingship in Israel, this text makes bold claims.  First of all, it legitimizes dynastic rule.  This is important.  The first king of Israel was Saul; David took the throne from Saul in a military coup.  This text states that only someone from David’s line can now legitimately become king.  Not only does this make the rulership of Israel strictly a family affair, it also negates any possibility for a coup in the future as no outsider could ever sit on the throne with God’s blessing.

          Probably most important, this text promises a ruler from David’s line into all eternity.  In verse 16 where God promises “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever,” we find the very center of the whole Old Testament.  This is where the Jewish Messianic hope comes from; there will always be a Davidic monarch to rule in Israel.  It is from this passage that the Israelites will derive hope during exile.  They were sure that someone from David’s line would rule again, even if there was no throne in Israel at the time.  And this of course is why it’s so important to prove that Jesus was from the line of David.  Jesus had to be from David’s house in order to be the Messiah.

          And that leads us to the religious implications for this text.  The Jewish faith will become centered on this promise to David, this promise of faithfulness.  The hope that leads the Israelites through hard times is found here.  They believed that God’s promises were true, even when the world around them spoke otherwise.  We share this trait, as we continue to believe that the kingdom of God is here among us, even though the world around us is not what we hope.  Like the Israelites, we have faith in the promises of God, especially during hard times.

          The other religious theme in this text is God’s sovereignty.  David was so high with his own sense of power that he thought he should do something for God.  If David was being honored, then David should lift God up to be honored as well.  God made clear to the prophet Nathan that he didn’t need any help.  This was all about what God could do for David and not what David could do for God.  This was about God’s plan for David, not David’s plan for God.

          Eugene Peterson makes this point best when he writes,

God’s word to David through Nathan was essentially this: “You want to build me a house?  Forget it—I’m going to build you a house.  The kingdom that I’m shaping here isn’t what you do for me but what I do through you.  I’m doing the building here, not you.  I’m not going to let you confuse things by launching a building operation of your own.  If I let you fill Jerusalem with the sights and sounds of your building program—carpenters’ hammers, masons’ chisels, teamsters’ shouts—before long everyone will be caught up in what you are doing, and not attentive to what I am doing.  This is a kingdom that we’re dealing with, and I am the king.  I’ve gotten along without a so-called house for a long time now.  Where did you ever come up with the idea that I need or want a house?  If there’s any building to be done, I’m doing it.  

          How often do we get confused about what is our plan and what is God’s plan?  I think we do this in our own lives and in the life of the church.  While it is important to think of God and to keep God central in our plans, it is also important to keep our ears open for a word from others that might open our eyes to the plans that God has for us instead.

          How often do we ask the question about how we can build this house, this church for God?  We have a building, a facility, that demands a lot of attention.  And as our facility ages, the attention that it demands grows.  We spend a lot of time wondering how we can build up this house of God, wondering that we can do for God by taking care of these buildings.  We spend relatively little time wondering what God is doing for us.  How is God building us as people into the church?  How is God building churches, sacred spaces, into our own lives as individuals?  Like David, sometimes we need to stop and listen to consider God’s plans before we simply forge ahead with our own good ideas.

So, this is where we leave off for today.  David wants to build God a house, (temple) but God is going to build David a house (dynasty) instead.  The promises that God makes to David are really important here.  As I mentioned this is the highpoint of David kingship, and when you are at the top there is nowhere to go but down.  When I get back from my vacation we will see what David does that puts his place on the throne in jeopardy.  Amen.

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