what is being built

this is the first sermon I preached in my first [and current placement] in 2006.  readings: 2 Samuel 7: 1-17 and Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

There are times when I wish life was logical and sequential. There are times when I wish God would behave in ways that made sense to me. There are times when I wish l could understand life, before it happened and while it was happening. There are times, well most of the time actually, I wish life was orderly and had some structure.

At school, and when I first went to university I was good at maths and science – the logical, systematic subjects. Neat and orderly was how I wanted life to be, that feels safe to me, minimum risk and minimum chaos. But life hasn’t been like that for me, and I think it isn’t like that for many people, some people enjoy the chaos more than others.

I look at the disciples, and the leaders we read of in the Old testament, and I have hope. In the reading from 2^nd Samuel we hear of David wanting to build a house for God. We read a fair bit of David’s life story in the Old testament, multiple versions of some of it. David keeping the sheep, anointed by Samuel, victorious against Goliath, a musician in the court of Saul, and here he is King of Israel. He has a palace, and decides it is time that God also dwelt in a magnificent house. The place where the holy things were kept was a tent - portable, fitting the life that people of Israel had lived since the exodus – wandering in the wilderness, fighting battles – place was temporary for them. Now it was to become permanent. Now they were in Jerusalem, and the holy things, and therefore God, would have a house befitting such a strong and powerful god.

Makes sense to me, and as one of the scholars I read this week notes, the prophet Haggai later uses the same logic to get the temple rebuilt after the exile. So why does God not want David to build a temple. There are a few reasons:

§  God can’t be domesticated or held in one place. God had been with the people all through their journeys, and would be with them in the future as they lived through exile and colonisation. God didn’t, and still doesn’t need a temple, or even a church building.

§  God can’t be controlled. God would decide when and where and who would build the temple, in this case it is Solomon, David’s son, who has the temple built. This isn’t about how good David or Solomon is, but about things happening in God’s time and place – much as it doesn’t always make sense for us.

§  There is an emphasis in this passage on what God is building rather than what we build for God. David’s announcement that he will build a temple is initially greeted positively by the prophet Nathan. Then God tells Nathan to say to David: “Are you the one to build me a house to live in?”.  David is putting what he can do ahead of what God will do.

How could David – the great warrior, the anointed one, get it so wrong. I suspect the way that I get it wrong. I work out what I think I can best do, instead of listening for God, discerning where the Spirit is active. David had the means and the capability of building a temple. As king of Israel he had building materials and people at his beck and call. There are things I am capable of, that doesn’t mean that is what God is calling me to do at any particular time. There have been times when I have also known, much better than God, what I am not capable of doing – but that doesn’t always match up with God’s understanding of the situation. David was a shepherd, the youngest son when anointed by Samuel, yet God did great things through David.

In this passage there is a play on the word, house. A house is a dwelling, or it can also refer to the family. So the house of David could be the building in which he lives, but usually refers to the family and offspring of David, in the same way that the English royal family is of the house of Windsor. So David thinks he will  build a house for God, but God is building a house for David, a living house of flesh and blood, obedient, disobedient, living people; not a house of cedar and stone, with fine gold and fancy fittings.

I said earlier the disciples also give me hope. This group of insiders who travelled with Jesus, saw everything up close, don’t understand what is happening most of the time. So I don’t feel so bad when I don’t understand what God is doing. In this section of Mark, it is clear that the crowd recognises Jesus as a person who can heal and teach, someone special; yet the disciples often seem ignorant of the greatness of Jesus as they travel together.

The end of Chapter 7 of Mark is a summary of what has been happening, people healed, some by touching the fringes on his cloak. The fact that Jesus was wearing a cloak with fringes suggests that he was following in the traditions of the Jewish religion. Tassels or fringes were a sign of devotion. While many in modern times think of Jesus as someone who overthrew Judaism, this isn’t the case. Jesus was very Jewish, but he didn’t follow the religion in the ways that many of his contemporary religious leaders did.  We have recorded in the gospels occasions when Jesus quoted scripture, went to the temple or synagogue, followed Jewish traditions; but we also have examples of Jesus reinterpreting the tradition and the scriptures.  For example, healing on the Sabbath, gave priority to health and inclusion over ritual and purity laws. There was, and is, more than one way of interpreting tradition and scripture.

In the Uniting church at the moment there is disagreement about some issues, some to do with biblical interpretation, some with moral, social and ethical issues. I don’t know what all the answers are, and I sometimes wonder who do we think we are. In the same way that God challenged David : “Are you the one to build me a house to live in?”.  I wonder if God might challenge the church today: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?”.  God is building the church for us to live in, not the other way around.  God builds the church, God invites people into relationship,  loves, forgives, holds us as precious even or especially when we are confused. God builds the church with living, breathing, faithful, confused people – people like us.

I don’t know where God will lead us together as the Engadine congregation of the Uniting Church. I do know that God has lead me to places I never thought I would be, like theological college and being in ministry. What I have learnt is that discipleship isn’t about what I want to do, or where I think God should be active. Discipleship is about being involved where God calls me and equips me to be.

Are we like the disciples, so caught up in our own experience that we miss recognising Jesus in the world and people around us. Are we like David, aware of our own ability, independent and resourceful. Are we building the temple we think God should have, or are we looking for and celebrating what God is building in our lives.