Often when people imagine the writing of the books of the Bible they imagine someone sitting down and just writing out a book that is somehow especially inspired by God. Reality is that few of the books of the Bible came about that way. Most of the books of the Old Testament especially shows multiple authors, revisions, and edits. I said a few weeks ago when we started studying the kings of Israel that one of the fascinating things about them is that there is often archaeological evidence to go along with what the Bible says about them. We can get a much richer idea of the world behind the text. The other thing about the kings is that the Bible gives us multiple accounts of them. One cluster is what we are reading: 1st and 2nd Samuel and 1st and 2nd Kings. These books are part of a larger cluster of writings called the Deuteronomistic writings. As the name suggests, all of these books appear to either be written by, edited by, or influenced by Deuteronomy or its author. The Deuteronomistic writings also include the books of Joshua and Judges.
Contrast them with another cluster of writings from a person called the Chronicler. As the name suggests this person wrote 1st and 2nd Chronicles. Some also suggest this person wrote Ezra and Nehemiah. Maybe, all those books appear to be written in the same time period, but maybe not. What is clear, however, is that the Chronicler paints a much cleaner picture of the kings than the Deuteronomist does. The Chronicler includes all the good stuff and ignores or minimizes all the bad. If I had to guess I’d say the Chronicler is on someone’s payroll and is writing to suit his benefactor’s agenda!
I give this long introduction to today because it is fascinating that the Deuteronomist is not afraid to share the bad stuff. The Deuteronomist is also not afraid to let us see inconsistency, confusion, and lack of faith in God’s chosen leaders. The Deuteronomist has a ring of authenticity to his writings. The Deuteronomist himself is not consistent. Our reading from 2nd Samuel starts off by saying that God gave David rest from his enemies all around. If that’s true, it was short lived. All too soon we’re back to hearing about David’s endless wars with neighboring kingdoms.
Another thing the Deuteronomist does is let us question David’s motives. You may remember from last week that David brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem after he made it his capital. It sounds like an act of religious devotion but the Deuteronomist also lets us know it was a political strategy to solidify power and because the ark was bringing prosperity to whoever had it. Therefore, David wanted it with him and under his care. So, what are David’s real motives?
We also get to question his priorities. Today we learn that David has built a house for himself – a royal palace. But has he done the same for his God? Has he built God a palace to dwell in, a temple? No. He’s had building his own house be a higher priority. Making a house for God is secondary.
We discover more complexity when we learn that when David inquires of the prophet Nathan about building a temple Nathan first says that it is God’s will that David should do so. But then God reveals to Nathan, and significantly - not David, that he should not build God a house. Instead God would build David a house. The term “house” gets a double meaning as David is talking about building a literal house and God is talking giving David a lineage of kings. What is not included there, but is included elsewhere, is God’s reason. I’ve said before, David was a warrior king who killed – or ordered the killing of - many people. Too many. God says the temple will be built by someone more peaceful.
Wisely David heeds God and does not pursue it. Other times he does not. Another time David wants to take a census of the people. For some unknown reason God does not want him to do it. David does it anyway and the Bible says God sends a plague in displeasure. That’s another place where we end up in a ditch really fast. For today though we stay on David’s desire to build a temple.
It is easy to picture Jerusalem as a great city under king David. The Bible’s stories make it seem like quite a place. But reality was something different. It’s hard to know. Jerusalem has been destroyed and rebuilt so many times the archaeological evidence is unclear. Jerusalem was already about 2500 years old by the time David conquered it and made it his capital. But it wasn’t big.
David worked to enlarge and fortify it, but it was still only about 400 feet wide and 1000 feet long. The picture on the front of today’s worship bulletin is an artist’s guess as to what it may have been like. What it does not depict is that there were certainly dwellings outside the walls. It was not a fortress surrounded by nothing. Even so, Jerusalem was geographically tiny by today’s standards: not a city, not a village, barely even a hamlet. Although its population was crammed inside.
The great house of cedar that David says he has built for himself would certainly not impress us today. I suspect that anyone with a modest three bedroom house probably lives in something bigger than David’s “palace”. And we certainly all live with far more luxuries and conveniences than David had.
Still though, David wants to build a temple to God. I think we can understand David’s motives. It is fun to build things. And it certainly feels good to build something for God. Whether it is an ancient temple or a church building today, when we build something for God it feels important. It feels proper. And it feels permanent.
Anyone who’s ever been in a leadership position in a church knows it’s a lot easier to raise money if you’re going to build something than if you’re just paying operating expenses. And we like to build grand things, impressive things. We want to do them well.
We also work hard to maintain buildings. We want them to look nice. We want them to be a proper place for our God to dwell.
Indeed there is even something to be said for our worship spaces being spaces of grace. Over the door to the sanctuary in Victor is the cute but serious sign that says, “Sinners only. This is a space of grace.”
Just about everywhere else you go in the world you have to earn things. It depends on your wealth, your intelligence, your accomplishments, your connections. We judge each other each and every day.
But, properly speaking, not so in church. A sanctuary is for everyone: rich/poor, old/young, smart/stupid, beautiful/ugly, honorable/shameful, good/bad. All are welcome. All are equal before God because all are sinners in need of grace. And so a sanctuary is an especially set aside physical space for that to be a reality. A house of worship is a truly important building.
But we also need to learn from David. Is God impressed by human architecture? Not one bit. Even when the great Temple of Solomon is built God never comments on its beauty or stature. People do. God doesn’t.
In Jesus’ day when the disciples are oohing and aahing over the rebuilt temple0( and then massively expanded and beautified by construction projects lasting decades) is Jesus impressed? Not one bit.
We have to remember, that important as we think our religious buildings are, in and of themselves they are not to God.
God, the almighty, the creator of the universe, is not to be impressed no matter how grand we humans try to be. God allows the temple in Jerusalem, so central and important to followers, to be built and destroyed, then rebuilt and beautified only to be destroyed again, and it remains unbuilt to this day.
What does God see as a more fitting temple? St. Paul hits the bullseye concisely when he writes to the Corinthians that we – humans – are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in us. He writes, “For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
A grand building attracted David but God said no. God would work through people – David’s ancestors – not a building. And the same goes for us. May we treat our own selves as God’s temples. And may we see that in others as well. May that give us the love and respect for self and others that we need to be faithful strong people who truly do work to build for God’s kingdom. In doing so we are truly God’s master builders.
Contrast them with another cluster of writings from a person called the Chronicler. As the name suggests this person wrote 1st and 2nd Chronicles. Some also suggest this person wrote Ezra and Nehemiah. Maybe, all those books appear to be written in the same time period, but maybe not. What is clear, however, is that the Chronicler paints a much cleaner picture of the kings than the Deuteronomist does. The Chronicler includes all the good stuff and ignores or minimizes all the bad. If I had to guess I’d say the Chronicler is on someone’s payroll and is writing to suit his benefactor’s agenda!
I give this long introduction to today because it is fascinating that the Deuteronomist is not afraid to share the bad stuff. The Deuteronomist is also not afraid to let us see inconsistency, confusion, and lack of faith in God’s chosen leaders. The Deuteronomist has a ring of authenticity to his writings. The Deuteronomist himself is not consistent. Our reading from 2nd Samuel starts off by saying that God gave David rest from his enemies all around. If that’s true, it was short lived. All too soon we’re back to hearing about David’s endless wars with neighboring kingdoms.
Another thing the Deuteronomist does is let us question David’s motives. You may remember from last week that David brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem after he made it his capital. It sounds like an act of religious devotion but the Deuteronomist also lets us know it was a political strategy to solidify power and because the ark was bringing prosperity to whoever had it. Therefore, David wanted it with him and under his care. So, what are David’s real motives?
We also get to question his priorities. Today we learn that David has built a house for himself – a royal palace. But has he done the same for his God? Has he built God a palace to dwell in, a temple? No. He’s had building his own house be a higher priority. Making a house for God is secondary.
We discover more complexity when we learn that when David inquires of the prophet Nathan about building a temple Nathan first says that it is God’s will that David should do so. But then God reveals to Nathan, and significantly - not David, that he should not build God a house. Instead God would build David a house. The term “house” gets a double meaning as David is talking about building a literal house and God is talking giving David a lineage of kings. What is not included there, but is included elsewhere, is God’s reason. I’ve said before, David was a warrior king who killed – or ordered the killing of - many people. Too many. God says the temple will be built by someone more peaceful.
Wisely David heeds God and does not pursue it. Other times he does not. Another time David wants to take a census of the people. For some unknown reason God does not want him to do it. David does it anyway and the Bible says God sends a plague in displeasure. That’s another place where we end up in a ditch really fast. For today though we stay on David’s desire to build a temple.
It is easy to picture Jerusalem as a great city under king David. The Bible’s stories make it seem like quite a place. But reality was something different. It’s hard to know. Jerusalem has been destroyed and rebuilt so many times the archaeological evidence is unclear. Jerusalem was already about 2500 years old by the time David conquered it and made it his capital. But it wasn’t big.
David worked to enlarge and fortify it, but it was still only about 400 feet wide and 1000 feet long. The picture on the front of today’s worship bulletin is an artist’s guess as to what it may have been like. What it does not depict is that there were certainly dwellings outside the walls. It was not a fortress surrounded by nothing. Even so, Jerusalem was geographically tiny by today’s standards: not a city, not a village, barely even a hamlet. Although its population was crammed inside.
The great house of cedar that David says he has built for himself would certainly not impress us today. I suspect that anyone with a modest three bedroom house probably lives in something bigger than David’s “palace”. And we certainly all live with far more luxuries and conveniences than David had.
Still though, David wants to build a temple to God. I think we can understand David’s motives. It is fun to build things. And it certainly feels good to build something for God. Whether it is an ancient temple or a church building today, when we build something for God it feels important. It feels proper. And it feels permanent.
Anyone who’s ever been in a leadership position in a church knows it’s a lot easier to raise money if you’re going to build something than if you’re just paying operating expenses. And we like to build grand things, impressive things. We want to do them well.
We also work hard to maintain buildings. We want them to look nice. We want them to be a proper place for our God to dwell.
Indeed there is even something to be said for our worship spaces being spaces of grace. Over the door to the sanctuary in Victor is the cute but serious sign that says, “Sinners only. This is a space of grace.”
Just about everywhere else you go in the world you have to earn things. It depends on your wealth, your intelligence, your accomplishments, your connections. We judge each other each and every day.
But, properly speaking, not so in church. A sanctuary is for everyone: rich/poor, old/young, smart/stupid, beautiful/ugly, honorable/shameful, good/bad. All are welcome. All are equal before God because all are sinners in need of grace. And so a sanctuary is an especially set aside physical space for that to be a reality. A house of worship is a truly important building.
But we also need to learn from David. Is God impressed by human architecture? Not one bit. Even when the great Temple of Solomon is built God never comments on its beauty or stature. People do. God doesn’t.
In Jesus’ day when the disciples are oohing and aahing over the rebuilt temple0( and then massively expanded and beautified by construction projects lasting decades) is Jesus impressed? Not one bit.
We have to remember, that important as we think our religious buildings are, in and of themselves they are not to God.
God, the almighty, the creator of the universe, is not to be impressed no matter how grand we humans try to be. God allows the temple in Jerusalem, so central and important to followers, to be built and destroyed, then rebuilt and beautified only to be destroyed again, and it remains unbuilt to this day.
What does God see as a more fitting temple? St. Paul hits the bullseye concisely when he writes to the Corinthians that we – humans – are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in us. He writes, “For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
A grand building attracted David but God said no. God would work through people – David’s ancestors – not a building. And the same goes for us. May we treat our own selves as God’s temples. And may we see that in others as well. May that give us the love and respect for self and others that we need to be faithful strong people who truly do work to build for God’s kingdom. In doing so we are truly God’s master builders.
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