A Place for Everything

I went to a community event years ago while serving a small-town church. It was beautifully hosted by one of the great guys of the town. What a wonderful family he had; they were helpful in the community. One of the things I noticed about his property and home in the country was he had a big storage building behind the house. I mean it was big. The door was open so I saw that he housed many things for the maintenance of his property and the recreation of his family.

So, housed in this big building were an RV, a tractor, a boat, a very fine Italian motorcycle, and who knows what else. I know the guy, so I know he not only accumulated but used and enjoyed these things. He owned a successful business in fluid logistics and oilfield services. A man of means, he had things and wanted to house and care for them properly. When times are good, people of means acquire things. These things need a place to be. When you are livin’ the dream, the things of the dream that come to life need a place to stay. Now, to the Bible…

David was King of Israel, and he had difficulties, struggles, and many fierce enemies, but there came a time when his struggles were solved, and the rare season of ease afforded him to think about some other things. He noticed he had a great house, but the ark of God was still sheltered in the tent as it had been for years. The ark was the special sacred case holding symbols of the Lord’s mighty acts in their history of salvation. The ark was a very special, artistically rendered chest that conveyed the reality of God’s presence with them. The ark was the seat of the Lord, and David figured the Lord needed a house at least as grand as his house. Read the introduction to the Old Testament Lesson for this Sunday:

When the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, "See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent." Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you." — 2 Samuel 7:1-3

The prophet Nathan, who normally tested and challenged David on matters of the Lord’s will, must himself have been nearly as tipsy with the king’s success as David. He provides sanctions for the project, straight away. On Sunday you will hear the Lord’s response to this notion. Nathan gets the word from the Lord. I paraphrase here what God wants him to tell David: “Oh, so you want to build me a house, do you? Did I ask for a house? All the time I have been moving about in a tent and in a tabernacle, saving my people from Egypt, getting the tribes through the string of troubles, I was never heard to ask them to build me a fine cedar house.”

Nathan is to remind David the king that God took him from the sheep pasture to be the prince and has been with him always through the battles. God wants David to hear this: “You don’t make me a house, I provide you a house, and a royal line, with a throne that will always be.” God turns it all around, informing them, they are the ones that need the house, and through them, through the people of God, the purpose of God will take place. God will not be stored in a shed, no matter how grand. God will move through the people devoted to the just and righteous purpose God designs.

By the way, we all get a little lost and confused at times. We all know that sometimes we own things, and sometimes our things own us. If we find that things own us, it is wise to consider getting rid of that thing. My friend living in the country with all those extras seemed to know that. He used the things he had for the vitality and relationships of his family members and community members. The things did not seem to own him.

The theme of this week is about how the Lord gets into the world and moves in the circumstances of the world. The short answer is, through you. As you are called to God’s purpose, as astounding as this is to say, God wants to move through you. This much is sure, none of us ever own God. We try to mean what we say again and again in Psalm 100 “Know this: The Lord himself is God; he himself has made us and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.” God is not a possession. The Lord cannot be housed. If the Lord is seeking a house at all, it is the temple of your heart. God is within you not as a thing stored, but as the power of love, as a power moving you to accomplish things of love.