An Enduring House
2 Samuel 7:1-16
Years ago on the popular TV series Little House on the Prairie there was an episode in which Mary Ingalls was celebrating her 21st birthday. At the time Mary and her husband, Adam, were teaching at the Blind School in Mankato, MN. And Mary’s parents, Charles and Carolyn had come there looking for work. Carolyn was washing dishes at the hotel, and Charles was serving as janitor in the saloon. As a result, they had very little money. But Charles wanted to buy Mary a special present for her birthday, an elegant, expensive hat. He asked for an advance, but the boss said: ‘no.’ So, in desperation Charles pawned his beloved violin, in order to buy the hat. On the day of the birthday party, Charles was brimming with joy, a big grin on his face waiting for Mary to open her present. But when she lifted the lid off the box, inside lay, not the beautiful hat, but Charles’ own violin. Unbeknownst to him, Mary had found out what her father had done, and had her mother buy back the violin!
Now when you think about it, Charles might have been deeply hurt by that. After all, his daughter had rejected his gift, and in return had given him a gift. But Charles wasn’t upset, because he knew Mary hadn’t done it to hurt him, but because she loved him, and the real gift she wanted was his music. Well, in our Old Testament Lesson for today we see a similar exchange taking place – an exchange between King David and God. According to our text, David wanted to give God a very special gift. He wanted to build a House for the Lord. You see, at this time the Children of Israel were still worshipping in a tent. So David wanted to build God a magnificent Temple. However, our text tells us that God refused David’s gift, not because He wanted to hurt David’s feelings, but rather, because He had a better idea.
There seem to be several reasons why God wouldn’t let David build the Temple. First of all, according to the Book of Chronicles, David had fought too many wars and shed too much blood. That’s a powerful reminder to you and me that hatred and strife have no place in God’s Kingdom. And yet, how much blood do we have on our own hands? Have we killed a brother by an unkind remark? Have we slaughtered a sister by a spirit of jealousy? Have we wounded someone with our thoughtless actions? Jesus said: “HE WHO HATES HIS BROTHER HAS ALREADY MURDERED HIM IN HIS HEART.”
In a way, it’s like the story of the pastor, who was on a tour of Alaska. He was up in the mountains doing some sight seeing, when suddenly there was a frantic commotion just at the edge of the woods. An environmentalist wearing a ‘Save the Whales’ T-shirt was struggling frantically, trying to free himself from the jaws of a 10 foot grizzly. As the pastor watched with horror, a group of loggers came racing up. One quickly fired a rifle into the bear’s chest. The other two reached up and pulled the bleeding man from the bear’s paws. Then they threw the bear on the bed of their pickup truck and placed the injured man in the back seat. The pastor said to the loggers, “Bless you for your brave actions! I heard there was a bitter hatred between loggers and environmental activists, but now I’ve seen with my own eyes that love overcomes differences.” As the pastor drove off, one of the loggers said, “You know, that was a pastor, a man of God with access to all of the Lord’s wisdom.” Another logger said, “He may have access to all God’s wisdom but he sure doesn’t know anything about bear hunting. By the way, is the bait holding up OK or do we need to go back to town and grab another one?”
Sadly, too often we don’t overcome our differences with love, but give into bitterness and animosity. For like King David, we are also guilty of too much bloodshed. That’s why God chose David’s son, Solomon, to build the Temple. Solomon is the Hebrew name that means: ‘peace.’ It’s related to the word shalom, meaning: ‘wholeness and prosperity.’ In other words, God wanted a man of peace to build the temple, not a man of warfare. And that’s why this prophecy was not completely fulfilled in Solomon, but in the one ‘Greater than Solomon,’ Jesus Christ, our Savior. Jesus was sent by God that first Advent season to build the temple of His Kingdom by removing the bloodshed and warfare of our sin, through the blood of His cross. He came to bring us peace with God by the remission of our sins and wholeness for our heart and soul. He came to prosper us with salvation and eternal life!
This is symbolized in our text by the fact that it was God, who had given David rest from his enemies. Now in Hebrew the word ‘rest’ can mean: ‘to deposit something,’ kind of like putting your money in the bank, so that it will be secure. It reassures us that God is the one who sends us His holy angels to keep us safe and secure from harm and danger. But above all, He sent His beloved Son to defeat our enemies – sin and death, Satan and hell – so that we can rest securely in His love, without having to do any work to earn His favor.
Which leads to the second reason why David was not allowed to build the Temple; namely, because a temple is a permanent edifice, a perpetual resting place, and God was not ready to rest yet. As our text indicates He was still moving about, still active in His people’s lives, still working for their deliverance. And He would not stop until their salvation was complete. That’s why He sent His only-begotten Son, the Word made flesh, to dwell among us full of grace and truth. In fact, that word ‘dwell’ is actually the word ‘tabernacle’ – the same tabernacle that the Israelites were worshipping in. It’s the idea that Jesus ‘pitched his tent among us’ so that He could know what our fears and weaknesses are, and rescue us from them. For that reason, He is the only One who can give us permanent rest from all our worry and guilt, total rest from all our enemies, complete rest from all our sins.
However, the main reason why David was not allowed to build the Temple, the House for the Lord, is because God wanted to build a House for King David, an enduring house. As verse 16 of our text states: “THE LORD DECLARES TO YOU, DAVID, THAT THE LORD HIMSELF WILL ESTABLISH A HOUSE FOR YOU. YOUR HOUSE AND YOUR KINGDOM WILL ENDURE FOREVER BEFORE ME; YOUR THRONE WILL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER!” In other words, God wanted to erect a house for David that would endure forever, an eternal, everlasting kingdom.
Clearly then, this house that God has built is different from all others. It’s not made out of wood or cement, granite or brick, silver or gold. Instead, it’s made up of something much more precious; namely, people – people like you and me, who are infinitely valuable to God! The House that God built for David is very simply, the Church, the people of God. That’s what the Angel Gabriel was talking about in our Gospel Lesson for today, when he told Mary: “YOU WILL BE WITH CHILD AND GIVE BIRTH TO A SON, AND YOU ARE TO GIVE HIM THE NAME JESUS. HE WILL BE GREAT AND WILL BE CALLED THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH. THE LORD GOD WILL GIVE HIM THE THRONE OF HIS FATHER DAVID, AND HE WILL REIGN OVER THE HOUSE OF JACOB FOREVER; HIS KINGDOM WILL NEVER END!”
According to that, this enduring house is being built by Jesus Christ, the Son of David. It’s a spiritual house, made up of ‘living stones’ and each one of us is a brick in the structure, with Jesus Himself as the chief Cornerstone, the foundation of our salvation. In fact, it’s more like a house-hold, a dynasty, with Jesus as the Head of the Home. For on that first Advent so long ago, Jesus the King came and made His home among us. In our Baptism, He took up residence inside our heart, so that He is living within us – a very present help in every trouble. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. He is always there to befriend us and help us. He is the one who has made us members of His enduring house, through Baptism and faith in His name.
As a matter of fact, in Hebrew the word ‘endure’ is a verb that means: ‘to support,’ like the pillars that hold up a roof. Well, only Jesus Christ can support and uphold our lives and He does that through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments. After all, every house needs to be repaired from time to time, and the same is true for you and me. That’s because our sin continually damages our earthly temple. But thankfully, Jesus came to remedy that. He lived and died and rose again to make us worthy house, fit for Him. And right now He still comes to us in the Word and Sacraments to repair the cracks and leaks of sin, to fix our broken lives and mend our despairing hearts. For every time that we study His Word or hear the Absolution, every time we renew our Baptism or feast on His Holy Supper, He speaks to us His words of pardon and peace, cleansing us of all unrighteousness and transforming us into an enduring House fit for the king. And to make it so, He has gone ahead of us into heaven to prepare an eternal mansion for us there.
Years ago, the government’s first high altitude balloon was launched from Wallops Island, Virginia. Residents in the area were given no advanced warning. Looking to the light that suddenly appeared in the sky, everybody had a theory as to what they were seeing. Some thought the Martians were invading; others thought the Russians had arrived. As the light grew brighter, one lady said: “Perhaps Jesus is coming back!” “Oh no,” said her neighbor. “I sure hope He doesn’t come to my house first!”
To be sure, Jesus is coming back again some day and there’s no way to avoid it. That’s why we always need to be ready, by strengthening our faith through the Means of Grace. In that respect, we can take our cue from King David. For although he never got to build the temple, he was instrumental in preparing for its building. God used Davie to collect from the people silver and gold, wood and stone, bronze and iron to be used in the temple’s construction. In the same way, You and I can prepare for Jesus’ second coming, by using our time, talents and treasures to spread His Gospel. May God equip and empower us for that task, until Jesus comes again to take us to the enduring house that He is building for us in the heavens. For His name’s sake. Amen.
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12/30/2005