Today being our AGM, I want us to think about what it is that we’re doing here as a church. Who do we see ourselves as? What do we think our job is as the people of God? What part does God play in what we’re doing and what part do we play. And we’re going to begin by looking at 2 Sam 7.
As ch7 begins we find David settled in his new palace in his new capital city. The LORD has given him rest from all his enemies. And so he’s got time to think. And he decides that the time has come to build a house suitable for the LORD to live in. Remember that up until now the ark has been kept in a tent, which was fine while the people of Israel were living in tents, but now that they’re settled in the city he thinks it’s time to build a house for the ark to be placed in.
So he calls for his spiritual advisor, Nathan the prophet, and says, "What do you think?" Well, Nathan thinks that sounds like a great idea. After all, the Lord is with him. So he’s sure to be right. And what could be better than to build a house for the Lord. Interestingly, a few hundred years later the prophet Haggai will be complaining to the people of Israel that they’re living happily in their paneled houses while the Lord’s house lies in ruins. And here David’s already thought about giving God a house as good as his own. And so Nathan is sure that it’s the right thing to do.
Except for one thing. It isn’t! Nathan has jumped in too soon. He’s made the mistake that many of us make, of assuming that just because something sounds like a good thing it must be what God wants, without first asking God what he thinks. Nathan hasn’t asked God what he thinks. He hasn’t prayed about it. He just thinks it’s a good idea.
So Nathan gets a shock when that night the word of the Lord comes to him, to tell him that no, he doesn’t want David to build him a house. And why doesn’t he want him to build it at this point in time? Well, let’s look at what God has to say to David.
"Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? 6I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"
God doesn’t want David to build him a house. He has a tabernacle to live in, the tabernacle that he instructed Moses to build for him.
I’m reminded of what we saw last week, when they decided to carry the ark on a cart rather than on poles and when Uzzah thought that it was his job to protect God. Now David thinks it’s his job to house God. Never mind that God has already told them how to house him. A tent just isn’t good enough. But, you see, God doesn’t want to be tied down to a building. He doesn’t want to be domesticated. He’s happy to be able to move around among the people. He’s the living God; who can never be tied down to one place.
What’s more, David has it back to front again. He’s in danger of forgetting the nature of their relationship. David is where he is today because God has taken him from the pasture, from being a shepherd boy, to become the king of Israel. God is the one who’s brought him this peace, this rest from his enemies. What’s more, God isn’t finished with him yet. Not only is God planning to give him rest from his enemies, he’s going to make his name great: "9and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth."
David mustn’t think that God needs him. Rather, he still needs God to finish the work he’s doing for him. And there’s more: "11Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house." Far from David building a house for God, God plans to make a house for him. Perhaps he means the Temple that Solomon will build, but more likely he doesn’t mean a physical house at all. Rather he mean a royal house, a dynasty. The house that God will give David is the royal household of Israel. He’s going to set up the house of David. He’s going to give David a son who’ll establish his kingdom forever.
But then the picture begins to get a bit blurry. Then we begin to wonder, who God is talking about? You see from our post NT viewpoint we can see that this question may have a couple of answers. This might be talking about Solomon, and it certainly is in the first instance. But there’s more to it than that. In Solomon’s day the kingdom is established. He does indeed build a house for God’s name as v13 says. But then as we think about it we realise that he doesn’t establish the kingdom forever. In fact his kingdom splinters apart within a few years of Solomon’s death. So who is it talking about?
Well, there is a king who’ll be descended from David for whom this is all true. Jesus Christ comes and establishes both a kingdom that will last forever and a house for God’s name.
In fact the more you think about it the more you realise how much this prophecy applies to Jesus rather than to Solomon.
Look at v14: "I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings." Now Jesus didn’t commit iniquity himself, but he did take our sins upon himself. The punishment that was meant for us was borne by Jesus on the cross. What’s more, God promises never to forget him. So after 3 days Jesus was raised from the dead. His kingdom was established as an everlasting kingdom. And God did build a house for him, a house not made with stones and mortar, but a house made up of the people of God.
And this is where we come in. God promises to build a house for David, a house for his name, and it turns out we’re that house. At the same time we stand in the line of David, because we’re followers of Jesus. We’re his adopted brothers and sisters. We are among those upon whom this promise to David has come.
The New Testament uses this picture of building a house in a number of places. Jesus makes a direct reference to this prophecy in John 2:19 where he says: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." He’s saying the Temple that Solomon built and that Ezra, Nehemiah and now Herod have rebuilt, is just a pointer to the real Temple that he will rebuild in his resurrection body.
Paul uses this idea in 1 Cor 3:10,11: "According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ."
Peter takes this idea further in 1 Peter 2:4,5: "Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." So together, we’re being built into that Temple, that house for the Lord, as we work together to build his church.
So how is this going to happen? Well, two things will make this church, this living house of the Lord, grow. The first thing that will make it grow is God himself.
Using an agricultural metaphor rather than an architectural one, Paul in 1 Cor 3:6,7, says "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." Like David, it’s no good us saying, we’re going to build a house for God. Because it’s he who will give the growth, he who will build his church.
But at the same time there’s an interesting paradox that appears regularly in this sort of discussion. Do you remember what Jesus tells Peter, on that occasion when Peter declares him to be the Messiah the Son of God for the first time? He says "I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." God builds the Church, but he builds it on the foundation, not just of Jesus Christ, but also on the foundation of the apostles. The church is established and grows as the 12 apostles are sent out by Jesus to share the gospel with those they come across. They then call others to carry on the mission. People give up their lives for God’s service. Some provide food and accommodation, others send financial support. And God continues to build the Church, using the labour of you and me as we too share the gospel with our friends and families.
Now, there’s an interesting parallel in the building of the first temple. Think about what was involved in the building of Solomon’s great Temple. Well, a whole lot of people had to get involved. People had to give of their time, their money, their natural resources, in order to build the LORD’s house.
You see, Solomon took David’s vision of a Temple and got someone to design it. He raised the money to build it. He enlisted the aid of his allies, especially Hiram of Tyre who again provided the timber. Solomon paid for the timber with grain and olive oil that no doubt came from the people of Israel. He conscripted 30,000 labourers from Israel to go and cut the timber. He had 70,000 carriers and 80,000 stone cutters, as well as 3300 foremen to supervise the work. It was a massive undertaking.
So was God building a house for David? Well, yes he was. He was building this temple that David had dreamed about and planned for. But who supplied the effort to build this new Temple? The people of God.
And so it is today. Who’s building this Church of Jesus Christ? Well, God is. Clearly this body we’re part of is the work of God. Nothing else would have stood up to the difficulties of the past 2000 years. But at the same time we’re building it, as we each do our part to build on the foundation laid for us by the apostles, the foundation of Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for our salvation. And what’s needed if the Church is to continue to grow? Well, much the same thing as was needed in Solomon’s day. What’s needed today is for each of us to contribute our own efforts to share the gospel with those who don’t know Jesus Christ and to share our resources so others can be supported while they do some of it on our behalf. What we’ll discover in a moment, when we come to the treasurer’s report is that if we’re to continue to grow the sorts of ministries that we’re offering here as a Parish then we’re going to have to support it financially. Our budget is rising and we’re the ones who have to cover it if we’re going to go on doing the sorts of things we’re doing. That is if we want to expand our ministry to children and youth, then we need to find the money to employ the ministers who will oversee that ministry.
Something like 65% of our budget is set aside for paying our ministers. So if we want this ministry to continue then we have to support it.
So there are 2 things we need to do to build God’s Church: we need to build well ourselves, in whatever situation we find ourselves, and we need to commit ourselves to giving to support others who are paid so as to free them up to minister.
So let me leave you with a series of questions to think about. How are you building God’s kingdom here? What are you doing to ensure that the building continues to grow? Are we looking to see who are the people who aren’t here enjoying the benefits of being part of God’s household? Are we thinking about how we might manage to bring them into this living house, this living temple? And are we committed both personally and financially to seeing the kingdom grow here at St Theodore’s?
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