I’m going to put the pictures of several people up on the screen and I’d like you to respond with the first word that pops into your mind.
• Mugshots of Bill Gates when he was arrested in Albuquerque in 1977 for reckless driving
• Childhood photo of Jean Claude Van Damme with glasses
• Childhood photo of Saddam Hussein
• Picture of a muscular Arnold Schwarzenegger taken from the back – now the Governor of California
My purpose in doing that this morning was for us to see how easy it is for us to put people in a “box”. We take one look at them and it’s easy to categorize people based on their appearance or something we know about them. Over the years this has been especially true with blondes and lawyers, for instance.
A blonde was tired of everyone thinking that blondes were stupid, and she didn’t like all these jokes. To end the injustice, she decided to prove to the world that she was smart. In order to prove herself, she chose to memorize the capital of every American state. It wasn’t an easy task, but she was determined and eventually managed to do it.
A few days later she was in a bar, and heard a couple of men laughing at a blonde joke. This was the perfect opportunity to start righting all the wrongs that had been done to blondes in the past - she would set these men straight! Marching over at a rapid pace she announced, "It isn’t true that all blondes are stupid, and I will prove it. Just ask me the capital of any American state, and I will tell you what it is." Although a little surprised, the men did challenge her and asked, "Ok, how about Arizona?"
The Blonde, after pausing for a moment’s thought, proudly gave the answer, "A."
Or then there was this article from a January 2005 AP news story:
Did you hear the one about the two guys arrested for telling lawyer jokes? It happened this week to the founders of a group called Americans for Legal Reform, who were waiting in line to get into a Long Island courthouse.
"How do you tell when a lawyer is lying?" Harvey Kash reportedly asked Carl Lanzisera. "His lips are moving," they said in unison.
While some waiting to get into the courthouse giggled, a lawyer farther up the line Monday was not laughing. In fact he was not laughing so hard that he complained to court officials. Kash and Lanzisera were charged with disorderly conduct for "being abusive and … causing a disturbance."
Putting people in a box can be very hurtful and lead to some undesirable consequences. But putting God in a box is an even bigger danger. I think one of the reasons that David was a man after God’s heart was that David refused to put God in a box. But that wasn’t always true of those around him. This morning we’re going to look at 2 Samuel 6. As we read that passage, I want you focus on the three main characters in this account:
• Uzzah
• Michal, David’s wife
• David
Think about how each of them either did or didn’t put God in a box, and what the consequences of their actions were.
Read 2 Samuel 6
HOW TO MAKE SURE I DON’T PUT GOD IN A BOX:
Each of the three main characters in this account provide us with a principle. Obviously, two of them, Uzzah and Michal, give us an example of what not to do. David, on the other hand provides us with a more positive approach. Let’s look at the two “don’ts” first and then we’ll finish with the “do”.
1. DON’T let familiarity hinder my sense of awe and reverence
We’ve all heard the saying that familiarity breeds contempt. Or as Mark Twain put it:
Familiarity breeds contempt…and children.
In a sense, that is what seems to have happened here with Uzzah. The Ark of the Covenant had been captured about 20 years earlier by the Philistines. But when God destroyed the Philistine idol of their god Dagon and inflicted the Philistines with tumors, the Ark was returned to Israel and placed in Abinadab’s house.
When David became king, one of the first things he set out to do was to bring the Ark about 20 miles or so into Jerusalem, where it could be the center of worship. The Ark was important to the worship of Israel because it represented the presence of God. Therefore the Ark was holy and God had given some specific instructions about how the Ark was to be handled and in particular, how it was to be moved from place to place.
Uzzah was one of Abinadab’s sons and he had apparently lived in the same house with the Ark for about 20 years. And over that 20 year period it seems that Uzzah had lost his sense of reverence and awe for God. In a sense, he had literally reduced God to a box – a 4’ x 2’ x 2’ box called the Ark of the Covenant. And even worse, Uzzah had also assumed, at least in his mind, the responsibility of taking care of this God and keeping Him safe from the world.
In our minds, and, as we can see from this passage, in David’s mind, the punishment for reaching out and steadying the Ark seems much too harsh. In fact, David was so angry with God, and probably so frightened, that he postponed the moving of the Ark into Jerusalem for another three months. So why did God strike Uzzah down for his instinctive reaction? The text doesn’t tell us directly, but it seems reasonable to assume that Uzzah’s act was more than just an instinctive reaction. It was the product of many years of trying to manage and take care of the Ark, and indirectly, of God.
In the Book of Exodus, God had given Moses specific instructions about the handling of the Ark. It was not to be touched by human hands. It was to be carried by the Levites on poles that were inserted into the rings that were part of the Ark. But apparently, Uzzah had a better idea. He would use the latest Philistine technology, an oxcart. That would certainly be more efficient that carrying the Ark by its poles. Only one problem – that’s not how god said to do it!
Unfortunately, many of us are still in the habit of putting God in a box, too. No, maybe not a wooden box overlaid by gold like the Ark, but a box nonetheless. We have tried to reduce God to our own terms so that we can manage Him. We have our own ideas about what God is like and we come up with our own ideas about how we can worship Him. And more often than not, that kind of approach stems from our familiarity with God. Many of us have been around God and around His people for so long that things become familiar and comfortable and we get stuck in a rut – not the rut that God has made for us, but our own rut that we try to fit God into.
One of the reasons that we kind of mixed things up this morning is just to remind us that what we call a worship service each Sunday morning is not sacred. Rather, it is the God that we worship who is holy and it is He, and not our order of worship, who determines how we worship. Worship is not merely a matter of singing five or six songs, listening to a children’s message, a greeting time, a sermon, an offering time and a closing song. True worship always maintains a sense of reverence and awe for God. It is fresh and exciting and new each day. As the prophet Jeremiah wrote:
The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)
And what is the result of trying to put God in a box, of becoming so familiar with Him that we lose our sense of reverence and awe? Death! Not always physical death like Uzzah experienced. But certainly a type of spiritual death that robs us of our relationship with God and all the spiritual blessings that go along with that relationship.
In the C.S. Lewis book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there is a scene where Susan and Lucy are getting ready to meet Aslan the great lion. As I’m sure most of you know, Aslan is a representation of Christ. Two talking animals, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, prepare the children for the encounter. "Ooh," said Susan, "I though he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion." "That you will, dearie." said Mrs. Beaver. "And make no mistake, if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knee’s knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly."
"Then isn’t he safe?" said Lucy. "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king, I tell you!"
Perhaps some of us, Like Uzzah, have gotten so comfortable and familiar with God that we’ve lost that awe and reverence that causes our knees to knock. We’ve allowed our Christianity to become safe. We’ve lost that sense of nervousness that comes from appearing before the king.
So if I want to make sure I don’t put God in a box the first thing I must do is to make sure my familiarity with God doesn’t hinder my sense of reverence and awe.
2. DON’T let the opinions of others distract me from God
Once David resumed the journey of the Ark into Jerusalem, the text tells us that Michal, David’s wife, watched all the proceedings from a window. The first question I want to ask is, “What is she doing watching?” From just the brief description we have in this passage, that is one worship service I wish I had been able to be a part of. The people were dancing and singing and shouting. They made sacrifices to God. They ate a meal together. I guess the fact they ate together means they were probably Baptists.
I suppose I could have added one more principle to my message this morning - If I don’t want to put God in a box, then I have to be a participant in worship, not just a spectator. But that would have ruined my perfect three point sermon, so we won’t spend much more time on that point.
Perhaps the more important question is why did Michal choose to be a spectator that day? And I think we get some pretty good insight into the answer to that question when we look at Michal’s own words:
…"How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!"
1 Samuel 6:20 (NIV)
In today’s culture she probably would have said something like, “What will the neighbors think?”
That reminds me of a story I heard this week about one of our church members who shall remain nameless. Apparently one of you men was so hot the other day that when you got out of the shower you told your wife, “Honey, it’s just too hot to wear any clothes today.” And then you asked her, “What do you think the neighbors will say if I mow the lawn like this?” And your wife replied, “They would probably think I married you for your money.”
Unfortunately, many of us aren’t a lot different than Michal. We’re so worried about what other people think that we end up putting God in a box. Again, it’s not a box of wood overlaid with gold, but this time it’s the box of other people’s expectations about how we should relate to God.
And what is the result of that kind of box? A barren life. As a result of her preoccupation with what others thought, God closed Michal’s womb and she had no children for the rest of her life. For us, a barren life can take on many other forms, many of which are far worse than not being able to have children.
When we become more concerned about what others think than what God thinks, it robs us of the fruitfulness God intends for our lives. Here’s what Jesus had to say about that:
I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.
John 15:5 (Message)
I’m convinced that for most us, our worship would be completely transformed if we could learn to just apply this one principle. I want you to think for just moment about what your worship would be like if you didn’t care about what other people thought. Would you sing a little more like you do in the shower when no one else is around? Would you be willing to shout “Hallelujah!” or “Amen” even if someone else looked around to see who was doing it?
Now I’m certainly not suggesting that our worship become out of control, loud and boisterous. The Bible is clear that there has to be order to our worship, too. But my guess is that if we could really ignore what others were thinking and worship only for an audience of one – God – our worship would be much more alive and that our lives would be much more fruitful.
If I want to make sure I don’t put God in a box, there are two things to avoid:
• Letting may familiarity with God hinder my sense of awe and reverence
• Letting the opinions of others distract me from God.
But there is also a positive step I can take:
3. DO delight completely in God
As the Ark procession made its way into Jerusalem, David danced before the Lord with all his might. And when he replies to Michal, he makes it really clear why he does that:
"It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel - I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes…”
2 Samuel 6:21, 22 (NIV)
David was celebrating before the Lord because of his complete and utter delight in God. Perhaps that, more that anything else, is what made David a man after God’s own heart, even during those times when he sinned and fell short of God’s glory.
Listen to what Eugene Peterson writes about David’s dance in his book Leap Over a Wall:
In God, David had access to life that exceeded his capacity to measure or control. He was on the edge of mystery, of glory. And so he danced…when we’re beside ourselves with love, charged with excess of meaning, shaken out of preoccupation with ourselves, we dance…He wasn’t using God to give dignity to Jerusalem, or taking pains that God be properly honored. He was worshiping, responding to the living God. He was open to the life of God flowing around and through him…
And then Peterson applies David’s dance more directly to our delight in God:
We’re never wholly ourselves until we’re open before God, attending to the reality of God, responding to the action of God in us, receiving the word of God for us. Worship is the strategy by which we interrupt our preoccupation with ourselves and attend to the presence of God.
Let’s read that last part out loud together and as we read I want you to notice that everything Peterson writes centers on God. [Read last paragraph aloud].
So how do I learn to delight in God? Notice I said learn how to delight – I don’t think that it’s something that comes natural to us. If it was, I think the nature of our worship would be so much different. At least one way of delighting in God is described for us in the very first Psalm:
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV)
It seems pretty clear from that passage that one way – maybe the most important way – we delight in God is by getting into His Word and meditating on what we find there day and night. God promises blessings, fruitfulness and spiritual prosperity to those who delight in God and in His Word. But in order for that to occur, we have to delight in God’s Word. Far too many of us think about God’s Word as just a list of instructions or principles. To be certain, the Bible is filled with principles that we can apply to make our lives more abundant and joyful. But the Bible is so much more. It is God’s primary tool for revealing Himself to us.
That’s where we find those mercies that are new every morning. Spending time in God’s Word and allowing God to reveal Himself to us in new and exciting ways is how we avoid the kind of familiarity that hinders our awe and reverence for God. Meditating on His Word allows us to avoid being distracted by what others think. It allows us to abandon ourselves in total delight and give God the kind of exuberant worship that He desires.
I think that another way we can delight in God is by singing. It’s amazing to me how many times the Bible commands us to sing, and in most of those places it exhorts us to sing with exuberance and passion. I’m convinced that if we thought more about the words we were singing and what they reveal to us about God, we couldn’t help but delight in God and give Him the very best of our praise.
I already mentioned that we changed things up a bit on our worship service today to reinforce the idea that you can’t put God in a box. But we also did it to provide you with an opportunity to apply what we’ve learned together this morning.
First, we’re going to listen to a song by Phillips, Craig and Dean titled “You Are God Alone.” As the music plays and the pictures some up on the screen, I want to invite you to just spend some time delighting in God. After that, we’ll have a brief time of fellowship and then we’ll spend some time reflecting upon God and praising him through song. During that time, I want to challenge you to use the music to really help you focus on God and delight in Him. And I want to also challenge you to worship exuberantly and not allow the opinions of others to distract you from your worship of God.
• If you really believe that God is good and his mercies endure forever, then sing like you mean it when we sing “You Are Good”
• If you really view God as the God of Wonders, then let Him know that.
• If you see God as a Mighty God, then don’t be afraid to show that.
• And if God is your comfort and shelter and your tower of refuge and strength, you may need to Shout to the Lord.
In his song “The Way I Was Made”, Chris Tomlin wrote these lyrics which make up the chorus:
I want to live like there’s no tomorrow
I want to dance like no one’s around.
I want to sing like no one’s listening.
Before I lay my body down
I want to give like I have plenty.
I want to love like I’m not afraid.
I want to be the man I was meant to be.
I want to be the way I was made.
Let’s be the way we were made this morning.
Looking Back
1. Has God become so familiar to me that I have lost my sense of reverence and awe for Him? What practical steps can I take to regain a healthy fear of the Lord?
2. Do I let what other people think hinder my worship of God? How can I move beyond that point in my worship life?
3. As I spend time in God’s Word this week, how can I make it a time of delighting in God – who He is and what He does?
Looking Ahead
Read 2 Samuel 7. How does David reveal his humility before God?
