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2001
6th May (am) - David and Sovereign Grace
2 Samuel 7
Advertisements are not a normal part of many sermons - but I want to mention an advert today - I wonder if you have noticed the advertising board that Simpson Builders have put up at the entrance to Huntingdale? No they're not our new corporate sponsors!- but their advertising slogan always strikes me as being very, very clever: Building Houses ....... Creating Homes.
- with just a few carefully chosen words, they have managed to communicate the right messages and conjure up such a positive pictures in our minds- I suppose that's the point of a good advertising slogan. Building Houses ....... Creating Homes. A home is so much more than a house - A house is just bricks and mortar, a building ...... while a home is about the people who live in the house, about they lives they share together, about their commitment to one another in the present and for the future It's great to build good houses, but it's even more important to create good homes.
Today's chapter in the life of David is very much about building houses and creating homes. David is thinking about building a 'House' for God - a Temple in which the Ark of God, which we learnt about in last week's chapter, could be kept - a building which would honour God and would become the central place where all of God's people would worship .... but we are going to find that David doesn't actually build that Temple - God had even bigger plans for building houses and creating homes - plans that went far beyond mere bricks and mortar - far, far better plans for David and his people. - plans into which the actual building of the Temple would eventually fit. And so this is going to be a good chapter for us to learn from - for it should help us to think about where our buildings fit into the plans and purposes of God for his Church here. This is a chapter which teaches us about what a Church really is, and what it is here for.
This chapter helps us to think about 3 different meanings of the word 'house' - therefore, 3 different ways of thinking about the church. I think that, if I can lead you through it carefully and simply, these are 3 incredibly important, encouraging and challenging points.
First of all, David talks about building an actual house - 'a house for God' - David's kingdom has settled down and is at peace, and he is now living in 'a palace of cedar' in Jerusalem - the difficult days of his earlier life are past, the enemies of his people, are no longer a threat. David feels that there is something wrong that he should be living in comfort and style, while there is no Temple in Jerusalem, while the precious Ark of God continues to be kept in 'a tent'.
And so he feels that he should start the process of building a House of God - a place for the Ark, a place of worship, a place that would bear witness to God's greatness for everyone who came into Jerusalem.
We can recognise that David is motivated by the very best of reasons - his motives are good - but through the prophet, Nathan, God says to David - Not Yet - this 'house' will come, but not until after your day. ( vs.12-13.)
The second type of house that is mentioned in this chapter is actually a home.
My number one desire, at the moment, God tells David, is that my people should have a home of their own (vs.10) - I want them to feel settled, safe, satisfied - all the qualities that make a house into a home.
So here, God is describing to David his desire for the people to live in their land, knowing that they are God's people, settled in their faith, feeling safe for now and for the future: I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed.
This is a lovely picture of God's promises and plans for his people - a picture which we can relate to very well - we too need to feel that kind of safety and security for our lives and families - and as we shall see later, being part of the Church should help us in that way.
The 3rd way in which houses are mentioned in this chapter is even bigger and more long-lasting - for God promises David that your house and your kingdom shall endure for ever (vs.16). It's about long term hope, and the long-lasting promises of God that nothing would ever be able to break or destroy this long term hope for 'David's House' - that long after David's own earthly life was finished, there would still be a house of David, because of the promises and grace and long term purposes and protection of God. And this house of David would be a witness to the whole world - this people that God went out to redeem for himself (vs.23) - this God who is indeed the God of all the earth, the Sovereign Lord.
And this 3rd way in which we are told about a house being built is surely going to remind us of the unbreakable hope which is promised to all Christian people within the family or household of faith - and of the advertisement that we should be to the whole world - that God's kingdom might be built.
So 3 ways in which the word 'house' is used in our chapter today:
- an actual building
- a home of safety and well-being
- a house of David for ever - an unbreakable promise and prospect for God's people.
So let's try to apply this to ourselves and to the Church.
An actual building. Just as David's desire to build 'a house' for God was a good and well motivated desire - and one that would be fulfilled in due course - so our desire to have the best possible buildings for our Church and for our worship and work in the service of God is a good and well motivated desire. Today is an excellent opportunity to express our thanks to the particular people who have given so much time and energy to the Hall project over the last few years, and especially this past year ..... and to say a very sincere word of thanks to all of you who have been contributing generously and steadily - some in a way that hurts a little - to the finances for the project. Your committed support is recognised and appreciated, and will continue to be essential over the next few years, as we try to clear off our debt on this project as quickly as possible.
We believe that God gave us the desire and the courage to start this project at the right time - even though the scale of it probably caused more than me a few sleepless nights - those of you who have had a little preview of what is taking shape will know that we will have better facilities than we have ever had before - facilities that are exciting - modern facilities that are more in keeping with the modern comfortable homes that we live in - just as David recognised, as he looked around his luxurious, panelled palace.
That was a lesson that God's people had to learn in later days too - when they had allowed the Temple to fall into terrible disrepair and neglect, and the prophet, Haggai, had to rebuke them for taking so long to do something about it: Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your panelled houses while this house remains a ruin ...... and they came and began work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God. (Haggai ch.1:4&14) So we want to get this project completed - physically and financially - just as soon as possible - and that will take our on-going, serious commitment.
However, there are 2 very simple matters that we need to understand from this first point:
David showed no signs of thinking that somehow or other he was going to do something of extraordinary virtue for God, something for which he would earn God's extra special approval - and we must not have any thoughts like that either. David just felt that he should do what should be done, as a glad and willing expression of his faith and trust in God. Ad that's the way it should be for us - doing what we should do, and giving what we should give, because of our faith and trust and hope in Christ.
God made David think a lot about building something far more than a building - this chapter puts the emphasis on building a people and a kingdom of faith and faithfulness - and that is true for us too - a Church is not actually the building at all - it's the people in that church and the work that they seek to do in Christ's name - and as we look forward to our new buildings we need to learn that lesson over and over again - You are God's building, said Paul to the Corinthians - and we need to know that also.
That brings us to the second section we've already mentioned - More than anything else, a house, old or new, needs to be a home - and that is what God promised David and his people: vs.10 I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own.
Isn't that a glorious description of the life that God wanted for his people, and which he was promising to them - that in this land where they lived and where David had become their king, they would dwell in safety from their enemies, and in the deep-down security of knowing that God was their God and that they were his people. So here the emphasis switches from what David wanted to do for God - build a Temple - to what God wanted to, and would do, for them- provide them with a home.
That's what belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ is about, first and foremost:
it is about belonging, by faith, to Jesus Christ, with all the quiet, strong assurance that comes from knowing that our lives have been loved and redeemed by him through his death and resurrection - that we have put the trust of our lives in him and that, therefore, we are safe, no matter what the outward circumstances of life are like - that nothing can break that position of safety and well-being, or take us away from it - for like God's people described in vs.23 - he has redeemed us.
This is the wonderful, wonderful promise of grace that God makes to us, just as he made it to David -I want you to ask yourself if you have allowed your life to be safe in his home - Lord, you have been our dwelling place - as Ps. 90 puts it, our eternal home as the hymn version has it.
This is also about our church being a family, a home, in which we can grow stronger in that security and hope of Christ - through regular, nourishing, whole-hearted worship, through the fellowship of so many small group activities of church life, through the Christian friendship and support that ought to exist among us and be experienced by us at the times when we especially need it.
And yet, so often, too many of us don't really allow our church to be that sort of a home - we are not committed to it in that kind of way, nor to the other members of our church family - we see it as an institutional place where religious ceremonies take place, a mere building to come to now and again, maybe sometimes even more like a health centre that we only really think seriously about when we have a problem!
Then we wonder why we don't have much real life and joy and strength and hope in our lives and in our church! God has provided his church to be our 'big' family - to be our spiritual home - not just a house of bricks. It is his gracious and good provision for us - it is our privilege to belong and to share its life with the rest of the family vs.24
You have established your people Israel as your very own for ever, and you, O Lord, have become their God.
You and I need this home and this family - our families need this family so much.
This is what the actual buildings are for - not just a place to provide us with recreational facilities and opportunities - but a place that will be the family home - don't miss the opportunity for yourself or your family - don't reduce it to mere activities or organisations - become a worshipping, learning, praying, growing, relating Christian person within the family - it's the greatest possible privilege, and it will make the most wonderful difference to your whole life and future.
Do you recall the 3rd way in which the word 'house' is used for us in this chapter - vs.11 the Lord, himself will establish a house for you .... Your house and your kingdom shall endure for ever (vs.16). The 'house' that God promised would be far bigger than anything David had thought of - far bigger in size and far more long lasting.
God promised David that he was actually building a kingdom that would endure for ever - a kingdom that would be God's kingdom, reaching out beyond David's people and David's day: Then men will say, The Lord Almighty is God over Israel. It is the sort of promise that God had made to Abraham long before the time of David - that through him God would build a people out of many nations, as numerous as the sand on the sea shore.
It's the promise given to Mary at the birth of Jesus about a kingdom that will never end. It's the promise that Jesus made to his disciples when he said I will build my church and the gates of hell will not overcome it.
This is what the House of God is most fully about - his kingdom being built out into new lives and into new places and into new generations -a never ending kingdom into which people are brought in saving faith and living hope.
This is the business and work of the Church - that the name of Jesus Christ should be honoured and that his reign should extend into the lives of more and more people.
This is why we are constructing our new buildings - that we may play our part in extending his kingdom and making him known more effectively and more thoroughly in our town.
We must never ever fall into the trap of thinking that when the buildings are finished, the work has finished - rather, that will be the beginning - the beginning of new opportunities and possibilities - opportunities to be seized thankfully and courageously - to do new things, to be brave, to be willing to try anything and everything that we feel will impact this community where God has placed us.
We must never, ever think of the church as a cosy little place where we can get away from the changes and challenges of the secular world outside - the Church is meant to be a kingdom of people, dedicated to Christ and his cause, determined, with his help, to impact that secular world - and after all, that secular world impacts all of us, and has actually won the allegiance of some in our own families and circle of friends.
We need to make sure that we have given our allegiance to Christ and his kingdom, and that we are absolutely committed to everything that will win others for his kingdom - even if that means new ideas, new ways of doing things, new financial commitments, new activities.
After all, the stakes are high - they are eternal, they are heavenly - they are as the book of Revelation describes that final day: Now the dwelling of God is with men and he will live with them. They will be his people ...... he will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no ore death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Rev. 21)
This is the House that God has promised - this is the framework into which we must place our earthly buildings - this is what they are for.
This is the home and the family and the kingdom which you and I must make sure we belong to.