Pentecost 21 (NL3) John B. Valentine
2 Samuel 7:1-17 October 25, 2020
“DYNASTY”
Let’s play a little word-association to get started this week:
“What’s the first thing that pops into your mind when I say the word ‘dynasty’???”
I’d actually love to see a show of hands if we were interactive right now ... because I’m really not sure about this one!
“Dynasty” ........
• How many of you harkened back to that cheesy prime-time soap opera from the 1980s ... in which the Carrington family fought and manipulated their way to wealth and power?
• And how many of you found yourselves thinking about the history of China and the litany of dynasties that have held power over that corner of the world ... you know ... the Han Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty and all that???
• Anyone’s mind head off to our own nation’s political history and thoughts of the Roosevelt and/or the Kennedy and/or the Bush dynasties ... as it were???
“Dynasty” ........
Maybe some of you thought about sports teams perchance???
For instance:
• The Boston Celtics ... back in the 60s ... were a dynasty.
• The current edition of the Warriors ... it’s open for debate
• The Yankees ... in the 50s ... were a dynasty.
• The Dodgers right now ... I sure hope not!
• The 49ers ... back in the 80's ... were a dynasty.
• The current edition of the Niners ... not by a long shot!
You see ... for a sports team to be labeled ‘a dynasty’ ...
• They’ve got to be good ...
• They’ve got to be ‘the team to beat’ ...
• They’ve got to stay that way for an extended period of time.
It’s the same for political families ...
It’s the same for historical kingdoms ...
Heck ... it’s the same for TV shows! Such that ‘Dynasty’ wasn’t really a dynasty ... but ‘Jeopardy’ and ‘Survivor’ sure seem to be!
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Anyhow ... the reason I want you to think about ‘dynasties’ is because this week’s Bible reading is all about a dynasty ...
And specifically about the promise of a ‘dynasty’ to the royal line of King David.
Remember how we spent the summer walking through the stories of Exodus ... and the whole ‘getting the people of God out from under the thumb of ol’ Pharaoh’ thing???
Well ... after that ... they took possession of the Promised Land ... and moved in and settled down ... lo and behold ... they immediately ran into trouble on account of ........ politics.
As in “What kind of government should we have???”
• Should we have a tribal government ... wherein each of the twelve clans kind of do things on their own ....
• Or should we have a unified government where we all work together???
Kind of like how ... early in our own nation’s history ... there was a debate about whether each of the thirteen former colonies was a new nation of its own ... or if we were actually the United States.
Then again ... they also wondered “What kinds of leaders should we have???”
• Should we have ‘judges’ ... who just kind of pop up from time to time to rein in the people when things get out-of-whack ....
• Or should we have a king ... who’s there all the time ... to make sure things don’t get out of whack in the first place?
Again ... kind of like how our forebearers got to bickering about how much power a president should have ... and who should decide who gets to be the president!
Anyhow ... in the Promised Land back in the day ... the ‘limited government libertarian’ crowd got its wish for a while ... until the people realized that that just led to lawlessness.
For the Book of Judges ends with this sobering assessment of the situation:
“In those days there was no king in Israel; and everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”
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So God’s people decided that they wanted and needed a king.
And they jumped at the idea of appointing Saul as King.
After all ... Saul had all the credentials necessary for a good leader ... right????
• He was tall ...
• He was handsome ...
• And his dad had lots of money!
But Saul was a complete disaster as a king ... because his power went to his head ... and he thus became a ‘one-hit wonder’! (No dynasty there!)
Which brings us to this week’s reading ... and a noteworthy fellow named David.
You see ... the shepherd boy David became a mighty warrior ... and mighty warrior David has just been crowned the second of Israel’s kings.
And in the after-glow of his coronation... King David leans back in his easy chair and puts up his feet ... so as to enjoy some hard-earned peace and quiet.
But then King David gets to thinking ... thinking about the big picture ....
• About just how blest a man he is ...
• About how it is that God has been with him ... watching over him ... protecting him all these years ...
• About how he who once spent months and months living in caves so as to avoid his enemies ... is now living in a mansion made of the finest lumber ...
• And about how odd it is that God has made it possible for David to live in a fancy house and settle down ... while God is still being worshiped in a tent ...
• And David says to the Prophet Nathan ... “God has done good things for me and given me a place to lay my head. Don’t you think it only right that I should do the same for God?”
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Memo to Tim Gilbertson and the members of our Stewardship team ...
If this story were to end right here, we’d have the makings of a GREAT stewardship campaign ...
“GOD HAS DONE GOOD THINGS FOR US. ISN’T IT ONLY RIGHT THAT WE REPAY THOSE BLESSINGS?”
We could just ask people to make a list of all the things that God has done for them ...
And another list of all the things that they have done for God ...
And then just invite them to compare those two lists one against the other ... and then just say “Do the math!”
Problem is ... the story DOESN’T end here
That same night ... God puts the kibosh on David’s plans ... and informs the young king that God doesn’t really need a Temple ...
Because God isn’t so much the God of a particular place as God is the God of a particular people ... and wherever those people are is where God needs to be!
But in so doing ... God also puts the kibosh on all of our little Stewardship campaigns as well!
You see ... the way of the world is something called “transactionalism” ...
• You do thus for me ...
• And I’ll do thus for you.
• You give me a hundred bucks ...
• I’ll give you a hundred bucks worth of whatever it it that you want.
Its all about “quid pro quo”s ... “this for that” exchanges ...
And ... for better or worse ... we’ve heard lots of talk out of our nation’s capital about “quid pro quo”s and transactional thinking and deals over the past 45 months now .....
For ... in a certain way ... it’s the way of the world.
Problem is ... when we superimpose our transactional ways of thinking on our faith ... we’re tempted to believe that faith is about paying God back for what God has done for us ... which in turn leads to thinking that the more I do for God ... the more God will do for me in turn.
But here in this lesson ... God puts a halt to that line of thinking!
You see ... God insists that God doesn’t NEED David to build God a house.
In fact ... God turns the tables on David’s request and says that it is God who is going to build a house for David ... not David who is going to build a house for God!
And this house that God is going to build isn’t a house of wood ... but “a royal house” ... a dynasty ... there’s that word again! ...
A Kingdom ruled by a descendant of David that will last way beyond David and his kids and his grandkids.
In fact ... the closing verses of this lesson insist that David’s Kingdom will be the dynasty to end all dynasties ... for it will be a House that will last forever!
For this kingdom ... this dynasty .... this Royal House of David will be reliant not on human behavior ... but on the amazing grace of God.
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Speaking of dynasties ... most dynasties DO have a relatively short shelf-life ... do they not???
• Kingdoms get overrun.
• TV shows get canceled.
• Even the Michael Jordans of the world eventually retire.
But two months from this weekend ... whether we end up doing it “live” or “virtually ... we’re going to celebrate the fact that God's promise to David did not and does not and will not fail.
For we’re going to celebrate the arrival of a new king from the line and the house of David.
Now granted ...
• He’s not going to look like a king at his arrival ....
For he’s going to be born in a barn rather than a palace.
• And he’s not going to look like a king as he grows up ...
For he’s not gonna run with the well-to-do and well-heeled crowd.
• And he’s not going to look like a king when he makes his presence known ...
For he’ll say that it’s all about serving rather than being served.
He doesn’t LOOK like the embodiment of power and wisdom and authority ... but he IS the embodiment of God's grace, love and forgiveness.
He doesn’t much LOOK like a king ... but even the rocks will cry out that he King of Kings and Lord of Lords
And through him and in him ... the promise of God and the dynasty of grace will be fulfilled.
You see .... that fact of the matter is that ....
Neither David nor we nor anybody else can never do enough to earn God's favor ....
Neither David nor we nor anybody else can ever do enough to repay God's abundant blessings ...
Neither David nor we nor anybody else can ever “quid” God’s quo”.
We can only receive it ... and say thanks for it ... and enjoy in ... and pass it on to those whom the King would call our ‘neighbors’.
For that’s what it means to be a part of God’s dynasty of grace!
