Richard Davenport
December 24, 2023 – Fourth Sunday in Advent
2 Samuel 7:1-11
A few years back when we lived in Cincinnati, we gave Paul a certain Christmas present. The living room of the parsonage was kind of his play space and we wanted to get him something that would encourage his creative play. We spent more hours than we care to remember the night before trying to assemble it all. We had no way to box it up, so we just wrapped the whole thing in sheets and sheets of wrapping paper.
We got home from church Christmas morning and began opening gifts. He got other things and enjoyed opening them. When he was done with all of that, we tried to direct him to the giant wrapped thing in the middle of his play space that he had somehow either not noticed or didn’t think was for him. After tearing it all open, he finally discovered his own play kitchen. It had a fridge and a freezer, a stove, a cooktop, a dishwasher, a sink, and a microwave.
It doesn’t see quite as much use today as it used to, but we have some great pictures and memories of him making meals for his stuffed animals, having tea time with daddy, him distributing communion, with poker chips as bread and a big wine glass for wine or a tray of little cups, it’s a toss up what you get.
I’m encouraged every time I see him using it, even if the play food sometimes gets in the way of other things. It means he’s using his imagination, which is so critical for kids in an age where fast moving entertainment cuts their attention spans down to nothing.
When I’m in the right frame of mind, I realize what he’s doing when he comes to give me some meal he’s made in his kitchen. Usually it involves taking my order, which could be just about anything I can come up with, then he goes back to his kitchen and prepares the meal and brings it to me. Is it real food? No. Is it going to fill me up? No. I know that and he knows that. But it’s still his way of involving me in what he’s doing and sharing that with you as only a child can.
The Old Testament reading for today is a portion of David’s life from early on in his reign as king. Saul is no more and David has formally be crowned king and rules over all Israel. Like the disciple, Peter, David sometimes lets good intentions rush him to say and do things that maybe should require a little more thought and consideration. He just got done bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, which took a bit, since his first hasty attempt got someone killed.
Now it seems as though a little time has passed. David is finally getting to rest from all of the kingdom business he’s been up to. This is part of the promise God made to the Israelites. When they took possession of the land, he would give them peace as long as they continued to follow him. For now at least, that isn’t really a problem. Everyone seems to be pretty well onboard with the whole “worshipping God alone” thing. It’s unfortunate that this won’t last for more than a couple of generations, but that’s a problem for another day. Right now, things are good.
As David takes stock of the situation there is Israel, he finds something out of whack. Times are peaceful. Things are going great. David is doing well. The people are doing well, but what about God? David has his big palace. That’s fine and all. He needs a place to conduct government business. David has done pretty well as king. He’s a wealthy guy, but he’s also a generous guy. He takes care of his people. Still, it doesn’t really look good when David is living in some posh real estate and God is still living in a tent. To his credit, David realizes this is a problem and he wants to correct it. He even approaches the problem in the correct way, by going to talk to the prophet.
Now, it seems as though Nathan made a bit of an assumption. David had indeed been anointed king and God had blessed him richly. It was probably a safe bet to say David would be blessed in righting this wrong. As it turns out though, God gave a new message to David through Nathan. David doesn’t get to build God a house. Instead, God is going to build David a house. In this case, God isn’t talking about a literal building, but rather a lineage, a dynasty. David will have children, which isn’t really a surprise, since we hear how David already has a few kids back in chapter 3. But God goes further here. Not only will have children, but his offspring will build God’s house. God will establish David’s line forever.
There’s a lot of stuff to unpack there, but for starters, we see a promise like God gave to Abraham when he tells Abraham he’ll have a son and one of his descendants will be the savior. This isn’t a two-sided affair, like the covenant God gives the Israelites to give them peace as long as they continue to follow him. Nothing is expected of David here. God places no expectations on him. It is simply something God is going to do and that’s that.
Like Abraham, we also see the same kind of multi-layered prophecy. Abraham would have a miraculous son who would point forward to the eventual savior. Here, David’s son, Solomon, would go on to build the temple in Jerusalem, but he also points the way to the later and greater Son of David who reigns forever and ever.
There are a lot of ways in which Solomon shows us what Jesus will eventually say and do later on. But at least for now, Solomon is the one who has the privilege of building the temple. This is the place where God dwells with his people and brings them mercy. This looks ahead to the greater house, one not built by human hands, where God dwells with his people and brings them mercy, this being the person of Christ.
As I said, there’s a lot more to unpack there, but even with just that, we see the magnitude of what God has given David. God has given David a unique place in the story of salvation. One of his descendants will be the promised savior. That ancestry will be one of the ways in which people will be able to determine whether someone who claims to be the savior is actually the savior. The title, “Son of David,” will become synonymous with the savior. David does nothing to earn any of this. God gives this promise as a gift.
It’s especially important to note that nowhere in any of this does God express displeasure in what David wanted to do. He wanted to honor God and that sentiment was acknowledged. Like a child, he had been building for himself and he wanted to include God in what he was doing as well as respect God and give him the grand house he deserved.
David’s conduct was good. God’s response highlights where we can go wrong. It’s not that the gifts are bad. It’s what we think of them. Is our gift what it’s all about? Is it the most important thing out there? Whatever it is that you’re giving, money, volunteer time, some charitable donation, whatever the case may be, you may be giving it with good intentions. You may want to be honoring God. But you can never lose your perspective on how your gifts compare with God’s. Anything you have to offer him pales greatly with the many, many gifts he gives us.
When you offer him your time, remember that he gave you life and that each individual day is a gift. When you give him your wealth or possessions, remember that he created everything that exists. When you use your intellect, your imaginations, your compassion, your generosity, your humble service of any kind, remember that these are a reflection of his own, given to you as gifts.
It sounds a little demoralizing? After all, how are you supposed to compete with that? You’re never going to be able to measure up to the kind of stuff God does. But, that was never the point. A little boy only has a plate of play food to bring to daddy, so that’s what he offers. It was never really about the food anyway. It was about wanting daddy to be a part of what he’s doing.
God wants to be a part of what you’re doing as well. We just need to keep things in perspective. We are children. Our clunky, cobbled together gifts were never going to earn anything from God. He gave it all to us to begin with. They were never going to measure up, but they were never supposed to. We give so that we share in the joy together. We give to share the activity together as a family.
This evening and tomorrow morning we celebrate again the birth of Christ. The savior of the world. God fulfills his promise, made centuries ago to David. David’s house is established and his descendant now will reign forever and ever.
The gift he gave to David wasn’t for David alone, but for all people everywhere. The gift that brings forgiveness, life, and salvation. The gift that is God choosing to live with his sinful people, choosing to be involved in their lives, to be available to them, to share creation with them. He gives you grand gifts such as these, as well as more mundane and earthly ones, but they are all gifts given to people he loves. He enjoys sharing it all with you. The mundane gifts because he gets to see you at work as you mimic what you’ve seen from him, sharing in the joy and love that come not from the gifts themselves, but from the giver who offers them. The grand gifts of forgiveness and life because they mean sharing in life with God forever.
The Father gives the gift of his Son to the world. The last thing Jesus does before his death and resurrection is share a meal with his friends, the gift of bread and wine, the gift of his own body and blood, the gift that he continues to share with us so that, in receiving it, we spend that time together.
So, go and use his gifts. That’s what they’re for. Whether you are using them for him directly or for others, he delights in seeing them being used. But remember that they are truly gifts, gifts given by a loving Father to his many children, gifts above and beyond anything we are capable of, because they are expressions of the depth of his love for us.