Sixth Pentecost (Proper
10)
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
Two visitors wanted to go for a swim in the mouth of the Zambezi
River in Mozambique, where it flows into the Indian Ocean. One of them asked
a boy, fishing nearby, whether there were any sharks in the river. “No
sharks,” the boy replied. And the two men waded into the river. After a
couple of minutes one of the men called back to the boy, “Are you sure
there are no sharks in the river.” “No sharks” he said, “sharks
are afraid of crocodiles.”
The young fisherman’s word could be trusted, but more in the literal sense
than in the spirit of the question. Sometimes what is not said contains more
meat than what is said. I feel that way about our Old Testament text for today.
You will note that in the infinite wisdom of those who set the lectionary that
verses 6-12b have been left out of our reading. Hear then the missing moments
of our text.
“When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out his
hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. The anger
of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there because he reached
out his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God. David was
angry because the Lord had burst forth with an outburst upon Uzzah; so the place
is called Perez-uzzah to this day. David was afraid of the Lord that day; he
said, “How can the ark of the Lord come into my care: So David was unwilling
to take the ark of the Lord into his care in the city of David; instead David
took it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. The ark of the Lord remained
in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months; and the Lord blessed Obed-edom
and all his household. It was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the
household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.”
And our story picks up, So David went and brought up the ark of God from the
house of Obed-edom to the city of David.
Now I think there’s a lot to be dealt with in those missing verses but
before we do that I want to be sure we all know what’s going on here. So
let me present two important teaching excursus.
First we need to know about the Ark of the Covenant, or ark of God, or Ark of
Yahweh as it is variously called. If you have seen Indiana Jones and the Raiders
of the Lost Ark you can take a nap because you know this already. The Ark was
a box about four feet long. Its main body was about 21/2 feet square made of
acacia wood and covered with pure gold both inside and out. In the Ark, was
the proof of God’s care for his people. The ark contained: the two tablets
of stone on which the Ten Commandments had been engraved by God’s own finger
as a reminder of God’s just law, a jar of manna saved from wilderness days
as a reminder of God’s loving providence and Aaron’s rod that had
budded as a sign of God’s prophetic future with his people. On top of the
Ark was a special cover also made of acacia wood and covered with gold. On top
of this were two golden cherubim arranged on either end with their wings outstretched
so that they touched in the middle forming a kind of seat or throne—the
throne of God. The ark sat upon four feet and to each foot was attached a golden
ring. Through the rings were inserted strong poles of wood covered with gold.
By them alone could the ark be moved, for once it was constructed it was considered
too holy for any human person to touch. Yahweh’s very presence was thought
to dwell between the cherubim, atop the ark. The power of God was in it, the
presence of God was upon it and the promises of God went with it. 1
The ark had a rich and colorful history in ancient Israel. The Ark went with
the Hebrews as they wandered the dessert wilderness, it was carried before the
people as they crossed the Jordan in to the Promised Land; the ark was marched
around Jericho when the city walls fell to give the Israelites victory. For
a time the ark was captured by the enemy Philistines but they returned it when
it brought nothing but disaster to them. The Biblical narrative loses sight
of the Ark during the reign of Saul and we do not see it again until the story
we have today. So that’s the first bit we have to know before we can make
heads or tails of this text.2
The second piece we have to understand is what’s going on with David and
his kingship. David is trying to consolidate his kingship. He is trying to bring
the tribes that made up the northern part of the country together with the tribes
that made up the Southern part of the country, to marry Israel and Judah and
he’s trying to do it by forming a new capital city, by making his headquarters
Jerusalem. How perfect it would be to install God’s throne in the middle
of his city. To have this sacred symbol front and center would go a long way
toward solidifying David’s power.
So this is where our text comes in. David goes out to meet the ark with thirty
thousand people in attendance. What a photo op. There are lyres and harps and
castanets and cymbals and tambourines. Everyone is singing and dancing. David,
David is bringing God’s throne to Jerusalem. Note the emphasis. Imagine
the headlines—David, all in capital letters at 48 pt bold is bringing God’s
throne, 12 pt. Plain to Jerusalem. This is political staging at it’s best.
Our lectionary selectors would leave us there. With David and the country celebrating—but
what’s not said in our lesson is what’s important. The Ark is bouncing
along on the new cart that David had specially made for the move when they come
to a threshing floor. Now threshing floors are often built on a little incline
so that the chaff will slide a certain direction. The ark begins to slide, Uzzah
reaches out to steady it but as he touches it he is struck dead. The ark is
too holy; the ark is too sacred, too hot to be touched by the hands of mere
mortals.
So what happens to David’s great political moment? The balloon pops, the
firecracker fizzles, the people run frightened into the hills. Perhaps God has
a mind of God’s own. Perhaps you don’t go moving God’s throne
without God’s permission. Perhaps Uzzah is unfortunate collateral damage
in God’s attempt to show David who is really the boss.
Clearly David has been stung. The triumphal entry did not turn out at all as
he had expected. So he lets the Ark rest at the home of Obed-edom for three
months. We can only surmise but perhaps, in that time he looked at his own motives
and reassessed his own religious pretensions for when he again comes down to
accompany the Ark things are a bit different. Oh there’s still celebrating,
and David is still dancing with all his might but this time the harps and lyres
are gone and we have only a trumpet. And David has sloughed his royal robes
right down to his royal drawers. Indeed David is so tentative that he walks
only six paces before he stops to offer a sacrifice as if to ask “Is this
okay God?”
The headlines will be different this day. They will read 48 pt. Bold, God’s
Ark enters Jerusalem, 12 point sub line, led by King David.
That’s an important lesson for us. God will not be used. God does not desire
to play second fiddle. God cannot be boxed up and carted around to be the political
prize for anyone. In a more modern sense, we might wonder, when we say God bless
America, is God or America in 48 pt. Bold? The question for our consideration
becomes, “Is America trying to get in line with the vision that God has
for a world where all things are gathered in him or is America, like David,
trying to march God in our parade?”
Let me instead bring this message home in a lot more personal and immediate
way. It is an issue that I have been praying about constantly lately and I hope
you have or will be too. There is a beautiful new addition to our building out
there. Honestly when I first wrote that sentence I wrote, “we have built
a beautiful new building”. It’s that easy, that easy to claim glory
for ourselves rather than to give glory to the one who deserves it. It’s
so easy to talk about “our” building and what we have done as an end
in itself rather than to understand it as a means to further the Kingdom of
God. The building process has been a huge investment of energy and effort but
we need to understand that it is only the beginning. This building is a means;
it is a tool to put God in 48 pt. Type and to put us in 12 pt. This building
needs to facilitate our ability to do ministry, that is to get in line with
God’s vision, by reaching out to the community, by proclaiming the good
news of God’s love that we have come to know through Jesus Christ. What
an exciting, thrilling, good time it is for the Holy Spirit congregation. We
have so much to celebrate. I don’t think it will be dancing in our underwear
kind of celebrating, uw, scary thought, but it will be celebrating, let us just
pray God that we remember whose building it is and what it is here for.
1. “1&2 Samuel”, Tony W. Cartledge Smyth and Helwys Bible Commentary
2001.
2. Ibid.
Amen.