1 Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house….
16 “’And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”
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We are a day away from the big day, so let’s pause a moment and remember where we’ve been. We have travelled some difficult roads in Advent’s darkness and along the way we have paused on the side of the road and looked deep at our reflection in the living water and quite possibly noticed that it was our reflection and not the living water that had grown cold and frosty. Hopefully, the radiant heat of the approaching light of Bethlehem has thawed our frostiness and made our reflection a bit truer. Maybe though, the light’s warmth has fueled our zeal and now we wish to tackle some great task for God.
Our text today tells us the story of David at rest after many difficult years battling Saul and now in the warmth of that reflective rest, David wants to tackle a truly great task. He wants to build a permanent home for God to dwell. To be sure this is a noble task, right? Well, there is a slight problem the text tells us, as neither David nor his spiritual advisor Nathan bothered to ask God about the construction project. And so, God will awaken Nathan in the middle of the night with the news that the construction project was neither wanted nor even asked for. It would behoove us before such a wake-up call occurs in our life to ask ourselves whether what we wish to achieve for God is something God wants? We all want to do great things for God, or at least we should, but sometimes the greatest thing we can do is be faithful to the small things to which God calls us for in God’s economy all are important. The shepherd’s journey from the fields to the manger is no less important than the Wise Men’s journey from the Orient, for both testify to the faithfulness and majesty of God. Can our Advent birthed zeal burn as bright for what some may consider small things as it can for what others may deem great things?
Furthermore, we would be remiss if we did not recognize that our zeal may cool in the growing ferocity of winter’s howl, but the promises of God remain true even when our zeal wanes. God promises David that the House and Throne of David shall be eternal in the presence of God. God promises this to David not at the end of David’s life after all of David’s mistakes are made. No, God promises this before David is derelict in his duty as commander and king, before David conspires with Bathsheba, before David orders his pregnant lover’s husband to be killed, and before David fails to punish Ammon for the rape of Tamar and thereby plants the seeds of Absalom’s dissension. We might declare such a promise as the one God made to David null after such behavior, but God who is rich in mercy and abounding in love, fulfilled this promise at the incarnation of his own Son, Jesus. Tonight, as we celebrate the fulfillment of this promise, we should also resolve that in light of God’s faithfulness, our faithfulness would never dim, but counter the prevailing chill by growing brighter as we follow God’s call to small and large things.