Loving God, you promise us salvation through Jesus just as you promised David that his throne would be established forever.  Teach us to follow your priorities in response to your salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            We don’t know for sure what David’s motivation was in wanting to build a house for God.  It might have been in thanksgiving for all that God had done for him.  It might have been a bargaining chip so that God would do more for him in the future.  It might have been a desire to leave a legacy behind in the form of a more permanent building.  Or, it may have been a combination of these things.  Whatever David’s motivation may have been, we soon discover that God has different priorities.

         You’ve got to love God’s response in today’s reading from 2 Samuel.  “Really?  You want to build a house for me?  When did I ever ask any of the leaders before you to build me a house?  In fact, I’ve never lived in a house.  I have moved around with your people in a tent, which suits me just fine!  In fact, I have even bigger plans for you.  I will be the one who builds a house for you, and I will make a great name for you.  Your son who comes after you will build me a house, and his throne will be established forever.  ‘Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever’” (2 Sam. 7:16).

         This is, essentially, God’s covenant with David – and did you notice what David needs to do in order for all this to happen?...  Absolutely nothing!  It is a covenant of pure grace which is full of God’s promises.  And what is better for Reformation Sunday than a reminder of God’s grace?

         One of the issues at the time of the Reformation was also the motivation that was behind the actions of many Christians.  While they weren’t necessarily proposing building houses for God (although St. Peter’s in Rome was under construction), people engaged in many other activities that were all aimed at currying God’s favour.  They were doing penance, giving alms, buying indulgences, paying for masses – all in an effort to save themselves from purgatory and hellfire.  It was very much a transactional view of doing things for God.  You do something for God, and God does something in return.

         However, just like in God’s response to David, people like Martin Luther found expressions of God’s grace in the New Testament – pure promises based on faith in Jesus Christ.  He discovered that the reasons for us to worship and to pray and to serve others have nothing to do with paying off our debt to God.  In fact, we could never do it even if we tried.  Instead, when we do good works, we are expressing our thankfulness to God for the forgiveness and eternal life that we have through faith in Jesus.  God acts first in order to save us, and our response is to live in love.

         You may have noticed in our gospel for today that Jesus is very much connected to God’s promise to David.  As a descendant of David, Jesus becomes the one who will reign forever – not from some earthly throne, but as Lord of heaven and earth.  It also becomes apparent through Jesus that God still prefers a tent.

         In the gospel of John, when we hear about the incarnation of Jesus, John writes, “the Word became flesh and lived among us” (Jn. 1:14).  In the Greek, we discover that Jesus actually “tented” among us.  He took on this earthly tent that all of us inhabit until we get a more permanent, heavenly body (2 Cor. 5:1).

         While tents are not particularly attractive at this time of year in Manitoba, they do have certain advantages.  The most obvious one is that a tent is portable.  It can be taken with you wherever you go.  God apparently liked this portability – this ability to move around and not be limited to one place (as if we could ever limit God anyway).  The other thing about a tent is that it is clearly a temporary dwelling.  Over time it will wear out and get ripped and start to leak, and will need to be patched or replaced – just like these earthly tents in which we live.

         Of course, once the temple gets built in Jerusalem, there are all of the maintenance costs – staff to look after it, repairs to the building, re-building it when it gets damaged or destroyed.  Is it not the same for every house that has ever been built for God?  And yet, we have always wanted to have a place where we can go and worship.

         A number of years ago now, I shared with you how most of the congregations in New Zealand had to walk away from their buildings.  This was after the earthquake in Christchurch in 2011, and none of the church buildings complied with the new earthquake safety protocols that were brought in.  Since bringing the buildings up to code was far too costly, most congregations were forced to find a new home.

         We, too, are not gathering in our church building right now.  You still get to see part of it during our online services, but we are not able to worship as we have in the past.  In fact, having a bunch of people inside a building and singing is one of the best ways to spread Covid-19.  So we can either drastically change our worship and follow a long list of protocols, or we can live stream our worship with only a few people actually in the building.

         The good thing about this, however, is that God is still not limited to buildings.  In fact, God is with us through Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, wherever we may be.  God also continues to act in our lives and in our world with mercy and grace – giving us salvation through Jesus long before we could ever earn it or deserve it.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life (Jn. 3:16).

Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Reformation Sunday (NL 3)                       2 Samuel 7:1-17

October 25, 2020                                         Luke 1:30-33

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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