Sermon Tone Analysis

Wrong Sort of House

Trouble in the Text

There is one little Hebrew word all tangled up in the middle of this confusing passage: Bet’.

The closest word we have in English is “house”, but we tend to forget in English how many uses there are for the word “house”.

It can be a verb or a noun.

And as a noun, it can mean a few different things.

I live in a house.

Many of you live in houses.

House can mean the building you live in.

But we are also gathered in a house this morning - a house of worship.

House can mean the building you worship in .

And I am also from the house of Clark - a family line.

House can mean the line of people you come from.

If I were more pretentious, I would call it a dynasty, but that’s a bit much, even for me.

David and God are talking about houses in today’s passage, but they are talking about different types of houses and it causes them some confusion.

David says I’m in a house (palace), so I should build GOd a house (temple).

But God says, no, this is about building a house (dynasty).

In today’s passage, after some drama and fighting, David has finally settled in as established king, so he’s looking for something to do.

He’s feeling secure in his power.

He’s built himself a lovely palace.

And now he’s thinking it’s time to build something for God.

It’s like the football player who thanks God AFTER the touchdown as if the player’s earthly success is what God is concerned about.

So David asks the prophet Nathan what he thinks about it and Nathan says it sounds like a good idea because it basically always sounds like a good idea to build a beautiful new place to worship if you have he means to do so.

Just like today, in David’s time, it was easy to get people excited about building a lovely new church building when there was money to spare.

God didn’t ask David to do this, though.

He’s just doing it because it’s what seemed like the thing to do.

David was just caught up in the latest church planting fad.

Later that night, after Nathan had given David the stamp of approval on his temple idea, God came to Nathan and said, “Wait a minute.

I didn’t tell you guys I wanted this.

I’ve been dwelling in a tent for all this time and suddenly you’re worried about building me something?

You’re supposed to follow MY lead on this sort of thing.”

It wasn’t David’s decision to decide where God would be worshiped.

David didn’t have the power to tell God where to live.

God’s concern was so much greater than where David lived or worshipped.

“It is not within David’s power to house God.”

David says I’m in a house (palace), so I should build GOd a house (temple).

But God says, no, this is about building a house (dynasty).

David says I’m in a pretty great house (a palace), so I should build God a house (a temple).

But God says, no, this is about building a house (a dynasty).

It’s about the future of God’s people, not about the buildings in which they live or worship.

Looking Forward

David says I’m in a pretty great house (a palace), so I should build God a house (a temple).

But God says, no, this is about building a house (a dynasty).

It’s about the future of God’s people, not about the buildings in which they live or worship.

Today’s lectionary talks about God’s establishment of David’s lineage:

Nowhere in God’s promises to David does it say that he will have a beautiful home or build a fabulous temple.

God’s choice to be homeless is surprising.

But it’s because God isn’t interested in a house to live in.

God isn’t interested in the sort of house of worship David worships in.

God is interested in a legacy: a legacy that leads to Jesus.

When we move into the new testament, the gospel writer Matthew starts off by following this family line that God established with David all the way through to Jesus.

But it’s because God isn’t interested in a house to live in.

God isn’t interested in the sort of house of worship David worships in.

God is interested in a legacy.

We’re Not Here to Impress Anyone

We’ve been talking lately in session meetings about the purpose and mission of the church.

Why are we here and what are we doing?

This is really important as we continue to explore creative and collaborative ministry with St. Andrews/Emsworth and other churches in our area.

If we don’t have a strong sense of why we are here as a congregation and what we are doing here as a congregation, we’re just sort of wandering around trying to figure out what sort of temple to build for God when God is trying to tell us “I’m not talking about that kind of house!”

We want to build God a big house because big houses are what the world tells us are important.

But that distracts us from what we’re really supposed to be doing.

God wants the church to establish a legacy through the work of Christ in the world, not a particular building or name.

If we want to assess what sort of house we’re building, we need to ask ourselves: whose need is being met?

Who are we serving?

Are we just serving ourselves or are we serving the community?

Are the things we’re doing benefiting others first or us first?

If we have more fundraisers than service projects, our priorities are skewed.

If we spend more on church administration than on local and world mission, we have our list upside down.

Are we building this house to SERVE the world or to IMPRESS the world?

If this is about getting people in here and looking good and impressing the neighborhood, we might as well close our doors right now.

If it’s just about keeping the lights on and the pulpit filled so the name of this congregation isn’t replaced with another on the sign out front, let’s start packing up.

It’s already late July and before we know it, we will be in nominations and budget season again.

And while nominations matter - it’s important to make sure we have good, Christlike leadership in the church, the budget can actually say more about a church’s priorities and future.

The church budget is a theological document.

You can tell a great deal about a community from their budget.

Many churches have cut mission spending in order to try and hang on to something from a time past: An attempt to keep the fancy house built for God and to keep it as full as we can.

That is not what God asks of us.

If we aren’t giving for worship and for mission, we have no business being here.

If we are only raising money so that we can stick around to raise more money next year and maintain our current standards, we have effectively said, “We are no longer worried about God’s mission.

We only care about our own house.”

If it’s just about keeping the lights on and the pulpit filled so the name of this congregation isn’t replaced with another on the sign out front, let’s start packing up.

If that’s our game plan, we have no hope.

At that point, we’re just eating up resources that could better serve God elsewhere.

God Builds Up Those Who Build Up Others

God will build up those who are there to build up others, not themselves.

Rest is found in sharing God’s peace and shelter with others: offering others rest and security.

One way we are thinking of reaching out to do that soon is through the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance trip to Texas to help with the rebuilding after the floods.

We will be hosting a Presbyterian peacemaker - a missionary from Greece - this October.

He will be here to talk to us about how he is reaching out to the poor and refugees in his home country and how we can reach out as well here.

We have the opportunity to worship with him one Sunday morning, he will lead bible study one Wednesday evening, and we will also get to share him with the larger community - hosting a community event as well as an event at the seminary and one for local clergy.

We are currently in the beginning stages of some concentrated fundraising because we have had to incur some major costs to

repair the roof of this house of worship.

The elders decided that it was appropriate to fix that because it would be bad stewardship of the building we have to let the roof issues cause further damage.

But in that, we are also acknowledging that our worship and our ability to offer our space to others in the community and to have vital things happening here is of the utmost importance.

That’s why right alongside the roof costs, you’ll see we’re raising funds to replace the aging sound system and do some repairs to the organ.

We have a darn fine organist here, so it makes sense to have a workable organ.

We have had people visit here and never come back because the sound system is a barrier to keeping up with what’s happening in worship.

These are things that were carefully thought through and deemed important to building the house as in the legacy, the whole church, the future of the church, and not just the house as in the building.

Worship, mission and service are VITAL to the health of a congregation.

You can give toward the roof fund.