The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY (Retired)
Many of us seem to yearn for what we call "getting back to normal." We are
always hearing people saying, and saying ourselves, that "after this
(graduation, wedding, birth of a new baby, party, exam, vacation, exhibit...or
whatever) is over, and life gets back to normal, I plan to...."
The trouble, of course, is that there is no such thing in life as "getting
back to normal." Life is just one thing after another!
After King Saul died, and David became king, his first priority was to
establish a kind of normalcy for himself and his people. He decided to move his
capital to Jerusalem, instead of having it in his childhood home of Bethlehem. A
capital means a seat of government, so he began to build a palace. And then it
occurred to him that it was not right to have a fine palace for himself and his
government, while God continued to be worshipped in the Tabernacle tent, just as
at the time of the Exodus wanderings. The more he thought about it, the more it
seemed to him that he should build a fine Temple, a place for God to rule from
and be worshipped, in Jerusalem. He had brought the holy Ark, the chest that
contained the tablets of the Commandments, to Jerusalem, in a procession with
great honor. Now, he felt that he should build a suitable building for the Ark
and for worship. For him, the "normal" he was trying to establish, in order to
provide stability to the nation, involved having the seat of government and the
main altar of the religious observance in the same place, so both church and
state would work together for the good of all. This, he felt, would make the
nation strong and give the people good guidance, and a unity of purpose.
Now, David tried very hard to do everything according to God's Law and God's
wishes, and so he thought he had better ask Nathan, the prophet who followed
Samuel, if this idea of building a Temple was acceptable to God. At first, when
David brought up the idea, Nathan thought it was a fine idea and approved. But
after praying over it, he came to David again to say that God had made it clear
to him that David would not be the one to build a Temple to God in
Jerusalem. That would be the job of David's son, Solomon, who would become king
after him. David felt badly about this, but he obeyed what Nathan said was God's
will, and dropped the idea of building a Temple. We do know from other books in
the Bible that David spent the rest of his life buying fine wood, cloth, jewels
and well-made Temple furnishings of gold, silver and bronze, so everything would
be ready for Solomon to use when the time came for building the Temple. But
David accepted that it was not his job, not what God wanted him to do.
Why did God tell Nathan to say "no" to David's plan?
There are many possible reasons, and we cannot know which ones were most
important to God. One reason is that God had always used a tent, the Tabernacle,
for a sanctuary. At the time God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the rest of
the Law, he also gave Moses instructions for making a Tabernacle, a place of
worship in a tent, to travel to Palestine with the people who had left Egypt. He
wanted to be with his people, and have them aware that he was with them always.
When they camped, the Tabernacle was set up in the middle of the camp. When the
people were on the march, the Tabernacle led them, with the holy Ark going
first. God wanted to be in the midst of his people, and lead them, just as a
shepherd led the flock of sheep. A shepherd would live with his sheep, sleep
with them to be able to protect them from wild animals or enemies, always be in
the midst of them...knowing each one individually, watching over each one,
caring for each according to its needs. To settle the Ark into a Temple would
mean that the people would have to come to God, to worship...that they would no
longer see God as being in the midst of them, always available, always watching
over and caring for them. This theme of the shepherd God caring for the flocks
of his people in the wilderness keeps cropping up all through the Bible. David,
we remember, was a shepherd boy when Samuel anointed him as king. Jesus is known
as the Good Shepherd for this reason.
And then, God is a God of dynamic nature. God is not passive. He moves, he
works, he leads, he inspires. He's mobile. Building a Temple would be something
like trying to put God into a box, and taking him out only when the people
wanted him, not when he had to be free to act.
Further...David's act of obedience, giving up his own desire to build a
Temple, just because God said so, made it very clear that the king or leader is
not above the law. King David obeyed God, putting himself under
God's law. When a king or other leader tries to put himself above the law,
there's always trouble. We have had plenty of examples of this in history, both
long ago and even now in our own day...Watergate, for instance; the Nazis; the
dictatorships of Communist countries and of some countries in Africa come to
mind.
And, there is one last thing that pointed far, far ahead to Jesus. King David
ruled approximately 550 to 600 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, David's
home town. But this promise that God made to David, that his son Solomon could
build the Temple, amounted to a promise that David's family line would continue
to sit on the throne of Judah and Israel. This promise got stuck in peoples'
minds; they expected that the long-awaited Messiah would be born from the family
of King David...and so we find in the Gospels that Jesus is often addressed or
spoken of as Son of David, and that this is one of the proofs that
he is indeed the Messiah.
Let's turn now to the Gospel for today. You remember that Mark likes to put a
story inside a story. Today's Gospel tells about the time when Jesus had sent
his disciples out, two by two, to preach and heal. They had just come back, and
they were all excited at the healings they had been able to do, and the numbers
of people who had heard them preach. Jesus, the good shepherd, knew that they
were all exhausted, and took them off with him to find a quiet place where they
could rest and pray, talk with him about what they had been doing, maybe ask
some questions...away from the crowds who were pressing around Jesus, seeking
help and healing and comfort. In short, he took the Twelve off on a retreat.
They got into a couple of boats and headed for a quiet, private place where they
could be alone with Jesus. Jesus, like any shepherd, knew what his flock needed,
and tried to see that they would get it. He really cares for us, you know.
But the word about Jesus had spread, and Mark tells us that everywhere Jesus
went, people ran...yes, ran...to be with him, to hear his
teaching, to ask a favor or a healing or some advice. The people saw Jesus and
his disciples in the boat, and they started running along the shore of the lake,
keeping up with the boats. They were determined to have their time with Jesus,
too. And when the boats landed, Jesus saw, with his great compassion, that the
crowd of people were like sheep without a shepherd, so he made himself available
to them, cared for their needs...and the day went on into evening.
At this point, comes the story of the feeding of the five thousand, Mark's
"story inside a story." We will be reading that in church, next week.
After the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus again set out with his
disciples for a time of rest and prayer and teaching. This time, apparently,
they were successful in getting that time away which they so badly needed.
You see how well the story of David's desire to build a Temple and the story
of Jesus caring for both the disciples and the crowds fits together? Shepherds
and flocks in the wilderness...God in the midst of his people...Jesus in the
midst of his disciples and all around them the crowds running to be with
Jesus...the great compassion of God the Father as he led the former slaves home
from Egypt...the great compassion of God the Son, ministering to tired,
exhausted, exhilarated disciples and to the huge crowds that followed...it's all
one story. It's one God, over the ages, "doing his thing", shepherding and
caring for each according to his or her needs.
There are some questions that come from these stories that we might
profitably ponder:
- Do we joyfully run to God for what we need? Or do we tend to avoid and
fear him?
- Are we willing to put aside our own plans and obey God's will even when
it conflicts with our own desires?
- Do we allow God to live in the midst of our lives, or do we put him off
on the sidelines where he won't bother us?
- Do we obey God no matter what? Why or why not?
Take time, now, to think on these things, against the background of today's
Bible readings. Then, take a moment to talk to God about them, silently, in your
heart.
Amen.
