Meeting Jesus Vienna Presbyterian Church The Rev. Dr. Peter G. James 2 Samuel 7:8-16 December 2, 2018
Today marks the first Sunday of Advent. The four Sundays before Christmas constitute the season called Advent. We need Advent in the worst way right now. A commercialized form of Christmas has been holding court since Halloween. Yes, it s now Christmas in October. Amazon identified November 1 st this year as the official start of the holiday shopping season. Enough already! Advent comes from the Latin Adventus, meaning coming. Christians live between two comings Jesus first coming at Bethlehem and his second coming at the end of human history, when Christ will make all things new. Advent is an ideal time for us to prepare for the coming of Christ; both his first coming at Christmas and his anticipated second coming. Over these next four Advent Sundays, we will focus on four titles for Jesus: Son of David, Word of God, Savior and Emmanuel. We begin with Jesus as promised Son of David because our Advent devotional, A Child is Born, leads off with a Messianic prophecy from Isaiah: A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him (11:1-2). Jesse has eight sons, of which, the youngest, David, is Israel s greatest monarch. This Messiah, who will emerge from David s lineage, is called Son of David.
This Son of David imagery is critical to the gospels. Matthew begins his gospel with the words, This is a genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David (1:1). Luke announces the coming of this royal Son of David in his first chapter also. The angel announces to Mary, You will conceive and give birth to a Son and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over Jacob s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end (1:32-33). The antecedents to Son of David originate in Second Samuel 7. Biblical scholar Walter Brueggeman calls Second Samuel 7, One of the most crucial texts in the entire Old Testament. In chapter 7, we find David living the good life. He and his compatriots enjoy rest from their enemies. David is no longer on the run. He observes, Here I am, living in a house of cedar (made of expensive timber from the forests of Lebanon) while the ark of God (symbolizing God s presence) remains in a tent (7:2). It doesn t sit right with David that he is living in a house while the Ark of God resides in a makeshift tent. David resolves to build God an elaborate temple.
David talks it over with his pastor, Nathan. Nathan expresses enthusiasm for the project. A house for God what s not to like about it! That very night, God and Nathan have a little talk. Actually, God does most of the talking. Nathan, this is what I want you to ask David (7:5). Are you going to build me a house? I have been making out just fine in a tent. I like being with my people on the move. A tent reminds people that I am with them wherever they go. I have never once asked, Why have you not built me a house of cedar? (7:7) Now then, tell my servant David, This is what the Lord Almighty says (7:8). God enumerates four things he has done for David in his recent past. David, who is ready to explode with big dreams for God s house, must now listen to a litany of God s achievements. I took you from the pasture (v8). I appointed you ruler (v8). I have been with you (v9). I cut off your enemies (v9). There is a decided shift in verb tense in verse 9. God shifts from rehearsing the past to unveiling his future for David. I will make your name great (v9). I will provide a place for you (v10). I will plant you in homes of your own (v10). I will give you rest from your enemies (v11). I will establish a house for you (v11). I will raise up your offspring (v12). I will establish his kingdom (v12). I will establish it forever (v13). I count 12 active verbs in a span of six verses.
Let s drill down on one promise in verse 11: I will establish a house for you. House has three meanings in Hebrew a domestic dwelling, a temple or a dynasty. Don t miss the play on words here. David offers to build God a house, meaning a temple. God wants to build David a house, meaning a dynasty. This dynasty will be like no other. It will eclipse the British monarchy, the Ming Dynasty and even the Yankee Dynasty. It will be a forever dynasty. Verse 13 I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Verse 16 Your name and your kingdom will endure forever and Your throne will be established forever. King Jesus will sit on David s throne forever. His kingdom has no end. The words of the Hallelujah Chorus come to mind: And he shall reign forever and ever. I wrestled this week with why God objects so strongly to David s magnanimous offer to build God a temple. So many people ask special favors from God. You would think if someone wants to do something nice for God, God would oblige. In Leap over a Wall, Eugene Peterson writes, Do you know what I think? I think that David is about to cross over a line from being full of God to being full of himself. Outwardly, everything is the same. He is not conscious of doing anything different, not self-aware of any shift within. But David, riding the crest of acclaim, having decidedly defeated the opposition united God s people
and captured the allegiance of all Israel and Judah, and heady with success is now going to do God a favor. Building a house for God will serve to cement David s legacy. If David goes ahead with his building plans, people will be all about David and forget about God. I get it! Whenever I do something significant for God involving my time and hard-earned money, I become susceptible to thinking that God somehow needs me. I begin to entertain the idea that I am doing God a favor. Whenever I start down this slippery slope, I lose my sense of dependency on God. There is the sentiment that makes the rounds in Christian circles, Christ has no body on earth but yours; no hands but your hands; no feet but your feet. We misattribute this quote to St. Teresa of Avila, a 16 th century author and Christian mystic. Misidentifying quotes happens often in our internet age. Really? Christ has no hands but our hands; no feet but our feet. You cannot be serious! Christ is not beholden to me. God does not need me. Lord, I need you. Christ doesn t need me. I need him. David s story has a happy ending. David goes into the tent of meeting, sits down and prays for God s will to be done in his life. He lets go of his plans to build God a house in exchange for the dynasty God wants to build through him.
David takes himself off the throne of his life and submits to God as King. In the 1930s, a team of archeologists began work to remove plaster from a sixth century AD church in Istanbul. Some believed that plaster covered over ancient Byzantine artwork depicting Christ after the Turks invaded the city in the 14 th century and converted the church into a mosque. This is what the archeologists found when they uncovered the plaster from the walls. It is a stunning portrait of Christ from the 13 th century. The fresco is a depiction of one of the oldest paintings of Jesus called Christ Pantocrator from the 6 th century AD. Pantocrator is a Greek word meaning Almighty. Christ holds the Bible in his left hand while making a gesture of blessing with his right hand. The halo behind his head frames an outline of a cross. The Greek letters on either side of the painting serve as a monogram for Jesus Christ. There is no physical description of Jesus in the New Testament. I am sure this is deliberate on God s part. Otherwise, we would be tempted to identify Jesus with a certain race and ethnicity. Just the same, it is instructive to consider what the 13 th century church believes about Jesus Christ as Lord Pantocrator. He is not only a figure of history confined to walls on ancient cathedrals. He is alive, risen and triumphant. He is the royal Son of David who reigns forever. He is Christ Pantocrator, Lord Almighty.
We utilized a portion of Christ Pantocrator to depict our Advent sermon series on Jesus. We want you to meet Jesus this Advent. Some of you will meet Jesus this Advent for the first time. Jesus can actually live in you by means of the Holy Spirit. Some of you will meet Jesus all over again. We ask you to put aside any bias you have of Christ and every preconception you have of how you think Christ ought to work in your life. We want you to experience Jesus Christ all over again, as if for the first time. Meet Jesus for the first time. Meet him again for the first time. Some of you come to worship most every Sunday. You sing the hymns and share in the prayers. You listen to the sermon, thinking it is intended for someone else. You might even think to yourself, I wish so and so was here to hear this sermon. Could it be that this sermon about meeting Jesus is meant for you? Meet Jesus for the first time. Meet Jesus again, as if for the first time. This Advent. Today. This Christmas. Now.