“Un / settled”

2 Samuel 7:1-17

October 25, 2020

Sermon by Rev. Caela Simmons Wood 

First Congregational UCC of Manhattan, KS

The king was sitting in his house – exhausted. His body was physically spent from all the battles he had fought. His soul was spent from dancing with abandon as the Ark of the Covenant was brought to its new home in Jerusalem. And he was emotionally spent from the argument with his wife the night before. 

And now he settled into his house. Exhausted, proud, and planning. 

Always planning. 

Even in his worn-out state, King David was never one to sit still for long. As he gazed around his home, he was filled with pride. He – who had once been a lowly shepherd boy tending stinky sheep in a field – now lived in a house made of cedar. He was the king of a nation that was on the rise. They had even reclaimed the Ark of the Covenant – God’s house! – and brought it to the new capital city of Jerusalem.

David’s pride turned to gratitude as he thought of the Ark. He blushed and felt embarrassed that he had allowed himself to get so puffed up, thinking about his fancy house. Of course, none of this would have happened without YHWH. He would not be where he was – in this fine house made of cedar. Jerusalem would not be secure. The people of Israel would not be filled with pride and joy.

The people - his people - had been through so much to get to this place. This “being settled” was new for them. They came from a long line of wanderers. Once upon a time they had been not-a-people at all. But then YHWH had named and claimed them. A covenant was sealed with their ancestor Abraham and they were promised a land of their own. 

But getting to this point had taken a long time. They had been sold into slavery, displaced from their homes. In time, YHWH heard their cries and sent Moses to deliver them from Egypt, but, even then, they were not settled. Instead they wandered in the wilderness for more than a generation - decidedly UNsettled.

But now things were different. The king looked around his house and felt a sense of peace. He felt settled. It felt good. 

With a sigh of contentment, a new thought hit him like a crash of thunder. Here he was living in this fancy house, but the presence of the Holy One was stuck in a dinky little tent. 

How could he have missed this?!? The balance was all wrong. 

YHWH needed a new home. A place much nicer than the king’s palace. And now that David was firmly established in the land - settled - he would be the one to make a permanent house for the Lord.

He called for one of his advisors, the prophet Nathan. Excited – King David shared his idea. Nathan was on board. He saw no reason why YHWH wouldn’t want a nice house, too. He gave King David the green light and the king fell asleep dreaming up floor plans for the temple that he would build.

Nathan went home and drifted off...but slept fitfully. 

Tossing and turning, he had difficult dreams. As he awoke and began his morning prayers, he pondered the words he had heard in the night from YHWH. He knew he had to go back to the king and deliver an unwelcome message. 

When Nathan arrived at David’s house cedar, he explained to David that he had spoken too soon. YHWH insisted that there was no need for a temple at this time. Instead, God had a different plan: God would continue to build David’s house out of PEOPLE. God would create a dynasty that would last for all time and everyone in David’s lineage would be blessed. 

But the task of building a house for YHWH? That task wasn’t for this king, but for one to come in the future. 

*********************

How often do we think we’ve got it figured out like King David? We plan and work and strive and, if we’re lucky, we find ourselves feeling settled. We look around at what we believe we’ve accomplished and we give thanks. We are filled with gratitude for what we have and maybe we even want to give back, like King David does. 

And so we share our plans with God in excitement. And we assume that things will stay the same, predictable, settled. 

But then a year like 2020 comes along and laughs at all our plans. There’s not much settled these days, is there? Our plans have unraveled. The future is murky. There seem to be more uncertainties than certainies these days. Even things we thought were foundational and unshakable have been altered in this past year. 

It is perhaps in the heaving and tossing, the shaking and quaking of a year like this one that we come to realize that our ideas of “being settled” are not the same as God’s. David looked at his beautiful home of cedar - he looked at his people who had finally arrived as a nation….and he wanted to share some of that with God...to honor God. 

But God - God, the great unsettler of hearts - reminded the great king that so many of our human ideas about what it means to be settled are impermanent, fleeting. Buildings come and go. Political systems wax and wane. The prophet Isaiah reminds us that humans are like grass - the grass withers and flowers fade. We ebb and flow. And no matter how settled we might feel….our great buildings, our bank accounts, our institutions are all temporary. 

What remains when the winds of change come and blow everything settled to dust? 

God tells King David that what God wants isn’t a home. What God wants - what God offers - what God dreams of is US. 

When God establishes this covenant with King David, it isn’t about buildings, or gold, or institutions, even. It’s about relationship. 

God reminds David that he was chosen when he was just a poor shepherd kid. David was loved by God before he was king and God desires to keep that relationship no matter what comes in the future. It’s a covenant that is promised to David’s children and his children’s children and his children’s children’s children.

When the rug is ripped out from under us - when we despair because we look all around and can’t take any more change - when we can’t even remember what it feels like to feel settled…..God’s steadfast love remains. 

The love that was poured out onto our ancestors - to Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah and Hagar, Joseph, Moses, Miriam, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah….the list goes on and on.

That love - that love promised to David - shines brightly in the form of a tiny human child born in Bethlehem. Like David, this child was not someone anyone would have expected to become a king.

Emmanuel - God’s love with us. Born in the lineage of King David - promised to us from long ago. 

And I know, I know, it’s not Christmas yet….we haven’t even made it to All Saints Day. But God’s love is shouting to us so loudly from these ancient stories, it just won’t keep quiet. 

In a time of great unrest...A time when nothing feels settled at all….A time when it feels like so much of what we thought was firm, unshakable has been blown apart…God is calling to us to be settled. Not because our lives are predictable, or our institutions are sturdy, or the future is clear. It’s not about peaceful kingdoms or fine, cedar homes. That’s not it. 

God is inviting us to be settled more fully into God. To crawl up into that Spirit and seek shelter and rest. Because God’s love has not left us, will not leave us. No matter how unsettled we are - no matter how topsy-turvey this world becomes. We are held within that love. 

When you feel unsettled these days (I can’t be the only one who feels unsettled these days, right?) I have a simple prayer practice I would encourage you to try. It uses the words of Psalm 46: Be Still and Know that I am God. 

I want to try it together now….and I promise you it’s simple enough that you’ll be able to do it on your own anytime you need to find your spirit settled within God’s Spirit. 

This sphere will show how we will use our breath. When it gets bigger, we fill up our lungs and inhale. When it gets smaller, we exhale together. We’re going to start by breathing together a few times and then when I begin to speak, you will repeat after me. 

Breathe x 3

Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am God. 

Be still and know that I am. Be still and know that I am. 

Be still and know. Be still and know. 

Be still. Be still.
Be. Be. 

Amen.