2 Sam. 7:1-11, 1

Being the avid Myth-Busters watcher that I am, I know the following story is not likely to be true but I share it with you any way because I think it makes a point.  I promise there is a worth while point in here somewhere.  Dear Sir: I am writing in response to your request for more information concerning Block #11 on the insurance form which asks for “cause of injuries” wherein I put, “Trying to do the job alone.” You said you needed more information so I trust the following will be sufficient. I am a bricklayer by trade and I was working alone laying brick around the top of a four-story building when I realized I had about 500 pounds of bricks left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to put them into a barrel and lower them by a pulley which was fastened to the top of the building. I secured the end of the rope at ground level, went up to the top of the building, loaded the bricks into the barrel, and swung the barrel out with the bricks in it. I then went down and untied the rope, holding it securely to ensure the slow descent of the barrel.

As you will note on Block #6 of the insurance form, I weigh 145 pounds. Due to my shock at being jerked off the ground so swiftly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Between the second and third floors, I met the barrel coming down. This accounts for the bruises and lacerations on my upper body.  Regaining my presence of mind again, I held tightly to the rope and proceeded rapidly up the side of the building, not stopping until my right hand was jammed in the pulley. This accounts for the broken thumb. Despite the pain, I retained my presence of mind and held tightly to the rope. At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighed about 50 pounds. I again refer you to Block #6. As you would guess, I began a rapid descent. In the vicinity of the second floor I met the barrel coming up. This explains the injuries to my legs and lower body.  I continued my descent, landing on the pile of bricks. This accounts for my sprained back and internal injuries.  I am sorry to report, however, that at this point, I again lost my presence of mind and let go of the rope, and as you can imagine, the empty barrel crashed down on me. This accounts for my head injuries. I trust this answers your concern. Please know that I am finished “trying to do the job alone.”

Like I said I know this story is not likely true but unlike the Myth Busters who demonstrated this story was not likely to have happened based on the physics involved; I rather think it is likely based on the humanity involved.  We humans never seem to tire of trying to do the job alone.  It is a part of our human nature to overestimate our ability to control situations and all too often, as in the case of the preceding example things go horribly wrong. 

It is precisely because we are no good at doing the job alone that God came to dwell among us in the person of Jesus the Christ.  God knew we were not capable of saving ourselves so God entered our world so that we would no longer feel that we had to do the job alone.  We had made a mess of things on our own so God entered the mess we had made and to straighten things out.  At Christmas we celebrate the greatest present we have ever received; the gift of God’s presence with us.  We celebrate Immanuel, God with us; that is the good news of Christmas, that God has broken into our world and we never have to go it alone again.  Often we experience this as both good news and bad news.  God is present with us but God being so readily at hand can apparently at times be unsettling; at times we wish God wasn’t so near at hand, and because we don’t know what to do with God being so close by we tend to turn to doing things on our own again. 

Take for example the story we read from 2 Samuel a few moments ago.  King David, God’s chosen servant, and Israel’s best King has been through thick and thin with God.  God’s presence has meant a lot to David, as God has led him victoriously through battle and has empowered him to beat the odds on multiple occasions.  In today’s passage we pick up with David at a transition point in his life.  No longer is he engulfed in battle, no longer does David feel the need for God to be with him as David’s life hangs in the balance.  Now David is settled in his house, and he is at rest from all his enemies around him. 

David’s discomfort with the situation is expressed in his nervous statement to Nathan “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.”  Now that things are settled David is unsettled because he doesn’t know what to do with God’s presence.  While they were on the move, in battle a tent seemed suitable for God’s presence, but that doesn’t seem so fitting now.  Implied is David’s question should I build a house for God too; to which Nathan responds “go and do it.”  Notice David never suggests making room for the Ark of the Covenant in his house.  It doesn’t matter because God’s response to David through Nathan it to say “You are going to build a house for Me?  Maybe you have forgotten how all of this has worked.  Let me remind you, first I have never been much of one for houses, a tent has suited me nicely, thank you very much, because I am a God that is on the move and not easily contained.  Second maybe you have forgotten that I am the one in charge here, it is I who have brought you here and established you as king over my people.  Oh and one more thing “Don’t bother making me a house; I am going to make you a house and your throne and your house shall be established forever.   

Many years later God made good on God’s promise, for in the city and family of David was born a child to be the King of kings and they shall call him Emmanuel God with us.  David’s throne endures and God is with us still.  The promise of Emmanuel is a powerful promise, because it means that God is with us now and will be with us always — through stress and sickness, conflict and confusion, failure and frustration, despair and even death itself. Nothing in all creation “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”. That’s the good news; the guarantee of Emmanuel. The trouble is we are like David; sometimes at a loss as to what to do with God.  Most of the time our lives are settled and truth be told we would rather not have God looking over our shoulder.  Oh sure sometimes we get in a jam and then it is handy to call on God to bail us out, but most of time we feel like we can do the job alone.  Trying to do the job alone gets us into trouble like the brick layer. 

God has given us the gift of God’s presence with us.  It is the greatest gift we could ever receive because it is in this gift that we are made new, and made whole.  It is this gift that sees us through the confusion, the sickness, the stress, and frustration of life we encounter when we try to do the job alone.  It is this gift that allows us to be settled at all.  The question is what to do with this present of presence?  What to do with the gift of God’s presence and the answer is to let it in.  God no more desires we build a house for God, put God in a box, than God required it of David, but God does ask that we allow God to dwell with us and within us. 

In his book Making Room for Life (2003), Randy Frazee recounts how a successful Christian businessman made a profound impact on his life. He writes: “I grew up in an un-churched home. I had to make arrangements to get to church and back home by myself. The church was about a 20-minute drive from my house. If I wanted to come back for Sunday evening worship, which I always did, it made the most sense to stay at the church all afternoon or to go home with a family that lived near by. There was one particularly gracious Italian family that invited me to their house almost every Sunday for a great meal. The father was a successful independent grocer who had many tales of buying and selling produce that captured my attention. At dinnertime we would all gather around the table, and he would “say grace.” This was a new experience for me. This successful man would bow his head and humbly thank God for providing the food we were about to eat. I had never heard of such a thing. It seemed to me that he had worked very hard to get to where he was and that he should take all the credit. However, he humbled himself in the presence of his family and declared his gratitude to God. There were times when everyone else’s head was bowed and eyes were closed, and I’d look up and stare at him. I desperately wanted to grow up and be like him. I wanted to raise a family and demonstrate God’s love and protection on our family, just as this father did.”

Friends we have been given the gift of God’s presence.  May we be appreciative for and humbled that God would choose to dwell with and within us.  May we no longer bear the burden of trying to do the job ourselves but may we instead bear witness to God’s incarnation in Christ by demonstrating for others God’s love and compassion that God has shown us.  Amen.