Waiting for a Home

Our text from Samuel today does raise a few issues. We first note that in 1 Kings 5:3 we are told that David did not build the temple because he was too busy defending the nation from intruders. It is because of the lasting peace that was the result of David’s rule that Solomon was able to build the temple during his reign. A close look at the second chapter of 1 Samuel we learn that, during David’s reign, the Ark of the Covenant was at Shiloh. While the text calls that place a tent there are hints that it was a much more stable structure. So we find this text a bit strange. In fact this is one of the most troubling passages in Samuel and scholars have debated about it for years. While there is no consensus on the solution most scholars agree that the problem arises because an editor has inserted and/or changed the original passage. Why he changed this passage is debated. Did Nathan give David the go-ahead to build but David failed to build it and this was a gloss to explain why? Or did the editor have something against the temple? Saying that it is more important to be the people of God than to build a temple? There is a play on words in the text between the words, “house” and “family” that gets lost in the translation. Does God want a house to dwell in or for the people to live as God’s family?

Putting the scriptural inconsistencies away we turn to David and Nathan. Both of them were called by God to specific tasks. David to be king and Nathan to be God’s mouthpiece to guide him in his role. We see that interaction in our text for today. David thinks building a temple is his task and it is not. Nathan first agrees but has to admit that he is wrong and confront David with the news that he is not the one to build a temple. To be called by God is not always easy; it can be difficult and disappointing.

Luke gives us two more examples of people who are called by God – Mary and Elizabeth. That they are two women is a great story in itself in a time when women were not considered equal to men in religious roles. First, Mary, a young woman betrothed to Joseph. She did not have any say in this betrothal her impending marriage was an agreement between her father and Joseph’s father. Yet it is to her that the angel Gabriel comes and speaks. She asks ‘how that could be?” She is only a young girl – that is what the word that is translated “virgin” means. Luke may not be saying what we think but could be saying that she had not yet reached puberty and was unable to have children. We contrast that to Elizabeth who was too old to have children. Thus Luke’s message may be that God is present in all of our lives. It does not matter who you are or how old you are, God calls you to God’s kingdom and gives you a task to do. That task may even seem impossible but, like Mary, your answer is, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord.”  We can answer as Mary did because we are the family and temple of God built upon the cornerstone Jesus. While you wait for Jesus, look to your life and find what God is calling you to do. Answer that call and build.