#SundayCoffee
Trying to Rescue God
Every once in a while we get it in our heads that God is in danger of public neglect, and we (as a nation or state or city) try to enact some kind of legislation to protect God.
We’re seeing a resurgence of this right now in the U.S., as certain states try to impose the “Ten Commandments” in our public places and classrooms, and where zealous political leaders with dubious motives start insisting the Bible be central to our education curricula.
They echo and amplify public fears that we are becoming a godless nation, provoking the wrath of God. Every social or climatic problem is a result of taking prayer out of public schools or attempts to remove “In God We Trust” from our money — as if those things somehow magically kept us righteous and pure, safe under the protective eye of God.
But people genuinely connected with the Divine Source never think this way. They know spirituality, “righteousness,” cannot be legislated, cannot be imposed. It is something held closely on the personal level. And divine favor, how ever that may be manifested, is not earned by public display of religious fervor.
This week’s lectionary reading, from 2 Samuel 6, is the story about David dancing before the ark of God as it is brought up from its place of neglect into the center of his political kingdom. The ark had been pretty much ignored by King Saul, David’s predecessor, for 40 or more years, and David wanted to “bring God back” into the seat of political power. He definitely had mixed motives. As one of our early examples of a personal mystic, I’m sure he genuinely wanted God’s presence (literally and figuratively enshrined in the ark) close by him. And as a rising king of international fear and fame, he knew the value of having his reign closely associated with a state religion, with all the external trappings of God’s divine favor.
The reading selection focuses on two halves of the story of David bringing the ark up to his capital, but it omits (probably for the sake of brevity and consistency) a handful of verses that relate an intriguing interruption in the processional. As the ark was being transported by a new ox cart, perhaps especially built for the occasion, the ox stumbled and the cart tilted precariously. One of the men leading the cart reached out his hand to steady the ark — something explicitly forbidden — and was struck dead, dying right there beside the ark. And “David was afraid of the Lord that day; he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come into my care?” So David was unwilling to take the ark of the Lord into his care …”
Instead, David leaves the ark with another priestly family outside the city, where it stays for 3 months. Over that time, that family is noticeably blessed by God, and when David is told of this, he decides to finish the process of bringing the ark under his care, and the story resumes. This time, the ark is carried on priestly shoulders, as was the proper way, David and those leading the procession wear priestly garments, and sacrifices are offered after the procession takes 6 steps — all signs that David now recognizes the gravity of what he was doing, that God is not to be trivialized or handled carelessly.
This omitted scene speaks loudly to me. Not so much that God is dangerous — although no one should mistakenly think that the Creator of the Universe can be domesticated like a house cat — but that God does not need our “rescuing” in the public sphere. Whatever David’s motives originally were for bringing the Presence under his control, and how ever helpful poor Uzzah thought he was being when he grabbed hold of the ark thinking to save it, God doesn’t need our help. God doesn’t need to be publicly rescued or made a prop for political spectacle. That’s like playing with electricity. You don’t know the power you’re toying with.
Ultimately, David dances before the ark “with all his might,” before the God he passionately loves. And there is great celebration with all kinds of musical instruments and bread and fruit cakes being distributed to all the people. And David’s house is blessed.
There are probably all kinds of subtle messages hidden in this text, but one that can’t be overlooked is simply this: God doesn’t need you to defend Him or rescue Him from obscurity. And any divine favor you seek won’t be bought by public display. As Jesus would say about 900 years later, “but you, when you pray, go into your most private room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you…”
May your encounters this week with the Presence be personally rewarding and “in secret.”
refs: 2 Samuel 6:1-19; Matthew 6:6
artwork: James Jacques Joseph Tissot – The Ark Passes Over the Jordan – Google Art Project.jpg, Public Domain.