Readings: Psalm 48, 2 Corinthians 12:2-10, Mark 6:1-13, 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, July 7, 2024
As a young boy David had been singled out as a significant person for the life of Israel when the prophet Samuel chose him from among his brothers. We witness him bringing down Goliath, the giant who frustrated Israel’s dreams of progress. When Israel demands God that they have a King, like the nations around them, they are given Saul. Saul, though he walked tall, was not always in touch with the God who had allowed him to occupy a position of leadership, and his interactions with David where at the best, dysfunctional and at their worst threatened David’s existence.
David has remained constant in his desire to see God’s purposes fulfilled. When Saul falls in battle, along with David’s best friend, Saul’s son Jonathon, David mourns their passing and offers a dignified eulogy for Saul that marked the end of an era that had seen Israel’s growth and establishment as a power to be reckoned with.
But now there is a vacuum to be filled. Saul has gone. His rightful heir to the throne, Jonathan has also perished. The obvious candidate is David. We read this morning “All the tribes of Israel came to David and said, "Look, we are your bone and flesh. For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel.” The people also acknowledge Samuel's words of promise when they say; “The LORD said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel."
David is anointed as King. Note that this is the second time David has been anointed. The original anointing took place when he was first recognized by Samuel as a leader. We read in 1 Samuel 16:13 “Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers.” In our passage today, David is again anointed for the office he was to occupy.
Over in my homelands a new King recently ascended the throne. In the United Kingdom, anointing remains a sacred part of the coronation ceremony. It is the only part of the ceremony that takes place, not in public, but behind a screen. During the anointing, the Archbishop of Canterbury poured holy oil, that had been blessed in Jerusalem, onto a Coronation Spoon, with which the King was anointed by placing the oil onto his hands, chest and head, signifying that the King was to serve with his physical presence, with his heart and his mind.
It is too early to determine what legacy the reign of King Charles may leave to history, but the legacy of David’s reign was significant. We read that “He reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.” That he “Became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him.” His years as King were looked back to as being a golden age. In prophecies about the Messiah, the ‘Chosen One’ is pictured as being an heir to David. In the genealogies that appear in both Matthew and Luke’s gospels, David is pictured as an ancestor of Jesus. Quite a legacy!
Whenever I read about people leaving a legacy, I am always challenged to consider what kind of legacy our own lives will leave to those who come after us. We may not all get to become literal Kings and Queens, but scripturally speaking we are all, by faith, sisters, and brothers of King Jesus, which marks us all out as spiritual royalty! That’s quite an inheritance to live into. What can we learn from this passage that speaks about the coronation of a King?
I’m going to pull from this passage three simple observations;
• God has a plan for us.
• God has a place for us.
• God has a promise for us.
God has a plan for us
We don’t know much about the inner life of young David when he was a shepherd boy taking care of his father Jethro’s flocks. We don’t know about his ambitions or dreams. Being the youngest of 8 sons in the family, he probably saw his opportunities as being limited. It is doubtful that national leadership was ever on his mind.
You sometimes read the autobiographies of famous characters and they’ll say, “Well I knew right from the day I was born, I was going to be this or going to be that.” Such aspirations seem totally lacking from David’s mind. Even his father Jesse didn’t seem to expect much of him. The prophet Samuel has to ask Jesse, when introducing his sons, “Now hold on, isn’t there another son?” And Jesse, is just like, ‘Oh… only David… but he’s out looking after sheep.”
The only thing David seems absolutely set upon is that he was going to trust God to lead him. He believes that God has a plan, though he himself had no aspiration other than to trust that God was God and could totally be relied upon.
We can sometimes, as we go through life become obsessed with the idea of what we want to be. Our society reinforces that idea. People ask you, “What do you do?” and form a judgement of you based upon your answer. From our earliest days we are asked to make choices as to what stream of studies we want to take, what options we want to follow. Yet I have observed, that even when they go off to college, a lot of kids have no idea if they are actually doing what they really want to be doing!
David seems to have side-stepped the whole process. If you asked him, “David, what do you want to be when you grow up?” I suspect he may have replied; “What do I want to be? Why the same thing as I am now!” We may smile and say, “So you want to be a shepherd for the rest of your days?” “No sir” he would reply, “I want to be faithful. That’s what I want to be when I grow up.”
Fascinatingly, one of the pictures of final judgment is a parable that does not conclude with, “Well done. You made a lot of money and did a lot of stuff.” but “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)
I would suggest that one lesson we can learn from David is that our dreams and personal aspirations should take second place to our desire to be a disciple, willing to go, be and do whatever God may ask of us. And we operate that faith with the understanding that…
God has a place for us.
God had a place for David. Eventually that place would be to sit upon a throne and be a ruler for God’s people who united the people of Judah and Israel as one nation and founded the city of Jerusalem as a center for religious life. A place in salvation history in which he would become an ancestor of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Before he filled any of those roles there were other situations that he occupied. A fighter. A musician. A leader. A counselor. A defender. His anointing as a servant came early in his life. His anointing as a King came later. We don’t get to be in all situations, in all places, at all times. Where we are now is not where we will eventually be.
Some people travel through life never going far from home. Some live and die in the place they were born. If you think about the life of Jesus. His influence has far outspread His geographical footprint. As far as we are aware He never wrote a book, occupied a significant public office or was given honors in any civic or national sense. On the contrary, He ended his life on a Cross outside the city walls. Yet nobody has had more of a historic global influence.
St Paul on the other hand never seemed to stop moving around. We know that… from the record of his travels in the Book of Acts. We know that… because of his letters that make up a significant part of our New Testament. Before his adoption of Christianity, he was held in high esteem by his Jewish colleagues. After his adoption into the faith, he was acknowledged as an expert, a leader, an authority, and an apostle by the worldwide Christian community.
It doesn’t matter in terms of geography where we are, where we stay, or where we move to. God has a place for us. It doesn’t matter what position we occupy in our communities. God has a place for us. Here, there, or everywhere, the love of God surrounds us and calls us to service. Whatever stage of life we are at, God’s grace has a place for us to serve. And speaking of service…
God has a promise for us
A promise of anointing. Anointing not by oil but an anointing of God’s Holy Spirit. Those whom God calls, God equips with the resources and inspiration and guidance of God’s Holy Spirit. In John Chapter 16 Jesus talks of the Spirit as the presence of God that would guide the disciples in the ways of His Kingdom, who would be His presence in their hearts and the uniting force in their fellowship. In the Spirit they would find unity and experience His presence continuing to lead them and the Spirit would grace their efforts with God’s love.
The prerequisite for this to happen, is similar to that envisioned by the coronation oil applied to a new monarchs’ hands, chest and head. We must be willing to serve our God with all our strength, with all our heart and all our mind.
For David, his service was a response to the commitment that He felt God had towards those who were faithful, towards those who trusted in God. No matter what his family thought of him, or what the expectations people had of him, he knew God was faithful and so he was going to be faithful to God.
As Christians, we love because God first loved us. Our love is not simply a matter of duty, but a response to the awesome love that is displayed to us in the life, works and words of Our Savior Jesus Christ. In Him we are forgiven, in Him we are saved, in Him we are empowered, in Him we are called children of God.
We bow before the dark shadow of the Cross and gaze in awe at the glory of the empty tomb. Around this table laid with bread and wine is a fresh opportunity to seek the anointing of God’s Holy Spirit upon our lives. God has a plan for us. God has a place for us. God has a promise for us.
The same promise offered to a king at a time of coronation.
The promise of His presence
And all God asks is that we do as David did.
That we trust in God.
And to God be all honor praise and glory.
Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
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