Sermon 10.20.2024: Presidents are Not Messiahs

Does God anoint the unjust to rule over us? Many Christians currently say so. After all, God chose King David, and he was far from virtuous. But God's covenant transcends David. God's covenant promises us a society of dignity, freedom, and community.



Scripture

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Now when [David] the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.”

But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever. In accordance with all these words and with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

Sermon

Come Together

Reconciliation is God’s operating system. This morning, we will explore the most important forebear of Jesus, King David, who, in around 1000 BC, did some mighty fine reconciliation work of his own. He brought God back to God’s people, uniting the divided kingdom and crowning Jerusalem the new capitol city. God promises to make David’s descendants a monarchy. How do we square that with the sovereignty of God? If God is the only sovereign worth having, where does that leave the monarchs, prime ministers and presidents of this world? The Book of Daniel says God raises up leaders and God removes them. [1] 

Is Second Samuel Relevant for our Democratic Republic?

Lou and I sent in our ballots this week and quickly received confirmation that they were received, secured and recorded. We did not vote the same way on everything. When it comes to electing our leaders, people of faith—people who love one another—must grapple with the foundational truth of God as love. [2] God never stops loving and always acts consistently with the identity of love. Karl Barth called it “ divine freedom,” [3] In other words, if it ain’t loving it ain’t God. [4] Don’t know who to vote for? Ask yourself. Which candidate comes closest to demonstrating agapē love? Ask yourself, which of these ballot measures would God vote for, were God to figure them out? Sometimes we are left with poor choices. Thank God some of you are community leaders, city officials. You are inspiriting, and you make us proud. 

Many years ago, I asked a very wise man, Albert Curry Winn, a kind of Presbyterian Gandhi, who I should vote for in an Atlanta sheriff’s race. I felt stumped. Both candidates were terrible choices. So, Al took a deep breath and pulled me aside, and said, “Well, you’ve got a choice between a White crook or a Black crook. As far as I’m concerned, it’s time to let the Black crook have his day.” The Black crook won, and was later indicted and incarcerated in the jail named for him. [5] God calls us to do the best we can with what we have. 

The Broken Hallelujah  

The Davidic Covenant, God’s 3000-year-old deal with King David is astonished relevant today. It’s about the relationship of God with worldly power. Set in its social-historical context, it’s about the necessity for moral leadership. This week, I saw some scenes from a political rally that featured this song. [6] 

I heard there was a secret chord 

That David played and it pleased the Lord 

But you don't really care for music, do you? 

It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, 

the minor fall, the major lift, 

the baffled king composing Hallelujah… 

Your faith was strong but you needed proof, 

you saw her bathing on the roof, 

her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you 

She tied you to a kitchen chair, 

she broke your throne, she cut your hair, 

and from your lips she drew the Hallelujah…[7] 

Reconciliation is the Goal

Biblical covenants are spiritual contracts, deals that God (literally) “cuts" with the people. God made covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and today, David. From the house and lineage of David, God will raise a messiah, whose kingdom shall have no end. Then, God makes it personal. “I shall be as a father to him, and he as a son to me.” Why David? David has just rescued the ark of the covenant from Abinadab. The ark was a chest that contained God’s very presence, stone tablets, the heart of the Torah. Lacking proper temple, the ark was kept in a tent. 

"Rich in Things, Poor in Soul"

David, feeling pretty good about himself, saunters home to the palace, checks out his new, comfy throne and dreams up his next achievement. Like so many of us who lead and enjoy success, David begins to think his thoughts must run pretty deep. Like an ancient developer with too much money and too much time, David starts planning a monumental home for God. I imagine it as a real estate ad. 

Charm meets convenience in this new turnkey single-deity abode. Leave your tent behind! A world of warmth awaits you, perfect for creating lasting memories with loved ones. Your spacious urban dwelling place offers city living at its finest, a sanctuary to call home. [9] 

Get out of God's Way

And like well-educated, good-looking religious people everywhere, David, though he means well, doesn’t try to discern what God wants. It’s hard to admit it, but we’ve all been like David, in God’s way. In David’s defense, it’s easy to go too far once we’re on a roll. When is it the right time to let God be God? Pray, listen, wait. Know when to get out of God’s way. 

Through some “shady” wordplay, God tells the priest Nathan to tell David of God’s plans for a different kind of house, something more enduring, some more important than any physical thing we can build for God, a deeper kind of house. To oversimplify, there’s the House (and lineage) of David, and then there’s the House of Prime Rib. Which one means more to God? A crude example, but you get it. Shady. 

Through Nathan, God reminds David, “I found you out in a pasture, shepherd boy. I raised you up to be prince over my people. Not king, prince. Prince. I’m the only sovereign my people need. A new house? You are my house! Oof. Later on, I promise, I covenant with you. Later down the line, your descendants will build me a house. They will be a good children of mine. One of them I will raise will enjoy dominion without end. Now, why the long face? I love you. That’s why I chose you.” And that’s the narrative of the David Covenant according to Victor. 

Government must be morally grounded. Leaders must be accountable to something larger than themselves, something eternal. 

USA Three Branches Analogy

One Jewish commentator sets this story into modern American terms. David is like the president, and his term is a study of obedience and rebellion, triumph and lots of failure, as in Hallelujah. The priests and the prophets, like Nathan, are analogous with legislators, rule refiners, advisors, representatives of the people. The judiciary is God, the law itself, the constitution, housed in the ark of the covenant. And make no mistake, King David is accountable to the law. 

In Egypt, Persia, China and other ancient places, the king was a god, above the law. But that’s not how God wants it. God is the judge, and nobody is above the law. 

Is This Relevant?

Now, there are Christians today who I’ve gotten in God’s way and gone too far. They claim to support a certain candidate or another because, historically as in Second Samuel, God anoints immoral men to have authority over the people. They cite King Cyrus [10]  and King David [11] as their examples. [12] 

King Cyrus of Persia liberated the captives, began a participatory model of government. Cyrus reconciled the people to their families in Jerusalem. King Cyrus was a peacemaker. Cyrus embraced diversity. The author of our opening hymn, the great William Sloane Coffin wrote that “Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to live without.” 

To my siblings of more extreme right persuasions, please stop misusing scripture to justify immoral behaviors. Moreover, they cite King David because David couldn’t control himself. The whole Bathsheba thing. "He saw her bathing on the roof…” Then, after having sex with her, in a vulgar coverup, David arranged to have Bathsheba’s husband, his faithful friend and soldier, Uriah, left to die on the battlefield. David was ultimately accountable to God for his sins, and God punished him. That was the deal, the covenant. Our next president will be accountable to no one for actions done in the line of duty, says the Supreme Court. The character of the president matters. The character of every leader matters. Second Samuel teaches us: “the personal relationships of national leaders affect the nation.” [13] 

Vote Your Values  

As we approach the ballot box, please do not pretend to rise above your religious convictions and, instead, we make savvy business choices. To do that is to rebel against Jesus, who reconciled the margins of society, honored women, touched lepers, fed the hungry, healed the sick. You know the stories! Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell what he had and give it to the poor. He couldn’t do it. It would have been bad for business, and the young man went away miserable. 

Whether in Bible times or on the streets of our city, the seeds of misery are sown every time we stockpile more things, or hoard wealth, or refuse to recognize the face of God looking back at us, in the face of every stranger and friend. When we vote, we are building our house. Our votes create the future. Why then, would we abandon our Judeo-Christian values at the ballot box?

Psalm 127: 

If God doesn’t build this house, the builders work in vain. 

If God doesn’t guard this city, the sentries watch in vain. 

In vain we get up early and stay up late, sweating to make a living. 

because God loves us and provides for us, even while we sleep. [14] 

Be Like Jesus

When it feels like we’re toiling into times of trouble, I can pull myself out of the funk of it all by recalling how Jesus, our Messiah, showed up to the capitol city not on a steed brandishing weapons, but ambling in on a donkey, a stolen donkey at that, fulfilling the prophetic words of Zechariah (4:6): “Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.” 

We trust in God,

whom Jesus called Abba, Father.

In sovereign love God created the world good

and makes everyone equally in God’s image,

male and female, of every race and people,

to live as one community.

But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator.

Ignoring God’s commandments,

we violate the image of God in others and ourselves,

accept lies as truth,

exploit neighbor and nature,

and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care.

We deserve God’s condemnation.

Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation.

In everlasting love,

the God of Abraham and Sarah chose a covenant people

to bless all families of the earth.

Hearing their cry,

God delivered the children of Israel

from the house of bondage.

Loving us still,

God makes us heirs with Christ of the covenant.

Like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child,

like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home,

God is faithful still. [15]

AMEN.

1 Daniel 2

2 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)

3 Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics II/1, §28. In other words, if it ain’t loving it ain’t God.4 

4 Howard Thurman paraphrased

5 I completely got this backwards when I preached, the details not having a bearing on the point of my telling of the story, however. The White crook won! My apologies. <https://www.2presrichmond.org/175/may3> 

6 <https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-rally-hallelujah-leonard-cohen-shrek-rufus-wainwright-cease-desist/>

7 “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallelujah_(Leonard_Cohen_song)#cite_note-BusDocEU_20221213-9> 

The choice of this song is baffling. Was it meant to be earnest? Ironic? Satirical? Nihilistic?8 

8 <https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/19/us/politics/trump-vulgarity-pennsylvania-rally.html> 

9 A tribute to mu niece, Ashley Grimshaw, who is a terrific realtor in So. Dakota.

10 <https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/3/5/16796892/trump-cyrus-christian-right-bible-cbn-evangelical-propaganda> 

11 < https://www.latimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/story/2024-04-25/difference-between-donald-trump-and-king-david>  as their examples.

12 Prime Minister Netanyahu has called one nominee the “spiritual heir of Cyrus.” 

13 Carol Grizzard, The New Interpreter’s Bible, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003, 439.

14 The Inclusive Bible, alt. VHF. 

15 from A Brief Statement of Faith (PCUSA, 1983)