"He Shall Build a House for My Name" - 2 Samuel 7:1-14a
In this week’s text from 2 Samuel 7:1-14a, God assures King David that he will raise up one of his offspring to have an everlasting kingdom and to build a “house for my name.” Given the historical context, we might take God to be talking about David’s son and successor Solomon, who did in fact build the temple or “house” of God in Jerusalem. However, Christian interpreters have also taken this passage to be referring to the coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus was from the house of David, his ancestral line, and he did claim to be the Son of God and ruler of an everlasting kingdom. If we follow in this line, the reference to this Son of David building God a house for his name, could refer to the Church as the place where God has chosen to dwell.
We believe that the Church is the body of Christ, the place where God has chosen to dwell. In the Church we all come to know ourselves as children of God. We experience God in the Church’s extravagant welcome, its loving and forgiving community, and its witness for God’s justice and peace in the world. Having experienced this welcome, love, and witness we seek to welcome others to encounter God in our common life and come to know themselves as God’s children.
Remembering that the Church is God’s dwelling place reminds us to love and value the Church in the world. Though the Church has certainly erred in its attempts to follow Jesus Christ throughout history, it has also brought good news, peace, and justice to many. And because we trust in Jesus’ promise to be with us always, we never cease hoping and believing that the church can and will be a force for good in the world. Though we stumble and fall away at times, we know that nothing is beyond God’s redemption- with God in our midst we can always be forgiven, we can always be made new, and we can always strive for a greater realization of the kingdom in our world. May God help us to trust in God’s promises and grant us the courage to be the church in the world.
Pastor Andrew Greenhaw