Grace Episcopal Church, Madison NJ
July 22, 2012
Year B – Proper 11: The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
2 Samuel 7:1-14a
Psalm 89:20-37
(Ephesians 2:11-22)
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Where Does God Live?
Well, we survived another Vacation Bible School!
Actually,
we more than survived. It was a great success and a lot of fun, thanks to the
hard work of Mary Lea, our adult volunteers, the youth counselors and Dr. Anne.
Maybe
it’s because I missed VBS last year year, but the children this year seemed
particularly happy, enthusiastic and cooperative. It was a great time.
Our
theme this year was the story of Daniel in the lions’ den. I had the privilege
of playing Daniel while Mary McManus was a very convincing and often very funny
prison guard.
Although
on one level our VBS was about Daniel, in reality all week we focused on
something much more important than that wonderful old story.
In
Grace Hall, on the very first morning, Mary Lea asked the children a very
important and profound question:
“Where
does God live?”
Almost
without exception, the children immediately pointed their index fingers up to
the ceiling and the sky beyond.
I’ve
been thinking about that question all week. Where does God live in my life?
Where and how do I meet God?
Where
does God live?
Well,
we have a good idea how the people of ancient Israel would have answered that
question.
They
believed that in some mysterious way, God’s presence was in the Ark of the
Covenant. In a sense, they believed that God lived in the Ark - which was a
portable box or chest that, according to tradition, contained the two tablets
of the Law that had been given by God to Moses.
It
was this Ark that, housed in a tent, had led the people of Israel on their long
journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.
Where
does God live? For the people of ancient Israel the answer was the Ark.
If
you’ve been here lately, you know that for the past few Sundays in church we’ve
been hearing the story of the rise of David from lowly shepherd to God’s choice
as Israel’s king.
Last
Sunday, we heard the story of David and all the people with him joyfully bringing
the Ark to David’s capital city, to Jerusalem. It was, it seemed, the ultimate
sign of God’s favor and support.
Where
does God live?
Well,
David would have answered, God lives in the Ark, which is now in my capital
city. God lives in Jerusalem.
Today
we heard the next installment of the David story.
God
lives in the Ark, but David realizes that there’s something wrong with this
picture. He says to the prophet
Nathan, “See now, I’m living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a
tent.”
To
his credit, David realizes that he shouldn’t have a better living arrangement
than God. So, with Nathan’s encouragement, David decides he’s going to build a
house – a temple – for God.
Not
to be cynical, it’s possible that David’s motive was not quite so pure. After
all, a magnificent temple housing the Ark would crown the glory and triumph of
David’s rule.
Well,
God says no to a house – reminding Nathan and David and us – that God doesn’t
need a fancy house or even a temple or even, for that matter, a beautiful
church building.
God
turns the tables on David and says that God will give David a house, a dynasty.
And we know that it will be David’s son and successor, Solomon, who builds the
magnificent Temple in Jerusalem, providing an opulent house for God – whether
God wants it or not.
Where
does God live?
We
Christians believe and proclaim that in and through Jesus, God lives among us
in a new and amazing way.
In
Jesus we know what God is really like.
Where
does God live? God lives in Jesus Christ.
Two
thousand years ago at least some people recognized God’s power and presence in
Jesus. These desperately hungry, lost, broken people reached out to Jesus over
and over again.
Mark
tells us the people reached out so much that Jesus and the disciples “had no
leisure to eat.” To escape the crowds for a while they went by boat to a
deserted place, but that didn’t work.
And
then later when they got out of the boat, people brought the sick to Jesus,
desperate for his healing touch, desperate to be in the presence of God’s love
and power.
In
many ways, two thousand years later, not much has changed.
In
Jesus, we know what God is really like.
Where
does God live? God lives in Jesus Christ.
So,
we still come flocking to Jesus. Just like those people two thousand years ago,
we desperately hungry, lost, broken people reach out to him over and over again.
So, we come to this place week
after week.
It’s
here that we meet Christ in Scripture and in our fellowship when we reach out
our hands in peace to one another.
It’s
here that we meet Christ in the water of baptism, through which God makes an
unbreakable bond with us.
It’s
here that we meet Christ in our prayers and our hymns.
And,
most of all, it’s here that we meet Christ in the bread and the wine, when in
some mysterious way we take God into our bodies and into our hearts.
But,
as maybe David came to understand long ago, we know that God also lives beyond this
ark, beyond this temple, beyond the walls of this sacred space.
God
lives where we reach out and offer service to one another, never asking for
anything in return.
God
lives in the simple feeling of holding someone’s hand – that profound gesture
and feeling, expressing love, friendship and comfort.
God
lives in the beauty and majesty of nature – in the pull of the tides, in the
sparkling stars of the nighttime sky and even the steady purr of a cat on our
lap or the bark of a dog that’s overjoyed to see us walk through the door.
God
lives all around us – if only we pay attention, if only we keep our eyes and
ears open, if only we keep our hearts open.
Where
does God live? On that first day of Vacation Bible School, most of the children
answered by pointing their index fingers to the sky.
But,
it turns out that our kids are much better theologians than that. Over the
course of the week the kids put together a “God Sightings” board on which they
listed different ways and places and people where they saw God.
Where
does God live? Here are some of the answers given by our children:
“At
the pool.”
“At
the mall.”
“Building
a sandcastle.”
“On
my hammock when I fell off but didn’t get hurt.”
“In
my heart.”
“In
my mommy and daddy.”
“In
my sister.”
“When
the doctor said I was OK.”
“In
the trees.”
“In
the Bible.”
“In
thunder.”
“At
night when I’m scared.”
“In
flowers.”
“In
the clouds.”
“In
a big hug from my aunt.”
That’s
where God lives in our kids’ lives. Where does God live in our lives?
Where
does God live?
Amen.
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