An Event That Evoked Extravagance
Sermon
Out From The Ordinary
First Lesson Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost (First Third)
Arguably, Bill Russell of Boston was the greatest basketball player of all time. Certainly, leading his Celtics to eleven world championships in thirteen seasons is a record that will never be equaled.
Once in the deciding game of the NBA Championship Series, the Boston big man stepped to the line for a pair of crucial free throws. The crowd hushed. If Russell made the two shots, the Celtics would again be on their way to another championship.
As he was about to shoot, one of his teammates came over and whispered something to the giant center. Russell grinned, then sank both free throws, and again the Boston Celtics were champions of the world. After the game, a reporter asked Larry Siegfried what he had said to Russell at the free throw line. The Celtic guard replied, "Well, sometimes Russ forgets to bend his knees. I just reminded him that he needed to do that." Forgets to bend his knees!
There is nothing more basic to shooting free throws than the bending of one's knees. The greatest basketball player who ever lived had to be reminded of one of the elementary basics of his game?
Amazing! Back to basics! Not a bad strategy! At least it worked for David as he tried to work through one of the early but crucial times in the establishment of his dynasty. David had been anointed and now is rightfully installed as the king of the Israelite people. He has established Jerusalem as its capital and the center of the young nation's spiritual life. David's problem was: how does one unify a people that had never been unified before? How does one bring a nomadic people, loosely bound in a scattered tribal governmental system, into a people bound together and unified which has one king, one capital, one government, and one worship center? It was the emerging and clashing of two ages. Out with the old and in with the new. As is history's witness, when one age begins to bump up against another, when one era begins to crowd out another, there is almost always hostility and chaos.
When our own nation made the transition from an agrarian culture, represented by the South, to an industrial culture, represented by the North, the Civil War resulted. How does one unify a people who are not unified? How does one make transit from one era to another with a minimum of discomfort? David had a stroke of pure genius. He brought back the long-neglected Ark of the Covenant. The Ark, symbolic of the power and presence of God, was the symbol that had helped to unify God's people during the wilderness wanderings. In bringing back the Ark, David sought to avoid the chaos and confusion that often occurs when one era bumps another.
The church today is immersed in several such clashes. In the area of worship one era is banging into another. Traditional, liturgical, organ led worship is being crowded out by praise-oriented services with choruses, rock bands, and large screens placed in front of worship centers, not sanctuaries. In our post-modern era, denominationalism is on its way out. Brand loyalty is almost a thing of the past as denominational lines are becoming more blurred, especially outside the southeastern United States. Mainline denominations are on the decline and charismatic, Pentecostal groups are growing in great numbers. Groups, once seen by some to be sects or cults, are becoming more of a majority. There are more Mormons in the United States than there are Presbyterians and Episcopalians. The dominant language spoken in the Hollywood, California, grammar school system is the language of Iraq. Robert Nash states that Islam has more than a billion adherents, and is the fastest growing faith in the United States.1 Many groups realize it is time to rethink how to do church in the third millennium. For many, it is not one era bumping another -- the new era is here!
The transition is evident in the political arena as well, particularly as it relates to religion. Many of our forefathers and foremothers in the faith fled to this country to escape religious persecution by the state. Today we see a marriage of religion and the political "right" which often is promoted by Baptists who long have been leading exponents of the separation of church and state. It is the clash of different eras.
For over one thousand years the gospel was the exclusive property of the "church." One was a Christian because of membership in the Church. Then emerged the printing press and voices such as Martin Luther who preached, "The just shall live by faith," and that the essence of Christianity was a personal relationship to Jesus Christ. One era overlaps another and not often peaceably.
The rub of transition was not foreign to the early church. We see the question in the Book of Acts as: Does one have to become a Jew first to become a Christian? Is it by grace or obedience to the law of Moses? The move from Jewish to Gentile Christianity was a painful transition for the early church and particularly for one Saul of Tarsus.
History has its cyclical nature and certainly David's problem was not unique to him. But it was crucial to David and to God's overall long range purposes. How could David more peaceably transit from one era to another and establish Jerusalem as the spiritual heart and center of a relatively new nation? Do his methods have any implications for us as we seek to navigate through these fast-flowing transitional waters? How did David do it? How can we?
David preserved the best from the past. He did not ditch everything. He did not throw out the old ways completely. In bringing back the Ark of the Covenant, David enlisted even the most conservative of Israel's leadership in the establishment of his monarchy. How could anyone not revere and respect the sacred objects contained in the Ark? How could anyone speak against the Ten Commandments therein contained? Whether one is a giant Celtic center or shrewd political king, a resolve to get back to the basics is often a good move.
It was later attributed to a conversation between player Boyd Dowler and Coach Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers, but I first read it in the Herman Hickman Reader authored by the same. Levi Jackson, a running back, played for Hickman when he coached football at Yale in 1949. One day a practice session was going horribly. The timing was off, the tackling was atrocious, and the blocking was worse. Hickman called the squad together and said, "Everything is going wrong. We are going to start at the very bottom and work on fundamentals." He held up a football for the squad to see and carefully and precisely explained, "This is a football." Levi chirped in quickly and said, "Not so fast, Coach, not so fast!"2 Back to basics -- not a bad ploy.
In bringing back the Ark of the Covenant David also helped his people to rediscover a fresh awakening of the presence and power of God. The Ark was the ancient symbol of the presence and power of God as it had accompanied the children of Israel from Mount Sinai. With the Ark they had walked around the walls of Jericho and saw God's power displayed as the walls fell and the city was conquered. The Ark was a constant reminder of God's presence in many other battles, especially during the time of Eli, always guaranteeing success for Israel.
We have the opportunity to become Christians today because generations of believers past have preserved the best of their tradition. As John Claypool has said, "God has no grandchildren." Every generation must come to know God personally through an awareness of his presence and power. By bringing back the Ark, David was reminding his generation that the very same God who had led their forefathers and foremothers out of Egypt and into the Promised Land was now with them as well.
The very same God speaks to us today and reminds us that his power is not diminished. Jesus told his disciples that if we are as submissive to him as he was and is to the Father, "even greater works" shall we do because you are my disciples (John 14:12). This is quite a promise to a church today which often finds itself with a dwindling number of nickels and a diminishing number of noses.
David not only preserved the best of his past and gave to his people a fresh vision and visitation of the presence and power of God, he also threw a party! As Walter Brueggemann states, David staged an "event that evoked extravagance."3 This is a party! This is excess! This is extravagance! David threw cost and caution to the wind. Did it really take thirty thousand men to tote a small box? Wasn't it a little excessive to sacrifice a bull and fatted calf every six steps? Of course, a brand new cart had to be used. What about all those other burnt offerings and fellowship offerings that David sacrificed? And what about David's dance? Is that appropriate behavior for a king? His wife Michal seemed to think that David had danced just a step too far. Was all this really necessary?
But David wasn't finished. After all this extravagance, worship, and praise, David gave to each person a loaf of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins. "And all the people went to their homes" (v. 19). Even though in their homes, the people were unified around a common meal from a common source. It is sort of like God's people being called to unity as they remember and celebrate around a common Table.
An unnamed preacher from my past and tradition told of when he grew up poor on a farm during the Depression. It was a long-honored tradition with his large family as they gathered at the table for the common evening meal that his father would parade in from the barn with the fresh milk drawn from the family cow. With every eye fastened upon the father, he would strain the milk and first pour his wife's glass full to the brim. Then, with loving care, he would dance around the table pouring each child's glass completely full. Then the father would turn his back to the family and pour what little was left into his own glass and then complete the glass with water so that it always appeared that he, too, had a full glass. The preacher said that he was too many years old before he fully appreciated the quiet love and sacrifice of his father's selfless gesture.
Love's excess and extravagance can take many forms, from a father perceived to prefer water in his milk to a lonely figure dying on a cross in the middle of a garbage dump.
____________
1. Robert N. Nash, Jr., An 8-Track Church in a CD World (Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys Publishing Company, Inc., 1997), p. 118.
2. Herman Hickman, The Herman Hickman Reader (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953), p. 28.
3. Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation, First and Second Samuel (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990), p. 250.
Once in the deciding game of the NBA Championship Series, the Boston big man stepped to the line for a pair of crucial free throws. The crowd hushed. If Russell made the two shots, the Celtics would again be on their way to another championship.
As he was about to shoot, one of his teammates came over and whispered something to the giant center. Russell grinned, then sank both free throws, and again the Boston Celtics were champions of the world. After the game, a reporter asked Larry Siegfried what he had said to Russell at the free throw line. The Celtic guard replied, "Well, sometimes Russ forgets to bend his knees. I just reminded him that he needed to do that." Forgets to bend his knees!
There is nothing more basic to shooting free throws than the bending of one's knees. The greatest basketball player who ever lived had to be reminded of one of the elementary basics of his game?
Amazing! Back to basics! Not a bad strategy! At least it worked for David as he tried to work through one of the early but crucial times in the establishment of his dynasty. David had been anointed and now is rightfully installed as the king of the Israelite people. He has established Jerusalem as its capital and the center of the young nation's spiritual life. David's problem was: how does one unify a people that had never been unified before? How does one bring a nomadic people, loosely bound in a scattered tribal governmental system, into a people bound together and unified which has one king, one capital, one government, and one worship center? It was the emerging and clashing of two ages. Out with the old and in with the new. As is history's witness, when one age begins to bump up against another, when one era begins to crowd out another, there is almost always hostility and chaos.
When our own nation made the transition from an agrarian culture, represented by the South, to an industrial culture, represented by the North, the Civil War resulted. How does one unify a people who are not unified? How does one make transit from one era to another with a minimum of discomfort? David had a stroke of pure genius. He brought back the long-neglected Ark of the Covenant. The Ark, symbolic of the power and presence of God, was the symbol that had helped to unify God's people during the wilderness wanderings. In bringing back the Ark, David sought to avoid the chaos and confusion that often occurs when one era bumps another.
The church today is immersed in several such clashes. In the area of worship one era is banging into another. Traditional, liturgical, organ led worship is being crowded out by praise-oriented services with choruses, rock bands, and large screens placed in front of worship centers, not sanctuaries. In our post-modern era, denominationalism is on its way out. Brand loyalty is almost a thing of the past as denominational lines are becoming more blurred, especially outside the southeastern United States. Mainline denominations are on the decline and charismatic, Pentecostal groups are growing in great numbers. Groups, once seen by some to be sects or cults, are becoming more of a majority. There are more Mormons in the United States than there are Presbyterians and Episcopalians. The dominant language spoken in the Hollywood, California, grammar school system is the language of Iraq. Robert Nash states that Islam has more than a billion adherents, and is the fastest growing faith in the United States.1 Many groups realize it is time to rethink how to do church in the third millennium. For many, it is not one era bumping another -- the new era is here!
The transition is evident in the political arena as well, particularly as it relates to religion. Many of our forefathers and foremothers in the faith fled to this country to escape religious persecution by the state. Today we see a marriage of religion and the political "right" which often is promoted by Baptists who long have been leading exponents of the separation of church and state. It is the clash of different eras.
For over one thousand years the gospel was the exclusive property of the "church." One was a Christian because of membership in the Church. Then emerged the printing press and voices such as Martin Luther who preached, "The just shall live by faith," and that the essence of Christianity was a personal relationship to Jesus Christ. One era overlaps another and not often peaceably.
The rub of transition was not foreign to the early church. We see the question in the Book of Acts as: Does one have to become a Jew first to become a Christian? Is it by grace or obedience to the law of Moses? The move from Jewish to Gentile Christianity was a painful transition for the early church and particularly for one Saul of Tarsus.
History has its cyclical nature and certainly David's problem was not unique to him. But it was crucial to David and to God's overall long range purposes. How could David more peaceably transit from one era to another and establish Jerusalem as the spiritual heart and center of a relatively new nation? Do his methods have any implications for us as we seek to navigate through these fast-flowing transitional waters? How did David do it? How can we?
David preserved the best from the past. He did not ditch everything. He did not throw out the old ways completely. In bringing back the Ark of the Covenant, David enlisted even the most conservative of Israel's leadership in the establishment of his monarchy. How could anyone not revere and respect the sacred objects contained in the Ark? How could anyone speak against the Ten Commandments therein contained? Whether one is a giant Celtic center or shrewd political king, a resolve to get back to the basics is often a good move.
It was later attributed to a conversation between player Boyd Dowler and Coach Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers, but I first read it in the Herman Hickman Reader authored by the same. Levi Jackson, a running back, played for Hickman when he coached football at Yale in 1949. One day a practice session was going horribly. The timing was off, the tackling was atrocious, and the blocking was worse. Hickman called the squad together and said, "Everything is going wrong. We are going to start at the very bottom and work on fundamentals." He held up a football for the squad to see and carefully and precisely explained, "This is a football." Levi chirped in quickly and said, "Not so fast, Coach, not so fast!"2 Back to basics -- not a bad ploy.
In bringing back the Ark of the Covenant David also helped his people to rediscover a fresh awakening of the presence and power of God. The Ark was the ancient symbol of the presence and power of God as it had accompanied the children of Israel from Mount Sinai. With the Ark they had walked around the walls of Jericho and saw God's power displayed as the walls fell and the city was conquered. The Ark was a constant reminder of God's presence in many other battles, especially during the time of Eli, always guaranteeing success for Israel.
We have the opportunity to become Christians today because generations of believers past have preserved the best of their tradition. As John Claypool has said, "God has no grandchildren." Every generation must come to know God personally through an awareness of his presence and power. By bringing back the Ark, David was reminding his generation that the very same God who had led their forefathers and foremothers out of Egypt and into the Promised Land was now with them as well.
The very same God speaks to us today and reminds us that his power is not diminished. Jesus told his disciples that if we are as submissive to him as he was and is to the Father, "even greater works" shall we do because you are my disciples (John 14:12). This is quite a promise to a church today which often finds itself with a dwindling number of nickels and a diminishing number of noses.
David not only preserved the best of his past and gave to his people a fresh vision and visitation of the presence and power of God, he also threw a party! As Walter Brueggemann states, David staged an "event that evoked extravagance."3 This is a party! This is excess! This is extravagance! David threw cost and caution to the wind. Did it really take thirty thousand men to tote a small box? Wasn't it a little excessive to sacrifice a bull and fatted calf every six steps? Of course, a brand new cart had to be used. What about all those other burnt offerings and fellowship offerings that David sacrificed? And what about David's dance? Is that appropriate behavior for a king? His wife Michal seemed to think that David had danced just a step too far. Was all this really necessary?
But David wasn't finished. After all this extravagance, worship, and praise, David gave to each person a loaf of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins. "And all the people went to their homes" (v. 19). Even though in their homes, the people were unified around a common meal from a common source. It is sort of like God's people being called to unity as they remember and celebrate around a common Table.
An unnamed preacher from my past and tradition told of when he grew up poor on a farm during the Depression. It was a long-honored tradition with his large family as they gathered at the table for the common evening meal that his father would parade in from the barn with the fresh milk drawn from the family cow. With every eye fastened upon the father, he would strain the milk and first pour his wife's glass full to the brim. Then, with loving care, he would dance around the table pouring each child's glass completely full. Then the father would turn his back to the family and pour what little was left into his own glass and then complete the glass with water so that it always appeared that he, too, had a full glass. The preacher said that he was too many years old before he fully appreciated the quiet love and sacrifice of his father's selfless gesture.
Love's excess and extravagance can take many forms, from a father perceived to prefer water in his milk to a lonely figure dying on a cross in the middle of a garbage dump.
____________
1. Robert N. Nash, Jr., An 8-Track Church in a CD World (Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys Publishing Company, Inc., 1997), p. 118.
2. Herman Hickman, The Herman Hickman Reader (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953), p. 28.
3. Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation, First and Second Samuel (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990), p. 250.
