As we continue to explore the idea of calling, of who we are called to be and what we are called to do, we find two very different readings before us today (see 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 and Ephesians 1:3-14). Paul is writing a letter to the church in Ephesus while King David has gone to retrieve the ark and bring it to Jerusalem. David’s story is full of action, while Paul leaves us his words. But both of these stories will help us think about what it means to be called by God.
Turning first to our story from the Hebrew Scriptures today, we find a much different David than the one we saw a few weeks ago facing down the giant, Goliath. This is no longer the young shepherd who will one day be king; this is King David who has defeated the Philistines and settled the people in Jerusalem to begin building a city worthy of God’s presence. David wants to build a Temple to house God in the midst of the city, but God has told him that will be a task for someone else. Even so, David proceeds to go and collect the ark to bring up to Jerusalem.
As our reading tells us, the ancient Hebrews believed that God resided wherever the ark was. God sat enthroned on the cherubim, the winged creatures, that sat atop the ark. The ark represented to them their status as the people of God and was a source of both power and comfort to the people.
It is a big deal for David and the Israelites that they have been victorious and have finally been able to settle in the place that they were given by God. And so David goes forth to collect the ark from where it has been to bring it into this new city. This is a joyous occasion, as we see in our reading. The journey back to Jerusalem with the ark is filled with religious offerings and music and dancing and songs.
Once they got the ark into the city and placed it in the tent, or tabernacle, that David had made for it, he led the people in making offerings and sacrifices to the presence of God. Once that had been done, he blessed the people in the name of God and distributed food to all who were present.
Our story makes it very clear that all of this was done to show honor, respect, blessing, even love toward God’s presence.
“David and the entire house of Israel celebrated in the LORD’s presence…” (2 Samuel 6:5, CEB).
“David...danced with all his strength before the LORD” (2 Samuel 6:14, CEB).
“She saw King David jumping and dancing before the LORD...” (2 Samuel 6:16, CEB).
All of the happiness and frivolity, the exuberant expressions of joy, are because they are in God’s presence. God’s presence is a blessing for them, and they in turn respond by blessing God with the best parts of themselves. But we also note that this response of blessing does not end with God alone. At the end of our story, David blesses and feeds the people as well. David’s response to the presence of God and the calling he has received is not only to bless God, but to bless the other people around him as well.
This is a theme that Paul picks up on in his letter. In writing to the people in Ephesus, Paul reminds us all that God has blessed us through Christ. God has chosen us to be holy. This is the root of our calling as Christians. God has blessed us and chosen us to be holy. In the same way that God blessed and chose David, in the same way that God blessed and chose the Israelites, God has given us grace through Jesus, the beloved Son, and called us to be holy as well.
And just as David’s blessing was about more than himself, just as the Israelites blessing is about more than just them, our calling is about more than just ourselves. Paul reminds us, “This is what God planned for the climax of all times: to bring all things together in Christ, the things in heaven along with the things on earth” (Ephesians 1:10, CEB).
This is the point we as people so often seem to miss. We see this problem as we look back through the history of God’s relationship with us. The Israelites are God’s chosen people. David was the chosen king. We Christians are chosen and blessed because of Jesus. And historically we see that we have a tendency to make that about ourselves.
David is the chosen king of the Israelites, the one chosen to stand as figurehead between them and God. He is meant to stand in the place of Moses, the one who would hear God’s voice on their behalf and show them how to live as God’s people. Instead at times, David lives as if that means all of his choices are right, and he can do no wrong. But we know from other stories that he, for example, sends one of his soldiers to his death simply so that he can take the man’s wife as his own. His notion of chosenness and what it means to be blessed and called becomes skewed.
Through Christ, we have been chosen. We have been blessed and called, but it isn’t difficult to look around to find examples of places where this chosenness turns into self-centered puffery. We have all seen examples of followers of Jesus deciding that their chosenness makes them better than others. They feel that being Christians, blessed and called by God, turns them into gate keepers of the kingdom.
But as we read our stories today, what do we see that it means to be blessed and called by God?
For David, the blessing and calling that he has received is expressed in joy and dancing. He is filled with joy by God’s presence and that joy spills out of him. He doesn’t keep that feeling to himself. The others who are with him sing and play instruments. They celebrate with all their strength. And when they get to Jerusalem, David blesses everyone present, those who traveled with him and those who stayed in the city. He blessed both the men and the women, all of the people, and then he gave them food to celebrate.
Paul sums up our calling in one phrase. “We are called to be an honor to God’s glory…” (Ephesians 1:12, CEB). Paul reminds us that our chosenness, our blessing and calling, is ultimately not really about us. It is about God.
How is our calling expressed as honor to God? What does our chosenness have to do with God’s glory?
This is the part that seems to be so easy for us to forget. We get told that we are chosen and blessed by God, and we make that about us -- I’m special and you’re not. But God’s plan is not to separate us from others. God’s plan is not to make us holy as opposed to all those other people out there who are not. God’s plan is “to bring all things together in Christ…” (Ephesians 1:10, CEB). If we set ourselves up as better than others or separate from others, how does that work toward God’s plan? How does that honor God?
Instead of our calling being solely about our own blessing, our calling is about pointing others toward God. We are meant to live our lives in such a way that we honor God’s glory. We are meant to live our lives in such a way that people can see God’s blessing at work within us. We are meant to live our lives in such a way that the rest of the world is blessed through our work.
We do this not because we are better than others or because we are superior in some way. We do this because, like King David, our joy of God’s presence overflows our lives and spreads to others around us. We do this because the grace we have received overflows our lives and spreads to others.
We do this because we have been loved, and we want others to have that same feeling.
Ultimately, we rely on the grace that has been given us to live lives worthy of the calling. We rely on the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives to guide us, and we share love and grace with others because that is what we have received from God.
We try to remember that we are not chosen because we are worthy; we are worthy because we have been chosen
As we think about what this looks like for us, both here in this place and in our lives beyond these walls, how does God’s blessing and love and grace bubble up from you in such a way that it becomes a blessing to others?
How does your life point to God’s glory?
I hope that the joy we individually know in our relationship with God will bubble up and honor God. Maybe that will be through song and dance. Maybe it will be through blessing and feeding others.
In the end, we simply do our best to remember that we have been chosen so that others may see God’s love and grace through our presence in the world.
May it be so.