It’s 5 days before Christmas
…and I’ve been thinking about how we try to make things better for God.
Have you ever thought about what it means to try and make things better for God?
I think it’s like when my kids suggest that it’s better for me to go through the McDonald’s drive-through instead of going hungry. They might be pretending to care about my nourishment, but ultimately they are thinking with their stomachs. In saying they want something better for me, they are likely justifying their craving for French fries.
I wonder if we do this with God more than we realize.
It might be because we are trying to get on his good side or believe that we owe him something. It might just be that we think we know what’s best for Him.
I’m reminded when Peter, the disciple, rebukes Jesus after Jesus tells him He is going to the cross to die. Peter pushes back because he wanted something better for his Teacher. Especially, something better than death. But Jesus saw this as an earthly move. He calls Peter out saying, “…you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” (Mark 8:33)
Peter was focused on the French fries.
This way of thinking has been going on for a long time.
The scriptures are filled with examples of God’s people choosing things they believe would be better for God. Sacrifices, places of worship, patterns of behavior — the list goes on and on. Yet, what they think is better for God is a cover for their disregard of divine things.
The lectionary readings for this Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Advent, include a passage from 2 Samuel 7. In the story, King David decides that it is time to build a house for God. He is not satisfied with what was considered God’s home in the wilderness wanderings. David had something better in mind. A house of cedar.
Who wouldn’t want a house of cedar? Well, apparently God.
Through Nathan, He asks,
“Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” - 2 Samuel 7:5-7
It’s as if David is asked, “Did I ask you to do something better for me?”
“Did I ask you to do something better for me?” - God
There’s something about the Christmas story that reminds me of this.
After Joseph and Mary arrive in Bethlehem they are told there is no room in the inn. If you’re like me, you’ve probably been troubled by their situation. If only the innkeeper would have known who he was dealing with. Maybe, if the residents had understood the gravity of the situation, they would have given up a room for this very pregnant girl and her desperate husband. And what about Jesus having to be born in a manger? He deserved better!
But do we honestly think that’s what God was thinking? That he needed something better? I’m guessing no.
But, then again, His thoughts are not my thoughts.
But, maybe, that’s the point.
When we back to the story in 1 Samuel 7 we see how God reverses David’s thinking. David’s plan to do something better for God gets flipped by God into a promise to do something better for David.
Through Nathan the Lord responds,
“I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed…Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” - 2 Samuel 7:9-10, 16
God reverses the human thing by promising a divine thing — not a house for Him, but a house for His people. The kind of house that will endure forever.
Now, I’m not a wood expert but I don’t think you can say that about cedar. God’s ways are just better. But it’s not just that. His better way is to make things better for us.
This is why we wait for the coming of Christ.
Not only do we hear God’s promise to David, but we see the prophecy realized in the King who comes at Christmas. Jesus, the Son of David, is the One whose house and kingdom doesn’t fail.
He is the place prepared for us.
Jesus does not go through life and death so that we will become better for His sake. No, he flips that curse around. As Dr. Chris Green says, everything Jesus does and experiences is to ultimately make those things better for us. Even death itself.
Maybe, instead of trying to make things better for God we should be remembering how He is the One who wants to make things better for us and rest in that.
Remembering this will set us free from the burdens we carry. When Jesus shows up, we don’t need to wonder if we’ve done enough of what is right to make things better for Him, we can be anticipating the One whose judgment is making things better for us.
He is the Coming One who will make all things right. That is good news of great joy.
“He is the Coming One who will make all things right. That is good news of great joy.” Amen and Amen!