Proper 10

You’d think that we could not possibly have a problem with storing our stuff. Why?

Because over the past 50 years, the average size of the American home has tripled!

Because many of these homes have two-car garages – in which to store stuff.

But how many of us with two-car garages can actually park two cars in the garage?

This is why 1 out of 10 Americans rent off-site storage, and why there are upward of 50,000 storage facilities, and 7.3 square feet of storage space per every man, woman and child.

The moving industry is changing before our eyes. It seems like almost every day we hear about new startups that offer easier, cheaper and more innovative ways to move our stuff. Similar to what Amazon did with retail, and the impact Uber is having on the taxicab industry, entrepreneurs are aiming to disrupt the moving industry as well.

While new technology is one driver of change, there are larger shifts in society that are driving different expectations for service. What we move and the ways we choose to move are also in flux.

For example, on-demand storage companies like Closetbox and Clutter give people the option to outsource their storage needs versus the traditional self-storage model. These companies will pick up your stuff, take it away, and bring it back when you need it.

King David had a storage problem and a moving problem.

The storage problem was that the Philistines had the Ark of the Covenant which properly belonged to Israel. It wasn’t right that the enemy of Israel had the Ark in storage.

He had a moving problem because he had some stuff – some really holy stuff – to move. He had to move the Ark from the control of the Philistines to his new Jebusite capital of Jerusalem.

David and his people had one job to do, and they screwed it up.

That’s because you don’t move God in an ox-cart.

The Philistines had used a cart to send the Ark. David copied what they’d done. What was he thinking?

What is the Ark of the Covenant? The Ark was basically home to the presence and glory of God. It contained the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, the rod of Aaron, as well as a golden pot of manna.  (Currently, the Ark is hidden away in some big U.S. government warehouse – at least according to Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.)

The instructions for transporting the Ark were specific. It was always covered in a certain way with skins and a blue cloth, virtually concealed as it was moved from one location to another in the 40-year wandering in the wilderness before reaching the Jordan under Joshua’s leadership. The transportation people entrusted with the job of moving God in the Ark were the Levites and, particularly, the priestly class.

There’s nothing in there about an ox-cart.

As for its size, it was about the size of a large trunk, maybe 4 feet by 3 feet by 2 feet — something like that, give or take. It was carried by means of two poles threaded through brass rings on either side, as porters might carry a settee for a Far East potentate.

And it had a history. It was linked to a number of miracles. When the Israelites crossed the Jordan before entering the Promised Land for the first time, the waters of the Jordan parted as the Red Sea had parted decades earlier during the event they called the Exodus.

As the Israelites moved into the Promised Land, they encountered formidable resistance at Jericho. The priests carried the Ark around the city for a week, and on the seventh day, the walls came down.

This was the beginning of the Ark’s association with military success and it became a sort of military talisman or mascot, and now, as we look at this morning’s Old Testament lesson, the Ark which had been captured by the Philistines was now about to return to its true home – like a trophy being returned to the city in which it belonged.

The Ark had been lost to the Philistines after the Israelites lost badly to them in a military battle. Now, years have passed. The leadership of Israel fell to Samuel and then to their first king Saul and then to David. When the latter was anointed king, the Philistines went hunting for him. David met them, and the armies of Israel defeated the Philistines – without the Ark. David then gathered 30,000 men to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines and bring it to Jerusalem.

He put it in a new cart, and the procession began, accompanied with music and dancing.  Today’s Old Testament lesson skips over what happens next. But the omitted verses say that the cart hit a pothole or something, and Uzzah, walking beside the cart, reached out to steady the Ark, and God struck him dead because he had dared to touch the Ark of the Covenant.

This was a definite buzz kill, and the Ark went no further. It was placed in the hands of a certain Obed-edom and there it stayed for three months. And this family was blessed because of its presence.

Seeing how God blessed Obed-edom, David decides to move God again, and this time he does it right.

So how do we move God?

Very carefully.

We want God’s presence with us as we journey through life. David had moved his capital to Jerusalem and he wanted to move God. He wanted God to be where he was. The presence of the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem was ceremonially and symbolically significant.

Who doesn’t want God to go with them and to be with them in life? We all do. If we’re faithful Christians, we’re anxious not to make any big decisions or changes in our lives unless we feel that we’re in the will of God.

David’s desire to have the Ark moved to Jerusalem was a good one. Our hope that God will be with us through all of the events of our lives is also a good one. God does not want us to be alone, and we aren’t.

But God does not need protecting. Let’s not presume to speak for God, set God right or move God back into a proper safe position. A God who needs our protection is no god at all.

God is in the details. David learned quickly that there is a right way and a wrong way of doing things. Sometimes, our motives might be pure and our intentions laudable, but the methodology leaves something to be desired. We’re impatient when patience is needed; we’re unkind when kindness would be better; we’re stubborn when flexibility is needed; we’re more inclined to talk when listening is critical.

David learned that it was not all about him. And it is not all about us. In the first attempt, he travels with a huge entourage as king; in the second, he’s wearing the same robes as the priests (1 Chronicles 15:27).

In his second attempt, David does it right. He makes elaborate preparations to bring the Ark from Obed-edom’s house. In the first attempt, they had a committee meeting and overwhelmingly voted yes, and moved the Ark on a cart.

In fact, the priests were supposed to carry it.

No committee was needed. Scripture was needed.

For Christians, the Bible is our source of how to live godly lives.

David’s first plan failed. But that was not the end of the story. David was not a person who gave up. He recognized that a failure was simply a step on the path to ultimate success.

We all fail at something. But a failure is not the end but the beginning of something new. With a failure, we have a chance to go back to square one and do something entirely different, or to tweak and massage our first effort until we get it right.

We really don’t need to move God.

Instead, let’s be willing for God to move us when and how God wants to move us.