"A King is Crowned" given 7/5/15

In  our OT Reading this morning, David has been anointed as King of both Israel as well as Judah. "You are flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone" the elders proclaimed. "The Holy One has said to you: 'It is you who shall be shepherd of my people. You who shall be ruler over Israel.'"

            David's authority as King then, derived first from his election by God. But also from the people-- who had to acknowledge him, and his Divine election.  In response, David made a covenant with the elders on behalf of all the people. The King was to be seen then, as subject both to the law of God, and subject to his obligations to his people.

            Once on the throne, David found himself with something of dilemma. Where would he rule from?  David understood the political reality. He needed to show by his choice of a capital city that he was not only a brand new King, but this to be a brand new Kingdom-- a noble experiment in unity that had not been tried before. 

            David's solution to this problem gives us an insight into his political savvy.  There was only one city that would serve-- Jerusalem. This Jebusite stronghold was close to the border between Israel and Judah, and it had never been conquered by any of the Twelve tribes.  Thus, no Hebrew could lay claim to the city. That made Jerusalem the perfect capital for David's new, united monarchy.

            He and his professional soldiers entered the city through the water shaft and conquered it. Once inside, David mercifully refrained from the customary massacre of his opponents. Instead, the Jebusite, non-Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem were incorporated into David's new nation as full citizens. That's a lesson that the current rulers of Jerusalem might well heed.

            The city itself was from then on to be identified as "the city of David". At that moment, Jerusalem became more than just another Near Eastern walled town. At that moment, Jerusalem became the symbol of this new Kingdom.  At that moment Jerusalem also became a symbol for you and for me as well. The city became a holy symbol that it was and it is, ultimately God who rules in human affairs.  As that symbol, Jerusalem was to become known as Zion  (After the hill upon which most of the city stood.)

            Zion is a word that signifies a shift from the dirty-tricks, back- stabbing, double-crossing, blood-soaked process that ended with David's conquest of the Jebusite city.  The term "Zion" causes us to reflect that despite the sordidness and grittiness involved in David's ascension to the united throne, it was still the Will of God that David should be king.

            The symbol of Zion reminds us that God was able to use these all-too- human events-- double-cross and murder and coup de'tat-- these all-too- fallible people-- Abner and Joab and David and you and I-- to promote the coming of God's Realm.  It is a symbol that God can use us-- with all our shortcomings and sins as well.

            Zion is not ruled by a human king. Zion, that Divine Realm yet to come-- the Kingdom already realized within us-- is ruled by God.

            Zion is a powerful symbol.  It speaks to us about Divine Providence, about God's presence with the people of God, and about the need for the peoples and the nations to recognize God's saving activities in the world. Zion is also something of a dangerous symbol. The danger is in confusing the holy, spiritual city of God with the human, physical city—or any city or nation for that matter.

            When that happens, Zion becomes nationalistic.  When that happens, Zion becomes idolatrous.  When that happens, you get holy wars and crusades, Islamic republics, Jewish states, and Holy Roman Empires.  When that happens, you get Inquisitions and pogroms, Holocausts and Infadias, ethnic cleansing and religious wars.

            The reality is, you and I don't need to get upset about bans on prayer in public school, or manger scenes on the steps of city hall, or whether or not there's a flag in the Sanctuary. The reality is, you and I ought not to be wringing our hands about whether or not this is a so-called "Christian country". Pat Robertson and Jerry Fallwell and that crowd are way off base with their political agenda. Christians are not called to be about the business of politically transforming the U.S.A. into Zion.

            Our nation has been singularly blessed by God, with more than abundant natural resources, two oceans to guard us from foreign wars, plenty of room for the persecuted and oppressed and energetic refugees of the world to make new lives and a unique political heritage of ideals passed down to us from our founders. But those founders never intended this to be a so-called “Christian nation” 

            How could they? The Roman Catholics of Maryland, the Congregationalists of Massachuses, the Baptists of Rhode Island, the Quakers of Pennsylvania, the Puritans of New England,  had all come here for religious freedom—freedom to worship as they pleased—which meant and still means today freedom from state established churches.  And that freedom of and from religion is perhaps their greatest gift to us.

            I believe that just as God gives individual human beings callings,  so do nations have callings. And this nation’s calling is to be a sanctuary from persecution—religious, ethnic, racial and now, thanks to the Supreme Court, a sanctuary from gender persecution.

            Where else in the world can Black and White, Buddhist and Christian, Hindu and Moslem, Jew and Atheist live together in harmony—as guaranteed by the law of the land?  Of course we aren’t there yet—but that’s the promise, that’s the real vision of our founding mothers and fathers. No, the USA is not the new Jerusalem, it is not heaven on earth, but it is—or rather it ought to be-- a witness to the world of the beautiful diversity of God’s creation of Technicolor people, laying aside old feuds and prejudices and living together in peace.

            The reality is, we Christians are called to transform the whole world into as humane, as kind, as compassionate, as charitable, a world as we possibly can-- beginning in our own particular corner of it. The reality is, the role of a Christian in society is to love our land, vote our informed conscience, support causes and candidates we agree with, and lobby for policies based on decency, fair play, kindness and respect for the dignity, equity and rights of all people.  The reality is, the most effective thing we can do as believers is pray, and witness by the living of our lives to the Good News of Christ's coming Kingdom of Shalom.

            The reality of Zion is simply this: God rules. God's rule will one day be universally acknowledged. God provides absolute security for the people of God by dwelling with them. But the reality of Zion has never been and is not linked to any particular nation or state.

            The reality of Zion has always been and is and must always be located within midst of the community of believers-- the church-- not within the state.  The ultimate reality of Zion is located within the homes, and the hearts, and the lives of the people of God.  Amen.

            Let us pray,

            Great God. We thank you for this land so far and free. We thank you for its worthy aims and charities. We are grateful for people who have come to our shores, with customs and accents to enrich our lives.  You have led us in the past, forgiven evil, and will lead us in time to come. Give us a voice to praise your goodness in this land of living men and women. Give us a will to serve you, now and always. All of this we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.