Northside Church - Sydney
Wallflowers// Living Life from the Sidelines? Week 3: David
I'm not sure if you've, in fact I'm sure you've been in that situation when you got the super large coke that you know is going to result in a bathroom stop right when you get to the critical point and a whole bag of popcorn which ensures that you're going to drink that large coke and go to the bathroom. And you're there and I don't know if you've ever had those moments where there's just a point in the movie in which you're absolutely enthralled. I mean you sort of forget about all the world around you. Have you guys ever been in those sorts of places? Could have been all sorts of great movies, the notebook? Maybe you're inspired, maybe legally blonde, maybe you want to be a lawyer. But of course there are the greats like Lord of the Rings which grosses like you know 40 gazillion dollars all around the world and if you want me to save you about anywhere from 9 to 16 hours worth of your life tonight. I'll just give you the synopsis of how it goes. But basically basically the world in Middle Earth there was wonderful and it was perfect and this terrible evil entered the land and the land was under this incredible darkness and these little guys got on this great quest in order to destroy the source of this terrible evil and just ordinary people like you and I rise to do the most miraculous and the most incredible things and somehow triumph over this almost unbeatable evil in order to restore the world back to how it's meant to be. See there was 16 seconds, not 16 hours so don't buy the extended version. What is it about movies like that? I mean what is it with the mic that and I always think there's two types of people that come out of those sorts of movies. There's the person who's gone and watched Lord of the Rings and they have that captivating moment in which they forget everything and they're so engrossed in the story and the credits roll up and the movie finishes and they go oh well that was a nice story back to work or there's that person and maybe that's you tonight who I don't know it's caught you and it's strung at a string deep in the very center of your soul and you keep asking yourself the question what if what if that's sort of true? What if that's pointing to something bigger and deeper? What if it's true? Is there a story like that that's true? You know there is and it's in this funny black book that we call the Bible and look there are really two ways to read it. I think half the reason why we don't discover the wonder of this story is because we read this thing like I don't know have you ever seen those funny little letter type things you buy a whole packet of them they're little magnets that go on your fridge and they make up all sorts of different words and you stick them to your fridge and your friends make all sorts of different words and if they're bad friends I make rude words and but none unless sometimes I think we read the Bible like those letters on the fridge. One week we're reading from John the next minute we're reading from Matthew next week we're from Second Samuel we're reading through and we're reading through and we sort of try and piece the great story of the Bible together like all these funny words on a fridge and we almost treat it like this little pillbox this little medicine chest of goodies that when life is feeling tough that we pick one out and we have a read and it makes it and it soothes us but here's my question for us tonight and look I've got to come clean with you I've been doing something a bit different this series you see I tried to stop reading the Bible like the funny words on the fridge and instead what if we could read the Bible as the greatest story ever told what if that story was true what if there is a story that essentially says that the world was created perfect and then a deep evil inhabited the land and ordinary people rose up in fact one ordinary person rose up and overcame this impossible evil and called the rest of humanity into that adventure and that somehow a great hero is going to come back and eventually save the whole world from doom and destruction it sounds like a great story right it's true it's true and so what we've been doing over this past six weeks is really understanding that the Bible is simply God's plot and line to save the world that through the characters we've been looking at they've been specifically chosen Abraham he was right back at the beginning of the book Peter when we get to in week six is going to be right at the end of the book each of them walking walking through chronologically and what we've seen from all of these guys you know Abraham we see that God wants to come into a relationship with you and bless you and be in a relationship and as soon as he does that and blesses Abraham he says get out get out gone I'm only blessing you to be a blessing and then we saw Moses the stuttering Moses talking to a burning bush and he has an encounter with God and immediately guess what God says give you give your clue it starts with get out he says get out get out go go do something else go go actually here's a good idea Moses you stuttering little guy you go and stand in front of the world's biggest military power and tell him to liberate and let go of his free labor force just have a go at that and that's what we saw last week you know Isaiah we didn't we haven't preached on him yet but we know his story God shows up in the temple cold comes from the altar angels bring it down touches his lips Isaiah gets this incredible view of who God God is and so God kindly says to him I'm going to take you out to a group of people that are never going to listen to you and might want to kill you now get out are we getting the pattern here class that is what we've been learning at the heart of this series is that God never calls you into himself unless he's going to send you back out again he's a spiritual tornado he only sucks you win in order to fling you back out and so tonight we're going to look at another character called David king David that is wow we're getting the serious characters second Samuel one of the best named books of the Bible chapter 7 verses 1 through to 17 after the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all of his enemies around him he said to Nathan the prophet here I am living in a palace of cedar while the ark of God remains an attempt Nathan replied to the king whatever you have in mind go ahead and do it for the Lord is with you that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan and said this go and tell my servant David this is what the Lord says are you the one to build me a house to dwell in I have not dwelt the house from the day I bought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day so that's post Moses time I've been moving from place to place with the tent as my dwelling wherever I have moved with all these lights 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 now then tell my servant David this is what the Lord Almighty says I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be a ruler over my people Israel I've been with you wherever you've gone I've cut off all of your enemies from before you and now I'll make your great name great like the names of the greatest men of the earth and I will provide a place for my people Israel and I will plant them so they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed wicked people will not oppress them anymore as they did in the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel I'll also give you rest from all your enemies the Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you when your days are over and your rest with your fathers I'll raise up your offspring to succeed you who will become your own body and I will establish his kingdom he is the one who will build a house by name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever I will be his father and he will be my son when he does wrong I will punish him with the rod of men with floggings inflicted by men but my love will never be taken away from him as I took it away from Saul whom I'm removed from before you your house and your kingdom will endure before me your throne will be established forever who is this David guy verse one is saying here verse one he's getting some rest from his enemies in a world in which military oppression is all around you and it had been for the nation of Israel the military had been around them the whole time they'd been oppressed people rest was a good thing and so God had taken them out of that David was this this military kinghood who had somehow stabilized Israel as a military and a political power there was rest they could sleep easy and all right things were looking up for Israel and so David has his house this beautiful house cedar if you've ever smelled cedar it's beautiful and it's fragrant and it's it's lovely to look at and so here he is living in this house and he calls Nathan who's a prophet or another word for that is a minister so he calls the minister and he says it's not right that I should be living in this house it's not right that I should be in cedar while the Lord's living in a tabernacle a tent now you're going to remember this tent's been around for like a couple of hundred years I don't know if you've pulled the old caribbean out of the garage every now and then you know but you know how tents smell funny tents smell funny after a while now this would have been moldy and ratty and dirty and and this is what God is living in and David says we can't have that Nathan you know it's disgusting I've got a greater idea I want to build God a house I want to build God a house and and so what does Nathan say verses three and four you know what what does the minister say when yeah when a member of the congregation says that I want to donate a whole heap of money to the church oh of course do what do what you'd like to David you know don't let me get in your way if that's the Lord's will and so Nathan says that but then then God comes to Nathan and he says otherwise here's the first thing God says I don't want a house I don't want David to build me a house it's funny thing to say why not why not here's the first one it's because he's saying I'm a people person verse six I've not dwelt in a house from the day that I bought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day I've been moving from place to place where the tent is my dwelling when if I'm you know wherever I've moved with all the Israelites did I ever say to any of the rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people why have you not built me a house of cedar I love the tone here yeah he's saying David don't you know me haven't you seen me in the wandering and the tent I mean he's saying since when since when am I a cedar kind of guy since since since when do I need you or anyone for that matter to build me a house I've been there for a couple hundred years I don't dwell here by necessity I dwell here by choice I'm a sort of god who lives with the peeps that's what he's saying in modern day language see that's the job of a pastor to translate for you tonight like what he's saying is when look when my people wandered I wandered when my people were rained on I was rained on when my people were troubled and afflicted I experienced it with them when they lacked fit fixness and security I was there with them in the midst of it God's saying I refuse to live like a king when when I see people with needs when I see that that my people live in needs I refuse to live in a house when my people are houseless you know I mean what it shows us tonight God guys is that God is not the sort of God that that sits up in the heavens and watches this world and all its suffering and all its pain or what you might be going through tonight and he doesn't see this world and watch it like a world vision ad stuff in his face full of popcorn oh yeah yeah it's terrible he doesn't he doesn't do that at all he comes in he dwells he stays with the people he says I'm a people person you know I'll stay with them and isn't it been great hearing from Brendan tonight and mate thanks for sharing your story today across all three services you've done really well but it hasn't been great to see Brendan in his story and the vision that God has given him and you know as we're flicking through those pictures I don't know about you but every time I see those pictures and I see him doing what God is calling him to do you know often people of the world look at Christians like that and they go what in the world possesses a bloke like that to go and live and breathe and step into such poverty and desperate need Brendan's stories our story is the church he's he's not doing it to be a hero he's doing it because he serves the God that dwells with the people that's where God would be that's the first thing we said tonight he's a people person here's the other thing we see from what God is saying he says I don't want you to build me a house David because any building that you do is not for me it's actually from me verse eight now then tell my servant David this is what the Lord Almighty says I took you from the past year and from following the flock to be a ruler over my people God's saying to David David look I David I took you from the pig pen and I took you to the big pen you know I I I took you from mud to majesty I did that you wouldn't be a king if it weren't for me David you can't what God's saying is you can't do anything for me but I'll let you do things through me and that that's what that's where we get the concept of a god of grace in the bible I know it's hard to believe and it will require faith and I might have shared this with some of you guys but I want everyone to be on an even page I used to be a gymnast when I was when I was six and and I considered myself pretty good at being a gymnast and and it was my turn to go on the rings you know the rings you said at the olympics everyone chalks up I didn't I didn't have any chalk as a kid I just had Johnson and Johnson baby talcum powder smelt great I was my turn to go on the rings and was watching all these other big kids ahead of me and now I thought pulling themselves out now having a go and it was it was all fantastic and it was my turn I jumped on so full of myself and and I went to pull myself up and I pulled little muscles you know hadn't developed into the great stature of things that they are today and so of course I I pulled harder and harder and harder and I just couldn't do it and and at the last point I thought to myself I'm going to give myself one big push and and I looked to the sky and and like an eagle with with one big tug I floated towards the ceiling as if my strength had just no no bounds as if some supernatural force had just enveloped me I'm so proud of myself until I realized that then in all of my concentration to get up on the rings what it really happened is and that's what brothers and sisters are for they tell you these sorts of things in order to humble you that my gym coach had actually gotten me under the legs and thrust me towards the ceiling on the last attempt so I wasn't humiliated and so all of that pridefulness was pretty much gone what am I saying look guys God is a god of of infinite grace of infinite strength he's the ultimate gym coach and what he's saying to David is David mate you would still be struggling on the rings if it went for me he says that to us tonight you'd be you'd be struggling on the rings in that sense look I love what Eugene Peterson says says at this moment David was on the threshold of either being full of God full of himself it's on the threshold of thinking I'm in the house of cedar oh my goodness come here God let me build something for you come on we're talking about the God of the universe here and so in that sense guys look is now an appropriate time to remind each other of why we do mission I mean we do mission we try to extend God's grace we're not perfect at it in this place but we try to extend these mercy and his justice to the world around us not because it impresses God not because of wows God or not because we have to do it but be right with God but because he's extended his grace and mercy to us that I mean anyone that calls themselves a Christian recognizes that David stories our story like spiritually we were in the flock spiritually we're in the pig pen and gone to the big pen the spiritually we're just every day nobody's floating out in the field and he's the one that calls us in to the throne room itself and that's where we live and breathe with him I brought you up out of here so in other words guys any work any ministry that we do here individually and as a church let's be really clear any building that we do in this place is not for God it's from God helps us keep humble in that sense and so guys look I got to ask you you know we sometimes in lower North Shore or Sydney we only have to look at those photos of Madagascar we're living in the house with Cedar walls here we've been given so many great gifts of God's grace time and money and finances and great brains and great jobs and great situations many of us in comparison we're doing it not for him but through him in that sense any buildings not for me it's from me the third one you know God's pretty much saying here look I don't want to house from you I don't want to house I don't want to house from you and I don't want to house now I'm fine being with the people and here's the reason final one is he's saying because I'll build you a house this is two reasons why this final statement's so important the first one it changes your view of God in ancient times if any military leader was successful in battle often they would go and they would build a temple to the gods they would go and they would go and pick a god and they would build him a temple and they would get some form of oracle a special prophet like Nathan to go and speak on behalf and the the prophet would come back and say oh king yes the god is a senior wonderful work and he's going to bless you and and your kingdom will endure forever and so the pattern was we see here that you have success and then you build a house for a god and the god blesses you and now you're saying hang on that's exactly what's happening here in first Samuel but hang on David was about to do exactly the same thing and it's in it then god shoots him down god says don't build me a house I'm going to build you a house why because it look here's what god's trying to do he's going to try to show the difference the radical difference that he is to the gods of every other religion in the world you see every other religion you build god the house and then god builds you a house you do good for god and then god does good for you right you do good things and god does good back you put in for god and god puts out for you I mean it's like a religious vending machine isn't it like every token of goody that goes in you just hit the button and another good little packet of goody comes out that that's how religion works and yet this god says don't you dare start the basis our our relationship David on that type of pattern he says you don't build me a house I build you a house in other words the god of the bible is radically different from every other religion every other religion says bless me as a god and I'll bless you and yet the blessings from this god says I'm going to bless you anyway it changes your view of god it changes your view of Christianity in that sense but also changes your view of what god's doing when god says I'll build you a house David's thinking a normal house David's thinking god's going to pimp my crib you know I'm going to all sorts you know fit out the bathroom all sorts of great taps maybe one of those frameless shower screens the god's talking about a different kind of house isn't he yeah he's talking to like the house what about like the house of Windsor we know what the house of Windsor is of course it's it's it's a family it's not a place it's not a building it's a family line what god was saying is I'm not talking about a place or a building David I'm talking out I'm talking about a family I'm talking about a lineage I'm talking about a legacy that I'm going to build for you a legacy that's going to go so far beyond you when the bible says here to David that you will be sleeping with your fathers in other words it was a nice word saying you're going to be dead and I'm going to build that so far beyond your ability to make yourself great and famous in the world I'm going to do the work after your long gone and so god's saying I'm not going to build you a dream home I'm going to build you a dynasty a family that regardless of their wandering or their worthiness or their obedience I'm going to remain committed to them I'm going to be with them and it's going to be a kingdom David because it's from you as a king that will endure forever and look David I'm not building you another kingdom I'm building you the kingdom from you David will be born not just another king but the king and look we're thinking look is god just getting a bit gushy so you're just getting a bit fluffy just sort of trying to build him up no look see anyone knows that another king's going to it's not really going to fix the problem if you know your bible well enough David was a good king right but he also failed miserably and he fails pretty bad at the end of it all and solemnly his son's even greater than him and and does build a house called the temple it does great things but but from that human standpoint the irony is that the family of David just begins descending into further and further darkness and horrible stuff goes on in the family of David within two generations of him passing away and you're thinking what the heck is the Lord doing but it's a plot line of the bible again isn't it friends let's not read the letters on the fridge let's go back to the big picture and the beginning it was paradise that's what's happened before Abraham and when we turn from him in the garden all of that all of that went to junk everything began falling apart and that's why the bible says why we have disease and why we have sickness and why we have pain and why we have suffering in this world because it's not how it's meant to be in a great evil envelopes this world and what could possibly heal it some sin 96 says among the nations the lord reigns and then even the trees of the forest will sing for joy and they will sing before the lord for he comes he comes to judge the earth you know what sam six is saying it's loater it's it's lord of the rings it's it's talking about the return of the king it's talking about the ultimate third instalment a king that when he returns will bring a kingdom will not just rule with equity and justice but even the creation will cry out in joy when all pain and suffering and unfairness is white from this world and so david is being told one of your descendants will not just be a king he will be that king and he's coming a king that will not only overcome the giants like you did david like goliath but the real giants the real giants of sin and death and time a king that can overcome the real real thing the real things the real things that could really kill you don't hide where do you get a king like that well we're here aren't we two types of people hearing this story some of them it maybe hopefully if i've if i've worked all my sweetness for tonight you didn't have popcorn or a drink but maybe just maybe there's there's been a moment for you tonight in in which you've forgotten the rest of the world around you you've forgotten the open plan desk you're going to go back to tomorrow you've forgotten the life and the challenges that are happening at the moment and and and and we're caught in this picture and but there's two types of people there's two types of people here tonight they're going to go wow that's a nice story that's just what i call incidents that god wrote a story just like token that was cool tell that your workmates and you go back to your world or some of you tonight i don't know you may not believe in jesus you might have been invited by a friend tonight you might have stumbled in you might have looked us up on the internet it might have been all sorts of different ways that he's working through this kingdom to bring you here tonight you hear this and you say what if it's true what if this is true guys it is true there is a king that when he saw the needs of his people refused to live in a house of gold and of cedar and he comes down you know what it says john john won the word in the beginning was the word the reason for life god himself becomes flesh and he made his dwelling among us you know what the literal word for that is he made his tent among us god says david don't build me a house right now i don't want it now because there's going to be a day david way beyond you with futuristic sort of people that are really cool to have skinny jeans and leather shoes and and i'm going to be a part of the story in which they're going to understand that this is not the only time that i resided in a tent in order be with people in need he tented among us in the person of jesus christ the true king a king that doesn't demand that you build him up a house tonight in order to be near him but he comes near you in order to build you up friends it's true it's true with all the desperation i can preach tonight this king look this king doesn't ask you to give much but he asked to give tonight what is hard jesus doesn't ask you to give much he asks you to give in and when you come under the lordship of that king and when you get off the throne of your own life and you put the universal king on that throne friend you are in for the ride of your life have you surrendered to him tonight have you seen the bigger part of the story it's true what does this show us in god's plot line look in the beginning was paradise in other words guys this world ain't how it's meant to be the pain or the suffering or the trials that you're going through or the trials of your experience the world's broke it's not how he intended it and enabled power envelopes this place but there but we wait we wait for an ordinary guy a human that was somewhat different that came from a special lineage that came to us in a new kingdom that comes to rehab and restore the world we wait for the return of the king what's he like what does he look like what does he do what does he call us to do he's coming back for us what's what's his story you'll have to join us next week let's pray