Promises, promises

2 Samuel 7:1-14a and Psalm 89:20-37, Jeremiah 23:1-6 and Psalm 23, Ephesians 2:11-22, Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

One of the fun things I have on my messy desk is a bright turquoise, extendable, pointy finger. “Lovely,” you say, “but why are you telling me this?” Because it’s a useful metaphor for this week’s Bible readings. Stay with me. It’ll make sense soon, I promise.

Although we’re in the season where we have two tracks of OT readings, and you’re supposed to stick with one track or the other, they curiously overlap this week:

The ‘continuous’ reading is from 2 Samuel, when David plans to build a temple for God and God says, “Nice thought, David, but I took you from being a shepherd and made you a king, and your son will be king after you. It’ll be him who builds my temple.” In the accompanying psalm, God reassures David that even if David’s children are wayward, God will not remove his steadfast love or violate his covenant. Cool.

But if we nip next door to the ‘related’ readings, we find Jeremiah lamenting over the supposed shepherd-kings who are destroying and scattering God’s sheep, and looking ahead to a time when God “will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” The accompanying psalm is, predictably, number 23. “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.”

But wait, there’s more. In Mark we see Jesus being hassled by the crowd and, being the nice guy he is, he has compassion on them because they are like sheep without a shepherd. So here’s that promised son of David, that righteous branch, that shepherd-king. And the temple that the Son of David was supposed to build? We read about that in Ephesians. It’s us, folks – “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.”

Hang on, though. The basic meaning of Scripture is what the original author intended to convey to the original audience, right? We shouldn’t go trying to read modern ideas into old texts. However much we might want it to be, Proverbs 19:6 isn’t referring to chicken korma.

This is where my pointy finger comes in. Cranked down short, it points to things close by. God meant that Solomon (David’s son) would build his temple, and he did. Crank the finger out, and it points to things far away. Jesus was also the son of David, and he built the temple of which Solomon’s was a foreshadow. It’s not either/or, it’s both/and.

The shepherd king whose line God would “establish forever, and his throne as long as the heavens endure” – crank the finger in and it points the golden age of Solomon who ruled over “all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt.” Crank the finger out and it points to Jesus, who is with us always, “even to the end of the age.”

For the people of Jeremiah’s age, it must have looked like God’s promises had failed. There were no shepherd kings, there was no everlasting kingdom, there was no temple. They weren’t even in their land. They lived in that liminal period between the short pointer and the long pointer. The first had finished; the second was not yet.

We live in that period too, for somethings. Not all of God’s promises are yet fulfilled. There is plenty of death and mourning and crying and pain, for a start. But I trust – no, more than trust – I am assured that in God’s good time, we’ll see the bright turquoise pointy finger extending to show the complete fulfilment of all God’s promises. And it’ll be Jesus.

Liturgy Resources for Proper 11

2 Samuel 7:1-14a, Jeremiah 23:1-6, Psalm 23, Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Confession and Absolution

Father God, we confess that we have been like sheep without a shepherd.
We have wandered away from your care.
Forgive us, Good Shepherd,
and rescue your sheep.

Forgive us, Good Shepherd,
and rescue your sheep.

We have failed to heed your voice.
Forgive us, Good Shepherd,
and rescue your sheep.

Father God, gather your wayward sheep back into your fold.
Restore us, revive us, forgive us and feed us,
that we may follow you all our days.
Amen.

Blessing and Dismissal

May God the Good Shepherd lead you into green pastures and beside still waters.
May he restore your soul and lead you in right paths.
May he be with you in dark paths and bring you safe at last to his house
and the blessing …

Go now, and follow the footsteps of your shepherd.
We will go. We will follow.
Amen.