Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

INTRODUCTION

            The interface of religion and politics has been a hot topic in recent elections in our country.  Candidates better be able to speak sincerely about how their faith impacts the decisions they make if they want to have any chance of winning an election.  What is the role of religion in political life?  How do people of faith help shape political agendas? 

            These questions are not new.  Religion has been influencing politics from antiquity. Today’s reading from 2 Samuel is an illustration.  King David brings the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.  He does so with great fanfare, dancing before the ark “with all his might.”

The Story

The story of David’s rise to kingship is exciting.  David united the southern and northern kingdoms to form the nation of Israel.  This consolidation was achieved through military skill, particularly the defeat of the Philistines.  Bringing relief from external threats, David united into one kingdom people of widely disparate religious, social and economic backgrounds.

            Having a great faith in God, David was greatly annoyed when the Philistines captured and held the Ark of the Covenant traditionally thought to contain the tablets of the law along with other sacred relics from Israel’s past.  So David took 30,000 raiders of the lost ark to bring it back.  The Philistines ended up returning the ark, because mysteriously, along with the ark, came the bubonic plague.  Not only did they return the ark, but also, hoping to appease the gods, they gave it back with all kinds of offerings for having taken it in the first place.  David and his 30,000 men were marching the ark back home when they hit a pothole.  The ark started to topple and a well-meaning guy by the name of Uzzah reached out to steady it.  He died on the spot, the explanation being that he was not a Levite (a member of the clergy), and had no right touching the sacred object.  David is so angry with God for causing Uzzah’s death; he left the Ark with a man named Obed-edom.  After a three-month cooling off period, David learned that things were going very well Obed-edom.  David thought, “Humm, maybe the Ark isn’t cursed after all.   Think I’ll bring it to Jerusalem.”
           Installing the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem was a brilliant move on David’s part, and this one act had far-reaching consequences for Israel, and as we’ve seen clearly, the rest of the world as well.  No longer would the sanctuary of the God of Israel be a traveling trunk moving from shrine to shrine throughout the nation. God’s Presence, represented in the Ark, would reside in Jerusalem, making the political capital of Israel its holy city as well.
            The scripture gives no reason for David’s decision to bring the ark to Jerusalem.  But it seems clear that David, having consolidated political and military power in Jerusalem, wanted to include the focus of religious power as well, for religion played an important role in ancient Israel, though like today, you couldn’t always see it from the actions of the people. Prior to the construction of the temple the ark was the most important religious artifact in Israel.  David tried to build the temple, but that task was accomplished by his successor, Solomon.  So at the time of David’s famous dance, the ark symbolized the Lord’s presence on earth among his chosen people.
             The custom throughout the ancient Near East when an image of a god was carried into the city where it resided, there was a huge parade.  People played instruments, sang, chanted and danced. For some strange reason, David chose to do his dancing rather scantily clad in only a linen ephod, the traditional garb of a priest.  His wife, Michel, was not pleased with David’s attire, or rather, lack thereof.  Disaffection resulted from their argument, resulting in David refusing to be intimate with her.  She had no children.  Since she was the daughter of David’s predecessor, this severed the tie between the line of descendents of David and those of Saul.

David’s Motivation

            David acted as king in reclaiming the ark and bringing it to Jerusalem, but in his dance, leading the procession, wearing a priestly garment was religious.  David’s dance was both liturgical and political.  Many questions are posed regarding motivation for the dance. The following are some of them:

1. David was eager to unify the country that had suffered under the reign of his mentally ill predecessor, King Saul.
2. David was usurping the power of priests and other religious leaders by taking control of the sacred symbol of the Ark of the Covenant.  He used this religious symbol to bolster his power as king.  David was only the second king of Israel. 
3. David was very devout and was demonstrating his devotion to Yahweh.  He was communicating to the people that his reign would be characterized by faithfulness to God’s law.  This latter explanation is the one of which we learned in Sunday School.  David is depicted as the great, faithful, and just king.  Indeed, Israel remembers the Davidic monarchy as the idyllic time.  The prophets looked forward to the reestablishment of the unity and glory of Israel through a descendent of David.

So which explanation of David’s motivation is correct?  Perhaps all of them have merit.  Whether consciously or unconsciously, David’s dance around the ark demonstrated his commitment to Yahweh, supported his reign with religious symbolism, and established his power even over the religious leadership.

MIXING POLITICS AND RELIGION

            David’s motivations perhaps were commendable, but as we discover later in the story, David does not always use his power for good purposes.  Mixing religion and politics is tricky. There is such a thing as bad politics.  There is also bad religion.  Religion used to justify exploitation of people, of the earth is bad religion.  Unfortunately, political leaders often use religion to manipulate people.  Karl Marx said, “Religion is the opiate of the people.”  But I say, more often political leaders pervert religion and utilize it to accomplish a political end.

            We want to know that our political leaders have some depth of character, that they possess moral compasses, that they hold themselves accountable not simply to themselves or to big business, or even to the will of the people, but to God.  Wouldn’t it be refreshing to have political leaders who were prompted by their faith to care for the poor and struggling?  During the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa the following occurred:

            … An angry black crowd sensing betrayal, a car turned upside down and set afire, and Bishop Desmond Tutu, in purple clerical robes, moving through the people to wave them off a gasoline-doused man — a black man — who, were it not for the bishop’s intervention, would now surely be dead. The crowd …accused its victim of being a police informant. For this he would be dealt with as have been many of the township councilors, deputy mayors and the like: hacked to death or set afire — deeds seen as fit punishment for turning against one’s own. Bishop Tutu and Bishop Simeon Nkoane were moving in the crowd, gesturing urgently without laying on a hand. “This undermines the struggle,” Bishop Tutu cried, acting out his philosophy of nonviolent resistance at extraordinary personal risk.

                        This is the same Bishop Tutu who confronted a large, white policeman beating an elderly black man with a stick and held a cross aloft until the beating stopped. In late 1981, a black crowd at a funeral attacked another suspected informant, and Bishop Tutu flung himself across the victim, persuaded the attackers to back off and then led a service wearing clerical robes soaked with the man’s blood.[1]

            Leaders like Desmond Tutu are few and far between, but is it too much to ask that our political leaders show courage, faithfulness, and a commitment to working on behalf of the less powerful?  We can’t expect perfection.  None of us is perfect. I’m reminded of a story I heard. In the mountains of Tennessee they have a type of religion in which people get saved in the spring, grow cold in the summer, backslide in the autumn and fall away completely in the winter: Then they get saved all over in the spring revival.

WE’RE ALL SINNERS
            A story goes that the revival had gone on about 10 days, and people knew it was nearing its climax. A certain man came into the meeting and sat in the back row. The next night he moved halfway toward the front. The third night he was sitting in the front row. The fourth night he broke out in prayer, “Lord, fill me!”
Over to one side there was a woman who knew the man well. She cautioned the Lord, “Careful, Lord! He leaks!”[2]
            We all leak, and that is why there is the church.  We come together, leaking our sins, but supporting one another as we ask God to forgive us and set on the right path again.  So what place does faith have in politics?  I’ve been informed that next Sunday three or four local politicians will be worshiping with us.  When I alerted the worship team, Otis responded that this was another opportunity for Hunting Ridge to demonstrate that it welcomes all kinds of sinners.  I told them they were welcome to worship with us, but be expected not to speak.  I don’t think they will be dancing around the altar.

CONCLUSION

            David danced “with all his might.”  He was enthusiastically worshiping God, leading the procession.  With all his faults, he was the most revered king in Israel’s history, and his devotion to God shines through the many psalms attributed to him.  Despite his faults, God’s purposes were accomplished through him and his descendents.  This passage is not included in our scriptures as lessons for kings and presidents.   Each of us has the opportunity to exercise our faith in the public arena, to show integrity in what we say we believe and the way we behave.  We, like David, have a chance to leave a legacy for generations to come.  I’m reminded of Lee Ann Womack’s song, “I Hope You Dance.”  She sings, “Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance, and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.”   I hope you dance.  Amen.