God Ain't Home

2 Samuel 6:9

David was afraid of the lord that day; and he said, "How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?”

It is amazing how we can worship God in public, attend a religious gathering but fail to bring God home with us. Most of the time God doesn’t get past the church parking lot because we are too scared to bring him home with us. I’m not talking about the bible you have on your living room table or the crucifix hanging in the hallway, or your grandmother’s picture of the Last Supper next to the picture of President Obama. I’m talking about the presence of God and a life accountable to his authority. We are scared to bring God home.

King David wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant to the city of David. Israel used to inquire of the Lord by going before the Ark to pray. They believed that the presence of God sat on top of the Ark between the two Cherubim. If you remember the movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark" with Indiana Jones, you will know that the movie used a replica of the Ark. In the movie the enemy died when he looked inside the Ark because of how Holy God is. That was the movie, but in real life when David tried to bring the Lost Ark home his friend died trying to steady the Ark touching the outside. He was not a priest and he touched the Ark with his bare hands.

Prior to that David and his men were worshipping “with all their might” but in one instance of careless casualness with God, God got angry with the cavalier attitude of how they handled his presence and broke out against David’s friend and killed him. It can be traumatizing to worship God with all your might and something tragic still happen. You were only trying to bring the presence of God back with you and tragedy strikes. That’s enough to make you want to leave the Ark right where it is.

The bible says David became angry and fearful of God. He said, “How can I bring God home after he’s done something like this?” David had good intentions but he went about it the wrong way. He didn’t take God serious enough and God broke out. You can’t just keep treating God’s presence any old kind of way and not expect him to break out. God is Holy, therefore we must be Holy, maybe that’s why God ain’t home. Or more specifically, maybe that’s why we refuse to bring him home because we are scared he might break out.

If the truth be told David is not the only one who refuses to bring God home because we are afraid that if I bring God home he might break out against me. If he broke out against my friend for trying to get the ark steady what will he do to me if I take him home and he sees how cavalier I live. If God were to see some of the things I do at home, he might break out against me too. I’m scared of God.

How come God ain’t Home?

1. We are still angry at God because of the loss of some friend/family member. Many of us are traumatized over a loss that happened while we were believers and it didn’t make sense to us. Give yourself time to heal and even tell God how you really feel. He can handle it.

2. We are afraid God will hold us accountable for all the stuff that’s wrong. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but we must also know that God is gracious. Now that we have relationship with Jesus, we do not have to fear the wrath of God because now God sees us through the righteousness of his son. Jesus is our great high priest who intercedes for us so that God won’t have to strike us down because of our filthiness. God sees Jesus in us before he sees our dirt. WE don’t have to be afraid to bring God home because Jesus is already there.

3. We are scared we will die. Jesus said, he who tries to save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for God’s sake will find it. In order to live, we must die to our old ways.

After David got mad and left the ark at Obed Edom’s house, he heard that everything Obed had God blessed. Obed’s entire house was blessed because God was at his home! David went and brought the Ark back after he heard that Obed was blessed. But when he brought the ark back this time, he did it the right way. He had priests, not common men, carrying the Ark on poles. This time, every six steps he made a sacrifice to God. This time, he worshipped God so hard he came out of his clothes. This time, he blessed everybody at home with gifts after he brought God home. Don’t you think it’s time to bring God home?

Dear God, I want you to come all the way in my house. I don’t want there to be any difference between my public worship and my private devotion. I want my house to be a sanctuary, Lord, for you. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you. Lord let me be a living sanctuary for you, pure and Holy, tried and true. Take away my fear and heal my anger and please come back home with me. My house is your house. Stay with me Lord.

In Jesus Name.

Amen.