April 4

Day 21: New Math

I just finished reading 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 this morning, and I am struck by how David's choices can so mirror our own.

First, David gets it wrong. He wants to know how big his military force is. He directs Joab the General to count all of the able-bodied fighting men. The math comes out to 1.5 million.

But the otherwise ruthless Joab "abhors" this idea, somehow knowing what it all points to, and refuses to count two of the twelve tribes. (Any other employee would get fired for that.)

Why was David wrong, you ask? David wanted to feel more secure in his assets. For us, this could look like hoarding paper goods, or insuring that our chest freezers are full. It could even be pastors counting how many "hits" their online sermons are garnering.

In response, God is not happy. The Lord sees in David (who should've known better) a desire to take control of his own life, to protect himself and his nation, instead of calling upon God to defend and protect.

So God gives David a brutal choice: either 3 years of famine, or 3 months of getting beat up by neighboring nations, or 3 days of (you'll love this) pestilence. (That's a Bible word for "pandemic.")

David chooses the 3 days option. He (rightly) chooses to fall into the hands of a merciful God, instead of into the hands of men. 70,000 die. Not pretty. It could have been countless more, but God was merciful.

David then wants to make a sacrifice to the Lord, in a attempt to assuage (I could have said "placate," but I didn't) the Lord. David sees the angel of the Lord ready to kill more people, as the angel is standing on a threshing floor in the middle of Jerusalem.

David asks the farmer if he can buy the property to erect an alter for the sacrifice. The owner, wanting to help, wanting to honor David, offers to give David the property and everything necessary for the sacrifice free of charge.

David, choosing rightly (and making a monster theological statement to us) says, "I cannot sacrifice to the Lord something that costs me nothing."

For us, this may look like giving the time and energy to join our GC's next Zoom call. It may look like devoting a bit of our day to prayerful worship. It may look like giving money while we're convinced we will really need it in the immediate future ourselves.

David's new math requires that he give up something in order to give it to God. David recognizes that cheap grace is no grace.

God's grace always involves God giving something, not hoarding anything.

The gospel tells us, "for God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

This week leading to Easter Sunday, we reflect upon and celebrate the life that was given, sacrificed, so we could have forgiveness, reconciliation, and eternal life in God's presence.

And a side note: That very threshing floor ended up being the very spot where the Jerusalem Temple was built.

Worship and sacrifice are never far apart from each other.