Crazy Love

August 4, 2013

Crazy Love

2Samuel 6:12-23                  Notes Not Edited

SIS—“Crazy love” is the only “sane” response to a God’s immense majesty and absolute holiness.

In English “crazy” means,  “senseless; impractical; totally unsound, such as a crazy scheme.” Informally, the English word means, “intensely enthusiastic; passionately excited, as in,  crazy about baseball.”

However you define it, “crazy,” definitely refers to something “out of the ordinary.”  I want to talk about a “crazy love” for God this morning as I see an example in our text in 2Samuel 6.  David’s response to the return of the Ark of the Covenant qualifies as “crazy love.”  It is a bit impractical, seemingly unsound (at least in the world’s eyes), and definitely intensely enthusiastic and passionately excited.  I think when we examine this text together we will see that “crazy love” is the only “sane” response to a God’s immense majesty and absolute holiness.

The longer I live, the less I am satisfied with simply “going to church”—even a great church like ours.  As I contemplate the immensity of God, I can’t help but recognize my own cosmic insignificance.  A great theologian once wrote, “Noone is ever truly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God” (Sproul).

This is the point of our text.  The Ark of the Covenant was the most significant artifact in the life of the nation of Israel.  It was a gold-plated chest standing as the crown jewel of the Tabernacle, and later the Temple.  It sat only, veiled behind a curtain in the Holy of Holies---the innermost section of the Holy Sanctuary.  In this Most Holy Place, a priest could only enter once a year, after a strict protocol assuring his righteousness before God.  Should any part of the ritual of Yom Kippur be violated, the High Priest would be struck dead.  And, nobody could go in to get him.  So, they would tie bells to his priestly garment and a rope to his foot.  If the bells stopped ringing, they would pull his dead body out.

The lid of the sacred Ark of the Covenant was place where the very Presence of God resided—God’s awesome holiness rested between two golden cherubim on the lid of the Ark, called the Mercy Seat.

It is impossible for me, or any human, to explain the power and holiness that the Ark of the Covenant represented to the people of Israel.  It was this awesome sense of the Presence of Almighty God that led to David’s “crazy” behavior when the Ark of the Covenant returned from the house of Abinadab where it had been parked for two decades.  While David’s behavior seemed crazy to some of those in the crowd that day, it becomes clear from our text that “crazy love is the only sane response to the awesome majesty and absolute holiness of Almighty God.”

Let’s read this text together:  2Samuel 6:12-23.

Our text provides us a glimpse into why “crazy love” is the only sane response to the immense majesty and absolute holiness of God.  There are three realizations that develop this theme of crazy love:

1.  First, Crazy Love acknowledges the Incomprehensible
     MAJESTY of Almighty God

Now, when it comes to describing God’s majesty, words simply are not adequate.  The word, “incomprehensible” is one attempt.  You can add, “unfathomable, impenetrable, inexplicable, inconceivable, stunning, or perplexing” and you will still not capture the essence of God’s majestic glory.  You could add, “immense, vast, enormous, immeasurable, incalculable, or colossal,” and still come up short in trying to describe God’s majesty. 

In fact, even if you could collect everything that exists in the cosmos (or ever has existed or ever will exist) and you presented this before men you would not have fully described God’s majesty.  It always brings me back to “incomprehensible, or immense.” 

The fault of people, all people including those who have been saved, can be directly correlated to a faulty or incomplete view of God.  If we truly comprehended the awesome majesty of God even for one second, it would radically alter our worship and service to Him.  We get just the ever so slight glimpse of God’s majesty in the powerful Presence of God associated with the Ark of the Covenant.  Go back a few verse and look at how the Ark of God so impressed people:

6:1    David again assembled all the choice men in Israel,  30,000. ² He and all his troops set out  to bring the ark of God from Baale-judah.  The ark is called by the Name, the name of Yahweh of Hosts who dwells between the cherubim.  ³ They set the ark of God on a new cart and transported it from Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio,  sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart  ⁴ and brought it with the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on the hill. Ahio walked in front of the ark. ⁵ David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of fir wood instruments,  lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums,  and cymbals.

Then, look at verses 12-15

¹² It was reported to King David: “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s family and all that belongs to him because of the ark of God.” So David went and had the ark of God brought up from Obed-edom’s house to the city of David with rejoicing.  ¹³ When those carrying the ark of the Lord advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.  ¹⁴ David was dancing  with all his might before the Lord wearing a linen ephod.  ¹⁵ He and the whole house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of the ram’s horn.

When the Ark of the Covenant representing God’s majesty and power came upon the scene, a pandemonious, almost riotous celebration erupted.  David, the stately King of Israel, could not contain himself.  He throw off all but his undergarments and danced in the street.

The people recognized the awesome, incomprehensible majesty of God and they could not contain themselves.  David’s view of God, and the people of Israel, was such that they could not contain themselves in His Presence.

Now, contrast that with how most church services go.  It’s a little depressing.  We seem to settle for so little.  We seem to be so content for just a hor d’oeuvre when God wants to give us a full course meal.

Francis Chan put it very well.  In his book, “Crazy Love,” he writes:  “I hope [this book] affirms your desire for ‘more God’—even if you are surrounded by people who feel they have ‘enough God.’”

This stabbed my heart like a dagger.  Am I a person who has become satisfied with just “enough God?” Or, am I a person that hungers and thirsts for “more God?”  I think of what the Lord said,

Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness
for they will be filled  (Mat. 7:6)

Do I feel empty inside because I don’t hunger for more?  Have I let church become a substitute for “more of God?”  Have I let people who have “enough God” influence my walk with God?  In other words, “do I have an incomplete, inadequate view of God that leads to an incomplete, inadequate service to God?”  These are tough questions.  I’m struggling to answer them for myself.  I know you struggle with these types of issues also.

I think I need a little more “crazy love” for God.  I think I need a little more risk, a little more sacrifice, a little more, “perspiration” as I taught last week.  When I try to comprehend the majesty of God, I need to ask, is my view “big enough.”  Nothing impacts how a person lives his or her life more than the person’s view of the majesty of God.

2.  Second, Crazy Love acknowledges the absolute HOLINESS
     of God.

It is possible for a person to be awed by the incomprehensible majesty of Almighty God, but not fully acknowledge the absolute holiness of God.  This is a grievous error.  It is a fatal mistake—an eternally fatal mistake.

One of the hardest stories in all the Bible is found in 6-11:

⁶ When they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it because the oxen had stumbled. ⁷ Then the Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah,  and God struck him dead on the spot for his irreverence,  and he died there next to the ark of God. ⁸ David was angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, so he named that place an Outburst Against Uzzah,  as it is today. ⁹ David feared the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?”

For many people it might seem like God “over-reacted” a little bit in this situation.  Uzzah meant well.  He was sincere.  He actually did a good thing to keep the Ark of the Covenant from crashing to the ground, didn’t he?  How could God punish him by striking him dead?

This story underscores the seriousness of understanding the “holiness” of God.  It relates the “carelessness” of mankind in regard to disobedience.  People tend to have an “entitlement” mentality when it comes to God.  Many people seem to think that since God is All-loving, He has to give them a pass on their sin.  There is a common saying from Latin that has become a part of our daily communication.  The Roman historian, Seneca The Younger said, “Errare humanum est” meaning, “to err is simply human.” Later the phrase, “ignocere divinum est,” or “to forgive is divine,” came into common usuage.

This is a quaint statement oft-repeated, but full of grievous error.  It represents a cavalier attitude toward sin and a careless attitude in regard to the holiness of God.  This passage highlights the danger of a careless attitude in regard to our responsibility to a Holy God.

David was careless.  The Ark should never have been placed upon the ox cart.  The Law of God was very specific in regard to the Ark’s transportation  (Exodus 25:10-14):

¹⁰ “They are to make an ark  of acacia wood, 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high.  ¹¹ Overlay it with pure gold; overlay it both inside and out. Also make a gold molding all around it. ¹² Cast four gold rings for it and place them on its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. ¹³ Make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark with them.

There is no mention of using an “ox cart for convenience.” 

Uzzah was careless.  There was a strict admonition that nobody but a ritually clean priest in the performance of his duties could touch the Ark—under penalty of death.  No loopholes.  No amendments.  God said the penalty for violating this command would be death.  We need to be reminded often that the “penalty for disobeying God is death—physical and eternal.  Romans 6:23 says,

“The wages of sin is death”—all the years of inflation have not changed the wages of sin one iota.

Uzzah was careless in regard to God’s holiness.  He decided that God did not mean what He said.  He disobeyed a direct order of God and paid for it with His life.

Those who presume upon God’s goodness thinking God will “overlook” their sin have a rude awakening coming.  Likewise, those who believe that God’s “love” somehow trumps His “holiness” are in for a rude awakening.

Because God is love, He does not want to punish sin.  That why He sent His Son to die in our place.  The penalty of sin is death, and can be paid by us in dying every day for all eternity, or the debt can be paid by accepting the once for all death of the “Eternal Son of God.”  Because God is love, He does not want to punish us for our sin; but because God is “Holy,” He must punish our sin. 

Make no mistake about it:  carelessness in regard to your responsibility to a Holy God has devastating consequences—often eternal consequences.  The Bible says,

^{Hebrews 10:    26} For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,  ²⁷ but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries.

Then, in verse 31 the Word reinforces the warning in regard to carelessness about God’s holiness:  ³¹ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

People who truly come to understand that an absolutely holy God, has made provisions to deal with our sin so that we would not have to pay the penalty of eternal death, tend to be “crazy about loving God.”

Crazy Love develops when one understands the incomprehensible majesty of God, and the absolute holiness of God.  These two realizations combine to make someone absolutely “crazy in love” with God.  To the degree that we comprehend His majesty and holiness, is the degree of “craziness” we demonstrate in our lives in regard to loving and serving God.

There is another realization that surfaces in reading this text in regard to “Crazy Love.”

3.  Crazy Love endures the inevitable SCORN of the world.

The prospect of the Ark being returned to Jerusalem, the City of God, caused joyous pandemonium as we read earlier.  In particular, David went a little crazy when he realized the Ark was coming home to Jerusalem which would forever seal that City as the City of God.

The Ark had been captured by the Philistines years earlier.  The Philistines were a constant threat to Israel for over 150 years.  The Ark had been back in battle, but had apparently been in the residence of a man called, Abinadab for about 20 years.  When Saul was King, he simply left it there.  Now, David had conquered the Philistines and wanted to return the Ark to Jerusalem, his headquarters.  I’ve mentioned the joyous celebration that was taking place over the return of the Ark, but I’m not sure we totally grasp how “crazy” this made the children of Israel—especially David. 

But, not everybody was into the celebration.  Look at verse 16:

⁶ As the ark of the Lord was entering the city of David,  Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.  Then in verse 20 we read what happened when David got home:  ²⁰ When David returned home to bless his household,  Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today!” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”

Let me pause a minute on those two words, “expose himself.”  Michal meant this as a derogatory remark, but I think there is an application we can make in regard to a positive aspect of our worship of Almighty God.  In order for us to truly worship God we have to “expose ourselves,” that is, we must become a little bit “vulnerable” to God before others.  Many people are too uptight to even raise hands, let alone “dance in a sheer linen ephod.” 

Worship is a matter of vulnerability—of being completely open to God; of even looking a bit “crazy” to others.  This is not something I’ve seen in many worship meetings in the U.S.  I did see it when I was a member of a church in Hawaii.  I did see this type of complete openness to God when I was ministering in a slum in Guatemala.  But, I don’t see a lot of “exposing of himself” in our worship services today. 

Let me go back to a quote I gave you earlier by Francis Chan:  “I hope [this book] affirms your desire for ‘more God’—even if you are surrounded by people who feel they have ‘enough God.’”

The fact is many people are like David’s wife, Michal.  They are offended by the openness that some people display in worship.  Michal represents one of the “enough God” type of people and David represents the “more God” type of people.  I currently find myself acting like an “enough God” person when a deeply desire to be a “more God” kind of person.  But, like many, I have inhibitions!  I don’t want people making fun of me or calling me a “Jesus Freak” or a “religious fanatic.”

Funny how being a “fanatic” is great when it has to do with NASCAR, football, or other past times—but fanaticism is out of bounds when it comes to Jesus.  We don’t want anybody to think we are “crazy in love” with Jesus.

It is interesting that when people were attacking Paul he referred to being “crazy in love” with Jesus (2Cor. 5:12):

¹² Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. ¹³ If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit (NLT)

David’s wife, Michal (who had been given to David by her father Saul when he was king) objected to David’s “foolish” (some translate this word, vulgar) activity of dancing in the streets like a commoner for all to see wearing only a thin linen ephod.  King’s did not usually dance in the street.  It was considered, undignified.

I’m afraid that the pendulum has swung too far the other way in regard to most modern worship:  I think we are too dignified.   I can guarantee you that if you decide to practice “crazy love” in your relationship with Jesus two things are going to happen:  1) God is going to immensely bless your life and bless others through your life, and 2) religious people are going to criticize you.

It’s inevitable:  living a life of crazy love for Jesus and the world will give you its scorn and condemnation—especially those who are religious.

I wish I had time to really get into this message on “Crazy Love.”  There is so much I’d like to say.  Fortunately, Francis Chan has already said much of what needs to be said in that regard.  I’ve made available copies of his book in the back.  It would be a great read if you aren’t afraid of getting your “religious feelings hurt” a little bit.

Crazy love” is the only “sane” response to a God’s immense majesty and absolute holiness.

Let’s go crazy together.

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