Our first reading today is from 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10. 

In today's first reading, David is finally declared king by the people of Israel. The elders gather with him in the holy city of God where the tombs of Sarah and Abraham, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, are located. This is the city where David's kingdom begins. But this city isn't Jerusalem because Jerusalem hasn't been conquered yet. Jerusalem won't become Zion and the City of David until the 7th year of his reign. That length of time is a gap in the story that we carry with us. We tend not to remember that Jerusalem was something else before David moved in.  

On this weekend when we celebrate the declaration of Independence, I think today's text from 2 Samuel invites us to consider our whole history, including the parts that are our gaps. Let's not just remember the signing of the Declaration at Independence Hall but also how our first form of government didn't include the US Constitution. Our story is fascinating, bigger than just the narrative we might experience at a 4th of July Fireworks show. In our history is depth, complexity, pain, and wonder. We have our flaws and our strengths, destructive and life giving events. There is a reason why we're sometimes called part of the Great Experiment and that experiment only works if all parts of it are known and examined. We shouldn't be afraid of what our story tells us because, as we see in Scripture, God is comfortable with complexity. God isn't afraid of working through difficult or wonderful times. Our brokenness is just as much a part of us as our successes and joys. And we shouldn't think that God is included in only one part of our story. God isn't afraid of our missing gaps. God is present in all of who we are and where we come from. God is in our gaps. And God loves us in spite of the gaps we have.