The God of the Old Testament is not very marketable these days, apparently. Witness the filleting of tomorrow's reading from the Second Book of Samuel whereby seven vital verses have been discarded by the compilers of the lectionary.
Congregations will be spared hearing about the judgment of God on a man who disobeyed, but by the same token they will miss totally the author's intended contrast with the joy of those who understand that God is real and that God is holy.
King David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant, a large box of acacia wood, plated with gold, and symbol of God's presence with his people in their 40-year wilderness journeying, to its permanent site in Jerusalem. The ark was not an image of God, rather a sacrament of his presence. It underscored his rule, for it was referred to as "the footstool of our God" (1 Chronicles 28:2) and a king sits on a throne and uses a footstool.
It also spoke of God's provision of reconciliation between himself and his people, for on the annual Day of Atonement the high priest would sprinkle the blood of the sin-offering on the lid of the ark (Leviticus 16:1415).
Thirdly, it emphasised God's revelation, for the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments were placed inside the ark (Exodus 25:16,21).
David was rightly bringing the ark to the centre of the nation's life. In Jerusalem it would affirm that the majestic, pardoning, speaking God was in the midst of his people.
The previous chapter was all about David's high-on-adrenalin victories over his enemies, but the author now teaches that while crises may stimulate to action, they are not the stuff of ordinary, daily, godly living.
The church can always dredge up more adrenalin during the latest moral, ethical, or political emergency, but its indispensable function is to teach people to put the Lord God at the centre of their lives, day-in, day-out.
On the ark's journey, there was much hilarity. It was fun, it was loud, it was religious, to the accompaniment of tambourines, cymbals and the like. The village of Kiriath-jearim was rocking that day!
But then, catastrophe. The ark was on a cart, bouncing along, when suddenly the driver's mate toppled off and lay inert. Someone called the emergency services but too late, for Uzzah was dead. The party was over.
In a curt explanation, 2 Samuel 6:7 notes: "Then the Lord's anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his error; so he died there beside the ark of God."
What is the problem here? Simply that God had long ago given precise instructions as to how the ark was to be moved. Only a group of Levites was to carry it, and the ineligible Uzzah was chancing more than his arm.
God's holiness is lethal both for those inside the church and those outside, for Israelites as well as the Philistines David had defeated days previously. We cannot trifle with a God who is real and holy.
The modern Uzzah might well be the tax-evader, alleged to have massively defrauded the Revenue, who was described as "devout, always in church on Saturday night". But then any one of us could be a perfect match, similarly vulnerable to God's due process, if our religion has minimal impact on our behaviour the other six days of the week.
This God, the writer conveys, is not the neat, warm, fuzzy, friend in the sky who is always available and manageable. There is heat in his holiness - not to terrify us in our dealing with him, but to remind us we cannot play ducks and drakes with the living God.
Sin - defiance of his rule - always involves skating on very thin ice, with the certainty of ending up in very hot water. Professing Christians in church tonight and tomorrow, take note, seems to be the 2 Samuel writer's warning.
That is not, though, the last word about the ark. It was not automatically deadly because on being moved to Obed-edom's house for three months it immediately brought amazing benefits and happiness, perhaps fertility in his fields, flocks and family.
David noted Obed-edom's phenomenal blessings and eventually brought the ark on its last lap as directed (Book of Numbers 4:15). The accent now is on joy, with partying all the way. A fearful sense of God's holiness does not suppress joy but stimulates it. "Rejoice with trembling" is how Psalm 2:11 puts it in precis.
What wisdom and balance there is in the 2 Samuel 6 account, and therefore what a pity the lectionary compilers didn't see it that way and threw out the baby with the bathwater. Check it out in your own Bible and read the whole passage.