Advent IV

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Psalm 89; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38

David is all settled, the battles have been won, the sexual conquests made, the tribes are consolidated, his personal comforts are taken care of and then…Oh, let’s do something for God! What conceit! To think that we can do something for God or that God needs anything from us. I suppose the attaining of power at any level leading to self-reliance can do that to a person.

I’ve observed over the years how for many people like King David, God is an afterthought. They live on the fringes of the spiritual life while they get their lives together: education, the job, the spouse, the circle of friends, their aspired economic level. All good aspirations. But, how many people think that God is someone who you make room for in your life, eventually?  When we’ve gotten everything accomplished the way we think we want then we play catch up with God, who unbeknownst to us has already and always been with us.

Consider a related situation. Is there nothing more awkward then being given a gift that indicates the person, friend, family or foe, really doesn’t know us. Have you ever had that experience? I wonder if that’s why many people have resorted to ‘gift cards’ these days. The underlying truth being that we don’t know a person intimately. David doesn’t know his God very well. Omitted verses from today’s passage reveal much about God.

“I have never dwelt in a house from the day I brought [you] up from Egypt to this day,but I have been going about in a tent. As long as I have wandered about among the Israelites,did I ever say a word to [anyone and ask]: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” [2 Samuel 7:6-7]

David wants to give something to God, a house of cedar, but God already has a chosen dwelling place that is suitable. In fact, a temple would be problematic for God who desires to move among the people in their wanderings and travels, and so thus a tent; folds up, packs away neatly in the back of the truck, lightweight, mobile. But ultimately, God had not asked for a temple to be built. Thus the awkward gift.

Where does God fit into our lives and how well do we know our God?

Consider. Our God chooses to dwell in a tent…which means our God chooses to be with us wherever we go. Even when we wander in our sinfulness, God is with us. Sin is not wandering away from God but rather away from our best selves, the image and likeness of God within us.

In light of this, note the pronouns and the framing of God’s response to David.

“Should you build me a house to dwell in?”

God continues…David I don’t need anything from you. Remember…

"It was I who took you from the pasture…"

"I have been with you wherever you went…"

"I have destroyed your enemies…"

David, look to the future…

"I will make you famous…"

"I will fix a place for my people…"

"I will plant them…"

"I will give you rest from all your enemies…"

"I will raise up your heir after you…"

"I will be a father…"

How well do we know our God?

Our God is a God of presence. Emmanuel, “God with us,” living in the tent of our humanity. Our God is a God of concrete actions who calls people to participate in divine living. Our God makes promises and keeps them. Our God is a provider – not a receiver.

Is this the God you and I know?

And what makes this pivotal encounter so extraordinary is that when this passage was written and consolidated, Israel was in exile in Babylon; there was no rest, no dynastic house and no king.

David’s kingdom was never strong. Weak and fragile, it should not have survived his death. David was a paramilitary rebel against King Saul. He engaged in adultery and murder. David exhibited his lack 0f trust in God by declaring a census of his military resources. And there was internal conflict, which included rape, murder and rebellion that divided David’s family.

How and why does a person, a people, a nation tell themselves such a success story when it was never true? And to record it in such defeated times like an exile – or a pandemic or an economic crisis or a time of anxiety?

There is another story, a similar story. God speaks to a young woman, Mary, about another present and a future.  

Mary, I am with you and favour you. By the Holy Spirit, by my overshadowing, by my presence… You will conceive and bear a son…You will name him – Salvation!

I will give this Jesus, your son – my Salvation – the throne of David…

My Salvation will rule over the house – the dynasty – of Jacob…

This dynasty will never end…

There is a great difference between the character of David and Mary but the stories are not about either of them. The stories reveal to us our God. Our God who is present with us. “Hail, full of grace! God is with you.” Our God as provider. I will overshadow, I will give…, my salvation, I promise eternity… This is reflected in Eucharistic Prayer IV when together we pray: “Look, O [God], upon the Sacrifice which you yourself have provided for your Church…”

The bread and the wine are provided for our sacrifice by God. Through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, that bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus which is provided and given to us by God. The purpose of this food and drink is so that we in turn “may truly become a living sacrifice in Christ to the praise of your glory.” Bread and wine, Body and Blood, we ourselves. This sacrifice of praise is all provided by God.

How do we engage in this act? After we have said ‘thank you’ in the Eucharistic Prayer, all we can do is, like beggars, is stretch out our hands as humble recipients.

Take time to consider how much time is spent, like King David with his nation building, preparing items to give others at the Feast of Christmas from gifts, baked goods, and time in service to the hungry, homeless and lonely. All good and gracious activities. But have we ever considered that prior to giving we must receive. A Latin axiom reminding us, “You cannot give what you do not have.” The Feast of Christmas is above all first about receiving the gift of God into our very being. 

“And the Word [the divine presence] became [human] and pitched his tent among us.”

How well do you and I know our God?

For like David and Mary, it is about our present and future.