4th Sunday of Advent
Dec. 20, 1987
2 Sam 7: 1-5, 8-11, 16
Luke 1: 26-38
Holy Cross, Fairfield, Conn.
“Your
house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand
firm forever” (2 Sam 7: 16).
The
theme running thru today’s liturgy is house building. We all know something about that: we’ve at least built sandcastles at the
beach. Quite possibly we’ve moved into a
new house, found its defects, and grumbled, “They sure don’t build houses like
they used to.”
Houses,
like life, are fragile. They reflect
their materials and their builders—created, weak, mortal, part of a violent
world. Ps 127 reminds is, “Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain
who build it” (v. 1).
David Praying (The Art Bible) |
King
David, who reigned 1,000 years before Christ, united the 12 tribes of Israel
into one nation, defeated her enemies, and made Jerusalem her capital. He gave justice and security to the nation,
and he worshipped God reverently. Israel always looked back to him as the ideal
king, much as we look to Washington
as the ideal president. Even today the
Star of David graces the flag of Israel.
“When
King David was settled in his palace, and the Lord had given him rest from his
enemies on every side,” 2 Sam tells us, he proposed to build a worthy house for
the Ark of the Covenant, i.e., a temple for the sacred symbol of God’s intimate
relationship to his people. (For those of you not so familiar with the Bible,
I’ll point out that the ark is what Indiana Jones was looking for in Raiders of the Lost Ark.)
To
David’s surprise and, I suppose, to Nathan the prophet’s, God declines the
offer. Not in displeasure, however, but
in grace. What David proposes to do in
gratitude and reverence for God, God proposes to do freely and spontaneously
for David and for Israel.
David
says, “No, I will build God a house,” i.e., a temple. God says, “No, I will build you a house,” i.e., a dynasty. “You were a shepherd boy, and I chose you
from the fields. Now your descendants
shall shepherd my people forever.”
The
story of David’s royal dynasty reads like a biblical soap opera. It lasted not forever but a mere 400
years. “Unless the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain who build it.” Human
infidelity wrecked God’s house.
After
Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome in turn subjugated the little kingdom of
Judea, the Jews kept the Davidic promise alive as a hope—the hope for a messiah
who would restore everything: their
freedom, their friendship with God, every man’s original state of
paradise. This Savior would be the Son
of David, and his reign would be everlasting.
If
the apparent meaning of God’s promise to David was a washout—washed out by
human infidelity—God’s providence always surprises us, like his original
response to David’s proposal. The
promise is fulfilled, and fulfilled in a miraculous way. Luke’s Gospel tells us how. The Virgin Mary will conceive and bear a son. She will name him Jesus—which means “God
saves.” His earthly family is descended
from David, and “the Lord God will give him the throne of David his
father. He will rule over the house of
Jacob forever” (Luke 1:32-33).
The
promise is fulfilled not in the resurrection of David’s empire, not in Jewish
independence, wealth, and national pride.
Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to deliver his people from
affliction, from wickedness. He is the
embodiment of God’s loving care for mankind.
He is the good shepherd of God’s people.
We are all the house of Jacob, the sheep of his flock, the recreated Israel,
children of the resurrection and eternal life.
Which
is why Christmas will bring us such joy.
We’re eager to hear those glad tidings, “Today in the city of David a savior has been
born for you who is Messiah and Lord.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his
favor rests” (Luke 2:11,14).
Which
is why Advent still reminds us that Christ will come again. We’re eager to welcome him not as a helpless
babe but as the Lord of glory, conqueror of sin and death, redeemer of those
who’ve put their trust in him, those who’ve been able to say to God, “I’m the
Lord’s servant. Let it be done to me as
you say” (Luke 1:38).
And
we shall sing the favors of the Lord forever (Ps 89:2).
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