4^th Sunday of Advent

2 Samuel 7:1-5,8:12,14,16. Romans 16:25-27 Luke 1:26-38

The Liturgy of the Word today deals with a Sacred Space or Sacred Place.

The first is the Space and King David,

the second is Space and Mary, the Queen of all ages.

One of the favourite hymns at our liturgies, especially with children is: “Let us build a City of God”. The congregations usually sing it with such gusto that you can almost hear the wooden beams falling into place, the heads of the hammer driving in the nails in the building of the City of God.

One theologian has said, that this is an inaccurate religious assertion. No one builds a House or City to God or for God. David tries this in the first reading from Samuel.  He has been living in opulence, in a house of cedar. Today this house or palace would be built with Carrara marble. While he sits in all his glory, he remembers that the Ark of the Covenant is in a humble and lowly tent, probably made of sheep or goat’s skin. The Ark is a symbol of God’s presence. “God is with us”.  So he decides to build a Temple to the Living God.   He is at once brought to task.

God will have none of David’s extravagance. It is not that God is displeased. But it is a matter of realising that God’s ways are not the same as man’s ways. God’s thoughts are not man’s thoughts. God is in control of Space and Time and Action. God tells David

• I chose you from the pastures
• I make you king.
• I walked with you and defended you from your enemies.
• I gave you glory and honour
• I have given you a special place in history and
• I will not let your name or your kingdom to end.

If anyone is to build a “House”, it will be God, not David. David is thinking in terms of a physical building. God is thinking in terms of flesh and blood. This will come true in the Gospel today.

Through the ages, human beings have been trying to do the same thing as David did, but in a more mundane manner. We try to put God in a box. We try to control and manipulate God. We build temples, and churches and mosques. We light candles. We make promises. All this is done

• with devotion
• with reverence
• with awe and wonder
• with humility

But it is still an attempt to make God a puppet on a string. God who is infinite, God who is almighty, God who is all-knowing is neatly packed into manageable parts. However, the God of surprises will neatly circumnavigate manmade manoeuvres.

The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans is a doxology. It is a praise to God, whose Kingdom will have no end. It is fitting text for the promise made by God to David, and through the angel to Mary: viz, the Kingdom will be forever.

In the Gospel we find God entering another Space, another place that is sacred. However here is a resting place not make of bricks and stone, but God chooses to dwell among human beings. God does not enter with “pomp and circumstance”.  If there is any circumstance, any sacred space, it will be quite different from that of King David. God does not make an promises to

• defend Mary against enemies
• give her glory and honour (eventually that will follow)
• give a Kingdom and a house that will last forever.

God finds

a Space in a heart without guile or arrogance.

It is a space, in which there is no control or manipulation.

It is a space that is given generously but not passively. Conditions will be asked, difficulties will have to be solved.  Mary wants to know the “what” and the “how” But once these issues are clarified, there is generous and total acceptance. It is the quality of a true disciple.

In this last week before Christmas, we are challenged with the same generosity and openness of Mary, to make both time and space for the Lord of all human beings. We are challenged to

• a period of quiet to listen to what God is asking of us.
• A period of openness to say Yes the same way Mary said Yes to God’s call
• A space cleared of clutter and personal desires in order to know the will of God
• An action of daring to proclaim the good news, regardless of the reactions of people.