The Fourth Sunday of Advent
Sunday 24 December 2017
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2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 (NRSV)
Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.” But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.
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David intended to build a house for the name of the Lord, a temple in which the people would gather for sacred rites and prayers, to live out the faith of the people in their God. God turns the tables and promises to raise up a house for David, to give him a son to follow him, to be faithful to God. It's the promise of Messiah. Clearly this is not the promise for an earthly king. Solomon will build the Temple, but he will not walk faithfully before God all his days. Many of the other sons of David made Solomon look very faithful. But Jesus is the faithful Son of David. Jesus is the one who brings the Kingdom Eternal. We remember that as we bring Advent to a close and begin to shift our focus from looking for him who is to come to see that this one has come, born of the Virgin, God Incarnate.
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Fr. Timothy Alleman
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