4th Sunday, Advent, B, Building a Dwelling Place for God
Luke 1:26-38 (4th Sunday, Advent, Building a Dwelling Place for God, B)
Focus: To Build a Dwelling Place for God.
Function: To remind hearers to build a dwelling place for God.
Introduction
-
- Knock. Knock … “Boo”… You don’t have to cry about it.
Knock. Knock … “John”… John, the Baptist. [sprinkle congregation with holy water]
Knock. Knock … “Geez”… (Geez-zus) Jesus!
-
- Although these “knock—knocks” are comical in their own way, they remind us of a door, of a door to a dwelling place—a dwelling place is a location of identity, a habitat of stability, an abode of relationships, and a site of renewal. Today’s readings point us toward the image of a dwelling place for God.
-
King David’s Desire to Build a Dwelling Place for God
- In the first reading, we hear that “King David was settled in his palace”—in his dwelling place. There, content and at peace, he pondered about constructing a place for God. God’s response, through the prophet Nathan, was: “Should you build me a house to dwell in?” King David was reminded that a dwelling place is more than one of “brick-and-mortar”; and then was told that “the LORD … will establish a house for you,”—a house that the Lord said “shall endure forever…”
- We learn from David’s encounter with God through a prophet that the dwelling place of God is more than a physical place, and that the transcendent God cannot be contained between walls—however magnificent a temple David may have built, or however formidable the walls we try to put up around Who we think God is.
- We also learn that God promised to establish a dwelling place for us—one that endures forever, both through the lineage of King David and in the fullness of eternal life. God would establish this abode through Jesus of Nazareth of the House of David.
-
Jesus Christ’s Desire to Make a Dwelling Place with us and among us
- Furthermore, God promised and desires to make a dwelling place with us. In today’s second reading and in the Gospel, we are reminded of this dwelling of God with us and among us.
- The Doxology of St. Paul’s letter echoes the promise given to David in the Old Testament and indicates the fulfillment of that promise in the person of Jesus Christ—God with flesh, God in human form, God with us and among us, God as one of us.
- The Gospel reminds us of this reality incarnated in Mary. God’s dwelling place with us and among us was the result of the freedom of Mary’s “yes.” Mary could not have seen the full impact of her “yes” to God, but we can. Indeed, because of God’s salvific plan, Jesus Christ was born, lived, suffered, died, and risen from the dead—God both dwells with us, and seeks to dwell in us.
Our Desire to Make a Dwelling Place for God and for Others.
For us, our Christian faith sees and lives this promise fulfilled of a dwelling place for us, of God’s dwelling place with and among us. Our Christian faith also invites and enables us to nurture a dwelling place for God in us—to fill our individual and collective lives with God each and every day—to make a Christian response today to the deepening economic crisis of our times.
For example, we all have heard and are pained about those who, for a variety of reasons—the “lending “issue,” the Wall Street storms, or natural disasters such as the Gulf Coast hurricanes, are forced from their homes—from their own dwelling places. Both print and digital pictures of people forced from their homes, because of the unbearable weight of mortgage payments or the unsustainable force of a natural disaster, are poignant images of the challenges so many confront—domestically as well as internationally.
What is our Christian response to those forced from their dwelling places? What difference does it make in our response that God’s dwelling place is with us and in us? What is our Christian response to the cult of consumerism and its consequent irresponsible financial choices that contribute to foreclosures on dwelling places? What is our Christian response to the effects of climate change that exacerbated homeless? What is our Christian response to those who have lost their dwelling places, and to those who are chronically homeless?
Conclusion:
Under many different guises—as the stranger, the widow, the orphan, the unemployed, the hungry, the homeless, God knocks on the doors of our dwelling places—of our hearts and our minds. Will we open the doors of our individual and collective dwelling places?
Knock. Knock … [Who’s there?] … John, a pathway leading to the door.
Knock. Knock … [Who’s there?] … Jesus, the door, and the One who unlocked the door.
Knock. Knock … [Who’s there?] … Our God …
Who made a dwelling place for us, Who dwells with us,
and Who dwells in us.
Fourth Sunday, Advent, Building a Dwelling Place for God
For all members of the Universal Church, clerical and lay, during these final days before the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, God’s dwelling place among us, may they each make room for God to dwell more fully in their lives, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.
For those who hold religious, political, ethical, or economic power, may they remember those without dwelling places, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.
For all who will gather to celebrate Christmas, the celebration of God’s dwelling among us, may they be welcomed regardless of differences of status, race, language, culture, religion, gender, or orientation, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.
For our local faith community, may we fully immerse ourselves in the meaning of the reality of God’s dwelling among us and in us, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.
For the many who suffer from domestic abuse, especially women and children, may they find dwelling places of safety and support, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.
For the millions who have been displaced from their dwelling places because of war and violence, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.
For those who may have distanced themselves from the Eucharistic celebration, the place of the real presence of God dwelling among us and in us, may they open the doors of their hearts and minds, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.