Sermon for Advent 7B (4B)
God will not be contained by our
imaginations. If there is ever a time
when we need to be reminded of this truth, it is a day when the morning brings
this last Sunday of Advent and the night brings the celebration of
Christmas. Most of us come to worship on
Christmas Eve with a set of expectations – that there will be candlelight (at
least at the late service), that there will be the singing of favorite carols,
that the children will retell the story of that first Christmas morning through
a pageant of some sort, that we will be greeted by friends and strangers alike
with joyous Merry Christmases! And even
that we will find – at least in our hearts – a manger made soft by the sweet
smell of hay, sheep and oxen quietly baaing and mooing, Mary dressed in clean
and simple blue. Shepherds fresh from their showers standing at the side of
Joseph. . . You see, our expectations for Christmas are
set. Neat and tidy, crisp and clean.
But here’s what we all know –
somewhere in the deep recesses of our minds – Christmas isn’t like that. At
least the first Christmas wasn’t like that.
Childbirth is painful and somewhat messy on a good day with modern
medical facilities. Childbirth in a shed
is cold and frightening and really messy.
Animals do not quietly baa and moo – especially when strangers are
near. Shepherds who have been out in the
fields for weeks on end do not suddenly arrive clean. It just wasn’t like that. And God will not be contained by the mental
images we create.
King David and the prophet Nathan heard
that message centuries before the birth of Christ. King David, realizing that he is living in
grand style suddenly recognizes the irony of his magnificent dwelling place
while his Lord, is living in a tent. For the ark of God had been carried from
place to place as the Hebrew people traveled. Once the Hebrew people became
the nation Israel and became a settled people, they had not “upgraded” God’s
house. And King David feels motivated – perhaps by guilt – to build a proper
house for God. But God visits the prophet in the night and tells him to tell
David, “Who are you to build ME a house? Have I not been the one to build YOUR
house? I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over
my people Israel . . . and then I made for you a house. Your house and your
kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established
forever.”[1] In
short, God tells Nathan to tell David that God will not be contained.
So this message, received by the
Prophet Nathan and King David was heard.
But, of course, it was not heeded.
Although David does not build God a house, his son Solomon, when he
becomes King, builds a glorious temple for God. And so it has been through the
centuries as generation after generation has sought to contain God.
In the years leading to Jesus’
birth, the Israelites, under Roman occupation, imagined a Savior who will be
mighty in battle, a warrior who will lead them in conquering Rome and so, when
Jesus comes, they are ill-prepared for the kind of Savior he is. He is not the one they were expecting. And so we have been waiting and preparing
expectantly throughout this season of Advent. . . . but, in our waiting, I
wonder if we have preconceived notions of what it is that is breaking into our
world tonight. And I wonder if we can
open our hearts and minds to the possibility that what we receive tonight may
not be what we were looking for, may not be what we imagined because God will
not be contained. And I wonder, with our hearts and minds opened
if we might instead receive exactly what we need – a Savior who will have mercy
on those who fear him in every generation; the branch of Jesse who will show
the strength of his arm and scatter the proud in their conceit; Emmanuel, God
with us, who will cast down the mighty from their thrones and lift up the lowly;
Adonai, the Lord, who will fill the hungry with good things and send the rich
away empty; the Key of David who will come to the help of his servant Israel,
remembering his promise of mercy.
I pray that each of us - that this
community, this nation, this world, may find exactly what we need tonight. But for now, let us continue to wait,
expectantly for what is to be.
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