Homily for Advent – 4th Sunday Year B 2017-2018
2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-11,16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38
Introduction
Keeping your word is the mark of a gentleman, keeping your promise is something we expect of f an honourable person and certainly of God.
God surely kept his promises to the people of Israel; but there is one promise on which he seemed to have reneged. This is the promise we heard God make to King David in today's first reading: "Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever."
Scripture and Theology
This promise was made through the prophet Nathan about the year 1,000 B.C. And David probably went to his grave convinced that his line would continue on since God had promised: "I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm." For indeed David's son Solomon was a very wise and prosperous king; he even built the temple that David wished to.
But then in the year 922 B.C, only 80 years after the promise was made, the train seemed to go off the rails. David's grandchildren divided the Kingdom into two. The ten northern tribes formed the Kingdom of Israel, while the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin retained the throne of David in the South. And so, the promise of God was now being continued only by the two smaller tribes in the south, in the Kingdom of Judah, from which we get the name "the Jews."
But things would get even worse. Two-hundred years later in 722 B.C., the Northern Kingdom was overrun by the Assyrians. They drove most of the people into exile and scattered them among the Gentiles. Till today, those tribes have never returned to home; they are the so-called lost tribes of Israel.
Further disaster struck, when in 587 B.C. the Southern Kingdom that was still carrying the torch of David, was also attacked and driven into exile, this time by the Babylonians. The Temple and Jerusalem were destroyed. Particularly, the royal family was tortured and murdered thus removing any immediate successor.
Thankfully the Persian King Cyrus allowed most of the people of Judah to return to the Holy Land in 538 B.C. They rebuilt the Temple but did not succeed in restoring the monarchy. Instead they would be ruled by various world powers of the time, including the Romans who ruled at the time of Jesus. Two monarchies arose during that time, the Hasmoneans and the House of Herod, which ruled at the time of Jesus. But they were not descendants of the House of David and so they were considered imposters by the Jewish people.
And so, for all intents and purposes, after 587 B.C., for about six hundred years, it seemed like God had forgotten his promise to David, to continue his royal line.
But as we know, God does not forsake his people, even when it appears so. After all, what is 600 years, when we are dealing with an eternal God? God did indeed fulfil his promise, but in a way that the Jews were not expecting.
In today's gospel we heard that God sent his angel Gabriel, "to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David." Yes, Joseph the poor carpenter, was of royal blood, of the House of David. That is why during the census, Joseph had to travel from Galilee in the north to Bethlehem in the south, to the homeland of David his ancestor.
God thus fulfils his promise to continue the House of David, whose line had been broken for six hundred years, not by installing a political king, but by sending His son to be born into this family of David's line. That is why the angel told Mary:
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there will be no end.
The coming of Jesus fulfils God's promise; he is now carrying the torch of David.
But now, the Kingdom of David will include not only the Jewish people, but also the gentiles as well. While David united the people of Israel and formed them into a kingdom, Jesus invites the people of the whole world into the Kingdom of God his Father. While David's earthly kingdom did indeed die out in 587, the Kingdom of Jesus, set in motion by him on the Cross and confirmed in his Resurrection, continues on today in the Church and will be fully accomplished on the Last Day, when the Lord returns.
But for this promise to be fulfilled, God needed the cooperation of human beings, particularly Mary and Joseph. Place yourself for a moment in Mary’s shoes! You’re a teenager; you are already engaged to marry Joseph. The wedding date has been set a year in advance as required by your parish and you have already booked the church and the priest; your mother is already running crazy with the wedding plans. Although Joseph is a little older and he is not that rich, you are not picky; he is a good man who will put food on the table. You look forward to having a bunch of kids with him. All your childhood dreams seem to be going smoothly! Then an angel comes to you with this shocking proposal, that you are going to be Mother of God's Son. What do you do? What do you say?
Mary's response was two-fold:
- Ever quick on her feet, she asked for some clarifications: "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”
- And after the angel explained to her that she would bear a son by the power of the Holy Spirit, just like Elizabeth who has conceived a son in her old age, Mary was fully on board. She said: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."
And as they say, the rest is history. The Kingdom of David was back on track!
Christian Life and Conclusion
Today's readings are given to us during Advent, the season of watching and waiting, to teach us three lessons about how we must wait for the Lord's coming.
The first lesson is that the Lord does not forget his promises, however long it takes. During Advent we have focused on the promise of Jesus that he will return on the Last Day. Like the people of Israel who had despaired about the Kingdom of David, we too might despair and give up hope that Jesus will return again on the Last Day, just like he did at Christmas. Today's readings should reassure us, that this and other promises of the Lord will be fulfilled, not in our time, but in God's time. As the angel told Mary, with God nothing is impossible.
The second lesson is that besides doing things in his time, the Lord also fulfils his promises in his own way. David for example wanted to build the Lord a house, a temple; but the Lord said, "I will build you a house." While the people were expected that God would do this by sending a political king to rescue them from all their oppressors, the Lord instead sent a King who would rescue them from the oppression of sin, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Saviour. Similarly, as we wait for God to fulfil his promises to us, to answer our prayers, we must be ready to receive those answers, not according to our will and wishes, but according to God's will and wishes.
The final lesson is that like Mary, we are called to cooperate with God in his plans of salvation. David played his part and so did the teenage Mary and Joseph her husband. You and I are also called by God in different ways to play a part in the coming of his Kingdom, some as clergy others as lay people, some as single others as married people, some by their talents others by their treasure. Are we ready, whenever the Lord calls us, like Mary to say: "Behold, I am the handmaid [servant] of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word"?
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