Fourth Sunday of Advent Year B 24th December 2023
Lectionary Readings: 2 Samuel 7 v1-11, 16. Romans 16 v25-27. Luke 1 v26-38.
Where does God live?
The writer of today’s Old Testament passage tells us of a vision given to the prophet Nathan, to be relayed to King David, who had been thinking of building a cedar temple for God.
God asks, “Why should you build a temple for me? I didn’t live in a temple when I brought my people out of Egypt and I don’t live in one now”. (v 5b, 6a)
Moses met with God in the sacred tent, but God did not live there. (Exodus 53 v7-11).
The Samuel reading continues with God saying “I chose leaders and told them to be like shepherds for my people Israel. But did I ever say anything to even one of them about building a cedar temple for me?” (v7).
Strange then, that King David’s son Solomon should build a temple for God. Nevertheless, God tells Solomon that he will watch over the Temple as a place of worship. (1 Kings 9 v3).
Many years later, after the destruction of Solomon’s temple by the Babylonians;theprophet Isaiah talks of the future glory of Jerusalem and of a rebuilt temple as a place where God will rest his feet. (Isaiah 60 v13).
God says “Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house could you build me? (Isaiah 66 v1).
Jesus answers that question for us. “If anyone loves me, they will obey me. Then my Father will love them, and we will come to them and live in them”. (John 14 v23).
God dwells in the hearts and minds of the faithful, as foretold by the prophet Jeremiah.
God says “I will write my laws on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people”. (Jeremiah 31 v33).
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he writes “All of you know that you are God’s temple and that his spirit lives in you” (1 Cor. 3 v16).
This indwelling spirit enables Jesus to keep his promise to his followers, “I will be with you always”. (Matthew 28 v20).
But what about the Lord’s Prayer? I hear you say. ‘Our Father who art in heaven’
Does this mean that we carry a portion of heaven inside us?
If this leaves you asking, how can this be? Then you are in good company.
As the angel Gabriel explains to Mary, “Nothing is impossible for God”. (Luke 1 v37).
We, like Mary, must trust in the wisdom of God; and as Paul writes, “Praise the only wise God for ever! Amen”. (Romans16 v25).
Bible quotations are taken from the Contemporary English Version.