24th December 2023
Sunday reflection (readings are below)
In the reading from 2 Samuel, both Nathan and David learn that the ‘house of God’ as a legacy is not to be found in a temple or any other physical building – which might gives us pause for thought when we think of of the sums of money and the emotional value we invests in cathedrals and church buildings. Rather the enduring legacy that will attest to God’s greatness – and reflect their faithful love of God – will be that of kinship and kingship. It will be in the lineage of those who are faithful to God, following the ways of God, that will be an everlasting kingdom – the kingdom of God.
The passage from Paul’s letter to the new Christian communities in Rome, reminds them – and us – of the mystery of what was there all along yet hidden, and which was revealed in Jesus, the gift of faith. Faith that builds communities, that transforms injustices, that brings healing and new life – faith being about the upside down world described in the Magnificat.
Just as Mary found favour with God, so we too can with faith, find ourselves favoured by God. Recently I was reading a poem, ‘Virgin Birth’ by Joy Cowley, in which she speaks of ‘the Emmanuel space’ within us where we conceive and give birth to Christ. It is a holy space she says which cannot be filled by friends or family (as important as they are) nor by power or status, but only by God. If only God can fill this space, it must be also a vulnerable space. Somewhere we might shy away from as to fill it – to allow God in – is to acknowledge a need for God. So it can be a space we block from sight, hiding it behind other things. Hiding it behind things like power and status, wealth and desire, or behind things that are not unimportant – like family and friends, like the climate crisis and social justice – and so we may struggle on, failing to receive that most valuable gift of God incarnate.
If like David and Nathan we wish to honour God with a temple, we will best do so by adding to the lineage that is the House of God, by being participants in the faithful participants in God’s kingdom, both receiving and sharing the gift of God within our lives on an ongoing basis.
When we think of lineage as a family, we have the image of a trunk from which many branches reach out, dividing and crisscrossing as they stretch ever further out. God’s family tree is more truly a network. It grows as members (and here we should not be purely human focused but recognise all creation as part of God’s kingdom) are open to God’s spirit moving within them. And it is disrupted and damaged when God’s spirit is impeded by our own vanities, self importance, desire for power etc – those activities that unchecked lead to prejudice, oppression, conflict, injustice and war.
As we wait in the eve of Christmas ready to celebrate the mystery of Christ entering our lives, let us acknowledge what is not right in the world and hold onto the hope that it does not have to be this way and that we as part of God’s favoured ones, we can too can give birth to change.
Samuel 7:1-11, 16
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.
The Response
Canticle 15
The Song of Mary Magnificat
Luke 1:46-55
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; *
for he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Romans 16:25-27
Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith– to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.
Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
The Green Tau 