20231224 DISRUPTIVE PLANS
24 December 2023, 4th Sunday of Advent
First reading |
2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-12,14,16 © |
Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me
Once David had settled into his house and the Lord had given him rest from all the enemies surrounding him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘Look, I am living in a house of cedar while the ark of God dwells in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go and do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.’
But that very night the word of the Lord came to Nathan:
‘Go and tell my servant David, “Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man to build me a house to dwell in? I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my people Israel; I have been with you on all your expeditions; I have cut off all your enemies before you. I will give you fame as great as the fame of the greatest on earth. I will provide a place for my people Israel; I will plant them there and they shall dwell in that place and never be disturbed again; nor shall the wicked continue to oppress them as they did, in the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel; I will give them rest from all their enemies. The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House. And when your days are ended and you are laid to rest with your ancestors, I will preserve the offspring of your body after you and make his sovereignty secure. I will be a father to him and he a son to me; if he does evil, I will punish him with the rod such as men use, with strokes such as mankind gives. Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever.”’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 88(89):2-5,27,29 © |
I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;
through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,
that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.
I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
I will establish your dynasty for ever
and set up your throne through all ages.
I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
‘He will say to me: “You are my father,
my God, the rock who saves me.”
I will keep my love for him always;
with him my covenant shall last.’
I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
Second reading | Romans 16:25-27 © |
The mystery is revealed that was kept secret for endless ages
Glory to him who is able to give you the strength to live according to the Good News I preach, and in which I proclaim Jesus Christ, the revelation of a mystery kept secret for endless ages, but now so clear that it must be broadcast to pagans everywhere to bring them to the obedience of faith. This is only what scripture has predicted, and it is all part of the way the eternal God wants things to be. He alone is wisdom; give glory therefore to him through Jesus Christ for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Acclamation | Lk1:38 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the handmaid of the Lord:
let what you have said be done to me.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 1:26-38 © |
'I am the handmaid of the Lord'
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
DISRUPTIVE PLANS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 SM 7:1-5,8-12,14,16; ROM 16:25-27; LK 1:26-38]
There are two extreme kinds of attitude towards planning in life. There are some people who have no direction, no vision and no sense of mission in life. They would just drift along with everyone else and go where the wind blows. They are happy just to follow whoever is the leader and do what they can. Such people are followers, always being driven along. Then there are those who are leaders. They are very focused and singular-minded. They have clarity of vision and mission, goals to be achieved and ambitions to be fulfilled. They give their heart and soul to their objectives. The downside is that because they are so clear of their vision and mission, they would not allow their plans to be derailed. They would not listen to others, especially if they are deemed to be dampers. They only seek people who would agree with their plans and support them. In other words, they are fixated on their views and no one can change their minds. They are resolute and determined.
This was the case of the kings of Israel, beginning with King David. They all wanted things their way. David had conquered all his enemies, from within and without, that posed a threat to his kingdom. He spent almost twenty years fighting for his own life; from within because of King Saul’s jealousy, and from without, the Philistines. He had at last managed to bring the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah together as one. With the country united and free from external threats, he could settle comfortably into the new palace he built for himself. After achieving peace and prosperity, he began to feel guilty because he said, “Look, I am living in a house of cedar while the ark of God dwells in a tent.” He decided to build a majestic house for the Lord. It was a nice thought and gesture of King David to share his glory and his wealth.
Unfortunately, he forgot who the Lord was. He still did not know the mind of God well enough. The God of Israel was a trek God. He journeyed with Abraham to Canaan, then to Egypt and back to the Promised Land. God wants to be close to His people. He wants to be with them. God does not want to live in a Temple, domesticated, cut off from the daily life of His people, and have them come to visit Him occasionally. God wants to live not just in the midst of His people but among His people. It is more important for God that He remains the Emmanuel, the God who is with us, not far from us.
Truly, there is always a great temptation to create a dichotomy and separation between life and faith. Whilst Temples and churches are certainly necessary for worship and rituals, and also to make the presence of God felt in society, yet, it also domesticates God. People would go to church once a week to worship but outside the church, in their family, in their social engagements, entertainment and work, God is left out completely because we have divided the world into two compartments, one secular, the other sacred. We forget that God dwells among man, in creation and in our midst and not only in the Temple. That was what happened to Israel later, when the prophets condemned them for separating their rituals from the way they conducted themselves in their daily life, a life of injustice.
Alas, David did not fully understand the prophecy of Nathan. His mind was made up. He felt the need to build the Temple for the Lord. He did not want to disrupt his plans. He went ahead to build the Temple of the Lord. After slightly more than a thousand years after the reign of King David, the Temple was destroyed. There were many attempts to rebuild the Temple, but none was really successful. Until today, this Temple has never been rebuilt. Why was this so? To remind us that God is incarnated in His people. The danger of a Temple or a Church is to take God out of public life. This is what secularism is doing to religions today, to give religions a private space only, no public space.
In truth, God had a bigger plan for King David which he did not perceive. God promised David that He would make him great and build him a house where his sovereignty and dynasty would always stand secure and be established forever by his descendants. But beyond ensuring that his dynasty would last forever, God wanted to make sure that He would continue to live in the hearts of His people and not confined to a temple.
The gospel is the fulfilment of God’s plan to build His temple in the midst of His people. The angel said to Mary, “You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.” Jesus, the Son of God, the descendant of David will be the everlasting King of Israel. But this king will not dwell in the palace, not even in the Temple but in the hearts of every man and woman who surrender their lives to Him in faith and in love. Indeed, the incarnation is the greatest wonder and testimony of God’s presence in our midst. He is truly the Emmanuel.
But this can happen only when we are willing to take the risk of trusting in the plans of God for us. The problem is that we do not want God to disrupt our plans. Like King David, we want to insist on our ways. We are not ready to change our plans to allow Him to use us to fulfill a greater plan for us. In contrast, Mary and Joseph present to us the third option of making plans in our lives. Certainly, we can be sure both had their plans. Mary and Joseph would have made great plans for their marriage and their family. They were after all, betrothed and about to be married. Joseph would have been saving for the marriage and his family. But all their plans were derailed with the unbelievable news that Mary had conceived the future Messiah through the power of the Holy Spirit. But they were receptive. They did not reject the will of God and His plan for them and for Israel. They were amazing, truly God-fearing and obedient servants of the Lord.
Not only were their plans disrupted, they had to live in faith, not too sure what would happen next. How would Mary explain to Joseph and their folks? How would Joseph believe in her? Would she be condemned or even stoned to death for committing adultery? What about Joseph? He would be thinking of how to resolve the issue amicably, to save face for everyone and also to give Mary the benefit of the doubt. So logically, he thought that divorcing her quietly and informally would be the best way to save the situation. The whole saga was inexplicable. It went against logic and nature. Indeed, it had to be supernatural to be true.
What is required from us, as it did from Mary and Joseph, is the obedience of faith. St Paul too was obedient to God’s call to reveal the divine “mystery kept secret for endless ages … to pagans everywhere to bring them to the obedience of faith.” And St Paul understood that the gospel given to all Gentiles and not just to the Jews was “all part of the way the eternal God wants things to be”. We too must follow the way of Mary, Joseph and Paul in our response to the divine plan of God for us and for humanity. Like them, we might never know what is exactly ahead of us but in trust and obedience, we must respond in faith to what God wills for us. Like them, we must give our lives entirely to the service of God according to His plan for us.
Our obedience is of course not a blind obedience in faith but a discerning faith reckoning the price of obedience and the sacrifices we have to pay to do His will. Prophet Nathan was trying to please the King and he was not discerning when he said, “The Lord is with you.” The angel said the same words to Mary but she was discerning and asked, “But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ One thing is certain, God’s plan cannot be derailed by the sins of man. It can only be delayed. So it is a question of whether we will trust that He has sovereignty and power over our lives. Will we submit to His plans or insist to do things our own way? If we share the faith of Mary, then we too must say “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said be done to me.” We will render “the obedience of faith” because “nothing is impossible to God.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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