Advent 4B

  • Voice in the Wilderness: Karla Seyb-Stockton with 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16  David Wants to Build a Temple

Luke 1:26-38

Initial Thoughts

  • Mary Sunday! Weird for Protestants, probably comfortable for Catholics

  • This is the passage the Beatles “Let It Be” was based on

Bible Study

  • The Nature of Mary

    • Perfect and sinless

      • Catholic interpretation

      • Immaculate conception refers to Mary, not to Jesus. Mary had to be sinlessly conceived in order to be without original sin

      • Eternally Virginal (apparently Jesus’ brothers and sisters were conceived by the Holy Spirit as well)

    • Ordinary and faithful

      • Priesthood of believers

      • God makes the ordinary extraordinary

      • “Mary is our model, our example, our witness, our sister who voices for us a pattern of Christmas expectancy and Christmas response. She embodies our Christmas feelings, our Christmas questions, our Christmas ponderings, not only in response to the time leading up to Christmas but also in our post-Christmas reality.” (Karoline Lewis, Working Preacher)

        • Mary is selected.

        • Mary is confused. 

        • Mary questions

        • Mary commits.

        • “Mary’s witness in the season of Advent invites us move outside our liturgical constraints to imagine the meaning of a liturgical season beyond its weeks; beyond our propensities to locate responses to faith, living out faith, understanding faith that are inextricably tied to events established by religious institutions. Mary’s response is honest and truthful. It marks time. It acknowledges that the activity of God in our lives cannot acquiesce to easy assent or understanding, that God coming to us will set in motion a course of life, a series of events, a believing trajectory over which we will have little control.  In this sense, in Mary’s sense, Advent establishes a way of life. A way of faith life. “

  • Manipulated and subjugated...raped?

    • Mary, #metoo, and the Question of Consent by Kira Schlesinger

      • “I am wary of reading our present-day cultural standards and mores into an ancient document, but as preachers, teachers, and leaders, we should also be aware of how this story sounds in our present cultural moment to people in the pews. We should be prepared to wrestle with what this text means to us today. In the least charitable reading, God preys on a young, pubescent girl and forces her into carrying a pregnancy to term despite the shame and embarrassment that it brings upon her and her family.”

      • “By approaching the conception and birth of Jesus with a critical eye in light of our current conversations, we must not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The parts of the story that make our modern sensibilities uncomfortable should be examined, but by ignoring or skipping over this story, we lose a testament of hope in God’s plan, of submission to God’s will even through uncertainty, of the power of the incarnation and a conception and birth that demands we sit up and pay attention.”

    • Mary does not seem to have a choice in the matter - Gabriel informs her of her fate, but does not ask

    • Overshadowed by Mary’s response “Let it be” but her acknowledgement of being in an “impossible” situation does not mean she condoned it.

    • Could this (has this) been used as an example of a male figure (God) imposing his will on a woman without her knowledge or consent - seems shady…

  • Virgins

    • Not simply a misinterpretation - yes regarding Isaiah 7, not here - Greek literally says, “I do not known a man”

    • Typical of stories in ancient literature detailing the sons of God

      • gods and demi-gods born of virgins:

        • Maia, mother of Sakia

        • Yasoda, mother of Krishna

        • Celestine, mother of the crucified Zunis

        • Chimalman, mother of Quexalcote

        • Semele, mother of the Egyptian Bacchus

        • Minerva, mother of the Grecian Bacchus

        • Prudence, mother of Hercules

        • Alcmene, mother of Alcides

        • Shing- Mon, mother of Yu

        • Mayence, mother of Hesus,

  • Not about sex? about relationship with God.

    • “Looking at the Bible, we see another image. The evangelist Luke does not exalt Mary as a goddess, or as a mother, or even as a woman. He thinks she has a more important role, as the ideal Christian. In the Third Gospel, Mary becomes the model for Christian discipleship, the person who all people, men and women alike should emulate, especially if they wish to follow her son.” (Mark Allen Powell, Working Preacher)

    • Without a relationship with God, just peace, the Kingdom of God, love- all these things are impossible

    • They are only possible through a relationship with God. Jesus models that relationship for us.

    • Mary opens herself up to being in relationship with God

    • “But in Luke, Mary is the most Christ-like human being in the story. Her words to the angel, cited in this week's text, are a direct parallel to what Jesus later prays in the garden: "Let it be with me according to your word" (Luke 1:38) = "Not my will but yours be done" (Luke 22:42). In both cases, the ideal response to God is presented as a combination of humble trust and obedient service.”  (Mark Allen Powell, Working Preacher) 

  • How can this be?

    • The question echoed by every person in the congregation at some point in life

    • Can be both positive or negative - honestly does Mary even know at this point?

    • Whatever this is - the “power of the most high” will overshadow you - God will be with you

Thoughts and Questions

  • Don’t strip this story of its miracle. You can explain the historical, but only insofar as you retain the mystery

  • Cynthia L Rigby - Just as Mary was incapable to conceive (because she was a virgin), we are incapable to accomplish God’s will alone.  “We are all, in this sense, virgins”. In order to bring about God’s will, we need God. a kingdom of justice and peace without God is impossible, but “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37)

  • If you want to move into the Magnificat, that is certainly understandable. Here, after Mary has a visit with Elizabeth, she is able to make bold claims about her own agency and the justice of God. 

    • When the angel tells her what is going to happen, there is only resignation. When a woman she knows tells her what is happening, Mary is able to make a bold proclamation of praise.

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Initial Thoughts

  • David has just finished dancing (somewhat naked) before the Ark as it was brought to Jerusalem. Ends with the statement that Michal, Saul’s daughter will not bear any children thus ending the line of Saul.

Bible Study

  • First mention of Nathan the prophet, the seeming successor of Samuel

  • David creates a problem that doesn’t exist - “we should build God a temple”, why? Temples quickly become their own idols. Think of how many of our church building have become idols

    • Knowing the shifting nature of life and ministry - perhaps this is why God is content living in a tent.

    • David’s initiative does not appear to be faith driven or ministry driven - what is his motivation? “Temple building is undoubtedly a mixed act of genuine piety and self-serving legitimation.” Brueggemann, Interpretation: First and Second Samuel

  • Building

    • Cedar house- stone building with Cedar paneling (very expensive, imported from Lebanon, like the Redwood paneling in the Newport Mansions).

      • Contrasted with the “curtains” which denote that God is still in a tent

    • “...the King was settled in his house:”- Does God ever settle?- perhaps the rest of the story hinges on this first verse. Humans settle, but God doesn’t settle.

    • David’s reflection on the homelessness of God comes from a good place, but he comes to the wrong conclusion.

    • Confines God who cannot be confined (not by a building or a name)

    • Limits God to one place

    • Patricia Tull “It will not be David who establishes God, but God who establishes David”

      • “The royal apparatus is not able to make Yahweh its patron.” Brueggemann

      • God is the one who will legitimate David’s kingdom, not the other way around. God is not to be used by Kings. Instead of what David “will do for God”, God is the one who will protect Israel, make David’s name great, appoint a place, and give David rest (v. 9-11)

  • The House - Double meaning

    • The House = David’s lineage and monarchy

    • The House = The Temple in which God will indwell

    • “Here, the argument God makes is that it is an act of presumption for a mere mortal to build a temple for the unhoused God of Israelite history. But this line of reasoning actually enhances the theological importance of Solomon’s temple, for it suggests that God Himself will build a house when good and ready, using the human agency he chooses.Thus the Temple that is to be raised up by David’s seed will have a more than human importance, being at once a token of God’s indwelling among his people and a divine underwriting of the David dynasty.” (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: The Prophets, p. 334)

  • Movement

    • God is constantly moving in this text (vv.6, 7, 8, 9)

    • Life with God is a journey- not a settling in

    • Jesus is also homeless and constantly on the move and moving others with him

    • God moves with us through life- through the valleys and the mountaintops

  • But there is still a temple vv.10-14

    • God provides for God’s people. God provides a house. God provides safety. God provides security. Any house for God is given out of thanksgiving, not to define who God is.

    • Israel will be “planted” it is a living, growing and thriving community- not a set building

    • God is going to establish a “house” for David, God’s promise is much more lavish than a cedar paneled palace.

  • Everlasting Kingship (v. 13)

    • Clearly not true - this does not happen- so what does it mean?

    • Perhaps it is about God dwelling with God’s people- when a King is no longer needed (or wanted)

    • Much is made of Jesus being of the lineage of David and Jesus teaches more about the Kingdom of God than anything else. Perhaps this is God

    • Unlike the promises to Saul, God covenant/promise to David is unconditional - God’s hesed/steadfast love will not be taken away, even though Solomon and David’s descendants (and David himself) will be unfaithful

Thoughts and Questions

  • What does it mean that God is homeless and chooses to remain homeless? How does that change how we see our buildings and how we view our homeless brothers and sisters?

    • see Luke 9:58

  • Explore what homes mean to people: security, safety, financial stability - what does it mean

  •  that God rejects having a home/building?

  • If Jesus is Emmanuel, “God with us”, and we are the body of Christ, then God dwells within us (Ezekiel 27:37). How do highlight and celebrate that?

  • God did not demand a temple, not does God ask us to build churches, denominations or institutions. Do these religious settings help share the Good News of God in Christ or are they ways for us to control and confine God’s transcendence?

Romans 16:25-27

Initial Thoughts

  • This is the end of the book of Romans

  • A nice supplementary text, but would honestly like to know who is preaching Romans instead of the Gospel on Advent 4...especially when the Gospel is the annunciation, visitation and magnificat

  • Good connection to Elizabeth’s and Mary’s proclamations in the visitation and Magnificat about who God is - Paul end his letter, like he began it, with a proclamation on who God is

Bible Study

  • Divine Doing

    • “God who is able” refers to what God is doing in and through “you” (the early church, current church, and church to come -  the receivers of the good news then and now and later)

    • This is not a God who is aloof and removed but one who is active among us and with us

    • This divine doing builds up to the incarnation in which God is enfleshed and manifested among us to both bring and be the good news for all people.

  • What is God doing?

    • Strengthening us - there is an acknowledgement (also noted elsewhere in Romans cf. Romans 8) that the way of faith is hard, the news may be good, but that doesn’t mean it is easy. We will need strength for the journey of faith ahead.

    • Enabling obedience of faith - what is this?

      • We often push back on obedience as a form of passive submission, but this obedience of faith is an active and intentional following the way of Jesus. It is a response to gracious invitation, not the surrender to divine domination.

      • Sin, born from and leading to our alienation of God, is overcome through Jesus Christ. The great German theologian Helmut Thielicke wisely said, "Faith can be described only as a movement of flight, flight away from myself and toward the great possibilities of God." Cathy F. Young, Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 1: Advent through Transfiguration.

  • Glory

    • “To glory in God is to be reduced to silence, driven to fall prostrate on the ground, awed by God's appearance, as at Christmas, when "silently, silently, the wondrous gift is given" to human hearts. "Glory," Frederick Buechner says, "is what God looks like when for the time being all you have to look at him with is a pair of eyes.” Donald Musser, Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 1: Advent through Transfiguration.

  • This is a great advent passage in that it embraces the now, but not yet aspect of Advent. There is a link to the past promise- “secret for long ages”, a present revelation - “is now disclosed” and a future fulfillment - “to bring about”

    • God is doing a new thing which is rooted in the past, revealed in the present, and looks to the future

  • My gospel - does not mean Paul is preaching a specific and different Gospel, or that Paul believes there are multiple messages of good news, but rather is a declaration that he has claimed the Gospel as much as the Gospel has claimed him.

Thoughts and Questions

  • In what ways are we claiming the gospel as our own?

  • How do we respond to and extend the invitation to obedience of faith- what does that look like in our current context?

  • Too often we think we can get to faith and obedience on our own, but Paul ends his letter by affirming that it is God who grants us the strength, God who brings us the good news, God alone who is wise -we cannot do it on our own. This is why God had to come down to us to bring us the good news enfleshed.

    • Obedience to the Law: Romans 13:8b-10 “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

  • How do we praise during this horrific pandemic? How do we give thanks as people of color are discriminated against and killed by those who are supposed to protect them? How do we praise God in the midst of massive unemployment and ending benefits which will leave many destitute this Christmastide? We remember when we have been here before - we remember that Paul is writing in the midst of persecution, marginalization, famine, disease, subjugation, oppressive taxation, political turmoil, the imminent Jewish revolt and destruction of the temple - it in the midst of the pain, frightening messiness of daily life, that paul reminds us that we are not alone. We have been here before and God was with us, God is with us now. And that even in the midst of this reality- there is a deeper truth of good news

  • The preacher may decide to dwell on the simple fact of this doxology, evidence of the church's long habit of glad acclamation in response to gospel news. Such a sermon might invite the gathered church to recognize and appreciate its own voice of praise...congregations can be helped through this doxology to recognize how they have risen as one to sing, "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow," in response to astonishing news of God's interventions on their own behalf or on behalf of persons they love and causes they care about. Someone reports a life spared, a case for justice won, a mission launched—and the congregation erupts in praise to God.” Sally Brown,Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary - Year B, Volume 1: Advent through Transfiguration

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING AND GET IN TOUCH:

Thanks to our Psalms correspondent, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com,@pomopsalmist). Thank you to Scott Fletcher for our voice bumpers, Dick Dale and the Del Tones for our Theme music (“Misirlou”), Nicolai Heidlas (“Sunday Morning”,"Real Ride"and“Summertime”) and Paul and Storm for our closing music (“Oh No”).

Advent BEric FistlerPsalm 75-150, Romans, 2 Samuel, LukeComment