Fourth Sunday of Advent
Who is God’s family? Where is God’s home? In the church we often speak of our home parish as a family. Many of us grew up thinking of the church building as God’s house. But the readings for this day call us to anticipate that Emmanuel might understand kinship and home in different ways. As we approach Christmas, which in our culture is increasingly a celebration of hearth and home more than a public festival, the inclusiveness of God’s promise rings out from these readings.
The temple often stood in the imagination of Israel as the “house of God,” but in 1 Samuel God expresses reservations before the temple is even built. The promise made to David is not about the building. Instead of the expected places of wealth and power, God chooses to dwell in a people instead of a “house of cedar” (2 Sam. 7:2, 7).
So if God is dwelling in a people, who is included in that promise? Although no one disputes that Jesus is born of the “house of David,” Luke’s gospel stresses Mary’s lowliness instead of her bloodlines, reminding us that Christ became flesh in the most unlikely circumstances. Later in Luke’s gospel, when someone mentions his family to Jesus, he says his family includes all “who hear the word of God and do it” (8:21). In today’s gospel we see Mary acting out that definition of family.
