"God's Uncontainable Presence"

Rev. Debbie Cato

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 and Luke 1:26-38

Peace Presbyterian Church

December 21, 2014 – Fourth Sunday of Advent

“God’s Uncontainable Presence”

David has just become king over Israel. He has conquered Jerusalem and established it as his royal city. His first priority after becoming king and taking control of Jerusalem is to bring the Ark of the Lord to Jerusalem among much praise and celebration. 2 Samuel tells us that: “They brought in the Ark of the Lord and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being, and he blessed the people in the name of the LORD Almighty.” (2Sam 6:17-18)

Having won peace and stability for the Israelites, David decides to do some-thing for God. He wants to build God a beautiful house – a permanent dwelling place. David says, “God has done all this for me. He has made me king over all Israel. He has given me the city of Jerusalem. God has made me conqueror of all my enemies. He has provided a palace of cedar for me to live in. Yet, God is still dwelling in the ark which remains in a tent. I will build him a temple where he can live forever.”

Sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it? David is grateful for all the LORD has done. He gives God all the glory for who he is and what he has done. David wants to show his gratitude by giving God a gift; he wants to build God a place to be. David’s personal prophet Nathan, doesn't object. “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it”, Nathan says. “For the LORD is with you.” The Lord is with you.

I saw a saying on a church sign years ago that I just love. It said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans!” Only, in David’s case, God doesn’t so much laugh as he gets mad! “Who are you to decide to build ME a house?” “Have I ever asked to have a house built for me? I make the decisions around here – not you!”

God reminds David that throughout the history of Israel, God has gone wherever He wanted to go. God does not intend to stay in one place now. He does not want a “place to be.” God’s 

presence cannot be contained in a temple, a tent, or a tabernacle – or , dare I say, a church.

Scripture is full of examples of God’s interventions in human history. The holy being bursts into the earthly realm, into a particular time and place, to a particular person, in a particular community. We cannot anticipate the ways that God will break into human history – into our history!

For instance, on this 4^th Sunday of Advent, this Sunday before Christmas, we read how an angel appears as if out of nowhere, and a virgin learns that she will defy nature and bear a child. And not just any child! The child of God. “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High.”

Adding to the abundance of wonder, the angel alludes to another miraculous occurrence: Mary’s relative, Elizabeth, an old, barren woman well beyond childbearing years, is in the sixth month of her pregnancy. God cannot be contained.

Living in a remote village far from the busy religious center of Jerusalem, Mary had no clue that she was destined for such a distinctive role. She was just an ordinary girl – a peasant girl. The tendency to think that leading unassuming lives in out-of-the way places isolates us from the extraordinary is debunked by Mary’s surprise visitor. And in answer to Mary’s questions, the angel Gabriel simply replies, “Nothing will be impossible with God.” Nothing is impossible with God. If only we really believed that. Like David, we continue to try to contain God.

Mary is described as favored, perplexed, thoughtful, and afraid. She questions, she believes, and she submits to her call. She trusts God. I doubt that Mary had any idea what her life would be like. It certainly wouldn’t be the way she had planned; the way she and her fiance, Joseph had planned. She must have understood that God had broken into her life and the only answer she could give was, yes. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your words.” Let it be with me according to your words.

There is a beautiful Christmas Song that I love called, “Mary Did You Know?¹ Some of the lyrics are:

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?

Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby you kiss the face of God?
Mary did you know.. Ooo Ooo Ooo

The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?The sleeping Child you're holding is the Great, I Am.

I doubt Mary had any idea what it would mean to be the mother of the Son of the Most High. I doubt that she had any idea the joy…. and the pain - this news would bring into her life. But somehow, in some small way, Mary must have understood that God cannot be contained. Mary chooses to believe the impossible. As a result, this ordinary teenage girl, becomes the mother of God; the mother of the Savior of the world. Her unborn child would be the Great I Am. The uncontainable God was preparing to be among us people in a new way. As Eugene Peterson says, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”

The claim that God’s presence cannot be contained opens the possibility of considering that God is in all situations; in all places; in all times. This idea that God’s presence cannot be contained creates opportunities for us to think differently about the world around us. They turn us away from attempts to force the world – or the gospel for that matter – to conform to our way of thinking. It forces us to learn about God's desire for the world and how God acts in it. Advent anticipates a new thing happening, we should be careful of thinking only in the same small, old ways.

Where today is God moving ahead of us and acting in ways that will catch us by surprise? Where in the world; where in our life as a congregation; where in our personal lives, may God be wanting to do something that is being blocked by our human aspirations and our agendas, however much they seem noble? How receptive are we to the God who will not be confined or enshrined but retains and cherishes the freedom to surprise us – as in the coming of Christ down the back stairs of Bethlehem; to be born of Mary; to grow up in the hick town of Nazareth; to spend his time with the least, the lowly, and the lost, and most surprising of all, to become “obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross”?

Could this same God be leading our church in new and un-thought–of directions?² Do we expect anything new or surprising, or do we confine God based on our own limitations; our own small expectations?

When we try confine God to our own limitations; when we try to confine God to only what we can imagine; when we think God is only in our church building or only in our community or only in our culture; we miss out on the reality of the bigness of God. We miss out on seeing

what God is doing in places where we would never expect God to be. We miss out on seeing God work in ways we would never expect God to work. We miss out on seeing and proclaiming that God cannot be contained. He breaks in to restore, reveal, and redeem the mess we make of the world. We miss out on seeing and proclaiming that God’s gospel of justice and peace turns our world upside down – and that is VERY good news!

Just like Mary, we must open ourselves up to the unexpected and the unimaginable. If God can break into a poor virgin’s life in obscure Galilee, he can surely break into your life here in Eugene, Oregon. Nothing is impossible with God.

Let us be a church that sits on the edge of our seat, expecting the unexpected. Let us be a church that is out in the community; out where God already is. May we be a church that says, “Yes, Lord. Here we are. Let it be with us according to your word.” Amen

1 "Mary Did You Know" Originally by Mark Lowry (lyrics ) and Buddy Greene (melody )

2 Feasting on the Word. Year B, Volume 1. Pg 78.