[stephenkhoo]

GOD DESIRES TO LIVE IN US THROUGH CHRIST, THE WORD MADE FLESH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 2 SM 7:4-17; PS 89:4-5, 27-28, 29-30; Mk 4:1-20
http://www.universalis.com/20140129/mass.htm



How can we be successful in all that we do? How can we find joy and peace in the decisions that we make? The secret is to have God on our side. This was the secret of King David in all his military expeditions. God was his warrior, his mighty hero, his stronghold and tower of strength. He knew that with God on his side, he could do everything with the strength that came from Him. God was his ‘Lord of Hosts’.

So grateful was King David to God that he wanted to build God a permanent home, instead of housing Him in a mobile tent. He thought that with God dwelling in the Temple in the Ark of the Covenant, Israel would be protected from all her enemies.

Despite David’s good intentions, God thought otherwise. He instructed Nathan to tell David that He did not want to be installed permanently in a Temple. The truth was that the God of Israel wanted to move with His people, to live in their midst, accompanying them in all their trials and battles. He did not want to be kept in some sacred place, divorced from His people. He was the “I am who I am”, the one who would be with His people.

This temptation to domesticate God remains with us. We like to locate God in a temple or church, or in some statue or shrine. However, the wisdom of God knows better. He does not want to make His dwelling place in the Temple exclusively, because He knows that this will lead us to remove Him from daily lives. So long as we think that God lives in a Temple, chances are that we will lose consciousness of His presence among us, and carry on with the business of daily living, doing whatever we want to do, divorced from His involvement. Eventually, we will lose sight of Him, only coming to Him periodically, like on a Sunday to remember Him, or when we encounter crises in our lives. This is the consequence of secularization. When we forget the presence of God, we can easily fall into sin and make decisions that are not in accordance with his laws and guidance.

But God is a trek God, always moving in our midst and in our lives, as the first reading tells us. He has always been a nomadic God. He lives with His people. Hence, God said, “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 people Israel; I will give them rest from all their enemies.”

Thus God surprised David by assuring him that He would build for Him a house instead. This house of course was not a physical structure, but the extension of the reign of David throughout the centuries. So too, He would make His home in us.

This is how God wants to relate with us and live in us. He wants to be part of our lives. God is a compassionate God. He desires very much to be involved with the daily struggles of His people, just as we are all concerned about our loved ones every day, in whatever they do. He loves us always, regardless of what we do. As the prophet said, “God will be a father to the king and he a son to Him.”

God fulfilled this promise perfectly when He assumed our humanity in Christ. In the Incarnation, God now dwells not just on earth but in the heart of every person. Through sharing our humanity, God is identified with every one of us, so much so that Jesus would say, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you do it unto me.” Not only does He live in us by being identified with our humanity, He continues to abide in us through His Word. He continues to direct us every day through His Word, especially when we read the scriptures. With the assistance of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we have access to the life and love of God. Such is the nearness and reality of God’s presence in our lives.

The question that remains for us to consider is whether we are receptive to His Word. If we want the Lord to continue to live in us, and we in Him, then it is necessary that we be docile to His Word in our lives. We must be receptive to His grace at work in us. It is true that grace comes first from God, but we must collaborate with His grace. The lack of openness to Christ who comes to us both in the Word and through the Holy Spirit will impede His work in us. The consequence is that we will make unwise decisions and destroy our peace and happiness. But if we avail ourselves to His divine guidance through His Word and the Holy Spirit, we can be sure that we will be fruitful in all we do, since He will inspire us, guide us and lead us to follow the right path, producing fruits of a hundredfold.

Nevertheless, there is a warning as well. Although He remains faithful in love and to His covenant, and will not withdraw His favour as He promised David, “Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established forever”, yet, if we chose to go on our own ways, He will “punish him with the rod such as men use, with strokes such as mankind gives.” Like the Psalmist, we are confident that God will forever be true to His love for us and to His chosen ones, yet the failure on our part to respond generously to His grace and truth will result in us bringing harm to ourselves. God permits such sufferings to befall us for as the Father, He disciplines whom He loves. Let us pray for the gift of docility to His Word so that we can have the assurance of His abiding presence with us in all that we undertake each day.