On channel 41, there is a great show called Property Brothers. They are 2 twin brothers from Canada. One sells real estate; the other is a contractor. They work with people who want to have a new house, but often can’t afford what they want. They end up buying an older house and the contractor brother rehabs it into something that the buyer often cannot imagine.
God is both of these brothers. When God created the heavens and the earth, he entrusted humanity with its care. Unfortunately, throughout history we have forgotten we are stewards and not owners. Through out history, what God intended for the humanity as been ignored and abused because we create walls of power, shaky foundations on selfishness and pride, or a roof of greed and envy.
However, the promise God has given through out the course of time is that He will remake the heavens and the earth into what he intended and something even better.
This is the exact reason Jesus came among us. He is the incarnate sign of the Promise. He came to show us exactly how we are to be the People of God. Jesus built us into living stones of the new Temple. However, for this to be accomplished, old walls and realities need to be destroyed and demolished so that something new can be built. The Scriptures use the metaphors and images we heard in the Gospel. Jesus called this rebuilt world, “The Kingdom of God”. The Kingdom we pray for every time we say the Lord’s Prayer is this Kingdom. We ask God to mold us into this Kingdom and to restore and rebuild us into what God original intended and is creating anew.
Advent can be a time when we destroy old walls.Advent can be a time when we recommit ourselves to the foundation of the building which never is weaken because the foundation is God himself with Jesus as the cornerstone. This is what Discipleship is all about. We are God’s contractors. Our challenge this Advent is to pull the structures of oppression, sexism, poverty, hatred and prejudice, violence and war and erect the walls of peace and equality among all people, the furnishings of acceptance and care for those who are hungry and struggling, the door frame of acceptance of all people into our church here as a sign of the door frame of our hearts, to commit ourselves to tenderly care for all that is beautiful in the world and humanity.
May this Advent time be a time to look into our inner house and the outer house of our parish community. May we ask ourselves what are the walls we need to let God remove and what dream does God want to make real in us. May His Kingdom come!
