The message of scripture is a message of hope to overcome such negativity. It, too, is a love story of the Lord our God, loves us so much that He wants to live with us, to build a home with us. David wanted to build a temple in which that dependence could be expressed in worship. But God had other ideas. God wanted rather to make the family of David a lasting sign of God’s care and protection. This would be a house build not with cut stones, but with people who would enter a covenant relationship of lasting love and fidelity. The prophets had taught the people to trust that God would be faithful to that promise to David, and today we hear of that trust finding its fulfillment when Mary says: “Let what you have said be done to me.” God believes that men and women are worthy of God’s love, and so establishes God’s dwelling place on earth among the people of Israel, in the house of David.
In our modern world today, many people think of the Christmas story as just another feel-good fairy tale. Such “happy ever after” stories are only for children, to help them to go to sleep. The real world is much more scary, with real-life monsters, committing real-time atrocities. And yet, for those of us who still believe, behind the glitter and the sparkle of Christmas light, there is the truth of God the Father who loves us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus is the abiding sign of God’s eternal love; that no matter how much we might experience human failure and disappointment, God’s love never fails; God will never turn back on the promise to come to us and make a home with us.