On Authority and Obedience to God's Will

(Reflection on Readings from 4th Sunday of Advent, 2 Sam 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14, 16; Ps 89:2-5, 27, 29; Rom 16:25-27; Lk 1:26-38)

Man’s Will vs. God’s Will
Victorious in his wars and established as king of all Israel, David offered to give thanks to the Lord by building for Him a house. The prophet Nathan, who knew that David was the Lord’s anointed king, encouraged him to do what was in his mind. After all, what could be wrong with the king’s plan to build a house for God? That same night, the Lord corrected Nathan. He asked the prophet to tell David that it will be the Lord who will build a house for the king. That house will not be a physical but spiritual; it will not be temporal but eternal. It will be ruled by a king who will reign forever.

God can never be outdone in His goodness. David proposed to undertake something good in this world for the Lord. The Lord told David that was not His will. Instead, the Lord promised that it will be He who will give David what is supremely good for all eternity.

God’s Promise and Mary’s Response
A thousand years later, the Lord sent the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary to announce that God’s promise to David will be fulfilled in her. She was to conceive and bear a son – Jesus. “He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David, His father, and He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom, there will be no end” (Lk 1:32-33). Mary, who did not have relations with a man, wondered: “how can this be?” Gabriel replied that she will conceive and bear a son by the power of God through the Holy Spirit. A person of ordinary faith would have responded with derision to this incredible information. Yet this “revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages…manifested…according to the command of the eternal God..” brought about in Mary the “obedience of faith” (Rom 16:25, 26). Mary declared: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to thy word” Lk 1:38.

God’s plan of salvation for man needed the cooperation of a woman named Mary. Because of Mary’s humble acceptance of God’s will, our Savior, Jesus Christ, was born to her and through her, to all mankind. It is Jesus who is to build a house for the Lord – the Church (Mt 16:18), which is not a physical structure but God’s spiritual kingdom, “against which the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail.”

Applications to Community
The most often question asked in Christian communities like ours is this: How do we know if the leaders’ discernment is based on human motivations or guided by the Holy
Spirit? The answer is we don’t, particularly if it involves a good or even a morally neutral decision. Consider the example of David. He was living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remained in a tent. David wanted to build a house for the Lord who had been so good to him. There was one other reason why David (and Nathan) thought he should: as king, he can. But as scripture tells us, this was not what the Lord wanted, so David didn’t.

In a covenant community like ours, where authority is exercised by leaders in God’s name, those leaders have the duty and responsibility to seek and do His will. Because they are responsible, they are accountable – to the Lord. This thought should send any leader on his knees before God! As to the members, they should remember that it is the will of the Lord to entrust His flock to our leaders. He did this knowing fully well their heart, for nothing is concealed from Him (Heb 4:13). If the Lord can trust our very human leaders with His very work, who are we to distrust God’s judgment?

Besides trusting God, what else can members do? According to St. Paul, “offer supplications, prayers, petitions and thanksgiving…for all in authority” (1 Tm 2:1-2). What should they pray for? Pray that the Holy Spirit will come upon our leaders and that the power of the Most High will overshadow them. Then, with humility and faith, let us trust that the Lord heard our prayer and led our leaders to obedience of His will.