Extract from a sermon at Grafton Cathedral on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, 22 December 2019:
Running through the readings set for today is the theme “son of David” as a title for Jesus.
We mostly speak about Jesus as “son of God” or even—at this time of year—as “son of Mary”. The church—and especially the church in the West—does not talk so much as about Jesus as ‘Son of David’.
That title suggest a Jesus who goes beyond our comfort zones. He changes stuff. He gets involved. He gets political. And that worries us.
As son of David, Jesus is not just offering to make us feel better, give us hope or provide assurance of life after death.
As son of David, Jesus turns the world upside down. Our world. The whole world. The world of power and privilege. The world that ignores the scientists warning of climate change until the fires are so bad not even politicians can turn a blind eye.
As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus in the next few days, the son of David invites us to have big dreams for a better world, to live boldy, and to nurture that spiritual boldness in our children.
The full text of this sermon together with video may be found online.