Mrs. Dowson stood in the doorway of Arthur's room and buttoned the cuff on the sleeve of her pink blouse. There had been a button missing but Marie had replaced it despite all the work she had to do: the cooking, cleaning, and all the other housework. Marie was a treasure — that is how Mrs. Dowson's mother would have described her. Mrs. Dowson crossed Arthur's room to the mantel where the Seth Thomas clock was located. She tried to set the time; the clock had stopped at two o'clock, but it was a lost effort; the brass key that had been under the clock was missing.
"I hope you slept well, Arthur," Mrs. Dowson said. "Toward morning I put on the light blanket and turned on the radio to listen to some music. It was an hour before I got back to sleep. The days are longer," she told him. "You know how I like to get up with the sun in the morning. How lovely it is to hear the first bird sing. Don't you think there are more birds this year? They say that since people stopped using all those insecticides that the birds are coming back. There were some new birds at the birdbath yesterday. I should look them up in your bird book. There were some gulls as well. Remember how the gulls used to fly off to meet the fishing boats returning to harbor? They seemed to know which boats were gutting fish and which were not.
"I used to wish you were not such an avid fisherman, Arthur. I was often lonely. Some days the ladies would josh with me and say they were golf widows but that I was a fishing widow." Mrs. Dowson began to weep, the tears running down her cheeks. "I saw you even less at home those days. It wasn't just the fishing, Arthur. It was anything that attracted you, anything at all.
"No more tears, Arthur," she said finally. "You don't like tears and I've never tried to annoy you. But how long will I have to wait? You are being cruel, though you are not a cruel man. Men do what they please and get away with it. But once when I was lonely," Mrs. Dowson said, "I fell. He meant nothing to me except that he was gentle and noticed my hair and touched my face. He was there Arthur, but God knows where you were, for days at a time.
"I atoned and God has forgiven me because God is good, but you never forgave me. It hurt your pride. I was one of your possessions that someone else had used. I guess I don't blame you, but Arthur, how long will you make me wait for a word — one word?"
Mrs. Dowson dabbed her eyes once more and then put on her gray coat. Henry was waiting with the blue Lincoln. They drove through the pylons of Auburn Cemetery. They passed many graves and Mrs. Dowson knew all the names — Longfellow, Francis Parkman, Edwin Booth, Winslow Homer. On Orchid Path, Henry stopped the car at a small mausoleum. The brass door opened easily to the key and disclosed a small space with a marble angel and a Latin phrase from Saint Paul. The chauffeur took yesterday's roses from the shelf and replaced them with a sheaf of yellow azaleas. Mrs. Dowson seated herself in the metal armchair, took off her gloves, and folded her hands in her lap. "Good morning, Arthur," she said, "I am here."
Mrs. Dowson was faithful to the end and without regard to the past. Her commitment to her husband was total and without reservation. This touching little story provides an excellent illustration of the message in today's first lesson on this fourth Sunday of Advent, namely that God is ever faithful to us and will be so to the end.
Today's second lesson from the second book of Samuel presents us with an image of King David toward the end of his life. The Lord, speaking through the prophet Nathan, reviews how God has been present and faithful to David throughout his life. When God rejected Saul, it was David, at the time a youth and very un-kinglike in his appearance, who was chosen, to the surprise of his father, Jesse, as well as the great prophet Samuel. God was the one who gave David triumph over Goliath and the Philistines and then eventually brought him to his role as king. God gave David victory over all of his enemies, allowing Israel to become a great nation, one to which all other nations in the region looked with admiration. But not only was God faithful to David in his triumphs and greatness, he was also faithful in his great failures. Punishment was brought, but God forgave David his greatest transgression when he ordered the death of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba with whom David had a relationship. Clearly, God was with David every step of the way; his faithfulness could never be questioned.
Now as David reflects back on his life, realizing all that God has done for him, he wants to "return the favor," and build a house for God. David realizes that the Ark of the Covenant, that sacred vessel that carried the law from Mount Sinai, had for many generations been housed in a tent. Feeling a deep inconsistency between his own luxury and the simplicity of God's "house," David seeks to rectify the situation. He wants to demonstrate his faithfulness to God. However, God through Nathan the prophet answers that it is not David's role to build a special house for the Lord. On the contrary, God wishes to demonstrate his continual faithfulness to the great king. God speaks of peace and security that will come to Israel; the greatness of Israel under David will continue in his line. More importantly, the Lord promises to David that he will build a house, a kingdom, in the line of David that shall live forever. In short, God is promising Israel a Messiah, one who will continue the greatness of the Davidic kingdom and permanently establish God's place in the world.
God's promise to David, as delivered by the prophet Nathan, is fulfilled quite obviously in the life, message, and mission of Jesus Christ. The lack of fidelity on the part of Israel notwithstanding, God could never forget his people and thus always maintained fidelity. As had been demonstrated throughout salvation history, God was ever faithful to his chosen people, providing precisely what he promised. The Jews did not recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah. To them, Jesus was not a manifestation of God's faithfulness. They looked for a different type of Messiah; they failed to understand the fullness of the prophecies of the Torah.
Even after God's faithfulness reached its apex through the incarnation, which we await, God did not stop being present to his people. God's faithfulness is manifest in the word that we read, share, and apply to our daily lives. Faithfulness is present in many men and women over the centuries, holy people who have shown us the face of God and the proper path to life eternal. God's faithfulness is also present, while it might seem odd, in challenges that force us to reflect upon the goodness of God. Despite our many lapses in judgment, work, and action, God remains faithful. It is the only way God can be. The Pauline author puts it very powerfully: "If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself" (2 Timothy 2:11-13).
As God has been ever faithful to us, so must we be ever faithful to God and God's people. Our Advent journey has almost ended. We must review and evaluate how effective our journey has been. Have we taken seriously the opportunities that come our way? Have the resolutions we made at the outset of the season been kept? What more must we do to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ into our world? We don't have much time so we must today recommit ourselves to a greater faithfulness to the God who first loved us!
Faithfulness certainly begins with our family. We must not only be faithful to the members of the family, but to the traditions and other practices that hold our family together. We must be faithful to the tasks given to us by God. We have been given that talent, time, and opportunity to productively work to better our world. Our commitment to such a task is a commitment to God, who provided the opportunity in the first place. We must also be committed to the community in which we live and what it might ask of us. We must avoid the tendency to "not get involved" but always put our best foot forward to move our society in a positive direction toward God. We must also be faithful to ourselves. We must never compromise who we are or what we believe and profess simply to get ahead. We must never be cowed by contemporary wisdom; we must avoid the tendency to be lazy and apathetic. We must raise a red flag against indifferentism in our attitude.
Ultimately, we must be faithful to God. We must be faithful in prayer, making certain that God is given top priority each and every day. We must manifest our prayer in some active way and stop making excuses for our failures. Faithfulness to God also requires service. The Greeks considered agape or service the highest form of love. Similarly, the service we render to our brothers and sisters is a direct manifestation of our faithfulness to God. Lastly, we must participate in the community of faith. Being integrally involved in our faith community is not for a few select people; participation in full is the call of all Christians.
Mrs. Dowson was faithful to her husband, Arthur, keeping his memory alive and speaking to and visiting him on a daily basis. She did so even when she knew he had not been present and could never forgive her. She maintained her faithfulness to the end. Similarly, God was ever faithful to the Hebrews. They were the chosen people; God made a covenant that would never be annulled or abandoned. The high point of God's faithfulness was the promise of a Messiah and to make a permanent house for David in the world. God's promise to the Hebrew king was fulfilled in Jesus. Despite all failures, lack of faithfulness, and at times utter disregard for God, the Lord remained faithful to the end.
God remains faithful to us despite our many transgressions and failures. Advent is the time for us to renew our commitment and faithfulness to God. We must be faithful to others and ourselves and thereby demonstrate our faithfulness to the Lord. As our Advent season concludes, let us continue our preparation, so that Jesus will find us ready, open, and faithful, now and to life eternal. Amen.