1 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim. 3 And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, 4 with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark.

5 And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before theLord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. 6 And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. 8 And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. 9 And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” 10 So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11 And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

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How does the holy become commonplace? How does the mystery of God become unmysterious? It happens little by little, each day. For twenty years, the ark of the covenant dwelt in Uzzah’s family household (Uzzah was the son of Abinidab where the ark was brought when recovered from the Philistines). He lived with it each and every day. It became, to him, a commonplace item. David decided to move the ark to Jerusalem but ignored God’s instructions on how to move the ark. It was to be carried on poles by hand but they put it on a cart. When the oxen stumbled, Uzzah reached out to steady the ark and God’s wrath burned against him. The ark was holy and was not to be touched. Uzzah and David ignored God’s instructions and God was not pleased. They treated the holy as commonplace.

Advent is a holy time, a time to prepare our hearts. Yet to many of us the story of Jesus’ birth has become commonplace. We lose the holiness of the moment when God came to Earth, when God took on flesh. This Advent, remember the holy. Take time to read the Christmas story and to marvel at the mystery of Jesus’ incarnation. Do not allow the business of the season to make the holy commonplace. Think about your traditions at Christmas and be intentional about taking time to recognize the holy of this season.