Today's readings: Ps 33, 146, Amos 3:1-11, 2 Peter 1:12-21, Matt 21:12-22
One of the great comforts of Advent is knowing that it will culminate in Christmas. This conclusion is such a given that most of us spend what is really the Advent season surrounded by Christmas trappings. But what if we weren’t so sure? What if we, like the Jews waiting for the Messiah, had no idea what was coming or how it would look when it got here?
Today’s psalms remind us we are foolish to place our hope in anyone or anything but God. The subsequent readings make it clear we would be wise not to wrap that hope in too many assumptions. Amos’ harsh word to the Israelites is that the hard times they are about to experience are a result of God’s love (Amos 3:2). Who saw that one coming? And Jesus confounds both contemporary and historical expectations when he curses a fig tree for failing to bear fruit. This action doesn’t fit comfortably with our present-day notion of a loving and forgiving Christ, and it was no less confusing for the disciples. (Matt 21:18-21).
Again and again, the God we trust defies our expectations and pre-definitions. To paraphrase John Lennon, “God is what happens while you are making other plans.” When we pray “Thy will be done,” are we really abandoning attachment to our own wills, or do we usually have a pretty good idea of what God’s will might be?
This Advent, can we hope without expecting? Can we, like Peter, admit God’s will is not defined by our interpretation, but by a love and spirit that is beyond definition (2 Peter 1:19-20)? Can we be open to the possibility that God’s will may take us places we don’t want to go with people we don’t want to know? The familiar manger scene that completes the Advent journey is only comforting because it has grown familiar. For Mary and Joseph, it was the terror of giving birth in a barn. Neither of them wanted to be there. Yet despite dashed expectations, their hope was rewarded. This Advent season, let’s commit to an unknown path instead of a well-worn rut, and find out where Hope can lead us.
Comfort: We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield (Ps 33:20).
Challenge: Change one thing about your Christmas traditions.
Prayer: God of Hope, Thy will be done.
Evening reading: Ps 85, 94
Discussion Question: Have you ever experienced a blessing when your expectations were overturned?
So Jesus could make the tree wither but could not (or did not) make it bear fruit? It would have been simpler to make the fruit... I'm just saying... Sometimes I don't see the meaning, although I am sure there is one.
ReplyDeleteAs for the discussion question, I can think of many examples where an apparent disappointment later turned out to be a blessing. Even tragedies have something to teach us.