It’s wonderful in today’s readings on this fourth Sunday of Advent that there is language of wai!ng for signs from God and trus!ng big in His promises. King Ahaz is literally commanded by God to ask for a sign from Him – “let it be deep as the netherworld and high as the sky!” Who in the world has the courage to ask for something big from God “as high as the sky”? We’re all in need of something big from God. Unlike Ahaz, let’s do ask for those big things and then, let’s trust en!rely in God.
Ahaz is in a difficult place, a young inexperienced king up against the looming Assyrian army who can easily over take his small southern Kingdom in the land of Judah. But…but, Ahaz is a descendent of King David to whom the promise is given by God that his family will forever remain protected to, eventually, give birth through this lineage to the promised Messiah. The great prophet Isaiah informs King Ahaz that by refusing to ask for a big sign, he is causing fa!gue to God. (I think that’s hilarious, by-theway.) A contemporary reflec!on on this predicament notes that we too are tempted to see only the natural solu!ons to our big needs in this secular world. But doesn’t God have a bigger plan and a super-natural solu!on to our big needs? In fact, Advent, and the Messianic prophecies are full of encouragement to ask for big, super-natural solu!ons for our lives.
Isaiah also said, “For a child has been born to us, as son given to us, authority rests upon his shoulders, and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlas!ng Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:5) And what must have the people thought of this? A child? Authority rests upon his shoulders? A child named Wonderful Counselor? Mighty God? Everlas!ng Father? Prince of Peace? These are paradoxical. A child does not have authority. A child is not a counselor. A child, peaceful? (Maybe when they are sleeping?) To call a child mighty God or everlas!ng Father must have seemed almost here!cal. Yet, this is what Isaiah was saying. Let’s recognize too, that Yahweh is a God of paradox who uses the small to accomplish great, super-natural, work. With God, we can dream big and find the super-natural solu!ons for our lives.
The prophets confirmed this more than once when speaking of the Messiah: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) “But you, O Bethlehem of Eph’ra’tha, who are the one of the li&le clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel.” (Micah 5:1) Again, God is using the li&le ones to accomplish his great work. A young woman, one of the most insignificant people of that !me, will bear a son, a sign from the Lord. And this son will come forth from one of the li&lest, most insignificant clans of Judah. God has a big, super-natural solu!on of fulfillment that seems almost en!rely out of place.
Then comes Joseph in today’s Gospel, also from the Davidic line but centuries later. He is a righteous man who discovers his betrothed, Mary, is pregnant. With a perfect balance of righteousness and compassion, Joseph acts so as not to condemn Mary to the ancient ramifica!on of pregnancy outside of marriage which is: death by stoning. Joseph seeks, rather, to spare her life and wants to quietly divorce her thereby incurring the wrath of the local popula!on onto himself who would have assumed he was the culprit of the pregnancy and ini!ator of the divorce. Isn’t it difficult to find in ourselves a healthy balance of the demands of love and the demands of the religious law? We seek to adhere to God’s will in all things, but in doing so we can spill over into a rigid judementalism that condemns, which can also lack in love or compassion. On the other hand, some!mes we offer the demands of compassion alone, then fail to keep within the parameters of the religious law and fulfill God’s authen!c will, thereby becoming rela!vis!c. But Joseph shows us the way in this balance. He, like King Ahaz, is trapped with only natural solu!ons that are simply not enough. He literally “dreams big” and encounters the super-natural solu!on to a very serious situa!on. Mary has conceived of the Holy Spirit and she will bear a son and name him Emmanuel. “All this took place in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet (Isaiah).” Which by-the-way was approximately 700 years prior. Talk about Advent wai!ng with this prophecy! Have you ever waited 700 years for God to fulfill a promise?
God has super-natural solu!ons to our problems too. We can dream big with God and ask for our big needs. On this fourth Sunday of Advent I want to dream big with all of you and ask God to make this Christmas the moment you and I give our en!re life to God and reorder everything according to God’s purposes so that all of us together can become the saints of this !me. In the midst of our impossible situa!ons, let’s trust in God’s supernatural solu!on that He plans to fulfill in due !me. Merry Christmas to our beloved St. Charles Parish Community.
~Benjamin (and Alicia) Darnell