THE SEASON OF NEWNESS

 

Our Judeo-Christian God is a God who acts in history. This is in fact how the Jews knew God: from his actions in their history on their behalf. Now, on the Second Sunday of Advent,we hear the message that the God of history is on the move again, acting to deliver his people. John the Baptist appears, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (Mt 3:1)

In other words, God is doing something new! Not only that, but we need to respond to this initiative by "repenting," by changing our lives. The verb "is at hand" is pretty much equivalent to "is present now." It has a sense of urgency about it.

CALL AND RESPONSE

A week ago I gave up  driving after an unnerving incident in which I stepped on the gas instead of the brake. No one was injured, and only my car took the brunt of my mistake. While thanking God that nothing worse had happened, I decided on the spot that at the age of eighty it was time for me to give up driving.

I've been asking myself for some months what the Lord may be expecting of me at this stage of my life. The decision to stop driving has underlined the fact that that the Lord is indeed calling me to something new.  So I opened my bible to the story of the call of Abraham looking fopr some insights:

The LORD said to Abram: Go forth from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you. Abram went as the LORD directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. (Gen. 1-4)

I discovered a footnote to this passage in the NAB: "The syntax of the Hebrew suggests that the blessings promised to Abraham are contingent on his going to Canaan." I read this note as a challenge to me personally at this juncture in my life's journey, namely that if I'm counting on the Lord to be with me and bless me, then I need to respond to his invitation to "go forth from your land ... to a land that I will show you."

The good news is that the Lord commands Abraham not to "come to a new place" but rather to "go to a [lace that I will show you." So, just like Abraham, I can set out without a clear plan and count on the Lord to show me the way I travel.

THE ADVENT CHALLENGE

So, during this holy season the Lord of History is on the move again, breaking in on your life and mine, wanting to do something new with each of us. So, let us be attentive, watching and waiting!

"Go to a land that I will show you."