Friday of Third Week of Advent
Just last week, I was reading today's gospel (Luke 1:26-28) with the 1st and 2nd graders in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. We meditated together on what it might mean to be visited by an angel. "I think I'd feel afraid!" one boy shouted, and most of the children agreed that they'd feel scared too. "Why would we probably feel scared?" I asked. "Because it would be scary to have someone you don't know in your house telling you things that don't make sense," replied one of the children. Even God (maybe especially God) can do scary things in our lives, sometimes.
We agreed that it was therefore a good thing, and necessary, that the angel told Mary not to be afraid. That was one of the reasons she was able to follow where God was leading her, even though it meant big changes to her life. How many people have looked to Mary as a witness of what it means to say yes, and to leave behind fear! How many people we know who have sold all their possessions, left behind their families, faced hard tasks - exactly because they believe in the promises of God!
Today's first scripture (Isaiah 7:10-14) speaks about the kinds of big changes God can bring to our lives. To understand what is going on here, though, it's important to have the context. Ahaz is a king in Judah, and the leaders of the powerful Assyrian empire have asked him to join their coalition. He has refused, so the Assyrians are plotting to put their own puppet king on the throne.
Isaiah has been sent to give counsel to Ahaz: trust in God and don't worry about the Assyrians. Show your trust in God by choosing any sign - any sign at all - for God to show you his might and power. But Ahaz refuses that, too. The thing is, Ahaz sounds very pious in his answer: "I will not tempt The Lord." But he only sounds pious. God here actually wants him to give an answer, to take a stand on the Lord's side.
But that's scary too. Taking God's side in the face of the Assyrians seems maybe ridiculous. Trusting in a God who is often invisible seems the height of folly.
And since Ahaz refuses to take God's side, God offers his own sign - a sign that would, and still does seem impossible to many, crazy even. A virgin will bear a son and name him Emmanuel, God-with-us.
So many centuries pass between Isaiah's prophecy about an Emmanuel, and the angel's visit to Mary. Surely there were many Ahazes, as there are today, who can't quite make out how this God thing could really work. Surely there were many who thought, "God isn't really at work among us."
But then there are people like Mary who say "yes" to God and who move forward into seeming impossibilities, leaving behind fear.
Today, as we continue to prepare for the advent of Jesus in our lives, let us ask for the grace to see two things. The first is to see and believe in the impossible impossibilities God places before us. The second is to have the courage to take a stand on God's side.
- Jana M. Bennett