Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Living a life of faith day after day, year after year, it's easy to feel like we know God well. We've read the Bible alone and in small groups. We've studied and referenced the catechism. We've prayed to God and thought about what the Lord wants, what our calling is in this life. We've immersed ourselves in the liturgy, and looked for Jesus among the poor and marginalized. We have committed ourselves to works of Mercy, charity, and justice. We have discussed all this with our fellow Christians. In our hearts, we know what God wants, and how the Spirit moves in the world.
Except, we don't. That's one big difference between Abraham and the scribes in today's readings. Earlier in Genesis, God already promised to make a great nation out of Abraham. Now God is asking Abraham to sacrifice his son, the embodiment of that promise. How will the promise be fulfilled? That's God's surprise.
The scribes are a complete opposite. They've taken everything holy that God has revealed, and tried to make sense of it. They want a working system that can be fully understood (and controlled). For them, the Lord's forgiveness is a formula.
But as the psalmist points out, God does whatever he wills. Unlike a created idol, the Spirit cannot be fully understood. God is a communion of persons, and like any person, cannot be reduced to a formula of behaviors. Jesus spontaneously forgives a man's sins, without any sacrifice or restitution; it had never been done before! But he's Jesus, and he does what he wills. Surprise scribes! God does not fit in your box.
Let's make space in our relationship with the Divine for surprises. Let's remember that our Lord is a person with a will that cannot be fully known or predicted. Today, allow yourself to be surprised by God.
-Chris Nieport