The Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A), December 19, 2004
Isaiah 7:10-17; Psalm 24 or 24:1-7; Rom. 1:1-7; Matt. 1:18-25
God consistently seeks to break into our lives — to call us to faithfulness and to strengthen us to do his will. Today’s readings demonstrate both the Lord’s persistence in pursuing us and our own freedom either to accept or reject his overtures.
Ahaz, king of Judah, is a person of the most self-serving sort — short on faithfulness, and exceptionally long on ego. He regularly sells out the faith of his forebears in efforts to boost his approval rating with the people of the land. He embarks on misguided military adventures in attempts to expand his influence, counting on foreign alliances for his ultimate vindication. But the Lord cannot write him off. Through the prophet Isaiah he asks Ahaz what proof would be acceptable to him as a sign of divine favor and grace. The king declines to name any sign at all. Persistent in love, however, the Lord names his own guarantee. “Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.” Though rejected by Ahaz, this promise of God’s love is persistent through many generations.
God’s wondrous love moves toward fulfillment in the events surrounding the nativity of Jesus of Nazareth. A young woman is indeed to give birth, and her espoused is assured in a dream: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife ... She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Joseph at first doubts that these things are from God, only to be assured in the same dream that all of this indeed comes from God. Now armed with a vision of what is possible through grace, he joins Mary in saying yes to God. And suddenly the possible becomes real. The promise of the Lord’s love breaks into human history with the birth of God in Christ.
In our own day, God still tries constantly to break into the lives of his people everywhere — to pour out upon us his unlimited love. God might, as he did for Ahaz, come to us through the agency of another human being — a family member or a friend, perhaps — to offer us a better way of life than we seem to have right now. He might choose to come to us through dreams, as he did to Joseph and to Martin Luther King, Jr., offering a vision of the unfolding of his will. And he certainly has come to each of us in our baptism, offering us the precious gift of being members of the incarnate body of Christ, the Church.
Each of us is free to reject God’s love and favor if we so choose. If we do that, however, the Lord will never cease to pursue us with his persistent love — even to generation after generation. Such is the nature of the One whom the psalmist rightly calls the King of glory.
Look It Up
How does God overcome Paul’s initial resistance to accepting his unbounded love? (Acts 9:1-22)
Think About It
In what ways might God be offering his persistent love to members of our Church?
Next Sunday
The First Sunday after Christmas (Year A), December 26, 2004
Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 147 or 147:13-21; Gal. 3:23-25;4:4-7; John 1:1-18
