Advent

The Power of One!

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The power of one!
A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse!

Oh, Advent! My favorite liturgical season of the Church year! One of my favorite traditions for the season is the Jesse tree. Each day I take an ornament out of my Advent calendar to place on my Jesse tree. Each ornament has it’s own Bible verse to contemplate. The idea is to follow the Bible during Advent through salvation history to the birth of Jesus on Christmas day. The topic today: The power of one!

The Power of One

The first week of Scripture focuses on Genesis. On December 4 I read Genesis 6:5-8: Warning of the Flood. It says: When the Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, he regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved. So the Lord said: “I will wipe out from the earth the men whom I have created and not only the men, but also the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air, for I am sorry that I made them.” But Noah found favor with the Lord.

What stirred

The last line of the verse “but Noah found favor with the Lord,” stirred something in me. My immediate thought was, there is always someone righteous enough to redeem us – not perfect, just righteous. What a timely message! At a time when the world seems so dark, divided and irredeemable with no where to go but down, it’s important to remember the story of Noah. The one man in the world who found favor with the Lord.

Now you may be thinking, one man, redeeming power, no kidding, ever hear of Jesus? But there’s a difference between Jesus and Noah – Jesus was divine. He was, in fact, perfect. Noah was not and yet he was enough! He was righteous enough to redeem the world in his time.

I considered the contradiction of the “good” of God’s creation and the “evil” that would lead him to want to wipe it all out. God’s regret struck me. How could the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient God I know and love feel that way?

Subject to futility

I slowly began to understand as I continued to ponder throughout the day. It wasn’t a contradiction at all. You see, God created us flawed. We may not be perfect, but we’re still good! It’s ALL good. As a matter of fact, Romans 8:20-21 tells us “for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Never once do we read in Genesis, or anywhere else in the Bible for that matter, that God created everything perfect! There’s always room for improvement, which is where we come in as God’s co-creators. God has given us an opportunity, as His co-creators, to participate in His creation. We have an opportunity to be His partners. Yes, He gave us free will, but He also gave us so much more than that.

Our God is an awesome God! The fact that He allows us the free will to choose – to make better or exploit, to love Him or leave Him is evidence of how much He truly loves us! Amen!

If you love something

How does the saying go? “if you love something set it free, if it comes back it was yours, if it doesn’t it never was.” Imagine that! Our God is not possessive or forceful. Does He desire a relationship? Does He desire cooperation and participation? Of course He does, but He won’t force it. So who loses when we don’t follow through? We do! Think of all the wonderful things God has created, and then think of the fact that He wants us to continue His work. Think of the fact that God is waiting for us to make His amazing creation even better! We’re called to continue evolving. Are we doing our part?

Hearing the call

The story of Noah gave me an entirely different outlook as I move forward on the journey. First, if God was currently planning to wipe out all of mankind, am I righteous enough, like Noah, to redeem the world? Could the world depend on me? I’m certainly not perfect, but do I have the little it takes to find favor with the Lord? Does He delight in me? How about you?

Second, as God’s co-creator, where do I belong? How do I respond to His call to co-create? Seems like a tall task, all of it, but remember “God requires fidelity, not perfection.” Remember the power of one! All we have to do is show up and God provides the rest.

After reading and pondering Genesis 6:5-8, I’m relieved and excited and hope you are too. I hope your Advent got off to a good start! God bless you!

Postscript

This won’t be the first time this ever happens to me and I’m sure it won’t be the last. You may have read something similar in some of my previous posts. I drafted this post over the weekend, about two days after I had read the Scripture verse. While all my thoughts and ideas in the draft were complete, I delayed posting. Why? Who knows, but I do know that I woke this morning with the intention of getting back here to post. It’s been a while!

I’ll share here Richard Rohr’s morning meditation, which left me flabbergasted. He goes way deeper than I do or ever could! Enjoy!

And wrote: “John is his name”

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john is his name
Chapel of St. John the Baptist

John is his name! Today we hear about the birth of John the Baptist. Elizabeth seems defiant and Zechariah goes with the flow. Hmmmm? Let’s see how this plays out.

luke 1:57-66

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. 

When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” 

So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.

Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be? For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.”

I read this Gospel early this morning and contemplated it all day as I ran around on my busy schedule. A few thoughts came to mind throughout the day. Basically, I can narrow them down to three words: Counter-cultural, participation and witness. Here’s what I mean.

Counter-cultural

First, the mention of “her neighbors and relatives” struck me. Also, all the fuss around what the name “should” be got me thinking. Apparently, in those days, it was customary to name a child after his grandfather. The fact that they named him something out of the ordinary and departed from custom made me think Elizabeth and Zechariah were being counter-cultural. They acted in accord with a higher power rather than cultural norms.

participation

The focus on Zechariah, his acceptance of Elizabeth’s decision to name the child John and his sudden ability to speak afterward seems to be an indication of the power of silence. Through his silence, Zechariah was able to contemplate the significance of the angel’s message (which he initially doubted) and participate in God’s plan for his family. His voice returned once he actively participated in God’s plan.

witness

There’s an important ingredient that must be present if we are to participate fully in what God has planned for us. We must be counter-cultural.

This Gospel illustrates what a powerful witnessing tool being counter-cultural can be. By choosing to be counter-cultural, Zechariah and Elizabeth were powerful witnesses to God and the power of his hand. Can you follow their lead? How will you witness to God and the power of his hand? Is there any other way? God bless you!

O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, savior of all people, come and set us free, lord our God