How do we respond
when God is in our midst?
When, in Luke’s
Gospel, John the Baptist begins to speak publicly, preaching the good news, the people
are filled with expectation, but John makes it clear: one
mightier than I is coming. John
prescribes behaviors concordant with repentance: share
your cloak and your food, and let all you do be just rather than profitable. Properly done, repentance should turn us
towards God’s intangible love, allowing God precisely to dwell in our midst so that God’s love flows from us. To allow the Lord into our
midst is to allow the chaff of our lives – all that is useless and ultimately
tangible – to be removed, that we might move forward with confidence and trust,
open to the love of God. We too must be
filled with expectation for one mightier in love than anything we have
know before.
The people of
Israel have experienced God in their midst before. During the reign of Josiah, Zechariah tells
the people that the Lord is in their midst.
Their sins are washed away; God has removed the judgment against them.
Hence both God and the people may rejoice,
crying out with gladness, as the
canticle from Isaiah exhorts, for God dwells among them. They have but to open to the water of the fountain of
salvation, salvation flowing with God’s grace, mercy and love.
The Lord is near, Paul reminds the Philippians, and so they
must step out of the darkness they have plunged themselves into, trusting that
God will lead them out of obscurity and into God’s love. Like the Philippians, we must open to God
always, make God present, always, in all moments, good, bad, or embarrassing,
that kindness, flowing from the Lord’s presence in us, may flow to all.
Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of our expectation; he now dwells within us, guarding our hearts and minds. If we know that, truly believe that, then we too
can rejoice always, with thanksgiving,
knowing we are always in the presence of God and revealing that presence, that
love, to the world.
This post was
based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordle.net
No comments:
Post a Comment