The Gift

The Gift

           I am a sucker for time travel movies. I pride myself as logical, yet, I find myself seduced by the implausible –hoping against hope.  They all have the same plot: the protagonist living in regret, lamenting a future made dismal by an event from the past, is given the chance for a do-over.  Of course, time travel stories are based on the premise that the impossible is possible, that the consequences of the past are undo-able.  And, since the past is changeable, there must then, exist alternate realities to add to the storyline’s intrigue.

         Not strangely, the Gospel Story speaks to this same universal dream –that there exists for us a chance for a do-over; to un-do the sins of our past; to change the course of our future.  And this is the Advent message of John the Baptist, that in our repentance we will find The Gift; The One Sent; The Savior; The One who uttered the Ancient Word, “I know the plans I have in mind for you - it is Yahweh who speaks - plans for peace, not disaster, reserving a future full of hope for you.” (JER 29:11).  Unlike the fantastical offered by time travel movies, the Gospel offers, in Truth, The Gift which holds out to us the chance to erase our past sins and to receive a New Life, with a future full of hope.

         Luke records these Words of Jesus regarding the Voice crying out in the wilderness, “All the people who heard him, and the tax collectors too, acknowledged God's plan by accepting baptism from John; but by refusing baptism from him the Pharisees and the lawyers had thwarted what God had in mind for them.” (LK 7:29).  Here, Jesus poises the Present Moment as a point about to diverge along two alternate realities: those who accept John’s call to Repentance receive The Gift of a New Life, to be Born Again with a new future; and those who refuse to repent, remain mired in their Sin, and thwart the wonderful future that ‘God had in mind for them’.  The world was then, and still is today, divided into those who receive The Gift, and those who reject Him.

         Earlier, in chapter three, we read of John, “He said, therefore, to the crowds who came to be baptized by him, 'Brood of vipers, who warned you to fly from the retribution that is coming?  But if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruits…” (Lk 3:7).  All in the crowd had sinned against God, so, all had earned the title ‘brood of vipers’ –all were under the retribution of their Sin.  

         The answer, to who warned them to flee from it, is none other than the Spirit of God within, the Voice of conscience, bending to the gravity of what they have done.  This repentance is the gift that introduces them to The Gift.  It is the Seed that leads to a Death which is raised up to New Life.  And it is this Death which is evidence of the appropriate fruits –a life lived for God.  Some in the crowd heard John’s call to Repentance; accepted Gods’ plan for their lives; turned from Sin and made straight the path in their hearts to receive the One Sent, the Savior of the world.  And some in the crowd did not.

         Father, this Advent as I gaze upon The Gift of your Son, may your Spirit gently gift me with the revelation of my wretchedness, with the gravity of my Sin, that I may fly to your Mercy, that I may Live Anew in all ways pleasing to you.  Jesus, you are The Gift of my desire.  I submit to John’s baptism of repentance –I stand washed in the Water gushing from your Wound on the Cross, washed of the Sin I renounce.  Baptize me now, in your Holy Spirit and Fire –empower me to live in the Light of your Truth.  This, my plea for your Mercy, is the only gift I have to offer.  I wrap it in Faith, Hope and Love.

It's Not Fair!

It’s Not Fair!

“Listen then to me, like intelligent men.  So far is God removed from wickedness, and Shaddai from injustice, ...God never does wrong, do not doubt that! ...Were he to recall his breath, ...things of flesh would perish all together, and man would return to dusty." (Job 34:10-14)

 

We all are guilty of crying, "It's not fair!" Whether in losing a frivolous game of dice, or in the painful loss of an untimely death.  What silly creatures we are prone to be.  Like a two year old child, we expect the Grand Unfolding of the cosmos to coincide with our wishes and expectations.  

When this Cosmic Unfolding fails to go our way, our first reaction is to feel victimized.  And, if we are victimized, then we must, believe in a Victimizer.  If this happens in a simple game of chance, we blame our “misfortune” on the magical Lady Luck, who withdrew her graces from that determining role of the dice.  Obviously, this is illogical.  It is as irrational as wishing for our past to be changed, or that Lady Luck would influence that next roll of dice.  We are not crazy, it’s just that our emotions never grow up.  This childhood remnant remains as our default mode.  While forever humbling, it is easily enough checked with the briefest subjection to logic.

This irrationality, however, takes a darker and more dangerous turn as our sense of victimization takes on increasingly profound proportions. When dealing with the injustice and hardship of life, our two year old within, responds with the need to assign blame.   

When this injustice is frivolous, as in that game of dice, we can dismiss it with a silly accusation against that fanciful Lady Luck.  But if, say, a precious infant dies of cancer, our default mode is to find some one or thing to blame.  The Unbeliever might say it is the cruel randomness of Fate that is responsible.  But the Christian is left pointing his finger at God.  Both the Old and New Testament grapple with this dilemma.

Job was renowned for his righteousness, yet he found himself stripped of wealth, prestige, family, friends and health, till he begged for death.  Only in being stripped naked before God, did he come to know his life was not his own, that his very existence depended on the Breath of God, that the source and meaning of his life could only be found in the will of his all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-just God.

The Gospels give us John the Baptist to ponder.  He was the Cousin of God, described by Jesus himself as the greatest of all born of women.  He gave up everything for God, spent every breath, every ounce of energy in service to his God.  And to what end?  His home was the desert.  His food was locust, his clothing, camel hair.  His short flash of fame –faded into obscurity.  He ended up alone, without family, wife, children or friends -imprisoned in a dark cell, and beheaded by a degenerate whim.  

After all he sacrificed, after a life of exemplary holiness, after giving his all, he finds himself alone, imprisoned in a cell.  Who could more justly claim victimhood?  Who had more just cause to cry out in protest, “It is not fair!”?  How is it he was not driven to despair, to self pity, to feeling as victim of an unjust and uncaring God?  How did he remain faithful to the end, confident in his purpose, to being a voice in the wilderness?  What powerful secret shielded his soul from such Reasonable Doubt?

John The Baptist did not expect the grand Cosmic Unfolding to be centered around his needs for affirmation, comfort, fulfillment, or even his need for meaning in chaos -for he did not see his life as his own.  He possessed a Knowing, a Faith, that his life served a Purpose far beyond the world of Self.  The Source of his Purpose, his Meaning, was the Will of God, the Great Unfolder of the Unfolding, in the Realm where self-denial, suffering, and sacrifice are all trumped by Truth.  He trusted, that in surrendering his humble finite space on the Timeline of God, however it unfolded, it was of unfathomable worth -because his Source and Destiny was God. 

          Lord, I am so vain.  I am prone to want my will to be done.  I presume to know so much that I am a fool.  I am quick to conclude and slow to listen.  Save me Lord.  I thought I could walk on water and am wont to drown.  I have all the right words, but lack the love.  I need the lessons of Job, but lack his fortitude.  John gave witness to the Light, I am a witness in need of the Light.  Help me Lord to see the Way you have marked out for me, to Trust in you, that I may walk it Faithfully, that it may Glorify you.  Come Holy Spirit.  Come.