ADVENT HOMILY DECEMBER 19th
Humble Faith, Barrenness, Hope and Relational Justice
(Judges 13:2-25; Ps 71; Lk 1:5-25)
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Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you were powerless, came up empty, felt like your hands were tied behind your back?
The readings today give us hope that God can work marvels of healing and great justice even in our times of darkness, inability, failure and constraint.
There are both similarities and differences in the two readings today focusing on human inability. These elements are significant in the context of setting the scene for the celebration of the Incarnation. In the first reading from Judges, the story of Manoah and his wife, there is barrenness, the announcement of an angel, a miraculous conception, the promise of political liberation, the birth of a son and the involvement of the Holy Spirit.
Icon of Zechariah and Elizabeth, John the Baptist
In the second story about Zechariah and Elizabeth, taking place centuries later, we have all those same elements, but more is added, beginning with some key credentials: Zechariah belonged to the priestly order of Abijah, so he was part of the cultic sacrificial temple worship, while his wife was a descendant of Aaron. On top of that, the text underlines the fact they were “righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.” They were doing everything right, but were still barren. Added to that is the reality that Elizabeth was also beyond the age of child-bearing, so the possibility of having a child was non-existent. That added detail adds credibility to the miracle of having a child, much like Lazarus being dead for four days added to the credibility of Jesus raising him from the dead, and to the fury of the Pharisees who realized the risk of losing their power to this Jesus.
The conversation between the angel and Zechariah is also more extensive and profound. This conception will not be just about political liberation – it will involve humble repentance, a call to obedience, the promise of healing human familial relationships and a focus on greater justice in our society – all in preparation for the coming of the Lord.
The participants in our monthly Twilight Recovery Retreats at the Star of the North were grateful last year at our gathering just before Christmas, to help them prepare for the tensions that so often arise when families struggling with relational and addictive issues gather. They were also grateful for our retreat just after Christmas, to debrief their experience of Christmas.
It seems this is part of what the angel Gabriel had in mind when he told Zechariah that his son, John the Baptist, would “turn the hearts of fathers towards their children” (Luke 1:17). So, John was sent not just to call people to repentance, but also to a ministry of reconciliation. He urged people to get right with each other, then went on to urge those well-off to show mercy to the poor by sharing with their goods with them. He also ventured into the arena of social justice, telling soldiers to stop extorting and falsely accusing the people in their care. And he told tax collectors to stop cheating their fellow citizens. John knew – probably because Zechariah and Elizabeth taught him – that our ability to sense God’s forgiveness is tied to our willingness to forgive and ask forgiveness of each other.
The matter of Zechariah’s faith also comes into question – where Mary wonders, Zechariah questions and because of his doubt, is struck dumb, unable to speak. The miraculous conception, it is pointed out, will also deliver Elizabeth from the shame she is experiencing from her neighbors at her barrenness.
These two scenes of barrenness, growing in intensity, serve to set the scene for the annunciation of the angel Gabriel, not to a barren woman but to a young virgin who also conceives and bears a son proving to be the Lord, the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah whose birth we celebrate in a week’s time, and who would bring peace and justice to our wounded world.
The barrenness in these two readings underlines how, throughout our salvation history, God has always revealed God’s self in the choice of the underdog, the lowly ones, the poor, marginalized, those without a voice. That spells itself out in different ways in our lives today – what God wants is not our perfection or strength, but our human reality, weak as it is. What God desires most is a humble heart and a contrite spirit. God can’t work in a proud person’s heart because there is no room for the Spirit of a humble God in that heart.
The genius of the Twelve Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous is that it takes the one who is working the steps precisely to that place of vulnerability, need and openness to receiving help from another – “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol (or something else in our life) and that our lives were unmanageable.” The rest of the steps leading to personal growth, healing and liberation from addiction build on that foundation of powerlessness that mixes with God’s power like water and gravel does with the gray powder of crushed rock to produce concrete. With faith in Jesus as our guide and inner power, there is always hope for healing, transformation and greater justice.
The Eucharist is actually a living out of these readings. In our need and poverty, we come to worship our God who does great things in us. Humble gifts of bread and wine are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the very body and blood of Jesus.
We who participate in the Eucharist are in turn transformed into his Body, the Church, sent out to be humble witnesses to God’s power to turn everything to the good for those who love God.
