12/24/15 Reflection - Promises, PROMISES
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122415.cfm
2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16
Luke 1:67-79
There are 'promises' and then there are PROMISES.
I used to promise myself that I would quit smoking. Sometimes that promise was good for a few days; other times the promise was good for a few hours. I promised to clean up my workspace in the garage --- no come to think about it, that wasn't a promise --- it must have been a prophecy --- it hasn't come true yet. Early this past week I promised my wife that I would retrieve a Christmas box from the storage room. That promise I actually made good on after only three or four reminders. Now, to be sure, there are some promises I take more seriously than others. For example, I took my wedding promises seriously; and we're still counting anniversaries.
In an election year, it's easy to become cynical about promises; and in our society it seems better to have a written contract than a verbal promise.
However, some modern written promises even include contingencies for when the promise fails. Marriage contracts provide an excellent example. People set up agreements to specify what they promise to do when they don't want to do what they promised.
Like I said: There are 'promises' and then there are PROMISES.
As I read the Scriptures selected for today it was not difficult to find a subject for reflection. In fact, what was difficult was considering the choice of any subject other than the one these texts practically shoved in my face. I suppose some could ignore the emphasis on God's promises, but doing so was beyond my capabilities. After all, God's promises are of a different order than those we are used to. Consider, ten that are specifically mentioned just in the first reading, the one we heard from the book of Samuel.
I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.
I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them. . .
I will give you rest from all your enemies.
I, the LORD will make you a house.
I will raise up your offspring after you
I will establish his kingdom.
I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
I will be his father, and he shall be my son.
Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me.
Your throne shall be established for ever.
All ten of these promises to King David have either been fulfilled or are in process (but only in process because we haven't reached the end of forever). In the second reading Zachariah offers praise to God because he sees these promises being fulfilled. As the Psalmist says:
"The promises of the LORD are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times." (Psalm 12:6)
Consider further some other promises which we periodically hear echoed at other times during the Advent/Christmas season.
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and we may walk in his paths."For out of Zion shall go forth the law,and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. (Micah 4:1-4)
These and many other similar divine promises are found in the books of the Old Testament. Yet, as of now, only Greg is in a position to sit under his fig tree, and that's because he has his own. The rest of us are still waiting; that's one reason why we still celebrate Advent.
This year, like every other year, we celebrate the day on which God gave birth to the fulfillment of his most important promise: he sent a savior. It is, indeed, a day to be joyously anticipated. But this year, like every previous year we still wait for, we still long for more than just his coming as the infant at Bethlehem. We look for, we pray for his kingdom to come in it's fullness, for his justice to rule all peoples, for those swords to be beaten into plow shares and for those spears to be reforged into pruning hooks. We wait for the eyes of all to be opened, for the ears of all to hear, and for the lame to leap like the lambs in the meadows. We wait for the remnants of darkness to be dispelled by the light. And so, we have those promises fulfilled some two thousand years ago, and those yet to be realized. We know that the Lord will make good on all his promise in his own good time.
And what of today? The time we live in? That age in between his comings? The age in which we must live?
Daily I'm filled with gratitude . . . Not because I was lucky enough to be a shepherd or a wise man on the day He was born. . . Not because I have been privileged to see Him return in glory. I'm filled with gratitude because I have my own personal promise from Him which he continues to fulfill day after day: "I will be with you always, even to the end of the age."