Reflection - Advent

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120919.cfm
Genesis 1: 9-15, 20
Ephesians 1:3-6
Luke 1:26-38

Adam and Even in Eden. The story has provided us with whatever critical information it can for our own spiritual development. Nevertheless, several mundane questions surrounding the story persist. Where was Eden? Is there still an Angel at the gate? What exactly was their sin? But one question for which we have a ready answer is the question of whose will Adam chose to follow. “Will” is what seems to be the issue.

Not all human events arrive unexpectedly on the scene. We can have a confident expectation of the eventual appearance of many events; or we can be certain of their temporal actualization as time unfolds. The advent of the “terrible twos” is not unanticipated by any except the most naive parent. Moreover, the “terrible twos” are not named that because a single child out of a thousand becomes obstinate on or at about that age. Similarly, it wouldn’t have taken a genius (presuming that one was even available) let alone God, to recognize that, given only a modicum of free will, Adam would sooner or later — and probably sooner rather than later — choose his own will over the will of God. That seems to me to be a no-brainer. It’s an inherent hazard of allowing free will; and it should not be a surprise that God knew it was more than either a possibility or a probability. It was a certainty. If bets were taken on the length of Adam and Eve’s stay in Eden, what would your estimate be? I myself wonder if they managed to stay even a full day.

The extreme probability of Adam’s failure does not change the facts. It does, however, have an impact on how we perceive what followed, especially when viewed in the light of subsequent Scripture. Paul tells us that certain things were part of God’s plan even before the foundation of the world. That’s a long time ago. It certainly was a long time even before Adam and Eve were created. In fact, Paul says the plan was there before there was time. Among the other things that long preceded the foundation of the world Paul tells us that:

We were chosen in Christ.
We were chosen to be holy.
We were chosen to be without blemish in the sight of the Father.
We were destined for adoption through Jesus Christ.
We were destined to exist for the praise of the Father’s glory.

All of that Paul compresses into a few verses from Ephesians.

Lest it be misunderstood, this is not Divine Plan B, the one that had to be followed because Adam’s sin preempted the possibility of following Divine Plan A. This is the original! This is Divine Plan A! So the Incarnation was also part of God’s plan before the foundation of the world.

Furthermore, Paul assures us that the breadth of this plan reaches beyond human imagination. It is a plan “for the fullness of time,” that is to say: for when the time was right. It was a plan “to unite all things in Him,” that is in Jesus the Christ. It is a plan that has no limitations for it includes “all things in heaven and things on earth” and all from both of them are to be united in Him.

At a time approximately two thousand years ago, when Mary was in prayer, the Father determined that it was the fullness of time for all those who lived in time. It was time to initiate the next phase of the Plan. So the Angel Gabriel was sent from God. "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."

“While gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed, a stern warrior.” (Wisdom of Solomon 18:14-15)

The birth of Jesus, the coming of the Christ, was not God’s method for refurbishing what Adam had botched as if you had to start again with the sand castle your toddler had decided to help you build. Neither was his purpose to repair the damage inflicted nor to restore what had been broken. Nothing has been brought back to the condition of creation before the Fall of Adam and Eve. Time and again the Gospels tell us that Jesus coming was to fulfill God’s promises, to fulfill the word of God spoken through the prophets, to bring the Law and life to perfection.

Jesus himself tells us that he came so we could have life and have it in abundance. In John’s prologue to his Gospel we are told that: “To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” ( John 1:12-13) Further, Paul reminds us that: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning with labor pains together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:22-23)

As we all know, ‘Advent’ means coming. But whose coming? And what coming? Jesus, the Christ, the gift of the Father came to mankind once several hundred years ago. It is right that we celebrate the fact that he came. But Jesus came to fulfill, to complete, to bring to perfection. That is an on-going endeavor; and involves us. It’s realization requires that we acknowledge the continuing creative work of the Father and live accordingly. Jesus did what Adam could not do: He surrendered to the will of the Father. He has empowered us to do the same. As John puts it: “he gave [us] power to become children of God,” obedient to the will of the Father.

Yes, we look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Christ, the one who has come into the world and because of whom we need not look for another. But let us not forget to look forward with even greater longing in our hearts to his even more illustrious second coming. At that time all mankind will move beyond a rebuilt heaven and a repaired earth. We will move with celebration beyond measure into a NEW heaven and a NEW earth. Then will we see the completion of Plan A. In the meantime we should be groaning with labor pains along with all of creation. We wait for adoption as sons even as we are welcomed into the Divine household. We wait because our will is Our Will and not the Father’s. We are empowered to make the necessary change.