Thursday, December 22, 2022
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God of a thousand years
Two wonderful women speak of God’s love for us today. First, Samuel’s mother Hannah:
The Lord puts to death and gives life; he casts down to the nether world; he raises up again. The Lord makes poor and makes rich, he humbles, he also exalts. He raises the needy from the dust; from the dung heap he lifts up the poor, to seat them with nobles and make a glorious throne their heritage.
I believe Hannah speaks of the promises of God, but usually I feel captive to the economy of my surroundings. I forget God’s point of view, and I wonder … which place, and which family, were we each born into? Without the promises of God, it’s easy to either resent or cling jealously to the facts of our particular lives.
But here’s the thing: those promises of God are not about comfort and relief for us as much as the character of God. They have nothing to do with our comfort, at least not right now. For God, a thousand years are like a day.  God keeps his promises in his time. Our situations are not our problem. God knows all about them. Our patience is our problem. We get it wrong when we get mad at God.
J. B. Phillips translated the New Testament, and his translation has remained very popular. He wrote several books, including Your God is Too Small. What does he mean by this?
When have Christians been promised physical security? In the early church it is evident that they did not even expect it! Their security, their true life, was rooted in God; and neither the daily insecurities of the decaying Roman Empire, nor the organized persecution which followed later, could affect their basic confidence. (Watch for the Light, “The Dangers of Advent,” entry for November 26)
God will strengthen my confidence in him far more readily than my confidence in house, money and health. But because I’m surrounded by materialism, and the material is easy to measure, and my comfort matters too much to me, I look to him for the STUFF. And then the possibility of losing my STUFF drives me into panic. Phillips knows that, and he sees cosmic consequences:
In my judgement, the description which Christ gave of the days that were to come before his return is more accurately reproduced in this fear-ridden age than ever before in human history.
Speaking of human history. I remember the second woman and her thoughts about what God is doing. Mary spoke to Elizabeth, while they both were waiting for their babies.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
Has he really? Things got worse for Israel in the coming years, not better. But Mary is speaking for, and identifying with, the God of a thousand years, the God of Kairos time. If I don’t see that, I might listen to Mary’s proclamation but then shrug my shoulders because my life doesn’t fit the picture. My comfort, health and safety are suddenly all that matter. There’s something wrong with me. Or there’s something wrong with God.
My fear swells into despair. Professor Phillips must have felt this way sometimes, we all do. But he comes out of the tunnel, and exhorts us to follow him:
When God decides that the human experiment has gone on long enough, yes, even in the midst of what appears to us confusion and incompleteness, Christ will come again. This is what the New Testament teaches. This is the message of Advent. It is for us to be alert, vigilant and industrious, so that his coming will not be a terror but an overwhelming joy.
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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