Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 19, 2021
Is the Will of God Good for Us?
What do we think when we hear the words, “the will of God”? Our thoughts might not always be positive. For example, the insurance industry lists as “acts of God” things like hurricanes, tornados, and wildfires that endanger life, limb, and property. Recent devastating tornados in the Midwest, especially Kentucky, come to mind. And don’t we wonder why God’s will permits us to suffer? That question looms large when we face illness, family issues, or financial setbacks. So, we may find ourselves shuddering when we say, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.”
Yet, on this Sunday closest to Christmas, the Scripture readings proclaim God’s will as the greatest of all blessings, as a cause for rejoicing, the source of our peace, the assurance of our salvation. What, then, do we learn about God’s will from the prophet Micah, and from Mary and Elizabeth, and from the author of the Letter to the Hebrews? They teach us not only to accept God’s will, but also to rejoice in it. So let us take a second look at these readings, beginning with the prophet Micah.
The Prophet Micah: God’s Will Worked Out in History
The Prophet Micah is not a household name like Isaiah or Jeremiah. Just the same, this eighth-century B.C. prophet spoke for God when, amid the darkness, he offered the Jewish people a ray of hope. And what a dark and difficult time it was. The world seemed to be falling apart. God had rescued his people from Egypt and delivered them into the Promised Land. But now, they were facing exile, coupled with the destruction of Jerusalem and Samaria. People must have wondered if it had all been an illusion – this invisible God who promised to be with his people and guide them through history.
Micah does not offer easy solutions, but rather solid grounds for hope. He singles out a small village, Bethlehem, the village from which David came, and predicts that the ruler of Israel would emerge from those humble earthly origins: the One who would shepherd his people with the strength of God, the One whose rule would extend to the ends of the earth. Micah’s prophecy alerts us to the real meaning of the words, “the will of God.” It means God’s plan of redemption, his will to save us, his never-ending mercies. And God accomplished his will, his plan of redemption, not by decree or by force, but rather by working in and through the events of human history, and by working in and through those who are meek and humble of heart.
Mary and Elizabeth: Humble Instruments of God’s Will
Is this not what we find in today’s beautiful Gospel story? Here we meet two women, Mary and Elizabeth, fully attuned to the will of God. Each in her own way sums up the hopes and dreams of the people of Israel: Mary, the Virgin who was with Child; Elizabeth, who like Sarah, conceived in her advancing years. When Mary heard that God’s saving will would be fulfilled in and through her, her response was two-fold: first, obedience and then charity. First, she said to the angel, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” Then, having learned that her aged cousin Elizabeth was in her sixth month, Mary, in her charity, hastened through the hill country of Judea to be with her.
Elizabeth and the child of her womb, John the Baptist, recognize that Mary arrived bearing in her womb the Lord, the long-awaited Messiah. “Who am I?” Elizabeth asked, “That the Mother of my Lord should visit me!” Indeed, Elizabeth greeted Mary as the living, breathing “Ark of the Covenant,” for in her womb she bore the One who would fulfill the will of God, not only for the people of Israel, but for people of every time and place. In the joy of the moment, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb, John the Baptist, leapt for joy, It was his first announcement that the Messiah was at last coming into the world! These two women believed with every fiber of their being in the will of God. They staked their lives on it. They invested all their hope in it. How truly Elizabeth spoke of Mary when she called her blessed – “Blessed are you [she said] who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” For Elizabeth, and above all for Mary, God’s will was not the enemy of their freedom, but rather the golden thread of human history, the reality that holds everything together and gives it its ultimate meaning. What joy they found in being the humble instruments of God’s holy will!
The Letter to the Hebrews: Christ Personifies Obedience to the Father’s Will
The Letter to the Hebrews goes further: it gives us a window into the heart of Christ. Coming into the world, God’s own Son became the living interpretation of Psalm 40 … as if he said to God the Father, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me. In holocausts and sin offerings, you took no delight. … Then I said, “Behold I come to do your will, O God.”
And what do we learn from this? We learn that God does not want our empty praise but obedience to his saving will. We learn also that God’s only Son personified the loving obedience God seeks from us. He did this by taking on our humanity, our very flesh and blood, so that he could suffer and die for us and for our salvation, so he could offer himself to the Father, and on our behalf, as a pure, unblemished sacrifice of love. His loving obedience can heal our rebellion against the will of God in all its forms. That is why Hebrews says that we are saved by “this will,” that is to say, God Father’s will as obeyed by the Son; God the Father’s will as obeyed by ourselves!
Doing the Father’s Will Is the Source of Our Peace
Just as Mary and Elizabeth embraced God’s will, just as Jesus did the will of the Father, so too, you and I are called to do the Father’s will in our own lives. This means more than keeping the commandments, important as that is. If we really wish to do the Father’s specific will for our lives, then you and I must enter into a personal relationship him, listen to his Word, and in the grace of the Holy Spirit, respond day by day with obedience and charity. As the holy women and men of Scripture teach us, and as all the saints teach us, doing the will of the Father always means giving up our sins, but it also means loving God and others with a sacrificial love, a self-giving love, as God’s plan of salvation works itself out in all the events of our lives. Sometimes, God calls us to love heroically. Most often, he calls us to do the little things of life with a greater love.
If you find yourself estranged from God’s will, making a good, unburdening Confession is a good place to start. Daily prayer is essential: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done!” Holy Mass is how we tap into Jesus’ obedience to the Father’s will, and receive the graces we need to embrace God’s will in daily life. It is worth the struggle. To do the Father’s will, in union with Christ, is the source of that peace of which the angels sang on the first, star-lit Christmas night. Or, as the immortal Dante put it, “In his will is our peace!” May you and your families experience the true peace and joy of Christmas!