Homily:
4th Sunday of Advent – Cycle A
Although it may not be the
first thing that you think of when you think of a king/queen, every king/queen
is called to be a servant. What I mean
by that is this: the authority that a king/queen possesses is given to him/her
so as to govern the people of the kingdom in such a way that they might
flourish. We all know, however, the old
saying that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” and so we
all know how often kings/queens are corrupted by the power that they wield and
seek to have their people serve them, instead.
Nonetheless, this doesn’t change the fact that the role of the
king/queen is to serve; and if they serve well, then they rightfully receive
the honor and homage of the people.
Still further, throughout
history being a king/queen almost always included a religious component. Royal lineage was often seen to have been
appointed by God and royalty have often held positions of authority in
religious matters. This continues
today. For example, the Queen of England
is also the head of the Church of England.
As such, she must be not only a servant of the people, but also a model
for religious piety and practice. To do
otherwise would discredit the Crown and the religion that she leads. Sure, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the de
facto head of the Church of England, but the Monarch of England still
stands as the model for all.
This, of course, was true of
the ancient Israelites, which gives color to our first reading today. The brevity of this reading gives rise to the
thought that the Church included it primarily to recount for us the source of
the prophecy of the virgin birth (which is very important, obviously), but the
broader story also provides us with some insight and so I’m going to incorporate
some of it here.
Ahaz was not a good king. I don’t know whether he was a good guy, but
he wasn’t a good king. He let being a
king get to his head. If we remember
back to the prophet Samuel, when the Israelites demanded that he anoint a king
for them (for they had never yet had their own king), he first rebuked them for
suggesting that they didn’t already have a king (for the Lord God was their
king) and then he predicted that most of the kings that they would have would
be corrupt or weak (or both) and that the people would suffer because of
it. The people insisted, anyway, and God
instructed Samuel to anoint a king for them.
Many hundreds of years later, Samuel’s predictions would come true and
Ahaz was one of those weak kings who let being a king get to his head.
Ahaz forgot that he was king
so as to serve the people for their flourishing. He also forgot that the true King of the
Israelite people was God. And so, when
God allowed the insanely powerful Assyrian army to amass themselves against the
Israelites (because the Israelites had fallen away from faithfulness to God
under the rule of Ahaz), Ahaz sought a worldly solution to the problem (he was
brokering and alliance with the Egyptians).
Isaiah brings him God’s
message that said, “The Assyrians are here as a punishment for your lack of
faithfulness; but surrender to them and I won’t let them destroy the city or
kill you.” Ahaz didn’t like that answer
because he didn’t trust God and thought that he needed to rely on himself. Isaiah clapped back and said, “No, for reals:
God is going to take care of you. He’ll give you a sign, anything you ask
for. Just ask him.” Ahaz, not wanting the sign because he wanted
to make his alliance with Egypt, invokes some false piety and says, “oh no, it
would be improper to put the Lord to the test.”
Isaiah, frustrated for God, responds that God will give him a sign,
anyway, and predicts the virgin birth of a son who will be “Emmanuel - God with
us” for the people.
In the end, Ahaz would make
his alliance with Egypt and the Assyrians would conquer him anyway. He would die, Jerusalem (including the
temple) would be destroyed, and the people would be exiled for 70 years. Ahaz, as the king and religious leader of
God’s people, refused to get behind God’s plan and the people suffered. And the sign that God called for wouldn’t be
seen until hundreds of years later. By
refusing to acknowledge God as the one King, and by refusing to be an example
of right religion, God’s plans for his people were disrupted.
In contrast we heard of the
“annunciation” to Joseph in today’s Gospel reading. Joseph was a man with no worldly power. He was a laborer in a small town in a
seemingly inconsequential region of the world.
Yet, he was a righteous man: which means that he was just and followed
God’s law closely. We hear also that he
was merciful, for although he knew that he couldn’t take Mary into his home
after the discovery of her pregnancy, he decided to divorce her quietly so that
she wouldn’t have to suffer any more indignation than what she would already suffer
by being a single mother in that culture.
For Joseph, God was Lord; and when he heard the message of the angel
that told him to do something that every righteous and merciful bone in his
body told him not to do, he obeyed.
Through his obedience, God’s plan for mankind was finally
fulfilled. Joseph placed himself, in the
state of life and situation that he was in, completely at God’s service, and
God’s good will for mankind was fulfilled.
In this way, Joseph was a much better king than Ahaz.
My friends, I’m certain I will
surprise no one here when I say that there is a lot more Ahaz than Joseph in
our world today. In other words, there’s
a lot more people—especially those in authority—who refuse to acknowledge that
there is an authority higher than themselves to which we owe obedience. For this reason, the kingdom of God is
disappearing among us. Sure, there is
still plenty of goodness among us, but it’s dwindling into smaller and smaller
pockets of our public life. While it is
important that we recognize that and seek to put in authority persons who
recognize God as the ultimate authority and seek to obey him, it is just as
important to recognize that there is probably more of Ahaz than Joseph in each
one of us. I mean, isn’t it true that we
each want to be Lord of our own lives and, thus, act like we know better when
God asks something uncomfortable of us (for example, surrendering to
forgiveness of someone who has hurt us)?
Because of this, just like king Ahaz, much of God’s will doesn’t
manifest itself among us. Friends, we do
not get to lament the state of society without asking ourselves how we have
each played a small or large part of it becoming as it is by our refusals to
allow God to be Lord of our lives.
On this fourth Sunday of
Advent, therefore, we are reminded that, as we prepare to celebrate the
anniversary of Christ’s birth among us (and the fulfillment of Isaiah’s
prophecy!), we are preparing also for the coming of our King. And so, the question comes to us, “Have I
given my preparations over to Him (like Joseph)? Or am I expecting that he will make my plans
successful, in spite of what he may want (like Ahaz)?” In other words, “Am I the king/queen and
expect, thus, God to serve me? Or do I
see myself as a servant before the true King?”
My brothers and sisters, I charge you to reflect on these questions over
these last days of Advent: for judgment will be merciless on those who made
themselves king, but full of mercy for those who acknowledged the true King and
sought to serve him.
Friends, the true King is
coming. May he find us ready to honor
him with our obedience of faith so that his will for bringing forth the full
flourishing of his kingdom might be known in our time.
Given
at Saint Mary’s Cathedral: Lafayette, IN – December 21st & 22nd,
2019
No comments:
Post a Comment