Anticipation is an essential part of biblical
faith, but it goes far deeper than just our liturgical anticipation of
Christmas.
None of Sunday's readings originally had anything
to do with Jesus' birth. They simply reflect a basic belief that Yahweh or the
risen Jesus would enter our everyday lives at unexpected times and in unexpected
ways.
Though Jews during the eighth century B.C.E.
expected Yahweh to break into their lives and rescue them from their Gentile
enemies, no one expected God to do it the way Isaiah predicts (Isaiah 2:1-5).
Yahweh's way
Israelites won't have to worry about being hassled
by Gentiles; the Gentiles will convert to Yahweh. "Come," the nations
proclaim, "let us climb Yahweh's mountain, to the house of the God of
Jacob, that He may instruct us in His ways and we may walk in His paths."
Once Gentiles actually walk Yahweh's paths,
"they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning
hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they
train for war again."
The prophet's most significant statement is at the
end of the passage: "Let us walk in the light of Yahweh!" That sets
the stage for Paul's instruction to the Christian community in Rome (Romans
13:11-14): "The night is far spent; the day draws near. Let us cast off
deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us live honorably as in
daylight."
In both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, light
imagery is a classic way of expressing the unique frame of mind with which
people of faith view reality. (Even today, we talk about a "light turning
on in our mind" when an insight suddenly comes to us.)
In Paul's theology, the light of faith directs us
away from everything which destroys life, especially "carousing and
drunkenness,...sexual excess and lust,...quarreling and jealousy." Such
actions are off the radar for Jesus' followers.
It's clear from Sunday's Gospel (Matthew 24:37-44)
that many early Christians questioned why they were drawn to and by this light
of faith, while others in their lives never seem to have been "taken"
by that phenomenon.
Though Matthew frames this oft-asked question in
the context of Jesus' delayed Parousia, he doesn't give us a precise answer. He
simply states the issue in an intriguing way: "Two men will be out in the
field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding meal; one will
be taken and one left." To "be taken" here seems to mean
"taken by faith."
Why, in the same set of circumstances for similar
people, does one person choose to imitate Jesus while another chooses a
different path? There appears to be no answer. Confident in his or her call, one
need only follow the road the risen Jesus points out, no matter what others do.
Coming again
The evangelist believes that such a faith endeavor
takes place against the background of an anticipation of Jesus' Second Coming.
"You must be prepared....The Son of Man is coming at the time you least
expect."
Of course, we surface a huge problem when we hear
this warning today. Jesus never came in the way Matthew and his community
anticipated. By the time the next evangelist, Luke, wrote, Christians were
beginning to believe Jesus wouldn't make such a return in their lifetime.
A few years after Luke, John contended that the
Parousia had already taken place in a way no one in the first two generations of
the faith anticipated.
The scriptural lesson is clear: followers of God
must always "hang loose." Though we have specific ideas of what God
will accomplish in the future, He almost always does it in a way no one could
have predicted.
Sunday's three authors are our witnesses to that
unexpected phenomenon. After all, part of experiencing God in our lives is
coming face to face with God's unpredictability.
11/29/07