December 13th - Reflection

Isaiah 29:17-24 (NRSV)
The infirm will be healed

Shall not Lebanon in a very little while
become a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field be regarded as a forest?
On that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a scroll,
and out of their gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind shall see.
The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the neediest people shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
For the tyrant shall be no more,
and the scoffer shall cease to be;
all those alert to do evil shall be cut off
those who cause a person to lose a lawsuit,
who set a trap for the arbiter in the gate,
and without grounds deny justice to the one in the right.

Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
No longer shall Jacob be ashamed,
no longer shall his face grow pale.
For when he sees his children,

the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
And those who err in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who grumble will accept instruction.

Reflection
Those disabilities we have now will be made good with God. God takes what we fail to change to good and makes all things good. Where we couldn't grow; God will bring growth. Where we couldn't heal; God will heal. Characteristics absent in some will now be present. God brings about a great reversal.

And so in this Advent season, as we wait for the coming of Jesus, our lives too take on a great reversal. We wait, yet we find in the waiting the already sure arrival of Jesus into our lives and our hearts. We yearn for Jesus' coming again and find that he has already come to us. We wait for Jesus' birth and find that in the waiting Jesus has been born in us. God brings about the great reversal. In our hurry of the season, notice the eyes of Jesus in all those you see, in the crowds, the hospitals, the nurses, the police, the clergy, the service workers, in friends and in family. Look out and see the eyes of Jesus. You will see the great reversal at work, showing you who and how to love as your neighbor.

Prayer
Lord, as I look into the eyes of your Word this day, may your Word look out through my eyes that all those I meet this day may get a glimpse of you. Come into the hearts of your people this day. --- Amen