1st Week of Advent, Tuesday, Nov 29
Isaiah 11:1-10 / Luke 10:21-24
The Spirit rests upon him; He will defend the rights of the helpless.
October 23, 1945, was the day that Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson as baseball's first black athlete. Jackie's entry into baseball was not easy. Racial slurs, insults, and threats dogged him everywhere he went. One day in Boston the situation got really bad. Right in the midst of it, a southerner and popular shortstop named Pee Wee Reese, called time out. He walked over to the second base, put his arm around Jackie, and stood there for a very long time. It was a sign everyone understood and no one ever forgot. It expressed the spirit of today's reading.
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What are we doing to wipe out prejudice and whatever else threatens the rights of people who are helpless or in the minority? “He will not judge by appearance; he will judge the poor fairly and defend the rights of the helpless.” Isaiah 11:3-4
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The meanings of words change, not all the time, but more like over time. The meanings of some words changed so much that it may be surprising, and the present meanings are so different from the past.
"Awful" used to mean “worthy of awe” and in the long past it can be used as in “the awful majesty of God.” But that doesn't sound right nowadays. Today, it means something is bad or that someone looks terrible. It also means exceedingly great as in “an awful lot of money.”
Long ago, "naughty" means naught or nothing. Then it came to mean evil or immoral, then it came to mean mischievous, and then it came to have sexual connotations. Likewise, the word "innocence" may have other meanings besides naive or ignorant or immature.
Also, the virtue of innocence is often trampled upon in a social culture where winning is everything and the only thing worth measuring.
But when Jesus talks about the innocence of children, He is talking about a person's knowledge of God, and it is expressed in a life of peace and love.
Knowledge of God brings about a capacity for peace and love, and a peaceful and loving person cannot hurt or harm anyone. That is the kind of person we are called to be, because we already have the knowledge of God, we have that wisdom, we have that insight.
In this time of Advent, we go back to our innocence of heart so that we can see clearer and understand deeper. We need to understand the true meaning of peace and love in this time of Advent so that we can truly have the peace and love that Jesus came to give us.
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The olive tree is very hardy tree. It can resist drought and disease and even fire, and it can live to a great age. Its root system is strong and robust and the peculiarity is that it is capable of regenerating the tree even if the above-ground structure is destroyed. It is with this peculiarity that the 1st reading used to describe the promise of salvation for Israel - "A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots".
With that will also come about a glorious time of peace and harmony, and also of integrity and faithfulness. Yet the promise of salvation and the glorious reign of God would require patience and waiting and trusting in God's promises.
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Just like an olive tree that may take as long as 15 years to bear fruit, the glorious time of peace and harmony, and integrity and faithfulness may also take that long to come about. Yet in the meanwhile, the roots of the olive tree are spreading and strengthening itself for its growth ahead. So even if there seems to be happening above-ground, there is certainly unseen activity happening underground.
So even if we don't see it, we know it is happening. More so with God's grace, which we can't see but yet we believe is working. Yes, blessed are we to whom the mysteries of God are revealed. And more blessed are we when we believe and wait in hope and patience.
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It is those who realize their own indigence, says Jesus, who are receptive to God’s gifts. With such people, Jesus can make his new beginning, also today, in this Advent.
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Prayer
Lord our God, you never give up on people. Again and again you want to make a new beginning with us. You showed us in Jesus your Son the kind of people you want us to be. As your Spirit rested on him, pour out on us the same Spirit, that we may see our mission in life with your wisdom and insight and that we may have the strength to live as we believe and hope. Grant us this through Christ our Lord. Amen
