The Audacity of God: Weekly Message for 12-19-2023

Dear Friends,

We began this Advent season with the words of Isaiah, “O that you would rend the heavens and come down” (Isaiah 64:1). We find the prophet pleading with the Lord God in near desperate prayers to hear the cries of His people who are battling the evils of the world. Many of us today utter the same desperate prayers.

Rend the heavens and deliver me from this anxiety I feel, shelter me from this hostile world.
Rend the heavens and come down and heal my broken marriage, my dysfunctional family, my financial strain, or the cancer ravishing our loved one.
Rend the heavens and come down and heal me from my sinfulness, save me from myself.

This week Isaiah prophesizes that the Christ (anointed) of God would be sent to “Bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and announce a time of favor.”

And how does God fulfill his promise? Not by mighty feats of power that make the mountains tremble. Not by sending a warrior that wins earthly lands and great riches. Not by undeniable acts of cosmic power. No, God does the unthinkable. His Spirit overshadows a woman and through its power becomes one with the creature He loves most of all, you and me. God Almighty, demonstrating audacious humility, becomes a helpless baby and entrusts Himself to the same creatures he has come to save.

He doesn’t snap his fingers and remove our pain, our struggles or our brokenness. He enters into it and suffers it with us. This tiny baby holds within his hand, all the power in the universe and yet he chooses to come to us as an innocent child to show us just how far God will go in His love for us. As the blessed Mother holds her child close to her heart, he in turn holds every human being ever created in his.

I pray as you finish your preparation to celebrate the birth of Jesus, that God, who could not remain in heaven out of love for us, makes Himself known to you in the depths of your heart.

Yours in the heart of Jesus,

Donna