By Michael Rubble
This Advent, our Area Catholic Communities are experiencing some big changes. New Mass times, restructuring plans and disruptions of familiar routines might make us feel like the churches we call home are facing an uncertain future. How can we use this Advent season
to embrace change in our parish communities as a gift from the Lord?
I would invite us to take a lesson from the prophet Isaiah. When Isaiah was writing in the late 700s BC, the People of God faced some frightening changes. They were under threat from multiple nations who wanted to conquer the land and temple that God had given them. Their rulers were seeking safety not by turning to the Lord, but by making unwise alliances with foreign powers. The question facing Isaiah was, “What should God’s people dream in the face of these changes?”
is an assistant professor of Spirituality and Monastic Studies at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary. He and his family are parishioners at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in St. Cloud.
Isaiah acts less as a “future-teller” for the people than a “dreamer.” His chief mission was to help the people expand their hopes and dreams amidst change. Isaiah’s visions are meant to stretch the imagination and desire of God’s people to receive something unexpected, new and deeply fulfilling. This dream comes at the cost of what is familiar, but it promises to fulfill the people in ways they could never have imagined.
On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we will hear Isaiah telling King Ahaz: “Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God; let it be deep as Sheol, or high as the sky!” The king responds, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!” (Isaiah 7:10-11). While Ahaz seems humble, he was actually stuck in his pride. The reason he rejects a sign from the Lord is because he wants a foreign nation to save him more than he wants the Lord. He wants what he is familiar with, not what God wants to give.
In response, Isaiah describes the Lord’s sign. We are all familiar with this: “the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). We instantly think of Mary and Jesus here, but Isaiah was telling Ahaz something symbolic with the son’s name. Emmanuel means “God with us.” Despite the possible attacks Ahaz may face, “Emmanuel” shows that the Lord will be with him, guiding the people, keeping them safe, even if that means change and a “new normal.” Their future would hold something far better if God’s people can let go of the present and let their desires be shaped by the Lord.
All the Advent Sundays’ first readings from Isaiah encourage God’s people to stretch their hopes amid change and instability. Rather than maintaining Jerusalem as it is, imagine all nations coming to worship the Lord there (First Sunday)! Instead of keeping the current king and the nation’s prosperity safe, imagine an ideal king who brings an almost-unbelievable peace that reconciles even the lion and the lamb (Second Sunday)! Instead of scraping by, imagine dry deserts bursting into flower and paralyzed people running through the streets as God comes to your rescue (Third Sunday)! In all these readings, Isaiah asks the people:
Is what you want big enough to receive what the Lord wants to give? Or are you looking for safety and familiarity, the same-old present comforts?
Change involves disappointment and leaving what is familiar, but Isaiah shows us that, if we are willing to dream as big as God dreams, we will not be disappointed. We will eventually come to recognize and receive the gifts God wants to give. In this time of change, Isaiah invites us to ask, “Do I dream as big as God does?” While the normal ways of doing things in our ACCs shift, our hearts can be prepared to receive more than we had expected. We will eventually come to see God’s dream take shape in many ways: in the renewal of our communities, in the way we celebrate the liturgy, in expanded circles of friendship, ministry and new life.
Ultimately, we can trust that God will give us these gifts because we have seen our wildest dreams come true in Jesus Christ. At Christmas, we celebrate that the God who created the universe desired to be with us by becoming a creature. The infinite God chose to humble himself to sleep in the confines of a manger. If God could come in the flesh to save us, why should we not trust that we will find God in the changes facing us? As we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ first coming, let’s look for the ways in which he is choosing to come among us now in new ways. With that desire expanded, we can be ready to welcome him when he comes again.