Day Six
Susan Bantz
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church
Owatonna, Minnesota
Psalm 124
Genesis 9.1-17
Hebrews 11.32-40
Who among us has not been let down from time to time?
As human beings, we like to believe that we have control over our own destinies. We want to hold on to the idea that it is within our power to create our own futures. The belief that if we want something badly enough and work hard enough we can achieve it is one it is difficult to abandon.
But the author of Hebrews is quick to disabuse us of the idea that this belief has any validity before God. Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets all did much more that any of us could ever hope to do for God. Their faith moved them to amazing feats of faith: they “conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.” These were the Supermen of their time—and they weren’t the only ones! The nameless martyrs references in these verses endured unimaginable deprivations, chosen and unchosen, all in the name of God.
“Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised.” What a disappointment! They went through so much, did so many things! They deserved the rewards they sought…didn’t they?
The problem is that our human minds have boundaries. What we can hope for, what we can expect to achieve through our own actions, is limited by the very minds that conceive of the idea that we can earn what we seek. We may be commended for these actions, but they will not ultimately bring us what we desire.
God has something better in mind for us, much better. It is not what we promised ourselves. It is not even what we believe we were promised. It is simply this—that we, like those men and women of faith who came before us, will be made perfect in Christ. And we don’t need to do a single thing to achieve that perfection, for it is already done. Just as God promised.
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Abba, This Advent season, as we wait for the coming of your Son, remind us that it is not what we do that is important to you, but who we are. We trust that you will give us what we need, not merely what we want. Remind us to be still and leave the business of doing behind so we can rejoice in what you are doing in us through faith. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
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