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December 17, 2023: Do We Live our Faith in Jesus Christ?
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“My soul rejoices in my God.” These words are this week’s Psalm refrain we hear recited or sung for the Third Sunday of Advent. “My soul rejoices in my God.” Amen.
However, what are some present-day situations playing out in our world attempting to halt our souls from rejoicing in the Lord? First, as always, is war. Which seems to be a constant reality somewhere in the world. This year the greater focus, at least from our nation’s perspective, are the wars in Israel and Ukraine. There are, I’m certain, other wars presently occurring in other places in the world. Such as the “smaller,” yet unbelievably violent war in Mexico between the Mexican government and drug cartels. Unless I’m reading the Mexican situation incorrectly, this has been a longstanding, “smaller,” yet vicious and violent war between factions, where one faction (cartels) represents pure evil in their attempts to daily ship out drugs that, when consumed, will destroy human lives by the thousands. Certainly in the Unites States. It’s not on the scale of a Russia-Ukraine war, or Israel-Hamas, but the violence is no less vile. War is the definition of man’s inhumanity to man. I fully understand that one country, because of aggression, will lead another into a war the second nation did not seek, want, ask for, or begin with a violent, aggressive act. My point here, however, is how war in general creates a setting in our world that causes untold amounts of human souls to “stop rejoicing in my God.” What genuinely good person rejoices in war, except for evil, maniacal leaders and their cohorts? War is one of the most ungodly act humans can commit. We do have what’s called a Just War Theory in our Church. Again, people have a right to defend themselves against violent aggressors. But my point here is how war, wherever and whenever it happens, be they larger or lesser wars, have the greatest potential for a God-fearing person to stop their rejoicing in our God. War’s harmful effects on humanity cannot be measured, even if all the dead bodies are counted. Residual effects of war are innumerable and will last for decades and centuries. Heck, some British are still mad at us 247 years later because we started our own nation of freedom on this side of the pond. Will they ever get over it?
Another situation attempting to prevent our souls from rejoicing in God this Christmas, and closely connected to war between nations by way of death, is the war many governments support to some measure, of taking the life of innocent, unborn children. Even some governments not at war with another nation are warring against unborn children. What did the unborn child do to begin this war where they need to be removed from the face of the earth? Did they ask to be created? Did they have any say in their conception? Obviously, the answer is no. Yet, they suffer more deaths than warring adults and nations do by sheer numbers, not to mention the violence that occurs. This issue, my friends, is the present proverbial elephant in the room that most good-hearted, and not-so good-hearted people, wish not to discuss. I guess by not talking about it or ignoring the issue will make it go away. I have a friend who thinks like this, unfortunately, as the death numbers of unborn children pile up.
My take on this issue of intentional abortion is how such human choices and acts affect God himself by way of sapping His willingness to rejoice in us. I do believe God can become sick from our human actions. Just read the Old Testament and the story of God and Israel at times. I suspect the Lord rejoicing in us is at its low point, not when countries are warring against one another on a grand scale. There is no joy from the Essence of Love and Holiness when warring factions do battle with weaponry that can now dismantle the Earth which God created out of love. The lowest point of God’s rejoicing in humanity, where not even a blip of Divine rejoicing can be measured, is when we as communities and nations intentionally destroy the lives of unborn children. We “legally” destroy our own citizens, which the unborn child becomes in their conception. The Lord’s rejoicing meter is as dead as the male or female child when the act of abortion is perpetrated against their innocent human life. If our goal was to remove all smiles from God’s face, and replace it with extreme Divine frowns and sadness, then intentional abortion is the first way and worst way to ensure it happens.
There are numerous other issues in our present world that hold the potential for us to prevent our souls from rejoicing in our God this Christmas. Homelessness; hunger; greed and all the deadly sins, including an increase of general anger throughout society; violence in our cities, even stretching out to towns more and more; financial worries for so many simply trying to get by; an increasing rejection of God in our culture; adults attacking the minds of children in some schools with perverted learning; the rise of antisemitism in our nation and parts of Europe (is this part of the so-called Enlightenment?); the belittling and destruction of marriage, including participants who call themselves Catholic (St. Paul is rolling in his grave on this one), and much more. But through it all, through all these spiritual battles that are not going away until Jesus Christ returns in his glory to stamp it all out, through it all, our souls are not lose the capacity to rejoice in our God. Rejoicing can be an up and down emotion in our faith lives, where sometimes we will rejoice less than other times because of our present, immediate circumstances, or events throughout the world. Very few of us lose our joy in God because of something that happened 150 years or more ago. I remember, when on a Civil War tour about 20 years ago, one person on the tour seemed deeply saddened by the events that took place 140 years before. I was fascinated by this person’s reaction when our tour guide explained details of the Civil War battle that occurred in the place we happened to be that day. The events of the American Civil War are sad indeed, as are those of any war. But to see someone react the way this person did – like the battle ended the day before our tour – was both unusual and telling how that person allowed it to deeply touch them 140 years after the fact.
In a very real sense, what that person did on a Civil War battlefield, we do with our Jesus regarding his death on a Cross. We not only remember our Lord’s death from 2000 year ago, but we allow ourselves to be touched deeply by his sacrifice, I pray. To recall in our faith lives the death of Jesus, and possibly say, “That’s nice of him. I’m glad he did that for me,” without any deep sense of his total sacrifice for each of us, well, such an attitude would miss the mark regarding the events on Golgotha and what really happened there. Which begs the question as we close in on the birth of our Savior, “Do we live our faith in him, and do we embrace his faithfulness to carry out the plan of salvation, on a superficial level? Are we walking zombies in some sense with our faith in Christ Jesus? Or, does his sacrifice for us touch the core of our souls?”
Instead, we have every reason for our souls to rejoice in our God, even in the midst of the world’s criminality in every form. It is good that we celebrate every year on December 25 the birth of the world’s Savior, whatever the circumstances happen to be. The worldly circumstances that surround our Lord’s birth any given year are usually less than good. But his birth is always very good. The hardest challenge to possibly lessen our celebration of Jesus’ birth is that of a grieving family dealing with the loss of a loved one. Especially when the loss happens at this time of year, but not only this time. How can we not empathize with families who deal with the loss of a spouse, child, sibling, family member or friend? It will potentially make for a less than enthusiastic Christmas celebration. To use an image from the Civil War, there’s one vacant chair in the room that was supposed to be filled on Christmas day.
However, let us not forget that through Jesus’ birth, God taking on human form, and because of the subsequent events of his glorious life, we have become a resurrection people. We ARE a resurrection people. As people of faith on the issue of death, we are like the Thessalonians asking St. Paul, the founder (through Christ) of their faith community, “What happens to our loved ones who have died? Where do they go? When will Jesus return?” Such questions point to the everlasting hope we have gained in Christ Jesus. Grief is real, as it should be. Grieving is healthy. Healthy grieving allows us to return to a place in our lives where we perform what we are called to do each day, yet with a certain sadness carried in our hearts. But let us not forget, that as people of faith, we die from here to live eternally. This is the gift Jesus freely gives to us beginning in his conception and birth. Our lives have been purchased at a price for the great promises of God. Our Lord’s birth, death, and resurrection have sealed the first and highest promise; being with the Lord forever, which the Thessalonians yearned for. We do well to imitate in heart and mind some of those first Christians.