Paradoxes and Faith

Above:  Jacob’s Ladder, by William Blake

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Third Sunday of Advent, Year 2, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970

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O Lord, keep us watchful for the appearing of thy beloved Son,

and grant that, in all the changes of this world, we may be strengthened by thy steadfast love;

through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with

thee and the Holy Spirit be glory, world without end.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 117

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Genesis 28:10-22

1 John 5:1-5

Matthew 11:2-10

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First, who is a child of God?

1 John 5:1 tells us:

Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ

is a child of God,

and whoever loves the father

loves the son.

—The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)

Jacob/Israel lived and died long before the Incarnation, so he was not responsible for affirming Jesus, but he was responsible for keeping a moral code he had recently violated, with the help of his mother, in Genesis 28.  Jacob/Israel was a trickster.  Yet, we read, God was with him.  Obviously, this was not due to any merit of Jacob/Israel, by grace, a child of God.

Second, do children of God overcome the world?  1 John 5:4-5, echoing Jesus in John 16:33, says they do.  One may recall the execution of St. John the Baptist on the order of Herod Antipas.  One may also recall that John 16:33 is near to the crucifixion of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel.

God frequently makes little or no sense, according to human standards.  These two paradoxes point to that truth.  Grace is scandalous, as in the case of Jacob/Israel.  The world, as it is, does not conform to the divine order.  Furthermore, we mere mortals see and comprehend only in part.  We need to abandon the idol of false certainty, however psychologically satisfying it may be.  We need to walk in faith instead.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 7, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE VENERABLE MATTHEW TALBOT, RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC IN DUBLIN, IRELAND

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTHONY MARY GIANELLI, FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARIES OF SAINT ALPHONSUS LIGUORI AND THE SISTERS OF MARY DELL’ORTO

THE FEAST OF FREDERICK LUCIAN HOSMER, U.S. UNITARIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SEATTLE, FIRST NATIONS CHIEF, WAR LEADER, AND DIPLOMAT

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