[ Today's Readings ]
Here he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattices.
Our LORD is close at hand. The radiant dawn is beginning to break. The sun of justice is starting to rise, edging over the horizon.
In the Christmas season of preparation we might forget why he comes. He doesn't come as a manager peaking over our shoulder to make sure we're hard at work. He doesn't come as an angry boss looking for an excuse to punish us. He comes because he loves us. He doesn't bear a grudge. He is fascinated with us and captivated by us beyond anything we deserve.
My lover speaks; he says to me,
“Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one,
and come!
We wonder what he can possibly see in us. Not finding anything to merit this love we try to earn it. But earning it is both impossible and unnecessary.
O my dove in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret recesses of the cliff,
Let me see you,
let me hear your voice,
For your voice is sweet,
and you are lovely.
We don't deserve it. There is a judgment against us. But he himself removes that judgment so that we "have no further misfortune to fear." He rescues us from what we actually deserve because he loves us too much to abandon us to our fates. He did not make death and takes no delight in it. None of the consequences of the fall of Adam and Eve give him any pleasure or joy. So he comes to the rescue. His love for us is so much greater than the condemnation which strict justice would demand.
When we remember why he comes we experience the same response as Elizabeth to his presence.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Let's trust in his love for us. He doesn't come to condemn us but so that we might have life through him (cf. John 3:17). Instead of a voice of condemnation we hear a song of joy.
He will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.
Let us listen to that song. Let us soak in the love he has for us. And then let us join in the music.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.
O Radiant Dawn,
splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:
come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the
shadow of death.
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