A Call To Renewed Vigilance

“The days are coming when I will fulfill the promise I made” - Jeremiah 33:14

The wonderful thing about the prophetic writings of inspired Scripture is that only God knows the true scope of the words His Spirit moved His prophet to say.

When Jeremiah said these words, he was speaking to a city under siege, the threat of the Babylonians breathing down Jerusalem’s neck. Although some of his audience may have hoped that these words would be fulfilled before the city was destroyed, Jeremiah knew that the prophesy’s fulfillment referred to something a bit more distant. The promised shoot from the royal house of David would not arise for another 500 years and those five centuries would be filled with destruction, exile, and being conquered and subjected to several empires. But the day did come and God’s promise was fulfilled, when the Lord, our justice, came to Judah to do what is right and just in the land. This royal Savior just came a little differently than expected and was born in the humblest conditions. Hurray Christmas. The End. Prophecy accomplished.

And yet, Jeremiah’s prophetic words remain just as prophetically important to us as they were to those people in Jerusalem, if not more so. The difference is: While they awaited the promised coming of a mysterious messiah, someone they knew just enough about in order to recognize Him when He came, we, on the other hand, await the promised return of the Christ we already know. Both involve a patient and eager waiting for the unknown time of arrival of someone great, but the Christian knows that Someone and can rightfully call Him “Brother” in addition to “Lord,” “Messiah,” “Savior,” and “King,” because, through Him, we have been made sons and daughters of His Father. Our Redemption has already come and won salvation for us through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, but this mission’s completion is, to quote the Italians, gia ma non ancora, (“already, but still not yet”). This work is still unfinished in that our eternity (“our” meaning you, me, and everyone who hasn’t yet died and stood before the Judgment Throne) is as yet undetermined.

Advent is the Church’s yearly call to renewed vigilance, echoing Jesus’s warning: Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy […] and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. It is a call to take stock of my conduct: Am I blameless in holiness before my God or only so-so? Do I cooperate with God’s constant invitation so that He can make me increase and abound in love for one another and for all? Or am I sick and distracted by “carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life?” Advent is an all-too-helpful reminder to be vigilant so that, when the day comes when God’s promise is fulfilled and other people are dying of fright, we can stand tall and raise our heads because the Redemption at hand happens to be an old friend.

Fr. James