Children of The Promise

22/12/2020

A Reflection on the First Reading for December 27th, 2020:
The Feast of the Holy Family

Genesis
15.1-6; 17.3b-5, 15-16; 21.1-7
(Alternate readings can be found in the print edition of Living with Christ.)

The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.”

The Lord brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.”

God said to Abraham, “As for Sarah your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

For the feast of the Holy Family, this Scripture passage reminds us of the long promise of the Lord, that the descendants of Abraham are more numerous than the stars. Abraham and Sarah believed the Lord, and the Lord answered their hearts’ deepest desire, to be parents, in unexpected ways. First, the Lord gave them Isaac. In that desire to be parents was nested a desire to have a legacy beyond what they would live to see. A guarantee that their lives would have some sort of impact.

God also answered their desire for legacy by choosing them as patriarch and matriarch of many generations. When Moses heard the voice of God in the burning bush, God declared Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the God of generations of Abraham and Sarah’s children. God was faithful to His chosen people. He chose Abraham and Sarah, and continued to choose their children, generation after generation until the end of time.

The Holy Family are themselves children of Abraham and Sarah. Mary and Joseph are each their descendants, and their mirror. Their child is an expression of God’s incredible faithfulness to His chosen people. He became flesh among the children of Abraham and Sarah. He chose as His parents the children of Abraham and Sarah. His message of salvation was spoken first to the children of Abraham and Sarah.

Our God is a promise keeper.

Our God is a father who does not forget His children.

I sometimes imagine the heart of Sarah and Abraham, how little and forgotten they must have felt. Their childlessness feeling like a judgement from God on them. But it wasn’t. God used their littleness, their brokenness, and offered them a miracle — a child. A child in their old age, when all around them could only account it as a miracle and blessing. A sign of life in a house that had been quiet far too long. Their long faithfulness to God, accounted as righteousness and rewarded with the one thing that could transform their world.

How blessed are we to be grafted onto the same vine. The Holy Family are the family through whom The Promise extends to the entire world. God’s promise, first contained to the chosen children of Abraham and Sarah, is offered to all nations. Abraham and Sarah and their children have known pain. Abraham and Sarah, spending countless years praying, begging, hoping for a child with no answer. Joseph, the son of Jacob, rejected by his brothers, sold, imprisoned. The Hebrew people in bondage in Israel. Mary, watching her son crucified. But Abraham and Sarah also knew great joy — the birth of Isaac; the exodus from Egypt; the resurrection.

We are children of that same promise. That promise isn’t a guarantee against pain and suffering, but it is a guarantee of joy and salvation. Today is a season of joy, nestled in the midst of a time of great suffering. But we live in the hope of that promise made to Abraham and Sarah, repeated generation after generation. We live in the hope of Christ, the Redeemer who makes all things new.

Stephanie Potter

3 Comments

Alana

22/12/2020 09:11:35 am

Oh Stephanie. I feel like you saw right inside of me with this reflection. You express so well so much of what I feel. I’m trying to grow in greater appreciation for Advent and all the advents (waiting) in my own life. I heard once someone say - God is never late. And that brings me great comfort. And also I need to keep reminding myself that God is up to something good in the waiting...the waiting is for a purpose - to reveal His glory even more! Just like when Jesus waited before going to Lazarus - Lazarus died - but it allowed Jesus to raise Him from the dead - revealing God’s glory even more than a healing would have. Lord - help me to be patient in the waiting, remembering that You are always up to something good that will reveal Your glory even more magnificently - help me to do Your will in the waiting and that even though I may not always understand Your ways - I trust You - and therefore know that Your plan is always better than mine! Amen! 😊🙏🏻💕xo

Stephanie Potter

22/12/2020 06:31:58 pm

This has been such an anxious season for all of us. As a young girl, I remember thinking how this passage included me (I’m one of many stars), and how important that perspective was for my suffering and the waiting for salvation. God is never late. I like that.

Kathy

26/12/2020 12:00:58 pm

Thank you Stephanie. "Our God is a promise keeper. Our God is a father who does not forget His children." I've really been struggling with this lately, feeling like in my family of origin, there was love and promises kept for everyone but me. In my heart, I know that God is Good, but sometimes it can be hard while we're waiting for those decades old promises to be fulfilled.