No God, No Identity!
Advent is the period when we prepare for the coming of Christ as a child at Christmas. It is also the time in which we remember that Christ did come, once upon a time, as a child born in Bethlehem, around 2000 years ago. These two dimensions of preparation and remembrance will be incomplete if we failed to realize that Jesus will also come back to us as judge either at the moment of our death or at the end of time, if we happened to be alive during his second coming.
The attitude of preparation rather than waiting is what is expected of Christians. When we wait for somebody’s arrival at our home, the likelihood is to be passive: sit and do nothing. But when we prepare for somebody’s arrival to our home, we get things ready with which to welcome him/her: we consider the person as a friend and worthy guest.
Today, the first Sunday of Advent, our liturgy presents us with how to prepare actively for the coming of Christ at Christmas. Obviously, Christmas is the remembrance day of the coming of Christ, which took place centuries ago, but like every remembrance, we recall the actions of God in the world and in our lives.
The prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 63:16-17; 64:1, 3-8), in our first reading, puts us in the mood of remembrance of what God did in the lives of His people Israel. In other words, God is presented as a God who works wonders in the lives of those who believe in Him. For anyone who believes in God, there are always tells of little miracles here and there to be celebrated: miracles of successful marriages, examinations, jobs, health, business, family, friends, and even the ability to forgive and love our enemies!
When we remember those past activities of God in our lives, we are moved to give thanks to God for his love and care. When we recall our past with God, we are filled with God’s faithfulness, and made aware of our infidelities to His covenant of love and commandments. The memories of our journey with God through time change the meaning of redemption: redemption is not a once and for all thing, at least for us; God redeemed us, but we need to keep redeeming ourselves every single day.
“Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” How sweet to know that God gives us, each day, the opportunities to be moulded into something better! That God invites us to participate in our own creation and recreation! We cannot have an identity without God; to remember Him is to find our way back to Him, and the realization of our identity for “we are the work of [His] hand.”
“God is faithful; by Him [we] were called into communion with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” How true the words of Paul! If Christ never took flesh at Christmas, out true identity as sons and daughters of God would have been hidden from us. We anticipate the celebration of our Christian and human identity in the incarnation of Christ, “the Word made flesh (John 1:14),” when we prepare for Christmas. Our “communion” with Christ at his birth is the revelation of our identity as children of God.
Since we are in communion with Christ who had the mission of redeeming humanity, we too, each one of us, has got a mission, as other christs: the mission of transforming the earth through our active engagements in our works, friendships, worship and services of one another. These are the tasks God has entrusted to each one of us, while we await God’s judgement day: “Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come” (Mark 13:33).