God's Will

God’s will does not often come up in conversations. It is not a subject that many people wish to talk about and certainly is not a good way to start a conversation. The time we most often hear it is at funerals. “Well,” someone will say, “It is God’s will.” They say this to comfort those who loved the person who died. It is not comfort. Instead it is the opposite of comfort. Why would God want someone to die? Does not God desire all people to live? People say this (and other things) at funerals because they do not know God’s will and cannot see God’s presence in the company of death. A person’s death is the result of a combination of fate and a person’s actions. A mix that is too complicated to unravel. What is not complicated is that it is not God’s will. That is not to say God’s will is not complicated. Let us take the examples from today’s scripture.

First Elizabeth. She desired to have a child and was unable to. Zachariah also desired to have a child and could well have divorced Elizabeth because she did not bear him a son. Now in her old age, she is to give birth. While they rejoiced in their son raising him in their old age most certainly was difficult. Although their age might have meant that they had died before John’s arrest and beheading and did not have to suffer seeing their son arrested and executed. 

That brings us to Mary who also did God’s will. While the birth of her first born son was full of joy, as all births are, it was also difficult. Can you imagine the conversations she had with Joseph before his dream, the travel to another town, the cramped condition of her “maternity ward,” the infant’s first bed, and the strange unkempt visitors? Nothing was easy about that pregnancy and birth. (Was her visit with Elizabeth to keep her from the townspeople’s talk?) The difficulty did not stop there. She worried about her son. At one point she tried to convince him to give up his ministry and return to Nazareth. She even thought that he was crazy (see Mark 3:19b-21,31-35). Instead, he called those around him his mother, brother and sister. She also had the pain of watching her son die a lingering, painful, humiliating death. A death that was the result of Jesus following God’s will.

Just like Zachariah, Elizabeth, John, Mary, and Jesus, God has called you to participate in God’s will. For some God’s will is easy to discern, and for some an easy path. For most of us it will be difficult to discern and a struggle to fulfill. The only thing that is certain is that God will provide you with everything that you need to do God’s will. The very comfort in a sure and certain hope of the salvation purchased for you by the suffering and death of God’s own son, Jesus. While everyone around you is rushing to and fro trying to get those last-minute gifts, show them the reason why we give gifts (to remind us of the gift of Jesus) and gather with family and friends (to share the love of God who came to us as a child). It is only because of God’s gift of Jesus that we are able to celebrate in love. Embrace God’s love, look to Jesus as your example, and strive to do God’s will this Christmas and always.