God’s power doesn’t look like we think it should
Correct your assumptions, be ready for moments designed just for you.
There is not one source for our answer. There are many, and they will all help to point us in the right direction. The gift of faith from the Father in our hearts reminds us to trust God. The Eucharist on our tongue should align us to a life of sacrifice and service. And the indwelling Spirit should whisper which way we should go.
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Jeremiah 11:18-20
John 7:14-33
What kind of God do we think is in charge? God’s power doesn’t look like we think it should. Sometimes we hide, thinking he won’t find us. At other times, we’re curious and look for him in unlikely places.
How does God navigate our world? It’s not with a power we’re used to.
Case in point. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He spent some time as a refugee in Egypt but ultimately grew up in Nazareth, a town in Galilee.
“Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph" (John 1:45), Phillip said to Nathaniel when urging his friend to come and meet this new prophet.
In the next verse, Nathaniel responds, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Nazarenes were castigated as “low birth” beings, a people of little significance.
Galilee is a section of Northern Israel, where Nazareth is located. In our gospel for Saturday, two years after Philip’s conversation with Nathaniel, some folks in the Temple were discussing Jesus’s nationality. Was he the Christ?
The fact that Jesus’ city of birth was not apparent to the disciples was a source of much confusion.
But others said, "The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he? Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David's family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?"
Jesus knew where he was born, and he was undoubtedly familiar with Micah, a prophet from the 8th Century B.C., who prophesied that the Messiah would come from David’s hometown, Bethlehem. Why didn’t Jesus correct Philip back in the beginning? Why didn’t he allow for the mistaken condemnation to be set right?
Consider Jesus and his penchant for secrecy. He did show up at the Jewish feast of Tabernacles, as explained in the verses before today’s Gospel. For religious reasons, he needed to fulfill the Jewish ordinance of this feast. He attended in secret, though, knowing the Jewish leaders wanted to kill him. He didn’t tell his disciples he was going to the Feast to keep his presence there secret as long as possible.
Misunderstandings about Jesus’s roots as a Nazarene from Galilee follow a similar, though much longer-held, secrecy. Confusion about his identity is an essential element of his mission and ministry.
Why didn’t he clarify his ancestry? Jesus operated, as we should, from promptings and leadings from the Holy Spirit. He acted according to the Father’s plan, not to protect himself or to overshare with his friends.
A huge unspoken part of Jesus’ life is his tied-at-the-hip relationship to his Father and the Holy Spirit. Intertwined with them, everything Jesus does has ramifications. This is the roadmap of God’s power for us to see, and where our GPS coordinates should be aligned.
‘What will you have me do, Jesus?” we should constantly ask.
There is not one source for our answer. There are many, and they will all help point us in the right direction. The gift of faith from the Father in our hearts reminds us to trust God. The Eucharist on our tongue should align us to a life of sacrifice and service. And the indwelling Spirit should whisper which way we should go.
Our God does not reveal his power like a Marvel character, some military genius, a monastic asectic, or a clever politician. God orchestrates the universe and asks us to cooperate in the symphony he directs for all creation to see, hear, taste, and touch.
He gives us everything from clues and signs to outright commands.
We can only cooperate, though, by being connected to the persons of the Trinity in an active relationship. Otherwise, we are of little use to God. Little, but still of use. How much better to be more than pawns on a chessboard. A practiced, exercised, and active relationship with God will include our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ. The people of God are proof that we’re engaging correctly with God. They are not a distraction from some heady, intellectual work we deem more important. They are essential partners in God’s orchestration.
Even as we sweat the details, we don’t have to worry about what will happen next because God’s three persons operate on a transcendent plane. The angels and saints are plugged in, too. Our fellowship is large, tied together with a broadband network that is much more powerful than anything this world can come up with.
When God is quiet, get some rest. What he doesn’t yet tell us is a secret worth waiting for. And then, be ready for the moments he designed just for you.