First Friday in Advent

First Friday in Advent

Isaiah 29:17-24; Psalm 27:1-6,17-18; Matthew 9:27-31

(Note that psalm verse numbers are from the Book of Common Prayer; NRSV has different numbers)

Short and sweet - and challenging. “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”  “According to your faith it will be done to you.”

The psalmist asks, “What if I had not believed that I should see the goodness of God in the land of the living?”  Jesus’ answer:  “According to your faith it will be done to you.”  

Fortunately for me, sometimes God’s grace exceeds my faith.  God entered my life when I had no faith.  All I had was desperation.  That turned out to be enough.  Then Jesus entered my life when I had no faith in him.  It was done to me beyond my faith, thank God.

Now my faith is deeper.  Experience has piled up examples of what God can do for me and for others.  Yet at each new place, each scary decision or situation, I have to ask again: “Do I believe that you are able to do this?”  

Sometimes, I admit, I have believed, but I’ve been so afraid of change that I would not ask.  I knew that if I asked, it would be done for me, and I knew I wasn’t ready to be done for.

Then something cracks.  Theologians call it “prevenient grace,” this grace that precedes our choices and opens us to make the requests that heal us.  The two blind men in the Gospel - what made them cry out and believe?  That’s prevenient grace.  What made me get on my knees when I didn’t believe in God?  What made me walk into a church years ago and not leave when the Mass started?  What carries me today beyond what I’m certain I’m ready for?  God’s amazing prevenient grace.

Do you believe that Jesus can heal you?  Do you believe you will see the goodness of God in the land of the living?