Reflection – Dr Nathan Leber

Rejoice! Look, your God is coming!

Today is Gaudete Sunday, so Rejoice! The Reading put us in an interesting place– revelling in the present and joyful at the future, and this seems to be a feature of the Kingdom. At Jesus’ birth, the divine became incarnate, and at that moment, God became completely knowable and inescapable. However, with this also came a problem – how would humans handle one who was wholly them and wholly other and divine? How do we ever handle something which is different or challenging to our ideals? “Happy is the one who does not lose faith in me”. Even John the Baptist, the prophet who had prepared the way, who had recognised who Jesus was at the River Jordan, in a moment of great stress and hardship in prison, had doubts. Jesus puts forth his fulfilling of the prophesy of Isaiah, our First Reading (as well as Isaiah 61). It is comforting to know that John would immediately have recognised the passage, including the line, “Courage! Do not be afraid! Look, your God is coming”. He would have known the answer to his question. Jesus’ answer points to the signs of the Kingdom. He tells John’s followers to witness in the present, yet to see the future He is ushering forth. He places into the now what will be, just as John had preached of preparation now for the saviour who was coming. Salvation is at hand, it is very real and present, yet it will only reach fulfilment in the future. Just like the farmer who not only waits patiently, but who watches and cares in anticipation for the great harvest, so too must we not only wait but be vigilant and do what we can to bring about abundance in the harvest of our lives. The waiting in eager anticipation is what makes the joy of Christ reborn so much more beautiful and special – the feast after the fasting! The present is the most important moment – otherwise we get too stuck in the past or future, worrying about things that have happened or might happen. We forget that we only have now to live out our Christian lives with compassion and love for all. We can’t do anything about what has passed, and we don’t need to worry about the future – it is safe – the crooked has been made straight. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is, who was, and who is to come (Rev. 1:8). Jesus does not just give the simple answer but wants us to experience and witness His hand in our lives and our world, to bring the majesty of the Kingdom alive today. A call for all of us to consider how we demonstrate our faith in the world – is it only words spoken in the safety of others of like mind or is it transformative in the lives of those around you today? If you do God’s work today, the harvest will come – be patient, get excited and rejoice!

Dr Nathan Leber