Thought for Today
Exodus 3:2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.
1 Kings 19:12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
Matthew 1:20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 17:5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!"
Two days ago, I mentioned that our lectionary reading for Sunday will be the Magnificat, Mary’s hymn of praise to God in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel. It is a beautiful, poetic hymn of praise to God. As I thought about it this morning, I was reminded of what I was taught in seminary about revelation, “An act of self-disclosure and self-communication.” (Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, pg. 239) The particular focus in my seminary class was on what theologians refer to as general revelation and special revelation. Respectively, “God’s self-disclosure and self-communication in the universe and created world,” and “God’s particular self-revelation at specific times and places and in particular people . . .” (ibid, pg. 240)
Certainly much if not all of the Bible would fall under the rubric of special revelation. God revealed to Moses in a burning bush. God revealed in “a sound of sheer silence.” God revealed to Joseph in a voice in a dream. God revealed to the crowd of witnesses to Jesus’ baptism through an overshadowing cloud and a voice declaring Jesus as God’s beloved Son.
I often reflect to myself (and anyone who will listen) about “God’s self-disclosure and self-communication in the universe and created world,” in things like the regularity and repeatability, the consistency of things like science and mathematics. Maybe it is only revelation to an engineer, but I find God revealed in the fact that every time I add 2 + 2, I get the same answer, 4! Every time! I find God revealed in the fact that every time anyone combines an acid and a base, the result is a salt plus water.
I believe the entire idea of Advent and the scriptures we read during Advent are an even different, more specific type of revelation. “God’s self-disclosure and self-communication in” the birth of God’s Son. For me, Advent represents a combination of general revelation and special revelation. There is a focus in all of the stories we read, especially in Luke, about how incredibly ordinary the characters and events of Jesus’ birth were. Joseph and Mary were regular, everyday folks, like most of us. Joseph was a blue-collar worker, a carpenter. Mary was a stay-at-home mom. Neither was rich or famous. Jesus was not born in a palace. Jesus was even raised in an ordinary, regular home environment. The journey to Bethlehem was not in response to a special invitation to some commemorative celebration. That arduous trek was undertaken because of governmental intrusion into their ordinary lives. Intrusion that was ultimately related to taxation. “God’s self-disclosure and self-communication in the” ordinary lives of ordinary people. Yet, every aspect of the entire event was a demonstration of the immutability, the faithfulness of our Creator God.
There is definitely an element of ‘social inversion’ in Mary’s Magnificat. The idea that such a momentous event involved such ordinary children of God. Mary says God “1:48 has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.” She notes, “51 he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”
All of this as part of “God’s self-disclosure and self-communication in the” birth of God’s Son, in the fulfillment of God’s promises to God’s people. General revelation? Yes! Special revelation? Yes! Specific revelation? Yes to all. Jesus noted, “John 10:30 The Father and I are one." God is revealed in God’s Son. During Advent . . . and every day throughout the year.
Stay safe, “come to the Father through Jesus the Son,” trust God,
Pastor Ray