Advent 1: the people of God

Sunday 3 December 2006

There are many ways that human beings try to understand God. To some, God is absolute and external; to others, close and within; to some, above all things; to others, within all things. Some see God only as an idea – an invention of the corporate human psyche. If God is only an idea, it is the best idea that humankind has ever had; the idea of a source of love, justice and peace; an aspiration higher than the sum of all our best hopes, yet within our grasp.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. The best dreams and aspirations of humanity are, I believe, born of God – and the aspirations of God are wrought in the best actions of humankind.

On this day, the first Sunday of Advent, the Church reminds its people that we are the people of God – called to call the world to Salvation. However, it is not those who call “Lord, Lord” who are saved, but those who do the will of God. To know this will, it is vital to see God in the faces of our neighbours, in the actions of the just and true, in the love of the merciful and the dignity of the humble.

And so we wait. We wait for the coming of the Christ, preparing ourselves to be the body of Christ in this world – a living sacrifice fit for the service of all humankind.

detail: the creation of Adam, Michaelangelo