ADVENT
By Susan Garsoe
“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”
- The Dalai Lama
“Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in that action.”
- Mother Teresa
“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.”
- Abraham Lincoln
These three quotes live above my desk, and I move them to different places so that they do not become an unnoticed part of the landscape. I aspire to live this way, but I need to be reminded many times a day. Jesus understood our need to be reminded, particularly so when Peter asked about forgiveness.
“Then came Peter to him, and said, ‘Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?’ Jesus said unto him, ‘I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but Until seventy times seven.’” (Matthew 18: 21 – 22.)
This is the King James version which differs from others. Most translations say “seventy-seven times,” but the King James says “seventy times seven.” Jesus knew that Peter thought he was being exceptionally generous, to say that he would forgive seven times. The law required someone to forgive three times, and seven was a big step out. But seventy times seven was regarded as limitless. I like the larger number, not just for its poetry, but also because it reminds me of the wideness of God’s mercy, and a reminder of how we are to live.
How are we to live? What does God ask of us? These are perfect questions to ask in this season of Advent. It is the beginning of our church year, and a time of preparation and reflection. As I see it, we are preparing to live radically, as Jesus lived. To be kind, to love, and to be merciful.
One fall when I was teaching, a mother came to me. She was very angry and began a litany of the many injustices I had visited on her child. It took everything I had to listen all the way through. My mind was filled with a list of everything I had done that was good, a list of how she was wrong. As she was sitting there, I realized that I would get nowhere with her if I did that. I had to move out of my own way; to be the hands of God and to live what I believed. If I tried to win, if I tried to look good, I would continue the pain and suffering for us both. When she finished, I asked her, “How can I make it right?” The angry energy drained out of her, and she told me what she wanted. I was able to say, “I can do that.” She never really came to like me, but I was her child’s teacher, and I owed her my kindness and mercy.
We are charged to reflect God’s limitless love and mercy back to the world. It’s hard to imagine that no matter what happens or how we are being treated, that we could be able to stand in love and mercy in the presence of unkindness and darkness. But that is just the message that Jesus brought to us, and we do it with God’s help. In Advent, we prepare ourselves to welcome Jesus because he came to change us, to change the world, through the radical message that runs counter to human thought, counter to human understanding. God’s message cannot be heard or seen without us. We are the ones to bring it to life. After Jesus blessed the loaves and fishes, “he gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.” (Luke 9:16.) Three of the gospels record that the disciples were asked to give the food to the crowd. “You do it.” Jesus blesses us, and then asks us to go out to do the expansive work of kindness, love, and mercy.
