IS 25: 6-10A
PS 23:1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6
MT 15:29-37
In today’s readings, mountains are mentioned a couple of
times. In both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures mountains are mentioned at
least 500 times and the use of mountain imagery is meant to signify significant
moments in the life of the Hebrew people and early Christian communities.
Mountains not only literally dotted the landscape in and around Jerusalem, but
they reminded people of the closeness of God. When one was on a mountain, they
were closer to God both literally and figuratively. For me mountains have
always been a place of beauty and a reminder of the transcendence of God. I
remember hiking up Mount Tunari in Bolivia and thinking how majestic the world seemed
from that altitude. I was simultaneously exhausted, terrified, and exhilarated.
It is true that my perspective was transformed from that experience.
I think it is by no mistake that today’s readings, the first
reading from Isaiah and the Gospel from Matthew, were chosen during this first
week of Advent. The mountain in Isaiah is describing the Kingdom where there
will be rich feasting and an end to suffering. God, in this Kingdom, will
destroy death forever and restore people to a new sense of life. In the Gospel,
Matthew describes Jesus on the mountain where he does exactly what the LORD of
Isaiah is promising…a restoration to health and a promise of new life. Jesus,
it can be argued, is not only on the mountain where the “veil that veils all peoples”
will be destroyed, but he is the mountain. This is not only a statement of the
power of God, but it is a personal and communal challenge.
Just as an experience of climbing a mountain can change our
vision of the world below, so too are we challenged this Advent to stretch our
imagination for how the world should be. The coming of the Kingdom that we hope
for during Advent is not just about Jesus and his historical birth into the
world, but also about how we are called to help birth the Kingdom in today’s
world. This Advent, perhaps we are called to the mountain- to have our perspectives
stretched, our hopes renewed, and our commitment to building a more just world affirmed.
Ben Smyth directs the Service Leadership Program in the John Cook School of Business.
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