Promises! How reassuring! How exciting! How intriguing! A promise between a man and a woman at a church altar can be heart melting, tears producing, joy inspiring. The promise of a certain birthday gift or Christmas gift or graduation gift can be powerfully motivating. The promise to the Israelites of an entire Land of Promise, especially while they were, for centuries, held captive in a foreign land, was hope itself. Even though they had to wait for it, the promise kept them pining forward into the reality.
We often refer to Canaan in Biblical terms: a land flowing with milk and honey. The sense of abundance in these descriptors is clear. It must have made the Israelites ache for the day they’d finally be home in that special place reserved for them. And, as with all things hoped for, after the receiving comes the reality. A couple hopes for a baby. After the delivery come years of training and guiding and correcting. A teenager hopes for his/her first car. Wow! Then comes the cost of keeping it in running shape. A family hopes for a new house. But then come the maintenance, insurance, the repairs, etc. Israel hoped for their Land of Promise. Then came the planting, weeding, harvesting, caring for the bees, building homes, and on and on.
But does the reality diminish the value of the gift? Are we to be disappointed when we realize there’s effort required along with the gift? should we become cynical? Should we regret ever having asked for the gift? Or is there joy to be discovered in the caring, in the coming alongside and helping, in the work aspect itself? Does involvement bring its own sense of fulfillment?
As followers of Jesus in this topsy-turvy 21st Century, we long for the filling of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And when he comes to live within us, there is sometimes a mystique surrounding him, causing us to think he puts us on a kind of autopilot where we coast along with him on his adventures., with little or no effort on our part. But the most thrilling part is that he entrusts us with this high and holy calling – reconcilers of everyone to Jesus – using us and the gifts he’s distributed to us, to accomplish our mission of being his witnesses to the ends of the earth. Us – Jesus’ Ambassadors! Does this mean work? Hoo, boy! Does it ever! Does it include all the things Jesus faced? Yep, and more besides. Does it involve moments of pure glory? Oh yeah. Moments of sheer agony? Well sure. Is it worth the pain and betrayals and heartbreak? Scripture says there is rejoicing in heaven when even one comes into the fold, so yes, both the promise AND the journey are so worthwhile! PD
