Monday, September 6, 2004
Miracle of the Archangel Michael at Colossae
1st at Vespers, Nativity of Theotokos: Genesis 28:10-17 Epistle: Galatians 2:11-16
Gospel: St. Mark 5:24-34
Genesis 28: 10-17 LXX, especially vs. 15: "And behold I am with thee to
preserve thee continually in all the way wherein thou shalt go; and I will bring thee back to this
land; for I will not desert thee until I have done all that I have said to thee." Where is that land
in which the living God visits us in our extremities, assures us that He will never desert us and
will preserve us in all our ways, and reveals that it is He Himself Who will bring us home after
He has done everything for us? Truly, we find that land neither in the comfort of settled places
we have called home - not in any Beersheba of our past, and, likewise, in no far-away land
toward which we journey - not in any future Haran in which we might seek earthly rest. The
promised land lies along the way, in a place where sleep is fitful and where there is only a stone
for a pillow. It is there that God meets us in Person, reveals the ladder that connects heaven and
earth, and dismisses our fear with a promise of His continual presence and our preservation.
This Feast Day in celebration of the Nativity of Mary, the Birth-giver of God, is an occasion for
us to consider how, in the mystery of God, His relief and promises often come wrapped in other
promises - promises within promises. The birth of the Pure One fulfilled a promise to Joachim
and Anne, relieving them from the reproach of barrenness. What is more, within that fulfilled
promise, in the person of infant maiden Mary, came a greater promise - that in time would come
the birth of God as man, a promise for the whole universe. Enfolded in the disgrace of
barrenness removed, came the foreshadowing of the end to the curse of Adam and Eve - that dire
wound upon all mankind. Life was given twice: a child was born beyond expectation, fulfilling
the promise of God to a righteous old couple, and, even more, in the birth of that infant girl was
the coming of the Birth-giver of Life, restoring eternal hope to our whole benighted race. Yes,
there is a Promised Land that is worth the journey, worth the uncomfortable sleep, even though it
is a fearful place. It is "none other than the house of God, and...the gate of heaven" (vs. 17) when
the Lord reveals it to us and fulfills His promise.
Many years before Jacob's journey to Haran, when Jacob's father first settled in Beersheba, a
place-name which the Septuagint translates as "the well of the oath" (vs. 10), God had appeared
to the older man there and promised Isaac His presence and blessing (Gen. 26:24). Hence, at that
earlier time, Isaac had dug a well and made an oath of peace with his long-standing enemy,
Abimelech (Gen. 26:25-33). Notice here a pattern we should expect of God: the Lord comes
when His beloved ones are dislocated and searching for a better life, often when they have
virtually lost all hope of any solution to the worldly troubles they are facing. Often, the very land
where God's People have struggled and found no resting place becomes the precise place where
God makes and keeps His promises. Isaac's experience, his son Jacob's experience, and the
experience of Joachim and Anne, are further examples and types of the Promised Land toward
which the People of God are journeying in this present existence.
Let us not despair if life is difficult, if we cannot sleep, if there is no end in sight, if there is no
lasting comfort. Rather, let us heed the words of St. Basil the Great: "To him who believes, a
promise is given by God: 'I will give you hidden treasures, unseen ones' (Isa. 45:3). When we
have been deemed worthy of knowledge face to face, we shall see also the depths in the
storehouses of God." Truly, is not this life a journey? Let us not fear to lay our heads on the
stones along the way to take a momentary rest, for God may bless us here with a Promised Land.
Be renewed, O Adam, and be magnified, O Eve, and ye Prophets exchange glad tidings; for there
is universal joy in the world for angels and men, for God is faithful to His promises.