Zech 8:1-8 / Lk 9:46-50
In Old Testament times, the Israelites had a long line of men they called prophets, but whose role had nothing to do with predicting the future. They were spokesmen for God, who spoke with God’s authority. But all too often the Israelites didn’t like or were afraid to trust what they said. Such was the case in the days of the prophet Zechariah.
The Israelites had been at the bottom of the heap for a long time, so long indeed that most of them had given up hope of being anywhere else. In God’s name, Zechariah challenged them to reclaim their hopes and to let God lift them up and to do his work in them. Some of them listened and hoped and found a new life, and many of them did not.
Eventually, the same kind of choice confronts every one of us: In the face of the full spectrum of our sins, limits, and frailties, can we find reason to hope and to keep striving, especially after we pass the mid-point in our lives? Can we still imagine the possibility of growing better and more whole? Can we listen with confidence and trust to the Holy Spirit who dwells within us and who calls us to step forward and let go of what is not life-giving?
All of us CAN, but not all of us WILL.
So which do you choose to be? The one who trusts the Spirit and lives? Or the one who hides his face and dies? The choice really is yours! Make it carefully.
