Crossings (An Advent Reflection)

Forty-nine years before the birth of Jesus Christ, Gaius Julius Cesar was poised at the edge of the Rubicon River with a legion of soldiers, unsure of his decision to cross. To the break law of imperium, cross the Rubicon, and stage a revolt against Pompey would be a bold and dangerous undertaking.  Just before his horse put foot into the river, he uttered a familiar (to us) phrase, “The die is cast.” As he crossed the river, he said to his men, “We are beyond the point of no return.” Back in Rome, the emperor had no idea what was unfolding miles to the north.  Change was coming. 

Forty-nine years later, Julius Caesar’s nephew, Augustus Caesar, would occupy that same palace and order a census of the Roman world in order to collect more money from the people. Unbeknownst to him, a young insignificant Jewish girl named Mary, and her husband-to-be, left their humble home and traveled to tiny Bethlehem. The contrast is both ironic and stark: a powerful king in his palace; a young mother with no place to birth her child. Yet, Caesar’s lack of awareness didn’t change the fact that God was poised at the edge of creation, ready to make a crossing of His own.    Change was coming.   

God’s son would not be born in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem amidst the priests. He would not come through the Synagogue, the place where the most learned men of Israel gathered to discern the will of God.  No one could have guessed, or imagined, that God’s Rubicon was a manger—a place where animals took shelter in the night.   

Sometimes, we get lulled into believing that we know how God works. We confront a challenge in our life or the life of a loved one and we pray a plan.  You know what I mean?  We know what needs to happen. We know how we want God to appear. We know how we want God to work. So we pray a plan.  It always comes as a shock to us when God shows up in unexpected ways and unexpected places. We’re surprised to learn that God shows up in a remote Honduran village, in a prison cell, in a hospital room—or in a manger, in the middle of the night, entrusted to a young betrothed couple.  

Faith is openness to the possibility that God is breaking into our lives in unexpected, unpredictable, unforeseen and unplanned ways.  

Perhaps, God stands at the boundary of your life just waiting for a moment to make a crossing of His own. This Advent, will you be open to the possibility that God may appear in your heart, life or home in ways that you never imagined?  And, that there may be deep within you a prompting to cross economic, cultural and geographic boundaries in service to others.  International service has been life-changing for so many people. Through this kind of service, countless people have discovered rich relationships, a deeper faith, a meaningful impact and places in their heart they scarcely knew existed.

If you would like to know more, visit HOI at www.hoi.org. Feel free to call or write.

David Lee Davis is the Director of Development for Honduras Outreach International. 

Photo courtesy J. Scott Crist