Overview:

Monday of the Third Week of Advent

A Reflection for Monday of the Third Week of Advent

Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way. (Ps 25:8-9)

Find today’s readings here.

It would be nice if all of life were like Balaam’s experience in today’s first reading, when “the spirit of God came upon him, and he gave voice to his oracle.” The spirit of God gives Balaam the confidence to proclaim that he is a man “who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows.”

We can dream. 

I do not know what the Most High knows, and I struggle to hear what God says. That’s why today’s psalm speaks to me: “Teach me your ways, O Lord.” I need teaching. The times I feel certain that I am doing God’s will are fleeting for me. I second-guess my instincts and my intentions. I stay silent when I should speak, and speak when I should stay silent. I forget to pray.

But if God is to teach me God’s holy ways, I need to be teachable, which means I need to be humble before the Lord. I need to open myself to learning God’s ways and cast aside the notion that I know better. I need to find comfort in teachings that make me uncomfortable.

Balaam follows the will of God rather than carrying out orders from the authorities. He blesses the Israelites rather than curses them, as the king of Moab commanded him to do. It seems a timely lesson for the conditions we currently live under as Americans: To what authority do we submit? 

Today’s Gospel highlights this question. In Matthew’s telling, Jesus asks the chief priests and elders, those wily adversaries of his growing ministry, to distinguish between “heavenly” and “human” authority. After some discussion, they are unable to come up with an answer that suits their purpose, which is to trip Jesus up rather than to learn from him. We must come up with our own answer to Jesus’ query when we see our neighbors abused and deprived of their human rights by those acting under government authority. How should we followers of Jesus respond? How do we uphold the heavenly authority of Jesus even as we strive to be good citizens?

If we are honest with ourselves, if we are humble before our God, we know that we are called to stand with anyone who is harmed or mistreated in our presence, even at personal cost. We just have to discern the best way to use our particular gifts to make the strongest stand we can for God’s justice and compassion. And we have to trust, like Balaam of old, that God is indeed directing us sinners in God’s ways. 

Valerie Schultz is a freelance writer, a columnist for The Bakersfield Californian and the author of Till the Moon Be No More: The Grit and Grace of Growing Older. She lives on the Oregon Coast.