The Kind of God He Is
Advent is for finding out
This week I listened to a song I’ve heard before, “God You Are,” by Irish band We Are Messengers and one of the lyrics caught my attention in a new way.
“You’re turning ashes into art
‘Cause that’s just the kind of God You are”
There are a couple of reasons why that lyric resonated on that day. One, as we look to the re-opening of the Notre Dame Cathedral this week, I see the beautiful picture of rising from ashes as the phoenix did in Greek mythology and as expressed in Isaiah 61:3.1 If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know that the metaphor of the fire at Notre Dame, the literal digging in ashes, and the many hands and disciplines doing the rebuilding as a picture of what I truly hope for the Catholic Church had been central and recurring in the 200 episodes of the Raised Catholic podcast. That they’re ready to open the doors after almost five years on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is something that has my spirit sitting up and taking notice. I want so much for our Church to embody this metaphor and become a beautiful and safe place for all of God’s people.
But the second reason that lyric stuck with me is because it got me wondering: do I still believe this? Do I believe that God gives a crown of beauty in trade for our ashes? The oil of joy for our mourning? In a world with so much evident suffering, do I believe that He makes our spirit of despair into a garment of praise?
Yes, and…I wish the process were less gauzy, more time-specific. I want to see the Hand of God doing these things in real time, like soon. There are a few deeply held, long promised prayers of mine that I’d love to see answered in a way that I could identify and proclaim, “YES, that is just the kind of God You Are!” And I can, in some areas, thanks be to God. But I look around at a world where it sure seems like evil is winning (and is downright giddy about it) and I find my weary soul just wants to rejoice, to see His justice, His victory, complete. To see light finally conquer the darkness.
And this is, of course, an Advent kind of feeling, after all.
In Advent, we hope for what we cannot yet see, the miracle of Emmanuel, of God-with-us. And in the journey of Advent, just as generations before us have done, we wonder at the kind of God He really is, and we try to answer this question for ourselves once again, in the dark.
More of We Are Messengers’ lyrics point to the God I have known Him to be:
One who calls us by our name
One who goes after us, who steps into the dark to be with us
One who sees eternity in me and you
One whose death defying love never quits on us
One who gives us freedom from sin and tells us we can start again
One who calls us daughters and sons
One who holds us in His hands
This is the God I want to draw close to this Advent. The One who upends order, who comes to comfort His people, who exalts every valley, who feeds His flock like a shepherd, who goes after the lost2. The One who makes a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert wasteland, and who does these miraculous things alongside us, as one of us. Emmanuel – God with us, now.
I’m holding my hope in the midst of a world and Church that are spinning in ways that can be so unsettling these days, that this is truly the kind of God He is, and that I may see it fully.
And I’m wondering, friend, how about you?
Raised Catholic rewind:
Notre Dame: The Raised Catholic Story - Raised Catholic #198 transcript and link to episode
Who God Actually Is - Raised Catholic #119 transcript and link to episode
What I’m watching/listening to/recommending this week:
Lyric Video: God You Are, by We Are Messengers
Playlist: Raised Catholic Recommends - uplifting and faith music from lots of genres, my gift to you!
Film preview: Adventus: Joining a Hope That Has Come
IG account: Rebuilding Notre Dame Cathedral
Resource: Free Advent seasonal devotionals from Kate Bowler
Scripture:
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” 1John 1:5
Prayer:
God of Love who comes to us, help us to receive you and your transformational, upside-down kingdom. Help us to hold the light of hope in our hearts in a dark time, and let us meet you as a friend where we are, as we are, this week. Jesus, all our hope is in you. In Your name and wrapped in the mantle of your mother, Mary, we pray, amen.
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.