Advent 2023 #3—Impossible Joy

Thus says Yahweh Sabaoth, “If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in my sight? Behold, I am going to save my people … and they shall be my people, and I will be their deity in faithfulness and righteousness.” Zechariah 8:6–8

At the zenith of Roman power, in the midst of the Pax Romana, there was “peace on earth” … sort of. But not the kind of peace God’s people were seeking. Not the kind of peace in which God’s people would flourish, in which righteousness and justice would prevail worldwide, or in which God would “display the surpassing riches of his grace in useful kindness.” With the Romans in power, none of this seemed possible. Nor does it seem possible today in the midst of the fractured and fractious milieu of our age. Fortunately, as Yahweh told Jeremiah, “I am the God of all flesh; nothing is too difficult for me.” He’d proved this to Abraham and Sarah when he promised them a son in their old age. And he reiterated his ability to overcome obstacles when Gabriel concluded the annunciation to Mary with these words: “Nothing is impossible with God.” So now, as we begin a new year, we affirm with Job, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

When obstacles appear to thwart your grace,
We do not use the word “Impossible.”
For nothing in creation can disgrace
You, Lord, or make your plans unfeasible.
Your promises are not dismissible
Though human eyes see mountains made of pain
And sinful failures make implausible
The hope and joy you offer to sustain.
Immutable and righteous, you must strain
To satisfy your wholly just demands;
So love moves might and wisdom to attain
For us the terms your covenant commands.
“Impossibly” your Son, O God, descends
And Advent joy to all the world extends.