The Fire of God’s Word (Saturday, Advent 2)

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Introduction

Fire purifies through burning. The word of God is fiery. For the word of God to burn away anything in us that is not of God, we must be exposed to it. 


Reflection

In the first reading (cf. Sirach 48:1-4.9-11b), Elijah is likened to fire. Almost everything about him was fiery: for three times, he called down FIRE from heaven; his words were FIERY; he brought down the FIRE of famine and drought upon the people; at the end of his life on earth, he was taken up by a whirlwind of FIRE in a chariot with horses of fire. Just like the fictional spider-man, Elijah was a fire-man. Everything about Elijah was fire because he possessed the Word of God. In Jeremiah 23:29, God told prophet Jeremiah that His Word is like FIRE and like hammer that breaks a rock in pieces. During the time of Elijah, there was a lot of moral rottenness in Israel that nothing but fire could bring about the needed purification. And that was the mission of Elijah and all the prophets. Israelites were so steeped in darkness that they needed nothing but the fire and light of God’s word which would be preached by Elijah. 

In Luke 12:49, Jesus said that he has come to cast fire on earth and wished that it were already kindled. Elijah, Jesus and all true prophets of God do not to dance to our tunes, but to confront us with the fire of truth or God’s word which must burn in order to purify and make us whole. We must pray with the Psalmist in these words: “O God, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved” (Psa. 80:3). Yes, we will be dazzled by the radiance of God’s face, but the end-point is that the scales of evil and falsehood in us will be melted by the fiery encounter with God and His word. After a mountain-encounter with God, Moses’ face and clothing became dazzling white that the people couldn’t even look at his face (cf. Exo. 34:29). An encounter with God’s word must bring about a dazzling experience. When God’s truth has not shone to the point of dazzling and burning down the scales of falsehood and evil in us, then we have not looked steadily at it. 

Elijah, the fire-man, continues to come to us in our own time and space, communicating the fire of God’s word. May we not be like the disciples who were thinking that Elijah was yet come (cf. Matt. 17:10-13). In the prophets of our time, in all those who eloquently and sincerely speak the true and unadulterated word of God, Elijah and Jesus have come and will continue to come to us. If we must be free of evil and sin, we must be open to and embrace the word of God which they preach to us. 



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