The Faithfulness of God - Advent 2024

Summary

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Dr. Andrew Swafford guides us on a journey through Scripture and the inspiring lives of the saints to reveal God’s unwavering faithfulness, encouraging us to trust in God’s promises, helping us see how His steadfast love and loyalty are woven through history—and through our own lives.

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Reflective Study Guide Questions

“If we are faithful to God, we will never be abandoned. God is more faithful to us than we are to Him.”
St. Teresa of Avila

1. Do you believe God is faithful to His promises? Do you believe He longs for you? Why or why not?

2. Our salvation depends upon God, who always shows up for His people no matter how “worthy” we are to receive His love. However, how much we receive of Him depends on our disposition of our minds and hearts. What is standing in your way from fully receiving what He desires to give you? How can you work to remove this block from your life?

3 .What parallels between the story of Abraham and Issac, and Christ’s Passion stuck out to you the most in this talk?

4. Where have you seen God’s faithfulness in your own life?

Text: The Faithfulness of God

Hey, how’s it going? Great to be with you again. My name is Dr. Swafford. I’m coming to you from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and we’re going to talk about the faithfulness of God. But first, let’s begin in prayer.

Hail Mary

In the name of Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now at the hour of our death, amen. In the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Creation

The faithfulness of God, his faithfulness is everlasting, his steadfast love endures forever, as the psalmist says on many, many occasions. So let’s kind of break this down in a couple different ways. First, let’s start at the very beginning, the natural order. Let’s take seriously, creation. I think too often today, you know, we think in our scientific world of matter is just a bunch of molecules in motion, just atoms in motion. And, of course, that’s a certain way we can view it. And it’s been very, very successful in terms of our technology tapping into the forces of nature, et cetera. There’s nothing wrong with that. The only problematic part of that is if we say what I can study from my perspective is equal to all that is, all that exists. It’s one thing to study reality through the scientific method. It’s something to say that what fits in my method is equal to all that exists. That’s the mistake. This is the only problem part.

So just jump back into the doctrine of creation just for a minute. And people have said at a historical level, the doctrine of creation, that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth that this really de-mythologize the created order. What do I mean? Well, to believe that God is creator is to say that the Sun, the Moon, these aren’t different, you know, deities kind of competing in a fickle way in creation, rather there’s one creator who creates through wisdom. And so there’s actually a lot of literature on this that it was really the Christian philosophical worldview that actually made possible the rise of what we know as modern science.

Because if you believe in an all wise creator, well, it would make sense that nature has a certain predictability, that there are laws of nature. And if we’re made in the image lens of God, then it would make sense that though partially and imperfectly our minds could study this natural order. And as Aquinas put it, the created order stands between two minds, the infinite mind who created it, and our finite minds who can at least partially understand it.

Just like this building that I’m in, it first existed in the mind of an architect or architects, and then was later embodied in brick and mortar. And now I can look back and I can see the rationality embedded in the building, but it first existed in the mind. And so, too, creation is really the embodiment of a divine idea. And so even the scientists, whether he or she knows it or not, in and through their science is actually retracing God’s thoughts after Him because reality, nature was thought into existence.

Psalm 104

So one thing I would just say to start off is we need to kind of re-enchant our view of creation. We need to see in the rhythms of nature the created order, the rise and fall of the seasons, et cetera. We need to see something in here at the natural level, the providence of God, the faithfulness of God, not the fickleness of God, the providence of God and the faithfulness of God. And I was going to share with you Psalm 104, which is really about creation, verse 14 and 15, to kind of bring us into this kind of, again, more enchanted view of the created order. Again, we could study it as molecules and motion. There’s nothing wrong with that. But that’s not all there is to say.

The Psalm, it says, “You cause,” the Lord, “You cause the grass to grow for the livestock.” This is to say that things are created for a purpose. They have an in, they have a purpose, there’s meaning. Reality, nature is not just a blank slate, but there’s meaning built into it if we are attentive to the divine idea embodied therein. “You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man. Oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.”

Notice here, and this is part of the doctrine of creation, that God creates creation in a state of journey. It’s sort of perfectly imperfect. It’s not entirely perfected all at once. It’s sort of Envia, it’s on a journey. And part of our role as stewards of creation is to help bring the created order along. And notice here plans for man to cultivate. So there’s a rule for our cultivation that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine and oil and bread, the stuff of the sacraments.

So notice here we have the created order. Things are created for a purpose. We are here to cultivate and nourish and steward the created order, and even to bring forth the bread and the wine and the oil, the stuff out of which the Lord will sanctify us and actually communicate His spirit, His divine life to us via these visible and sacramental means. This is part of what the created order is all about. The creation is ordered to sanctification. That nature is ordered to grace. That reason is ordered to faith just as the Old Testament is ordered to the new.

The Power of the Sacraments

So God’s faithfulness in the created order. But as you see, we’re kind of moving here to the sacraments. Let’s think about this for a second. Think about the power of the sacraments. Their efficacy is not dependent upon the worthiness as the catechism puts it, catechism 1128, the worthiness of the minister or the recipient. Do you know why? It’s because it’s Jesus who performs every sacrament. It’s Jesus who baptizes. It’s Jesus who forgives sins. It’s Jesus who confects the Eucharist. It’s Jesus who anoints the sick. Jesus continues his priesthood through the ordained priest. Jesus makes his one priesthood present. This is the objective power of the sacraments that no matter how you’re feeling that day, no matter how Father Soza’s feeling that day, the Lord always shows up whenever the sacrament is performed.

The faithfulness of God that he would sort of bind himself to this. And they’re not magic as the catechism goes on to say we receive. So the grace is always objectively offered in every sacrament. It’s always objectively offered. But we receive in accordance with our faith and disposition. And the great biblical scene that the catechism uses to introduce the sacraments at the end of the first pillar as you move into the second pillar of the catechism, is an ancient fresco from the catacombs of the hemorrhaging woman touching the garment of Jesus.

Who Is Touching Me?

And as the text says in Mark and in Luke, that power came forth from Christ and she was healed. And the catechism describes the sacraments as powers that come forth from the body of Christ. And if you remember that scene, Jesus was like, “Who’s touching me?” And the apostle was like, “Look, dude, everybody’s touching you. I mean, look, the crowd is pressing upon you.” But she touched in faith. Countless people touch our Lord in the sacraments. How many of us touch in faith? We can trust the faithfulness of God that the grace of the sacraments, God always shows up in every sacrament. It’s always offered objectively because Jesus performs the sacraments, but they’re not magic car washes. We receive in accordance with our faith and his position just as the hemorrhaging woman did.

Now, if I could take you to another famous biblical passage that I think is an important one to talk about the faithfulness of God, the great scene with Abraham and Isaac, this moving, this chilling scene, this near offering of Isaac. And just think about for a minute the parallels, many of which I’m sure you’ve heard before. So Abraham’s told to take his only beloved son to Mount Moriah, right, as Jesus is the only beloved son. You may think of God, for God to love the world, he gave his only begotten son John 3:16. But also the language that the baptism of Jesus like in Matthew, it’s the same as what you find here in Genesis 22:2 and 22:12. So only beloved son, Mount Moriah. Mount Moriah happens to be the same area as Calvary.

So same area where this happens. We got a reference to a third day. Abraham tells the servants on the third day, he lifts up his eyes to see this place. They’re riding on a donkey. Sound familiar? You know, Isaac at a point says, you know, “We have this and this, but Father, where is the lamb?” Just as Jesus cries, “Abba, Father” in the Garden of Gethsemane, in Mark 14:36. Isaac, of course, carries the wood.

See, what emerges here is Isaac is not a toddler. Isaac is at least a teenager. This story is about Isaac’s faithfulness as much as it is about Abraham’s, as Jesus carries the wood of the cross. And in Jewish tradition, this passage, this section, this scene is known as the Akedah, the binding of Isaac. In 22:9, Isaac is bound, he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar.

The Lord Will Provide

Sacrifices in ancient Israel typically weren’t bound. That’s not something that happened. But Isaac is bound probably because of his willingness, this Aqeda, just as our Lord Jesus was bound to the cross. And even the name of this scene. So in 22:14, Abraham called the name of the place the Lord will provide. In Hebrew, Yahweh Jireh, literally the Lord will see, and this is in some ways thought to be the beginning of the word Jerusalem. So we have Salem where Melchizedek was king priest in Genesis 14. And then Yahweh Jireh, the Lord will see, Jireh, Salem, Jerusalem, the Lord will see, the Lord will see to. So typically translations are the Lord will provide. Literally, it’s the Lord will see. It’s like the Lord will see to it, his faithfulness will see to it. And what I want to really draw your attention to is the Lord’s response to this tremendous, awe inspiring, bone chilling moment of this near offering of Isaac, because then another parallel. Isaac isn’t sacrificed. They see a ram caught in the thicket. For the church fathers, this ram caught in the thicket reminded them of our Lord’s crown of thorns.

So beloved son, donkey carries the wood, this ram in the thicket, the third day, my father Moriah bound, this has all the earmarks of the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in response to this great episode Genesis 22:16 and 18, the Lord swears by himself, “By myself, I have sworn, declares the Lord because you have done this, have not withheld your son, your only son.” And it goes on and repeats this again “Because you have done this, because you have obeyed my voice, I will bless all the nations in and through your seed.” So this is that third promise to Abraham that all the families of the earth will be blessed in and through the seed of Abraham. Here, God swears a divine oath that he will make that come about in response to this act of faithfulness by Abraham. It’s as if the Lord is putting his own divine character, his own divine nature on the line that he will bring this universal salvation about, even if it takes him to the cross. And in truth, this divine oath here, this divine oath is really the life raft of ancient Israel because this is kind of what keeps the engine of salvation history going. And that’s the lesson Israel needs to learn. That their salvation, our salvation, your salvation, my salvation depends upon God’s faithfulness far more than my faithfulness, again, even if it takes him to the cross.

What the Lord is doing here in this bone chilling scene is pre-enacting the extent to which he’s willing to go for your salvation and for mine, placing himself under this divine oath, swearing by himself. You can’t get a greater guarantee than that. He’s putting his own divine character, divine nature on the line. And this brings us to the cross. God is faithful. God is on a rescue mission. God is in search of you and for me. And in truth God, he longs for you, he longs for me. This is something that reason would never quite come to, but this is the gospel that our Lord, holy Trinitarian God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit has sent his son, has sent the spirit in search of you, in search of me.

The Prodigal Son

And here’s the thing, I want to draw your attention to Augustine as we’ve done this a couple times, But Saint Augustine frames his whole story in light of the prodigal son. He sees himself as the prodigal son and toward the end as he’s having this great act of conversion. Because what he notices is that the prodigal son doesn’t travel geographically. Yeah, I know the text says he goes to a far away land. He’s like, what does that mean? That means to be estranged in a spirit of lust, pride, vanity. It’s a spiritual posture.

The Lord hasn’t moved, the Lord hasn’t changed. Here’s the thing, even in mortal sin, even in mortal sin, God doesn’t stop loving us, we stop loving God. What happens in mortal sin is we put a block, it’s as if the ray of divine grace, divine life is beating down into our souls, into our hearts. And we put a block that stops it, that prevents it, that cuts us off from it. That’s what mortal sin is. He doesn’t stop loving us, we stop loving him by committing an action that is incompatible with authentic love of God, love of others, love of self. And that’s why we have to be restored. Here’s Augustine though as he’s having this dramatic act of conversion. How does the prodigal son return? He says, “For to travel and more to reach journeys in is nothing else but to want to go there, to want it with all our heart.”

How do I get back to God? You just have to want it. That’s how you return. I mean, do we realize the amazing grace that we’ve been given? All I have to do is want to be with him. Want to be with him? Yeah, that’s the story. That’s the story. I mean, by nature, friends, you and I are creatures and servants. It’s by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we become sons and daughters, and this is the order of grace. The highest of the angels couldn’t earn one drop of that divine life. But that’s what’s been given to us by pure grace. How do we return? As Augustine puts it, “I just had to want to go there.” But the drama as he unfolds is, you know, part of me wanted it, part of me didn’t. I had to want it with all my heart. I had to be reintegrated. Because as he puts it, “When I turned away from the Lord, I went to pieces and I had to turn back to God to find my true self again.”

Don’t Forget the Covenant

So in countless ways, God is faithful in the natural order, in the supernatural order, in the sacraments. Great scenes like Abraham and Isaac dramatically illustrate his faithfulness. Again, what is he pre-enacting? The cross. This is how far he’s willing to go for you and for me, even if it takes him to the cross. And friends, on a more practical note, you know, when we get down, when we feel far from God, it’s so easy to forget God’s faithfulness. And I’d really challenge each one of us. It’s a strong biblical admonition throughout the scriptures to remember the covenant. Don’t forget the covenant. It’s not just like, oh, don’t forget the birthday. It’s a matter of like an active attentiveness and faithfulness. And in our down moments, we tend to forget our past encounter with God.

In our down moments, we think it’s going to always be like this forever. If we, in our down moments especially, but really always, think back to past times when we were down and we were out and it seemed like all hope was lost, but in retrospect, we see the Lord delivered us. We need to meditate upon our past journey and see the Lord’s hand in our lives and see how the Lord has worked things out in ways we couldn’t see at the moment. Because if we do that, it’ll galvanize us and give us hope and confidence for the present and the future, because the Christian journey is ups and downs. We need to know that is the normal pattern of the Christian life, so we shouldn’t be surprised in down moments. But we need to actively make the choice to meditate upon past times when God has delivered us, when he’s been faithful to us, even when it didn’t feel like it, didn’t seem like it. He’s brought us through dark times. That kind of active meditation is crucial for sustaining us in the present and the future.

Meditate On Your Own Life

So we can meditate upon God’s acts of faithfulness in scripture, lives of the saints, yes, but I would also encourage all of us to do this with our own lives. When has God faithfully delivered me through a trial, especially when in the thick of it I just was confused, full of doubt, despair, but he brought me through? Friends, we are all going to go through, unless a grain of wheat dies, it won’t bear much fruit. We’re going to go through our winters, we’re going to go through suffering. But this is the path of life in both the natural order and the supernatural order.

I mean, let’s think about it. Thanksgiving day, what do you do? You tend to not eat all day. You’re going to fast and then you’re going to feast. If you’re hungry, you’re ready for the feast. If we don’t taste suffering, the joy may not be the same. And we’re still in the veil of tears. One day, one day that’ll be past us. But we’re still here now. So let’s be faithful to God in the present. Let’s think about God’s faithfulness, not just abstractly, generically, or even just in scripture.

Let’s think about his faithfulness for you and for me in specific and concrete times that we have lived through, whether in the far past, the near past, what have you. Let’s not forget, let’s not forget our walk with the Lord. Because in those dark times, like you’re like, “Eh, yeah, I didn’t really encounter God.” No, you did. You did. And nurture that in your heart. Don’t forget it. Keep it alive, keep the flame alive. I’ll be praying for you, please pray for me. God bless you all, take care.

About Dr. Andrew Swafford

Dr. Andrew Swafford is Professor of Theology at Benedictine College. He is a national speaker and co-author of Gift and Grit: How Heroic Virtue Can Change Your Life and Relationships, A Catholic Guide to the Old Testament, and What We Believe: The Beauty of the Catholic Faith. He is also general editor and contributor to Ascension’s Great Adventure Catholic Bible. Among his other publications are Ascension’s Bible studies on Romans and Hebrews, Spiritual Survival in the Modern World, and John Paul II to Aristotle and Back Again. Andrew holds a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake and a master’s degree in Old Testament & Semitic Languages from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is an avid student of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and lives with his wife Sarah and their six children in Atchison, Kansas. You can find more information about Andrew at theswaffords.com or on X @andrew_swafford.