The 4th Week of Advent, 2021: Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45
“Sofia, you almost lost your parents this morning.” This was the text I sent to our daughter on our way home after hiking Franklin Falls trail on February 24, 2021. The photo was taken just right before an avalanche occurred before our eyes. When we got to the falls in the early morning, there were already five people there enjoying the magnificent views and taking photos. While we were waiting for our turn, a hiker told us that he went down to the riverbed by the falls earlier and took many beautiful photos. He continued saying that a guy on the bridge above told him that there were avalanche control activities, but none of us heard anything about it or saw any signs at the entrance gates or the trailhead.
After they were done with their photo taking, we chose a spot on the path by the rugged cliffs which kept us some distance from the river bed where the hiker went. My wishful thinking was that we should be safe by standing at the cliff area if anything happened. After we were done and ready to walk back to where the group of people were, we heard a guy standing on the bridge yelling at us but couldn’t understand what he was saying. Within a second, we heard a sound like distant thunder, and soon we were surrounded with a strong cold wind mixed with flying snow. Once the visibility began to improve, we saw a large amount of mud mixed with snow and logs moving rapidly down a hill to the river bed. While walking up, the mudslides had reached the path where we were standing.
Was it God’s will that we were out of danger and unharmed? Have you ever had similar situations when you felt at death’s door or when you took risks with wishful thinking? Our wishful thinking certainly has nothing to do with God’s will. We all are capable of making our own decisions and choices, and all our earthly lives will end at some point. But taking our lives lightly is beyond question because God’s redemption for our eternity has never meant for us to have a short life but to have a purposeful life that comes with great values.
In Hebrews 10:9-10, it says that Jesus has come to do God’s will by sacrificing his life as an offering to God once for all. The significant purpose of Jesus’ life is to demonstrate that God’s will is to defeat evil within this universe. Our fallen humanity can only be redeemed through the death of his intact human nature. And through the resurrection of his divine nature, we receive eternity. God’s saving act only needs to occur once but has the power to save all. That’s what once for all means.
Was it God’s will that we were out of danger and unharmed? God did not make us hike that trail on that day; God did not cause the avalanche activities on that day. I have no answer to that question, but I do know that our death would cause our loved ones to mourn and grieve. On our way back to the entrance gates, we saw there were still many people walking towards the falls. I felt bad that they missed the magnificent natural beauty but glad that they did not need to go through what we just did. I give thanks to God for our purposeful lives with great values which are to love much and forgive well. Amen.
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