Sunday before the Nativity of Christ. Sunday of the Holy Fathers. Octoechos Tone 6. Holy Great-Martyr Anastasia (305).
Hebrews 11:9-10,17-23,32-40. Matthew 1:1-25.
Read Hebrews 11:9-10,17-23,32-40
Sometimes choosing one thing means we must forgo choosing something else. The field of economics has a term for it: opportunity cost. A business might find that an investment in new production equipment is high – there would be no money for raises, but the cost of not increasing production must be taken into consideration – the long-term cost of not taking that opportunity might be high enough that it is worth doing without raises for a while.
When we think about what we invest our lives in, we hope that things that matter to us will last. The problem is that things we can see have the appearance of lasting longer than what we can’t see yet. Today’s epistle reading is about people who could see that the life of faith, that might look shaky to some, is actually the only solid thing out there.
The city Abraham looked forward to while he lived in tents wasn’t Jerusalem. Abraham never saw it built and the foundations of that city have been shaken and crumbled many times over. He could see that the city “whose builder and maker is God” would be the only lasting one. The other people listed here along with Abraham could see that too. But, while some of them accomplished great things in this world, many others were notable for appearing to be unworthy investors who should have taken their raises now. But it is actually the other way around – the world was not worthy of them.
So, why all the waiting? Why didn’t God give them their reward in their lifetime? The answer is, because of them, we get the same chance to live by faith. And, there are people coming after us that it’s worth living by faith for too. We are called to choose accordingly.