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Advent 4A December 22, 2019

Posted on December 22, 2019 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25

In our first reading today, it is 732 B.C. E. King Ahaz of Judah is in a tough situation. The Assyrian Empire is growing in power. The King’s other northern neighbors, Syria, with its capital Damascus, and  Israel, with its capital Samaria, want him to join them in an alliance against the Assyrians.

The prophet Isaiah is calling Ahaz to have trust in God and to remain neutral in this conflict. Ahaz is only twenty years old, but he really does not want to hear what Isaiah has to say. Biblical scholar Robert Kysar says that Ahaz is telling Isaiah, “My mind is made up. Don’t confuse me with the facts.” (Kysar, New Proclamation Series A, 1998-1999, p. 25.)

King Ahaz has decided that the best thing to do is to make an alliance with the Assyrians. This will result in disaster as Judah will lose its independence and fall under the control of the powerful Assyrian Empire.

But God never gives up on us, and Isaiah tells the young king that God will send a child born of a young woman, and he shall be called Emmanuel, God with us.

In our gospel, we read about the circumstances of Jesus’ birth. Joseph and Mary are engaged. They have made solemn vows that they will be married and they will be faithful to each other. We enter the story after Mary has told Joseph that she is pregnant. Now Joseph is in an agonizing situation. To all earthly and human appearances, the woman he loves has been unfaithful to him. This astounds Joseph beyond all measure since he has always felt that Mary is as faithful as anyone can be. Looking in on this scene, with two thousand years of hindsight, we know that she is an icon of faith. Later, she will follow Jesus every step of the way and stand at the foot of that horrible cross until every bit of his life has drained out of him.

One thing that always strikes me when we read these lessons is the enormous difference between King Ahaz and Joseph. The text tells us that Joseph is a righteous man. Righteous does not mean someone who thinks he or she knows everything, someone who has rigid beliefs and you have to agree with them. Righteous means having a right relationship with God. It means being open to God’s guidance at all times. As a righteous man, Joseph makes the painful decision to divorce Mary quietly and save her reputation.

Unlike King Ahaz, Joseph is open to God’s leading even in his sleep. In his dream, an angel of the Lord tells him the truth about Mary’s pregnancy. God is bringing a new life into the world. God is coming into the world to bring new life to everyone just as Isaiah had said.

When Joseph wakes from his dream, he does something entirely different from what he had planned and dreaded to do. He marries Mary. And when the baby is born, Joseph follows the angel’s directions and names him Jesus.

Joseph is one of the shining examples in the scriptures. He is a person of deep prayer who listens for the voice of God in everything he does. He takes Mary to Bethlehem, the City of David, and protects her all along the way. Later, when King Herod starts killing little boys so no one can seize his throne, Joseph takes Mary and Jesus to Egypt.

Scholars remind us that Jesus was born under the cloud of illegitimacy. His parents were married after he was conceived. And then the holy family became refugees fleeing from a tyrant who was full of hate and fear. All along the way Joseph listens for the guidance of God and follows that guidance. Joseph is a wonderful example of a foster father. Like him, may we listen for the voice of God. May we have the depth of faith that Joseph had.

The light is shining in the darkness. The days have been getting shorter and shorter, and the light shines ever more brightly. The light is shining in the darkness ad the darkness has not overcome that light.

May we make room for Jesus in the inn of our hearts. As Master Eckhardt centuries ago called us to do, may we give birth to Jesus in our lives. As our collect says, “May he find in us a mansion prepared for himself.” Amen.

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Advent 4 A RCL December 18, 2016

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 7: 10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25

In our opening reading today, King Ahaz of the Southern Kingdom, Judah, is facing an extremely difficult and dangerous situation. The year is 734 B.C. The powerful Assyrian Empire is threatening to conquer Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The kings of Syria and Israel want King Ahaz to join with them in an alliance against the Assyrians.

Isaiah has been trying to encourage Ahaz to remain neutral. Ahaz doesn’t want to listen. Now God is directly addressing King Ahaz, God is going to give a sign. But Ahaz does not want to hear about this sign. His excuse for the fact that he does not want to listen to God is that he does not want to put God to the test.

But God tells him about the sign anyway. A young woman is going to have a baby, and that baby is going to be named Immanuel, God with us. By the time this baby is old enough to choose the good over the evil, the Assyrian Empire will be a thing of the past.

God is saying that God will be with King Ahaz and all the people. King Ahaz chooses not to listen to God or to Isaiah. He decides to form an alliance with the Assyrians and they end up invading Jerusalem. Ahaz is an example of someone who likes to do things his own way. He does not listen to guidance from wise people like Isaiah. He does not even listen to God.

In our gospel for today, we have an example of someone very different from King Ahaz, Joseph of Nazareth. Joseph is betrothed to a young woman named Mary. This is a wonderful thing. But something has happened which has cast a shadow over Joseph’s life. Mary is going to have a baby, and Joseph knows that he is not the father of this baby.

He had thought that Mary was someone who took commitments very seriously. She had seemed honest and full of sincerity and integrity. You and I know that Mary does take commitments seriously. She follows her son to the foot of the cross and stays there until the bitter end.

But Joseph, who is usually calm and level-headed, is upset, There is only one explanation for this, on the earthly level, and so he makes a decision to divorce Mary quietly to spare her feelings and her reputation. We need to remember that, in those days, being betrothed was like being married. Under the circumstances, it appears that she has committed adultery, and, in that culture and that time, we know that women were stoned to death for that crime. We also remember that Jesus as he encountered a crowd about to throw stones at a woman caught in adultery, said, “Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone,” and they put down their stones and walked away.

But to get back to our gospel, Joseph has resolved to divorce Mary quietly and try to preserve her reputation.

Now we need to remember that Joseph is a man of prayer. He is close to God. Unlike King Ahaz, he listens for God’s guidance. That night, an angel appears to him in a dream. This often happened back then, God would speak to people in their dreams. It actually happens today as well. The angel tells Joseph the truth about this baby. The angel even tells Joseph what to name the baby, Jesus. This baby is going to be God with us, Immanuel.

Joseph is a man of deep faith. He listens to every word the angel says to him. He knows this is a message from God. Quietly, faithfully, Joseph accepts God’s call to be the foster father of Jesus.  We know that Joseph will protect Mary as they travel to Bethlehem. We know that King Herod is going to try to have all the baby boys under the age of two killed, and that Joseph will take Mary and Jesus to Egypt so that they will be safe. We can imagine Joseph teaching Jesus in his carpenter shop when Jesus gets old enough. This wise, patient, gentle, courageous, faithful man is saying Yes to an extraordinary vocation—bringing up the child of God as a foster father. Jesus could have been born under the shadow of illegitimacy. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were refugees when they fled into Egypt. Always, Joseph was there to protect Jesus and Mary and to seek and accept God’s guidance.

What a contrast there is between Joseph and King Ahaz. I don’t know about you but I have actually met people who, when offered wise guidance, have said, in so many words, “I like to do things my own way.” That’s the Ahaz approach to life.

Joseph kept listening to God and followed every direction. He devoted his life to taking care of Mary and Jesus. What a wonderful holy example for us today. Do we realize that God is as close as our breath? Do we listen for the guidance of God as Joseph did?

Emmanuel. God with us. Our God who loves us so much is coming to live among us, full of grace and truth. May we make room for him in our hearts and lives. Amen.

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Advent 4 Year A RCL December 22, 2013

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Beth Crane

Isaiah 7: 1-16
Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19
Romans 1: 1-7
Matthew 1: 18-25

In our opening lesson, the prophet Isaiah is speaking to King Ahaz of Judah. The year is about 734 or 735 B.C.  The powerful Assyrian Empire is threatening the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Syria, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Israel and Syria want King Ahaz to join with them in a coalition against the Assyrian Empire.

This is a situation in which it is easy to be completely overwhelmed by fear. Isaiah is encouraging Ahaz to remain neutral in this conflict and to trust God to lead him and the people through this crisis.

Isaiah points out a young woman. Some scholars think this woman might actually be Isaiah’s wife. The woman is pregnant. She is going to bear a son named Immanuel, God with us. Isaiah is trying to help King Ahaz see that, even among the machinations of enemies and empires, faith is the most important thing. As it turned out, Ahaz did not follow Isaiah’s guidance. He actually made an alliance with the Assyrian Empire, which was even bigger than Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the Assyrian Empire eventually invaded Jerusalem.

As Christians, we think of this passage as foretelling the birth of Jesus, our Emmanuel, God with us. What does it mean to realize that God is always with us, leading and guiding us?

In his Letter to the Romans, Paul writes that God promised through the prophets, to send God’s Son, who opens new life to us and gives us grace to minister in his Name.

And then we have Matthew’s story of the birth of Jesus. This story focuses on a most courageous and faithful and wise man, Joseph.

Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant, but he knows that the child is not his. Back in those days, women were routinely stoned to death for such offenses. We recall what Jesus told some folks who were about to do just that. He said that those who were without sin should cast the first stone, and they all walked away.

Joseph makes up his mind not to make a public spectacle of Mary. In such a situation, the law says that the proper thing is to divorce the woman, but Joseph plans to do this quietly. He wants to spare her disgrace. Even in this very awkward situation, he is very respectful toward Mary.

But then Joseph has a dream, and in that dream an angel of the Lord appears to him and tells him that the child is indeed from the Holy Spirit. The angel tells Joseph that he should name the child Jesus, and this means that Joseph is in effect adopting Jesus. Some commentators point out that, on a purely human level, Jesus was an illegitimate child. Joseph adopted him, but, until then, he did not have an earthly father. Scholars point out that there may have been talk around Nazareth about this situation, that, among the many difficult things Jesus went through was the experience of having questionable parentage. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus also experienced what it meant to be refugees when they fled into Egypt.

The text says that Joseph is a righteous man. “Righteous” means that he had a right relationship with God. Righteous does not mean holier than thou or rigid in theology. It means that Joseph was close to God, He turned to God for help and guidance and insight and inspiration. As we follow the role of Joseph in Jesus and Mary’s lives, it becomes clear that he was always open to God’s direction.

Just think for a moment: what if Joseph had not been the person he was? Anyone who knew Mary would know that she would never be unfaithful, She kept her commitments, She followed Jesus to the foot of the cross. But a lesser man might have just taken a look at the superficial appearances and made a different decision. Not Joseph. Even before he received that direct communication from God he had made the most loving decision he could have made under the law.

They made the trip to Bethlehem so that Jesus could be born in David’s city. That was a grueling journey. Always, always, Joseph was the protector. Afterward, when Herod decided to murder all the baby boys, Joseph took Mary and the baby into Egypt. Always, he was there to take care of them. Always, he was respectful toward Mary and this precious little baby. He took major risks in order to care for his adopted son. This is a wonderful role model for fathers in all ages and places.

We are now very close to that wonderful time when we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.

And so, I go back to that question: what does it mean to realize that God is with us? It means that we realize that God loves us enough to come and live among us. And when we think of God as being with us, we also remember that we need to be with God. We need to seek God’s guidance and help. We need to be more like Joseph and less like King Ahaz, who just ignored Isaiah and God and went off and did his own thing.

Joseph is someone who knew that God was as near as his breath. He turned to God. Back in those days, people often received guidance from God in their dreams. Even when Joseph was asleep he was open to God’s leading. Do we seek God’s direction? Do we, like Joseph, know that God is as close as our own breath? Would we have the courage that Joseph had? Courage that only God can give? Would we step beyond our comfort zone and into the growing kingdom of God as Joseph did? Would we assist at this birth of a new thing? A new order? A new world?

Emmanuel, God with us.  May we prepare for his birth in us and in the world he made.  Amen.

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