Fourth Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18 (Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 NRSV)
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25
And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife; and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called his name JESUS.
I have noticed that many people are making a conscious effort to wish people a “Merry Christmas” this year. I think it is a rebellion against the noticeable dismissal of this season being about the birth of Christ. There have been too many stories about holiday trees and universal greetings from department store clerks that some people want to make a point. It is a valid point. December 25th is Christmas to those of us – a large percentage of Americans – who celebrate the birth of Christ.
But I wonder… is this necessary? What did those same people say a few years ago before it was an issue? Did they say “Merry Christmas” every time they wished someone well during this season? While the focus on this issue has been that there are multiple religious holidays during this time, there is a second holiday that even Christians celebrate: New Year. The children take a vacation between Christmas and January 1st to celebrate the holidays. I know that despite my extreme joy and excitement over Christmas, I often greeted people with a “Happy Holidays” not because I did not want to offend them with my faith, but because it is a season of special days.
It is not Christmas, yet. We are still in Advent. We are still waiting. We are still looking forward to that which is to come. Is that party at the office really a “Christmas party” or is it an end of the year celebration before things slow down for that vacation time between the holidays? This issue has made us aware of the words we use and for some, it has become a platform to restore some of the traditions from their past that have seemed to fall away.
Do those words really mean anything? We are more aware of it this year because it has been on the news and all over the Internet. But, it seems like these casual greetings have taken on a spirit that does not really mean what they are intended to mean. It is almost as if people are challenging one another to be good Christians by saying the right words. A few years ago, did it matter which words were said? No one assumed anyone was being politically correct by saying “Happy Holidays.” As a matter of fact, they were passive greetings most of the time anyway.
During December, the words “Merry Christmas” usually take on the same importance as “How are you?” or “Have a great day.” How many of us really care when we ask about someone’s health? We feel awkward if they answer truthfully and we do not know what to do. It makes little difference what kind of day a stranger has once they have move beyond our encounter. It is not that we do not care about the health and welfare of the people in our world, but the reality is that we won’t think about those strangers or try to follow up on the question. We ask and then move on. I suspect that most people have said “Merry Christmas” with the same indifference.
Ahaz was the king of Judah during a time of difficulty. Israel had created an alliance with Aram against Judah and Ahaz was concerned. Ahaz decided to make an alliance with Assyria, hoping that the strength of that nation would help protect Ahaz and his people. Alliances seem like a good idea because we are stronger in number and force with others helping us. However, God had something better planned for His people. God is stronger than all the nations of the world. He was testing Ahaz’s trust, testing Judah’s faithfulness. Would they lean on Him or try to go their own way? They chose the alliance and their own path.
God did not give up. He said to Ahaz, “Ask for a sign and I will prove to you that I am with you.” Ahaz answered, “I will not ask, neither will I tempt Jehovah.” He masked his mistrust with a false humility. His seemingly righteous answer was more accurately a refusal to obey God. God promised a sign anyway. I love the way Eugene Peterson translated God’s response in The Message. “It’s bad enough that you make people tired with your pious, timid hypocrisies, but now you’re making God tired. So the Master is going to give you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She’ll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-with-us).”
God is in control. Ahaz was facing war and God was prepared to save Judah from destruction. Ahaz seized control and his plan failed.
We see a completely different reaction in the Gospel lesson for this day. Matthew writes the birth narrative from Joseph’s point of view, focusing on Jesus as the descendent of David. Ahaz, too, was a descendent of David, but his faith was not as strong. Joseph believed and trusted in God.
Joseph was betrothed to a young woman named Mary. He discovered that she was pregnant even though they had not yet had intercourse. We might find his response without compassion, after all it seems like he is trying to escape the responsibility for a child that was not his. However, Joseph was a righteous man and in the social structure of his day it was expected that he would protest angrily. It is likely that Joseph had paid a dowry for Mary, money that was wasted because she was no longer the pure woman who had been promised. Legally, he had every right to have her punished.
Joseph was compassionate. He planned to divorce her quietly, to set her free to live a good and respectable life with the father of the child without causing her pain or suffering. It was the most compassionate and righteous way to deal with a sad situation. An angel came to him that night and told him to take Mary as his wife. “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” The angel told him to name the child Jesus because He would save His people from their sins. Matthew makes the connection between Mary and the promise in Isaiah.
Joseph believed and he obeyed. He took Mary as his wife and he named the child Jesus, taking full and legal responsibility for the care and nurturing of the Son of God. He trusted God and acted on his trust. Ahaz trusted in his own judgment and acted against God’s word. Two men with two completely different responses to what God is doing in the world.
Do we really pay enough attention to the name Immanuel? Do we really consider what it means? It means that God is with us. Jesus Christ came from heaven to earth to break the wall of separation between God and man. He came to dwell amongst us.
Throughout the Old Testament, God did all He could to help His people live, work and love according to His good and perfect will. Sometimes they did what was right, worshipping Him and following His Law. Sometimes they wandered far away, worshipping other gods and doing what satisfied their desires. He sent judges. He sent kings. He sent prophets. The messages went unheard, the servants rejected. The messengers were at times killed. God tried to solve the problem from a distance, but the problem of death and human bondage to sin was too great to stay apart. To be faithful to his promises, He had to come and dwell amongst the people.
God did not choose to leave us to our own foibles. He chose to come and dwell among us. He sent Jesus, His Son, our Lord. It is for this Immanuel that we wait. It is for this Messiah that we watch. He will be all that God has promised, all rolled up in a tiny baby born in a stable in Bethlehem. This is perhaps the most incredible thing about our Christian faith: God came to be born of the most humble circumstances and live among us. What other god would become like his creation rather than demand the creation strive to be like it? He saw our heartache close-up. He experienced our temptations. He is Immanuel.
This was risky. He could have made our salvation come in any other way. The Christ could have appeared out of the clouds one day. He could have showed up already able to preach and teach, to heal and to cast out demons. He came into the world as a baby, facing the same dangers. Infant mortality was high in the days of his birth, many children never survived to see a first birthday. Jesus faced disease and he faced the sword of the jealous ruler Herod. He faced the dangers of travel when Joseph took his family to Egypt to escape the slaughter. God took great risk trusting the faith of one human man.
It was worthwhile for God to take this risk of becoming a child born in a stable in Bethlehem because it removed the wall that separated us from our Creator. Sin caused us to trust others besides God, but grace set us free from the bondage of our flesh. It was the coming of the Christ child that answered the prayer in today’s psalm. “Turn us again, O God of hosts; and cause they face to shine, and we shall be saved.” We were saved by the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, for He is the face of God in this world, the light that shines and restores us to God by His grace. What the psalmist proclaims as prophecy, Paul professes in faith.
Paul proclaims the Gospel to the people in Rome. Rome was not one of his churches. The other letters were to congregations that Paul himself had established, taking the Gospel to places like Ephesus, Galatia and Thessalonica. Rome had heard the message about Jesus Christ long before Paul, so in this letter he introduces himself to the congregation. “I Paul,” he says, “called to be an apostle give you this witness about the source of my authority.” That authority came from Jesus Christ who was born of David, declared to be the Son of God. By his grace He called Paul, and those who have come after Paul, to be apostles to the nations, to live by faith and share the Gospel with the world.
We might think we should be proclaiming that message with sweet words of good cheer when we buy our Christmas presents at the department store. It certainly does not hurt to wish our neighbors a “Merry Christmas.” But does it really give them a taste of the hope found in the promises of God? Does saying “Happy Holidays” really take Christ out of Christmas? Challenging our neighbors to say the right words or using a phrase that has become almost meaningless in our every day encounters is not the life of apostleship to which Christ has called us to live.
We belong to Christ by faith, and in Christ we are sent into the world to share Jesus with the world. Not just the baby in the manger on Christmas Day, but the Christ who hung on the cross, who died for the sake of the dying, who was resurrected to give us new life. We are called to take love, compassion, forgiveness and hope into the world. We are called to give God’s grace to those who have become cynical about the things of faith.
All too often we act like Ahaz, not certain that He can handle the problems that arise in our world. Maybe, just maybe, those problems are God’s way of getting our attention. God knew what Israel and Aram were up to, and He was calling Ahaz to live in faith. Ahaz chose wrongly. He chose to take matters into his own hands, not trusting in God.
Perhaps we – and not the world – have allowed the things of Christmas to become more important than Christ Himself. We get so caught up in the festivities that we have forgotten to pay attention to the promises. We think that a missing Nativity scene on the front lawn of City Hall or that the holiday tree in the mall means that someone is taking Christ out of Christmas. So, we fight against it. But is this the mission of the Gospel? Does He really want us to fight against City Hall for a display of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus made out of wood while we treat our neighbors without grace and mercy?
Advent is almost over, our wait is almost complete. It will soon be Christmas Day and we will celebrate the birth of Jesus. But Jesus came for more than a holiday. He came to call His people to lives of apostleship, lives of sharing the forgiveness, compassion and hope that comes from God through Christ Jesus. It might seem like the world is against us. It might seem like the world has rejected God and wants to do everything it can to destroy God’s message. It is. The world wants to stop what God has done, is doing and will do. But God always has a greater purpose and now is the time for us to trust that He is in control. We are called to be like Joseph, responding to God’s word with faith. We should not be tempted to take the battle into our own hands, but instead learn what God would have us see in the circumstances that surround us. He took the risk for our sake. The only risk we need take is to let go and believe.
A WORD FOR TODAY
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