Advent 4 Year A 12/18/2022
Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25
Rev. Mark A. Lafler
Today is December 18th…
The Fourth Sunday of Advent.
Christmas is around the corner…
In fact, it is a week from today.
The stores are busy…
The lines are long…
The traffic is frustrating.
Many of us are hoping the package arrives on time.
Some of us are thankful the gifts are all wrapped and ready to be given.
Many of us are preparing for relatives and special Christmas parties.
Many of us are wondering if we are going to do anything for Christmas.
This time of year brings out the best and the worst in people.
Advent themes of hope, peace, joy, and love abound…
But so does crime, loneliness, sadness, and depression.
It seems to reflect the opening line of Charles Dickens masterpiece,
A Tale of Two Cities:
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…
Our Gospel reading appointed for today also has a great mix of emotion.
It starts with this line:
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.
St. Matthew very clearly says who Jesus is.
Jesus the Messiah.
Not the birth of Jesus took place…
Not the birth of the son of God…
But the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.
He is not trying to surprise us with who Jesus is…
Like the Messianic secret in the Gospel of Mark.
This is the birth of Jesus the Messiah…
The Savior of the World…
The one who has been promised to come…
Prophesied all the way back in Genesis 3.15 in the first messianic prophecy…
The one who was promised to continue the royal line of David…
The one who is coming to bring justice as the Old Testament prophets foretold.
This is Jesus the Messiah the hope of the entire Old Testament…
The one whom the Jewish faith rests on…
This is the one true God…
Come to save his people.
You cannot overstate the meaning that St. Matthew is saying:
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.
And then from this emphatic beginning we get some convoluted twisting story about Joseph and Mary.
You see Joseph was a good guy…
He had a good reputation…
But you know… Since Mary was pregnant…
He was not going to have her as his wife…
But he did not want to disgrace her…
So perhaps a quiet break up would be the right move.
And into these raw emotions and confusing actions…
God steps in and gives Joseph a dream.
He says to Joseph:
Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,
for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus,
for he will save his people from their sins.
And then Joseph obeyed the words of God and took Mary as his wife.
You see even in this messy world…
God speaks his love into our experiences.
Into our lives…
The incarnation…
Mary conceiving Jesus the Messiah by the power of the Holy Spirit…
Is an act of God’s love…
Planned before the ages of time…
The conception and birth of the Messiah is an act of love.
In fact, the narrative is part of the overall story of God’s love…
That God’s radical and faithful love for his creation is ever true.
This is why he came in the form of a baby…
Even a baby in the womb.
We know the words of Jesus in John (3.16)
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son…
Jesus came because of God’s love.
St. Paul expresses this love in the book of Galatians (4.4-5):
But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son,
born of a woman, born under the law,
to redeem those under the law,
that we might receive adoption to sonship.
Our gospel reading is part of the whole narrative of God’s redeeming love.
Jesus came to save sinners…
And it starts with the messiness of life.
To put it this way…
Without Mary conceiving Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit…
We don’t have the miracles…
Or the teachings of Jesus.
Even more…
We don’t have his death on the cross…
Nor the resurrection.
The whole salvation narrative and act is wrestled with here between a new mom and her future husband.
Know this…
Even in the mess of our lives…
Jesus loves you and wants his love to be in the middle of that mess.
—-
Now our Gospel has another lesson for us too.
We read:
All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
which means, “God is with us.”
Not only does our story contribute to the Biblical theme of God’s love…
It also proclaims the deep biblical theme of God’s presence.
The presence of God starts with the beginning…
God was present with Adam and Eve in the Garden…
God was present with Abraham when they walked together…
God was present with Moses and the burning bush…
God was present with David…
In fact, after David had committed a horrible act of sin…
In his repentance, David prayed:
Do not cast me from your presence…
(Psalm 51.11)
And then the culmination of God’s presence in the incarnation…
In Mary’s conceiving of Jesus by the Holy Spirit…
We have the presence of Jesus Christ…
Fully God…
Fully human.
And his presence doesn’t leave after his resurrection and ascension…
He will never leave us nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13.5)
He is with us always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28.20)
And the presence of the Holy Spirit is in our very being.
(1 Corinthians 3.16)
So in our narrative today we find the promise that God is always with us.
We are never alone.
Even in the craziness of life…
God is with us.
Emmanuel.
Both these themes from our Gospel lesson…
God’s love and God’s presence… speak to our moment today too.
This is a difficult time of year.
Yes, we want the joy and celebration of Christmas.
We want the so called, “Christmas spirit!”
But it’s not that easy…
We don’t always feel it.
We can be feeling miserable…
And all we hear in the stores is
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”
And either our guilt for not feeling it…
Or our annoyance at the song…
Only further frustrates the emotions we are feeling.
You see the fact of the matter is that there is not one person in here that doesn’t miss someone this time of year.
Perhaps this is the first Christmas without a loved one…
Perhaps they have been gone for a long time.
We miss them…
And the holidays remind us of them.
Maybe it’s not death…
Maybe it’s just the family dynamics.
So and so is not coming to celebrate Christmas because they don’t like so and so.
This season does bring pain and hurt.
It does bring a magnifying glass to our emotions.
Author Jared C. Wilson points out more reasons we struggle this time of year.
He writes:
Maybe we’re jealous that the kids are taking our grandchildren to the other grandparent this year.
Maybe we’re jealous that our sibling is announcing their engagement while we’re still single,
or they’re pregnant while we’re still struggling with infertility.[1]
These are real struggles that the cultural songs of the season don’t speak of.
It hurts.
And this is where our Gospel speaks right into our lives.
In our messiness of life.
In the hardships…
In the pain…
In the confusion…
In the struggle.
God wants you to know today that he loves you and he is with you in this world.
You are not alone.
He is in the midst of your pain.
He is present in our confusion.
He, of course, loved Mary and Joseph.
He, of course, was present with Mary and Joseph.
And yet, Mary and Joseph still had to walk out this new life together.
With the whispers of the neighbors…
With the rumor mill in the village.
They still had to walk in the confusion and hardship of their lives.
But they were not alone.
Jesus is present.
So, this week, as we march each day closer to Christmas day…
With moments of joy…
With moments of sadness…
Jesus is calling you…
He is calling you to be present with him.
Answer that call.
Because he loves you.
He gave himself up for you.
Be with him.
He invites you to be with him.
Amen.
[1] Jared C. Wilson, Gifts of Grace (United Kingdom: The Good Book Company, 2022), 70.