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December 18, 2016: Fourth Sunday of Advent
Matthew 1:18-25: God’s Method of Gift Distribution
I’m glad this is not the first Sunday of the month, and the children are not with us. I love it when the children stay. I don’t mind at all the occasional interruption. Some people complain when they hear a baby crying in church, but I think it is a sign of life, and it helps cut down on the snoring. The reason I’m glad the children are not with us is because what I want to talk about this morning would fall under the category of adult conversation. Even those of you with teens might want to cover their ears.
I want to talk about Santa. And whether or not he is real. I don’t know if my children believe in Santa. We have never really pushed it on them. But we have not really discouraged it either. The other day I was driving somewhere with my son. It was just the two of us, so I thought I would ask him if he believed in Santa. He was quiet for a few seconds. He mentioned something about how the North Pole was inhabitable, and how Reindeer cannot be taught how to fly, because they are Reindeer. But for him the biggest obstacle seemed to be Santa’s gift distribution method. He said there was no way one man could deliver all those gifts by himself in one night. But that’s the way the story goes right? Santa works solo. He has the elves up at the North Pole who help him build the toys. But when he brings his gifts to the world, he does it alone. Even God doesn’t do that.
Luke and Matthew are the only two Gospel writers that tell the story of Jesus’ birth. Luke’s version of events is the one we are most familiar with. It is much longer, and far more detailed. You have the journey to Bethlehem, the manger, the shepherds, the angels. And Mary plays a far more prominent role. Matthew’s version, on the other hand, is short and to the point, and it focuses more on the perspective of Joseph.
As a man I can appreciate that. Because it seems like whenever a child is born everyone focuses on the woman, like this is all her doing. And the man is just left out. Have you ever heard the beloved Christmas song, “Joseph, Did You Know?” “Joseph did you know, that your baby boy, has another Father. Joseph did you know…” Of course you haven’t, because it has never been written. But Matthew wants us to know about Joseph, and the role he played in bringing Jesus into the world. While Mary had the hardest job (someone tell my wife I said that), Joseph didn’t have it easy.
When Joseph first learned Mary was pregnant they were engaged, but not yet married. In our society it’s fairly easy for people to break off engagements. It happens all the time, but this was not true for Mary and Joseph. As an engaged couple, they were already under a marriage contract, probably set up by their fathers. During this period of engagement, they were legally married, but they were to live apart until the day of the actual wedding ceremony. Not only were they forbidden from having sexual relations with each other, if they were to engage in that kind of behavior with anyone else, it would be considered adultery.
So you can understand Joseph’s dilemma when Mary suddenly became pregnant. He knows he is not the father, for obvious reasons. And because pregnancy has occurred in only one way since the beginning of time, he could only conclude that Mary has been unfaithful.
I wonder if Mary even tried to explain what happened, knowing how ridiculous it would have sounded. Other women have tried. In a recent study that traced the lives of approximately 8,000 young women over the course of several years, almost 1 percent of those who became pregnant, a total of 45, claimed a man was not involved. We know that is not how it works.
I can’t imagine how Joseph must have felt. I know some of you can, and I don’t want to make light of that. The hurt, the anger, the sense of betrayal must have been overwhelming. Maybe it occurred to Joseph that Mary had become pregnant against her will, which would at least make it easier to accept, for him anyway, but in this male-dominated society that was not relevant. It was still adultery, and the law established clear guidelines. It was grounds for divorce.
The quality of Joseph’s character shines through in his decision not to make a scene out of it, or to seek revenge. He decided not to go before a public court, which would certainly cause Mary and her family to be humiliated, if not lead to Mary herself receiving a death sentence. Instead he planned to do it quietly, in the presence of only two witnesses. In other words, he wasn’t going to put anything about it on Facebook.
But before he could carry through with it, an angel appeared to him in a dream and explained everything. And he believed him, and by extension, he believed Mary. But this still didn’t make it easy. When Mary gave birth, people would do the math, and come to the conclusion that the young couple didn’t wait until their wedding night. What they didn’t know is that they actually waited until after Jesus was born. That couldn’t have been easy. Then when Jesus was born, Joseph named him, which was the same as Joseph claiming him as his own.
Both Mary and Joseph were some pretty amazing people. But as amazing as they were, they were still people; weak, vulnerable, selfish, confused, scared people.
God used people to give the gift of his son, the gift of his salvation, to the world. Why?
Scientists and Biblical Scholars and pretty much everybody else go back and forth whether the story of the virgin birth is true. To our modern, scientific minds it sounds pretty far-fetched. But for the people of Israel, that part of the story was totally believable. There were many stories of miraculous births in their history. None quite like this, but several stories of women who were unable to have children, for any number of reasons, be it some kind of condition, or old age, and then God miraculously enabled them to conceive.
But then there was the story of creation, where God created Adam and Eve out of the dust of the earth. Or go back even further, when the earth was a formless void and God spoke it into being, creating something out of nothing. This God could have easily sent his Son to earth without the help of a couple of poor Jewish kids. But he chose to give them a key role in giving his gift of salvation to the world. They were exceptional people, but still people.
Matthew explains that Jesus’ birth happened in this way to fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah, who foretold of this virgin birth, but also the promise of Emmanuel, which mean “God is with us.” This single word, “Emmanuel,” is key to understanding the significance of God’s gift of his Son to the World.
God chose to be with us in every sense of the word. It was his plan that Jesus take on human flesh, to become one of us. This is the mystery we refer to as the incarnation. To quote the author of Hebrews, Jesus was like us in every way, yet without sin. Jesus entered into our suffering, our doubts, our fears, our weakness, our struggles. He became like us so that we could become as he is.
The implications of the incarnation are incredible. We don’t have anywhere near the time to talk about them all. But just think about things like temptation…there is no temptation that we will face that Jesus did not also face, and overcome, and with his help, we can overcome. Or think about suffering. Jesus knew what it was to watch loved ones die, and to experience death himself. He understands how you feel. He knows what you are going through. And he cares. He will be with you.
But the amazing thing about Emmanuel that I want to focus on this morning is what we have already said, which is that God chooses to work with us to bring his gift of salvation to the world. God’s choice of Mary and Joseph to bring his Son into the world was not a one-time thing. In the years leading up to the birth of Jesus, and for every year thereafter, God has continued to choose to use his people to cooperate with him in bringing his gift of salvation to the world. That includes me, and every one of you. There is work that God has for us. God wants to use us to extended his grace, his love, and his mercy. God wants to use us to give the gift of salvation to others.
And you are more capable than you realize. Think of the self-control Joseph and Mary must have had to go without you-know-what for the first several months of their married life. If not the gift of self-control, God has given us some gift or ability that we can use to give his gift to others. Even the worst things that have happened to us. If we allow him to, God can help us use those experiences to bless others. In that sense, the worst things that happen to us can be seen as blessings, because they are other avenues through which God can use us to bring his gifts to the world. And to be used of God is the most amazing privilege in the world.
How can God use you to give someone the gift of his salvation this Christmas? How can God use you to show someone else that God is with us?
Franciscan Christmas Blessing
May God bless you with discomfort...
at easy answers, hard hearts, half-truths, and superficial relationships.
May God bless you so that you may live from deep within your heart
where God's Spirit dwells.
May God bless you with anger...
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people.
May God bless you so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears...
to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war.
May God bless you so that youmay reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe that you can make a difference in this world, in your neighborhood,
so that you will courageously try what you don't think you can do, but,
in Jesus Christ you'll have all the strength necessary.
May God bless you to fearlesslyspeak out about injustice,
unjust laws, corrupt politicians,unjust and cruel treatment of prisoners, pollution
and senseless wars, genocides, starvations, and poverty that is so pervasive.
May God bless you that you remember we are all called
to continue God's redemptive workof love and healing
in God's place, in and through God's name,
in God's Spirit, continually creatingand breathing new life and grace
into everything and everyone we touch.