Fourth Sunday in Advent: December 19, 2004.

Isaiah 7:10-16

Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

Romans 1:1-7

Matthew 1:18-25

First Reading

The psalmist seems frustrated in today's psalm. In this community lament, the people ask God why God is so angry. They have had only tears for food, and their enemies have put them to shame. God's people desire a change. They desire the face of God to shine upon them again; they want to be in God's good graces again so that they might be saved from the fate that they are facing. They ask for a king upon whom God's hand will rest, a king who will do God's will for God's people. They promise that if God changes God's ways and offers them life, they will never turn from God again.

How often have we heard that? God's people are asking for a sign of God's presence among them.

However, in Isaiah, when God specifically speaks to Ahaz, telling him to ask God for a great sign, Ahaz says that he will not put God to the test. A noble gesture, is it not? Not according to Isaiah, who takes it as a sign that Ahaz does not have enough trust in God to ask for the sign. Because of this failure to trust and to have faith in God's mighty works, God will provide a sign greater than anything anyone would expect. A child will be born to a young woman, and his name will be Immanuel--God with us. He will eat foods that are nearly impossible to come by in a city under siege, as the people of God were. This child will refuse to give evil for good. This will be a sign that God is with God's people at all times.

Matthew clearly believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, since Matthew quotes Isaiah in today's reading. In this version of the birth narrative of Jesus, it is not Mary to whom the angel appears but Joseph. Joseph thought that all was well with his life. He and Mary had followed the rules of engagement, but Mary ended up pregnant before they had marital relations, according to Matthew. Joseph did not want to disgrace Mary, so he planned to let her go quietly. When the angel appeared to Joseph, he told him not to let Mary go, and that the baby to be born was from the Holy Spirit. His name would be Jesus, meaning "God saves," because Jesus would save God's people from their sins.

Paul reminds us of who Jesus Christ is in the opening of his letter to the Romans. Paul expands the normal welcome found in Greek letter writing to include a personal statement of faith. In this statement, Paul reminds them that Jesus was promised through the prophets and scripture (i.e., Isaiah's prophecy). Here, Paul attributes Jesus' declaration as Son of God to have come by his resurrection from the dead according to the spirit of holiness. Interestingly, this is the only place in the whole New Testament that a "spirit of holiness" is mentioned. While it is assumed that Paul was referring to the Holy Spirit, it is curious why Paul would choose this wording here.

According to Paul, it is because of who Jesus is that we have received grace and apostleship, that we are called to go out and spread the good news of Jesus Christ that began with his birth two thousand years ago. It is that same grace that, with peace, we wish one another still today.

Pastoral Reflection

I keep thinking of the new television show Joan of Arcadia. What if God were one of us? On the show, Joan, an everyday American teenager, struggles with family problems, issues with friends, and concerns about the people around her. However, beyond all of that, she also sees God. Now, God never appears in any grand form, but as a school cafeteria worker, a man on the bus, a classmate, and any number of other everyday people. However, what God has in store for Joan rarely is an everyday activity. Most of the time Joan has no idea why it is that she is doing what she is doing--taking piano lessons, putting together a garage sale, building a boat in the garage, joining the high school band--but in the end, it is always to serve God's purpose. This show brings a whole new meaning to "God with us."

I cannot help but think that, for as confused as Joan is when God comes to her with a new assignment, Joseph was even more confused when the angel appeared to him in a dream. This dream scenario reminds us of the patriarch Joseph and the dreams that he interpreted for others. But this time, the message is not in signs but is stated clearly by the angel. Do not dismiss Mary, but stick with her during this pregnancy. Name the child Jesus, because he will save God's people. Joseph's head must have been swimming. None of this made any sense! Did God really expect him to go against tradition? And what did the angel mean by saying that Jesus would save God's people?

Joseph could have ignored the angel and gone off and done his own thing, following tradition and dismissing Mary, but, like Joan, he chooses to do the more difficult thing, trust God and wait to see how it turns out. God will surely make sense of things eventually.

And God did make sense of things. Jesus was not a mistake. Jesus was a concrete example of God with us. Jesus lived up to the meaning of his name, "God saves," by bearing the sin of the world through his death and resurrection. Through this child, God's grace was revealed to all people, the knowledge of which we, like Paul, continue to share with others.

While, for most of us, our interactions with God are not nearly as concrete as they are for Joan or they were for Joseph, we have assurance that God is always with us, talking to us through different means--our friends, our family, our teachers, our pastors, and sometimes through strangers. God promised long ago to be with us always, and while there may be times in our lives when God feels far away, through the reading of scripture and the sharing of stories, we are reminded of God's presence in our lives.

So even when we are calling out, "Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved," we know that God hears us. We know that we have been saved. We know that God is always with us. CL