Advent - Year A -- 2019
Indexed by Date. Sermons for Advent Year A
Isaiah 2: 1-5
Psalm
Matthew 24: 36-44
In the past month, on the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation, a community of about 1,000 people, 4 hours west of here, there were three suicides, one of them, a ten-year old girl! The community is hurting in ways we can hardly imagine. Sadly, these problems are not unique to that first nation. In the wake of this epidemic, the Chief has declared a state of emergency and asked for help - professional, long term help. As far as I know, none of us here today are trained for that kind of work but we are not completely powerless. We CAN do something! On Thursday morning a former resident of the community was interviewed on the morning program CBC radio and she suggested that we all send a card to the school, addressed to the children in general, telling them that their lives matter and that we care. They will be displayed at the school where the children can see and read them. I first thought of getting you all to sign a large card from the church but decided it would mean more if we all sent cards. Imagine thousands of cards on the walls of the school, from all over the province of Saskatchewan, Canada and even the world. If you want to send a card, please take the time to write a note. Imagine their faces, making snow forts, throwing balls, playing games; if you can, imagine that each child is your child, your grandchild and has a life well worth living! Then speak to that hope, that valuable life! The address is in the bulletin.
When we come to the first Sunday of Advent and hear the readings for this Sunday we can be excused for pausing and scratching our heads in bewilderment. We want angels and stories of Mary and Joseph and the tale of the most well-known un-planned pregnancy in history!
We don’t want gloom and doom and weird stories that seem, well, downright scary! And weird. Did I already say that? “Two will be working and one taken and one left.” We may wonder which one is the “right one” to be? To be taken, or to be left? The text is not really clear! We really don’t want to hear stuff that sounds like the ranting of one of those “crazy tv preachers.”
Yet, I think we do need to hear this before we hone our focus on the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. What does it mean for us in 2019 to be told, “be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour”? There are those, I’ve already called “crazy tv preachers, who seem to delight in looking at the news and saying that such and such an event that happened recently was predicted IN THE BIBLE and the world will end SOON.
Sometime in the summer of 1988 (I had just been ordained) I received a booklet in the mail (two copies actually) that quickly ended up in my fireplace for future use as fire-starter. It was titled, “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 88." It predicted the end of the world on a specific date in the fall of 1988. On the evening prior to the predicted date, I saw the booklet on the news (on my little 12" BXW tv) and fished one of the copies I had out of the fireplace (by then slightly damp) and looked it over as the news report continued. The story consisted of several interviews, each guest having a differing opinion which ranged from, “It isn’t true at all.” to “It might be true!”
The next night the news anchor made a passing reference to the story at the end of that day’s broadcast, signing off with, “we’re all still here, folks”.
You may also remember that in 2012 there was no small amount of “end of the world” hype over the Mayan Calendar having reached its end! The world did not end then either!
What are we to make of such things - to take the passage literally and continually be looking for “signs” of a certain, divinely directed end, sell all we have and sit here in church, waiting for the stars to fall? Or are we to totally discount such things and go about our lives as if the world will always be here, the only attention any of us needing to pay, being that each of us will ultimately meet our own death? After all, no one lives forever!
Is there an alternative, a faithful middle ground? (Pause) Well perhaps, middle ground, is not the most appropriate term, but I think there is another, more helpful way to look at this passage and passages like it!
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, he seemed to speak of the hopes of faith as being BOTH already present and yet to come. God’s vision for humanity was coming true just as he spoke, yet it was not here yet in its fullness.
When we look at some of what Jesus said about God’s realm or kingdom, we must admit that we do not know, with precision what even he meant. AND THAT IS OK. We don’t need to know. I believe that what we need to do is to live as fully as we possibly can with the truth we do know. It is okay to be perplexed and uncertain. It’s ok to be unsure about some of the specifics of living out our faith, but we cannot wait until we have it all figured out before we act.
There would be very few babies born if parents waited until they were 100% ready to welcome a child into their lives. I suppose all parents make mistakes but if you make a mistake with # 1 you can resolve to not make that same mistake with #2. Or practice on your kids so you get it right with your grandchildren! Likewise with our Christian faith; we don’t have to have it all figured out at the beginning! One of the messages of the gospels is, basically, “If you see a situation which calls for action, then act.”
As you know, the new vertical and award winning ten dollar bank note features the woman sometimes referred to as Canada’s Rosa Parks”. Viola Desmond was an African-Nova Scotian arrested for sitting in a whites only section of a movie theatre in the town of New Glasgow. Her car had broken down and she was putting in the time while it was being fixed. This small act of civil disobedience was an act of courage and determination to right a wrong. Actually they charged her with a tax violation; apparently the white section cost more!
In any given situation, we need to decide how we are to respond with the information we have at that time.
What is important is that we act with the information we do know - we act in concert with the ways of Jesus -
Amen!
Isaiah 11: 1-10
Psalm 72
Matthew 3: 1-12
Quite a few years ago I bought a cassette tape for Halloween night. On it were all sorts of creaky, creepy sounds, and an eerie, ominous voice asking, “Who told you to come here tonight”. I would play it at full blast for the time when I was expecting trick or treaters. I’ll have to get something else for next year as I no longer have anything on which to play a cassette!
I was looking through some sermon resources on Tuesday and it was suggested I move the baptismal font to the centre, which I have done, and then place a pitchfork and some sandals near the font. I had the sandals and found the fork but not sure how city folks would have fared! I suppose, technically, it’s not a winnowing fork, but close enough. A winnowing fork, is not something used by modern farmers at least in Canada! Separating the chaff from the wheat is usually done by combines. The biblical, old-fashioned way is very labour intensive and even by my parents time, the task had been taken over by threshing machines. All those machines are great, when they are working properly, that is!
There are many trades and professions where it is necessary to separate one substance from another. In mining, the ore must be separated into the mineral we’re looking for and the slag. Oil cannot be used in the form in which it is extracted from the ground but must be refined. In the Harry Potter series, Hogwarts students are sorted into “Houses” before they do anything else, even eat their first meal together! In 1981, before the start of classes at Mount Allison University, the first year students were summoned to a meeting in Convocation Hall and were told, “in three or four years, half of you will be back here to graduate”. The point was clear, it was up to us to make it back there to cross the stage to receive our degree!” We could party, join too many clubs, or goof-off or we could study; it was presented to us as “our choice”!
After a lengthy genealogical introduction, the Gospel of Matthew gets down to brass tacks with the preaching of John the Baptizer. He was certainly one “odd duck”, even by first century standards! Matthew’s brief description includes what he wore and what he ate (bugs and honey). Like others before him, this wilderness preacher had attracted a significant following, but he had definitely not taken a course in winning friends and influencing people. Apparently, he was not one to suffer fools! I recall a news report on a politician that was not doing all that well, mostly because, he had little ability to “suffer fools”. In politics, the commentator said, “you have to suffer a lot of fools.” John did not care who he offended!
Can you imagine if I said to each of you when you came in this morning, “Oh it’s you. Did you think you could earn a “get out of hell free card by coming here this morning? And wasn’t clearly joking!” It might mean a special, emergency, hastily called, meeting of the Ministry and Personnel Committee. Joan and her committee would meet with the folks who wanted to get rid of that “odd, obnoxious, Maritimer”!
John, the outspoken preacher who was dedicated to his calling and the importance of God’s law, valued that calling, more than his own life and freedom. As you probably know, he was imprisoned and eventually died for that dedication.
As Christmas comes closer and closer we may feel that we know all about preparation, but John isn’t here this morning to remind us about tinsel, trees and turkey. He’s not making a list and heading to the mall or to the computer! He is going back, to the beginning, to the generations old hope for the messiah. You see, as Advent begins, we discover that it’s not primarily about waiting for baby Jesus. It’s about waiting for the world made new. It’s about change on a cosmic scale. That’s what we want Jesus to do and enact when he comes. Peace on earth. Goodwill. The other day on facebook I saw two photos of new babies. One was of a friend of mine from PEI with her new grandchild. The look on her face as she holds her child’s child is one of pure wonder and delight! The other picture was of “my tenant’s” new grandson. She tells me that they are flying to Alberta to spend Christmas with their son and daughter-in-law the new baby.
As we all know, a baby brings many changes and continues to do so, for many years, in fact. A baby for Christmas seems “so special” but I hate to disappoint you - the baby Jesus wasn’t really all that special to the gospel writers- although WE make a lot of it! It is the grown-up Jesus they are really interested in! It is the grown up they spend most of their time writing about.
Of course, babies grow and grow and soon are too big for all the stuff parents spend so much money on. They are often given far too much clothing for newborns - and if it isn’t used right away, its too small. And that is how it should be! Too soon they are, as the baptismal hymn says, “Wandering off in a blaze of light to find where demons dwell”. They are off to change the world and make a difference. Too soon, for some parents, they leave home to make their own way in the world and some, at least, hope to change it for the better!
What’s wrong with the world? Well, a great deal actually! That has never been news to people of faith!
Friday was December 6 and the 30th Anniversary of what we have long called, “the Montreal Massacre”. While nothing like it has happened since in Canada, women are still targeted for being women. Glass ceilings still exist and some men are still very opposed to the idea of full equality. Domestic violence still continues to be a part of too many households. War and armed conflict continues to disrupt lives, families and communities. Preventable diseases kill untold numbers of people and many don’t have access to the drugs they need because there is “no profit in it” for the pharmaceutical companies and their shareholders. Children suffer from horrific abuses and the list goes on. Even people of faith go their own way and see little connection between their professed faith and their actions or lack of action.
The thing people of faith need to keep reminding themselves, especially at this time of year is that Jesus did not come just to “get us all into heaven.” Jesus did not come to wave a magic wand and to make things in the world change; Jesus came to change hearts and minds and lives and through those changed lives, to bring about a world more along the lines of what was intended for creation. Someday, Advent people hope and trust, God just may look at the world and once again, pronounce it GOOD.
It sounds so idealistic, a fantasy even, that children could play with poisonous snakes and lions and lambs live together in harmony.
Yet we know, I believe, that this passage is not about the so-called “natural world;” that would be too safe and easy. We know, it’s about human community.
On the front lawn of the manse in Dundas PEI was a tree stump. Several times a year I had to trim the suckers that sprouted from the stump. It was a Black Locust, I think, and if I didn’t trim the shoots when they were young and tender, the spines on the shoots would harden and then I would need really, really heavy gloves. That’s when I called Barry and Harold! The persistence of the shoots was very aggravating. It was as persistent as the “bamboo” at the manse in Rexton NB.
Reflecting in this, I began to wonder, “What if the persistence of our efforts at bringing peace on earth was as aggravating to those whose interests lay in war and injustice? What if our persistence in bringing about justice and fairness was as aggravating as the widow was with the unjust judge in that parable from Luke’s gospel we heard this past year?” What if were not so easily swayed with one letter from a politician filled with nothing but a canned response, with what are now called “talking points” as to why they can’t do what we suggest? What if that did not satisfy us? What if we believed in the principle of “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”?
A girl in one of my congregations wanted a certain doll for Christmas so badly that she slept with the catalogue under her pillow. Fortunately her parents were able to purchase it and she treasured it greatly! Really though I’m not advocating making MasterCard and Visa rich this year because we can’t say no to a huge Christmas wish list!
What if we slept with these promises under our pillows, as it were? Perhaps we could dream them into being? Perhaps we could dream of actions we could do to make at least some of it come about? As we dream some of these things into being we will realize that some of the cost will be borne by us (if we want a cleaner world, for example, we will have to figure out how to drive our gas powered cars less, how to make do with a smaller lawn. Im told that lawnmowers are some of the worst polluters! ) Or, if we want less poverty we may agree to pay a little more for coffee so that those who brew it can have a living wage - while keeping a close eye on shareholder profits - realizing that THEY may well be US!
It’s about taking the soul changing and heart changing promises seriously enough to let them last ALL year long. If the things of God come so easily at this time of year, why do we so easily ignore their nagging persistence the rest of the year? I doubt having a first baby in a barn (as the story goes at least) was easy for Mary and Joseph
It’s about taking the promises of the “babe of Bethlehem” seriously enough to let them change our lives, for the rest of the year, not just the few weeks we sing those Christmas Carols with such gusto.
A shoot shall come from the stumps of the once glorious trees that pointed to our grand expectations! That shoot shall persistently remind us of the hopes we have for the one who came to be called, “Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace”.
Amen.
Emery, Jacob, Camryn, Hanson, Hayden, Quinn, Hannah, Ashford, and Hannah - It’s Not Just Your Special Day; It’s Ours Too!
Today, I want to talk to you, you little (and not so little) ones. As I said this message is for each one of you. I also want to talk to your brothers and sisters, your parents, grandparents and the other folks assembled here but they will have to listen in and read between the lines! So everyone - please listen up!
Today is your special day - there is no one like you in the whole world and there never was and never will be. Even though two of you go by the same first name, you are not like anyone else! We believe that God loves each one of us just as we are and God always will. God loves you even when you do the most unloving of things and God will love you when you grow up and do the most unloving of things, when you hurt others and even when you actions deny this God given identity of beloved child.
And - I must be clear - just because there are 8 other baptisms today, you are still God’s special child. Never forget that! God has hopes for you just as your parents and grandparents do - God’s hopes include living toward your potential to be a fully human expression of God’s love.
Your patents have brought you here today for baptism because
a) it’s what we do as Christians
b) they want you to be a part of this community
c) they want to state publically that the way of Jesus is important to them and hope it will be to you as well.
I hope some of you will remember this day and I know that some of you will not. I hope your parents or your grandparents will tell stories about this day. When your mom shows you your candle, or certificate and maybe a picture taken today she will tell you more about it. Your Dad will tell you, perhaps that you absolutely howled when the minister put water on your head? Your gramma will tell you that you make a funny face when the minister introduced you to the congregation? Maybe you are wearing great gramma’s baptism gown or maybe you got a new shirt and tie for just this occasion. I hope someone will read you the stories in the Bible story book which will remind you that we are all called to walk in God’s way.
Outside the doors of this church is a wonder-filled world. We live in Canada and I can say that we are the greatest country in the world, without expecting that people in other places have to agree with me! I hope that everyone loves the place they live because God loves all people in every country of the world. As Canadians we are pretty good at some things and not so good at others. We still have poor people who could use more assistance but we have lots of people who spend a lot of time helping others. We have people who help the sick and teach the young and comfort those who are sad too! And we have folks who try to be the best moms and dads and grandparents and neighbours they can be.
We live in a very pretty place and close to nature. We are lucky. If you look up in the sky you might see an eagle - majestic and strong or you might see some deer running in a field on your next drive to a hockey game and they seem to go so fast and without any effort! Drivers, watch out- they were not taught to look both ways before they crossed the highway! In the summer you may see tiny, tiny hummingbirds that are truly an amazing part of creation.
If you watch or listen to the news there will be lots of stories that are frightening, or disturbing or confusing. Your parents and grandparents have seen a lot of change in their lifetime, and some of it isn’t good at all, but that’s where God calls us to live out our faith and make a difference.
When you become teens and then adults, unless things change there will be a temptation to live on your phone! Smart phones present us some very interesting stuff. Don’t let that gadget take over your life! Look up and around you at God’s world and those who are with you - at the restaurant, at school, or on a drive somewhere. God calls us to be fully present in the community and with the people who are in our lives. You will be faced with many choices; choosing the way of Jesus is not always clear but it is your call, it’s the call all of us have agreed to follow.
Some of you think that grownups like your parents know everything. (Some of you will soon be at an age where you think your parents know nothing at all!) But I’ll let you in on a secret - some days after you have gone to bed - they sit and wonder how they will get through the next day or the next week. They love being your moms and dads but it’s hard work! Every parent in every generation has felt the same way at least once. You did not come with an owner’s manual like their car or new appliance. So give them a hug once in a while and tell them that you love them. Remind them that God loves them too and wants to be part of your lives.
When you come to church here remember that you have a whole community of people who have promised to help your parents and to show you love, to show you their love and to show you God’s love. They will help you to walk in Jesus’ way, and to live in God’s love.
The Christian faith is not about getting rich, or famous but it is about giving and serving and helping others in justice, compassion and love. Don’t worry about making mistakes - no one is perfect, we also follow a God who forgives mistakes.
So, Baptism is, first and foremost, about God and God’s grace and love.
If I haven’t scared your parents off - lets proceed .................
Isaiah 35: 1-10
Luke 1:47-55
Matthew 11: 2-11
I remember a scene in the TV series, “The National Dream” which I believe aired several times in the early to mid ‘70s. I think I was encouraged to watch it for History class! In one episode there is a team of people looking for a “pass” for the railway through the mountains of BC. The crusty old surveyor stands looking at the mountainous vista before him and says , “It isn’t right for us to have come so gosh darn far and be wrong”. (Of course, his language was more “salty” but you get the drift!)
This is a story I hesitate to tell, but my dad told it more than once; he was the type of person who recycled what he thought were his “best stories”! There was this man who went to see the elderly minister who had performed their wedding ceremony to tell him that they were separating. The minister said, “you remember, don’t you, that you took her “for better or worse”. To this the unhappy groom replied, “I know I did Reverend, but she’s worse than I took her for!”
Imagine dedicating your life to something and then discovering it was all wasted! The daughter of a friend of mine studied to be an engineer which, I understand, is a very difficult university program, and graduated only to discover that she absolutely hated the work. I gather she has become an accountant and is much happier now. Speaking for myself, I would find some aspects of engineering very intriguing but the complex math and physics needed would be beyond me, and when it comes to accounting, I can’t think of anything more boring!
Imagine supporting a rising star in politics only to be sadly disappointed come election time and then trying to decide if you are going to switch allegiance at the leadership convention.
I suppose that is something like what John the Baptizer was feeling when he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus if he “was the one”. We aren’t really sure what promoted this inquiry! He had spent his best years living on bugs and honey in the wilderness and preparing people for “the Messiah”. He proclaimed a baptism for the remission of sins, as part of that preparation. He had proclaimed Jesus from Nazareth to be that Messiah” and had baptized him, despite his feelings of unworthiness. He was sure, THEN. NOW, he was in prison and could not go to see Jesus, himself. He is thinking, perhaps, “Are you the one I dedicated my ministry to proclaiming?” Matthew does not tells us exactly what kind of information had gotten back to John. What was “the word on the street”? We wonder what he did hear and what it meant to those who relayed the message. The text seems to imply that he was disappointed and that he had to know for sure! Perhaps he was looking for a “quasi-military” leader who would seize power and sit on the throne of an independent Israel. This was a common expectation.
Jesus’ answer to John’s disciples is simply, “tell him what you see me doing. Tell him that you see me giving sight to the blind, enabling the lame to walk and the deaf to hear, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead and giving good news to the poor.”
He continues on to challenge John’s former audience with rhetorical questions. Did you go to the wilderness to see someone who wore soft robes and was, therefore rich? The implied answer is, “of course not; that kind of person is here in town. That kind of person would not be out in the wilderness.” The words about the “reed shaken by the wind” may refer to an image that was put on some Roman coins by Herod. Soft robes and flimsy reeds seem to be images of earthly power and seem to be directed at the elites; at those whose wealth and power come to them at the expense of the poor and vulnerable. Jesus has been saying that this kind of power is actually bankrupt- those who depend on it will be the big losers!
Directly and indirectly we see Jesus’ words challenging the normal views of success and power. In Israel, prophets have had a history of challenging these elites. John had dressed much like Elijah, the great prophet whose preaching challenged those who turned away from the God of their ancestors to worship foreign gods. John, challenged the elites whose lavish lifestyle came at the expense of those on the margins. John also challenged the king who seemed to feel he was above the law and could do what he wanted. John’s challenge to him was direct and personal and he would soon pay for his dedication to this aspect of his ministry.
As we draw closer to Christmas - and before all the sweetness of the traditional Christmas story takes over, we are challenged to decide if Jesus and his way is really what we are looking for?
We need to ask, “what do we want from Jesus?” Perhaps our question is Jesus question of John’s disciples, “what do we see him doing?”
As a faith community, perhaps we need to ask the question in terms of how we feel called to embody the message of the gospel.
Do we feel called to preach a gospel promising worldly success to the faithful. Some churches do. I read an article in a “Christian” magazine a number of years ago in which a businesswoman attributed her greatly increased income to the fact that she stopped working on Sunday! She said nothing about the fact that just about everyone in that line of work had seen their incomes increase in a similar fashion. I suspect that if she had worked Sundays she would have done even better, economically! It should come as no surprise to you that I do not believe that this is why we should follow Jesus!
There is nothing about guaranteed prosperity in the Gospel call. Though I hesitate to use militaristic images, it might be a little like the Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1940 who said to the Cabinet, “ I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” Soon afterward he said to the House of Commons, “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender!”
If we can say we are wishing, or perhaps even fighting for something, as a faith community in the waning days of 2019, is it our own prosperity or is it a community to which Jesus actions point. The actions I have in mind are those he points out to John’s disciples - to recap: giving sight to the blind, enabling the lame to walk and the deaf to hear, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead and giving good news to the poor. In his society those were the people shoved to the margins and even past them, even to the very edge, the simply poor and those who could do little more than beg for crumbs.
I believe that we are called to value and care for God’s gifts to us. The gift of creation is one of the most obvious and, at this point, the most fragile. There has been a great deal of coverage in the press in the last while about the 16 year old Swedish teenager, Greta Thunberg. She seems to have captured the hearts of a generation of young people, in Europe and in North America. It seems to me that the elites, such as those represented by American President Donald Trump, and his supporters, are running scared and enacting the belief that the best defence is a strong offense.
I found it very disturbing, to see the Tweet that Donald Trump sent to his millions of followers, targeting Thunberg who has Asperger’s syndrome. He has told her to take an anger management course and hang out with friends and watch a movie with friends. I gather that people who live with aspergers find normal social interactions difficult! She responded by changing her twitter description of herself to “watching movies with friends and working on my anger management.”
So, I believe we must advocate for the systemic changes that will slow down and stop climate change BUT we must also walk the walk. What can we do as individuals? Things can be as simple as no longer using “single use” plastic bags, as much as possible. Things can be as complex as giving up the private automobile or paying the higher price for an electric car. Of course, there is a very real difference between living in rural Saskatchewan and an urban centre such as Toronto or New York. But, do we make too easy excuses for taking that trip to Saskatoon or Prince Albert, or just the Co-0p, just because we can and it’s convenient? How often do we get rid of electronics because they are not the newest? And for parents of the under 2 set; how much do disposable diapers cost the planet - when almost everyone has a washer and dryer?
I read an article online this week on food waste, and how returned merchandise is often sent to the landfill. But then I had to admit that I sometimes buy too much food - often because it is on sale and it’s too good a bargain to pass up and I throw out too much spoiled food.
For too long we in the west have believed it is our duty and responsibility to give the next generation a better life than we enjoyed - but I think we have come to the point where that is not going to be economically or ecologically possible. I also believe it is not morally defensible.
I would not want to go back to the days of no electricity, no central heating, no paved roads, of going years without seeing family because it cost too much to travel, but we have to figure out fairly quickly how to make a much smaller footprint on our planet.
There are great disparities in our world, but even in our own country there is way too wide a gulf. How can we advocate for those who do not have enough to sustain a dignified life? How can we advocate for the First Nations Communities who live with third world conditions?
Yet, we must also do more than advocate. We must to more than ask our governments to “do something”, we must do something ourselves.
Now, as a congregation and as individuals we ARE doing several things - we support our Mission and Service Fund, we support the local food bank, notably with pyramids of peanut butter, pillars pasta, trains of tins, and the three gifts of Christmas. Just think of how many local children will have a child’s joy on Christmas morning because of some of these gifts (and warm hands while making snowmen) We have our Matthew 25 program and the work of our relief fund. A lot of people left on Friday with full stomachs and complimenting the cooks! I am sure that some of you work in the background in other ways.
We must also not forget or belittle the “traditional” work of taking food to those who are grieving or shut in and offering to do chores for those unable to do so. “Being neighbourly” is important.
John preached about the kind of change necessary to truly welcome the messiah! Jesus also preached about change. The problem with change is that many of us think it is something other people need to do.
The gospel call is ours today. Is the way of Jesus of Nazareth something by which we want to live. It’s more than singing carols and putting out a creche. It’s living for the rest of our lives as if this birth is the beginning of the most important live ever lived.
Amen!
Isaiah 7: 10-16
Psalm 80
Matthew 1: 18-25
If you never ever listened to the news or read a newspaper or even hung out at Tim Hortons you would know that an election was looming because of the sudden appearance of a plethora of election signs. Front lawns, roadsides, and intersections all of a sudden come to life with various sizes of signs: Elect me. Vote for us. In blue, or green, or orange or red or whatever set of colours symbolize a particular party, you are reminded of how we need this or than party running the government. We pay attention. or not, as we wish. One of these signs on someone’s lawn proclaim to the world, “I support this party!” Two different signs probably point to some interesting dinner-time conversations behind closed doors.
Of course there are road signs of various kinds! STOP. YIELD. 2nd AVENUE W. NO U TURN.
Yet the word, “sign” can refer to something more nebulous - less concrete. My friend was not sure whether she should become a teacher OR a minister so she applied to two schools, to two different degree programs. When the letters arrived, she saw her acceptance to theological school as a sign that she was called to ministry!
A young person I once knew was not sure if he should be confirmed, or as we used to say “join the church”. One day a street person who worshipped at that church, got up in the middle of the service and went over to where he was sitting, and shook his hand. The teen took it as a sign of welcome and took the promises of church membership with the rest of the class.
There is a well known nautical saying, “red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in the morning, sailor take warning.” On Friday a couple of women were talking about the timing of spring planting based on the interpretation of the phases of the moon - all of which can be found in the Farmer’s Almanac.
There are lots more signs in life: signs that your house is on fire; signs that you have a serious illness; signs that you need to take your car to the mechanic. Don’t ignore these signs - consult with the appropriate authority, and in the case of fire, you are wise to DO SO IMMEDIATELY.
I think you would agree with me that the world is in a mess! (To be honest though, the world has frequently been “in a mess”). As people of faith, we may wonder if God is going to do anything, anything at all. Give us a sign, God. Give us a sign that you care. Give us a sign asking for our support for your plan of action.
Isaiah of Jerusalem, the prophet, was writing his words to a world in a mess. While it is clear to scholars that the child whose conception is heralded is the passage read this morning, is meant to depict someone not all that far into the future, it is ALSO seen by the Christian church as a foreshadowing of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Isaiah’s words may also be seen to apply to other leaders who seem to have been born to “change the world” and “save a people in distress”.
Miraculous births are common in the biblical story - the ageing Abraham and Sarah, the childless parents of the prophet Samuel, the ageing Elizabeth and Zechariah, and, of course, the young un-married, Mary. Each of these show that God will not let little things like infertility, age or the lack of a husband stand in the way of the birth of a important leader. Each of these shows, to the nth degree with Jesus, that it is first and foremost God’s action that will save the people. It may be interesting to note that the original words, in the Greek language, do not emphasize the “virgin” birth as much as they point to the “specialness”. Like the other folks I just mentioned, Jesus’ birth is one sign that “special things are to come. Watch this child. Pay attention!
I suppose that you could say that the signs of Christmas ARE like those ubiquitous signs at election time. The signs of Christmas ask for our support. They demand our allegiance. Whose side are you on? How will you mark your ballot?
The signs of Christmas ask us, “are you with the world, or are you with Emmanuel? Are you with the ways of the Herods of the world or are you with the Prince of Peace?” The signs of Christmas are not just pretty decorations. The signs of Christmas demand a response!
The questions are important. Do we trust God to bring life where there is none and where we think there is no possibility of any either?
Yet, trusting in a sign does not mean that all the work is done for us. For Joseph, he had to raise the boy as his own, he had to provide the extra food, all the sets of clothing for a growing boy, the toys and school supplies necessary for his proper development. He had to answer a small boy’s questions about faith and life and teach him how to be a man. We know the story of Jesus staying behind at the temple in Jerusalem after Passover when he was 12. Did you ever wonder what it was like to live with him 24/7?
Of course, this passage presents a very human and compassionate portrayal. First on Joseph’s his mind on the night of this dream was probably a sense of betrayal. Why did Mary do something like that? I’m not sure how he would actually break the engagement quietly. Someone would eventually notice! The punishment for such a crime was death by stoning! As he awakened he would have been thinking about the “wagging tongues” and the public humiliation. He and Mary would have to have endured the snickers of all those busy-body relatives and neighbours who would take every opportunity to remind them that they could count to 9!
The text is very matter of fact! He did what he did as a faithful response to God’s call, but it must have been hard, very hard!
And so, little baby Jesus, soon to be born, would be raised in the home of a descendant of David. You don’t have to look too far in the Bible to know that this was also an important part of the Messiah’s identity. He exercised the father’s right to name the boy he was going to raise; the name Jesus points to his mission as “saviour”. Like John the Baptizer, Jesus is not named after his father, as was the tradition, but by a name revealed by the Holy Spirit to point to another, more important identity: Jesus!
And so, we fast forward some 2,000 years, more or less, to our year, our community, our hurting and fractured world. How are we called to follow in faith?
One of the shows I never heard of before I got here is a British Comedy by the name of, “Waiting for God”. A colleague recommended it to me and I fell in loved with it! In this series, a group of seniors are living out their golden years in what we would call, an “Assisted Living” facility, and I suppose, “waiting for God to “come and take them”.
One of the two main characters is a sarcastic, retired photojournalist with an acerbic wit. She proclaims herself to be an atheist and does not celebrate Christmas. In the midst of falling in love with Tom, a genial former accountant she speaks with great truth on certain subjects. In her cynicism, however, there is great, if uncomfortable truth.
She tells us why she does not celebrate Christmas during a visit with her niece and her niece’s little baby:
“half of us have no food or medicine and the other half are worrying about something called, “lifestyle” and to add insult to cosmic injury, once a year we get together and talk about peace and good will to our fellow man while stuffing more food into our fat, overfed faces - disgusting, the whole of humankind is disgusting. And you’ve seen little things that should be like chubby chops here dying of starvation after three miserable weeks. You either protect yourself, or you go under straightaway. We should all be dragged by the scruff of the neck around the cess pits of this planet , that would soon open our eyes to what is wrong with humanity.”
I cant say I disagree with her analysis, but I disagree with her ultimate conclusion. When I see those things I see them as signs of a world which people of faith are called to help change. It may be our critique, but it can be our mission.
I used to get a kick out of the “soap opera” Christmas specials where the patriarch of some rich and powerful family would gather the clan together around the Christmas tree, after a year of high finance, back stabbing, affairs, and the general selfishness of soap operas, read the Christmas Story, proclaiming it to be “the most important story ever told”. I wonder why they even bother paying lip service to the story if they are not going to show any kind of allegiance to the ways of Jesus for the other 51 and 4/5ths weeks? Why not just read some Santa Claus story to the children and send them to bed with visions of “sugar plums” dancing in their heads?
We live in a culture that celebrates Christmas, largely as a secular holiday. We come here though as a people of faith. We seek to celebrate Christmas - not with Santa, Turkey and Trees only - but as the birth of Jesus - who came to save the world, who came to change the world.
What visions do we have as we approach Christmas. As we prepare to gather at the manger are we looking for a sign of Jesus coming, a sign of Jesus call to us, for 2020.
How will we try to make life different so that Emmanuel will truly come in some way, however small, to those around us?
Amen.