God is with Us
Readings:
Psalm - Psalm: 80:1-7,17-19
First Reading - Isaiah 7:10-16
Second Reading - Romans 1:1-7
Gospel: Matthew 1: 18-25
What I want to happen:
-
How do
we experience God with us today?
-
how do
we live God with us today?
What I want to happen:
During this week I invite you to take time at the end
of each day to give thanks for ways God with us has both brought love into your
day; and through you brought love into the lives of others.
I also invite you to reflect on what has led you away
from love.
The Sermon
1. Introduction – Advent
-
here are 4
Sunday in advent
o season often see as preparation for Christmas
-
which it is
and so much more
-
Advent is preparing
for the coming of Christ in
o history
o mystery
o majesty
® puts birth of Jesus in the bigger mind blowing story of God with us
® culminating in the restoration of humanity and renewal of creation
® when God’s will is done on earth as in heaven
® pray for each Sunday at least – if not more often
this Sunday we have these great readings to help us reflect on these themes
-
story of
righteous faith filled man (Jospeh)
-
story of man
little faith (Ahaz)
-
writings - man
inviting us live lives of faith ourselves
2. Matthew’s story
® how many gospel offer a Christmas story?
This week we hear Matthew’s version of the Christmas story
Take
a minute or two think about what the Christmas story would be like if all we
had was Matthew
If
Luke did not write his gospel, what would the Christmas story be?
Some
things we might notice
-
Nothing about Elizabeth and John
o No song Zechariah
-
This is Joseph’s story – Luke is
Mary’s story
o no Annunciation
o no Mary’s Song
-
Joseph and Mary are from Bethlehem not
Nazareth
o
No census
o No journey
o Not staying in stable but in Joseph’s families’ house
- No shepherds,
® but are Persian Magi
-
Is star
-
Flee to Egypt to avoid Herod’s pogrom
-
Don’t go to temple
o Jesus not presented
o No song of Simeon or Anna
3. Matthew
Basic
question of all gospels is
“who
is Jesus and so what”
Each
answer it differently
Matthew
is seeking to set out Jesus’ credentials for being the Christ, or Messiah, and outlining
what kind of messiah he might be
-
Through whakapapa/ genealogy
-
Through the birth story
-
Through John the Baptist’s announcement
-
Through Jesus’ actions and teaching
-
Through constant linking story Jesus
with story people Israel
So
today we have Matthew’s birth story
Important
that we read it on it’s own terms.
4.
Joseph
In
Matthew’s story Joseph assumes more pivotal role than in Luke
-
Faith filled man
-
Who is willing to trust God
Constant
theme in Matthew is the Spirit at work = taking the initiative
-
Rousing those in story
Joseph
is one of those who is open to the presence of the Spirit
-
And he is willing to listen
-
And is stirred into action by the
Spirit
He
discovers Mary is pregnant, and he is not the father.
So,
to preserve his family’s honour,
-
and maybe to allow the real father to take
responsibility for his actions and take Mary as his wife and acknowledge his
child
-
Seeks to quietly end his engagement
with Mary
In
dream the Divine Spirit speaks, and he is willing to allow this Divine Spirit
to work through him
-
so he steps outside of what might have
been expected of him.
Takes
Mary as his wife and publicly declares the child as his
Spirits
work in Joseph is not done
Spirit
continues to work through him
-
in a dream he is warned to become a refugee
and to leave for Egypt.
- And again he is told when he returns
not to go home to Bethlehem, but to go to Nazareth – a really out of the way
place, instead.
5. Ahaz gets his comeuppance
In
contrast Matthew quotes from Isaiah
I
think it is important that we remember that this prophecy originally was not
about the Messiah
-
Not about Jesus
Prophecy
for Ahaz in his situation, to encourage him to be a man of faith and to trust
God.
Ahaz
is not very faith filled
And
we will find that he is also not willing to trust God
He
is in a very hard place
Northern
neighbours want his help with Assyria
-
He is not interested
So
they try depose him
-
Which he is not happy about
So
he plots what to do next
Meanwhile
Isaiah prophet turns up saying
-
Do not fear Ahaz
-
God is with us
-
Trust God
-
Ask for any sign and God will give it
Ahaz
doesn’t want sign
He
has already made pact with Assyria to help him out
-
Which in hindsight is not that good a
deal
So
he hides behind a pious position
But
Isaiah sees through
God
sees through it
And
the sign is given anyway
- that Young women
o (Hebrew not about virgin – although if not married then all likelihood virgin)
-
Will give birth to a son
-
She will name him Emmanuel – God with
us
-
And before he is 2
-
The northern neighbours of Israel and Syria
who are trying to depose him will be gone
-
Southern kingdom and Jerusalem will be
safe
-
So it comes to pass
Does
he see sign?
The
sign is remembered and reinterpreted
-
Seen as a sign for one of the versions
of the coming of the messiah
-
And eventually Matthew applies this
sign to new baby
o Jesus - God saves
o Emmanuel – God is with us
More
than a sign
God
with us in a new way
-
mind blowing way
-
baby born in Bethlehem
I wonder how all that helps us celebrate Christmas - Joseph who was faithful and trusting
- Ahaz who was not
- God found in Jesus who is faithful and desires to be with us
- how do we experience God today, and how do we live God with us?
6.
Advent
Over
the last 4 weeks you have lit 4 candles and spend some time looking at the 4
themes of Advent
Peace,
from the Hebrew Shalom
o shalom (שׁלום) is derived from a root denoting wholeness or completeness
o What we long for when pray Lord’s prayer
o Is final part of the advent hope of Christ with us in Majesty
But
we are not there yet
-
So we live in hope
-
“Hope is believing in spite of the
evidence, and then watching the evidence change.” Jim Wallis
Last
week we spent time thinking about Joy
-
Gift from God
-
we are invited to nurture.
Today we think about love - reminds of the work of a great Franciscan theologian
- John Duns Scotus – late 1200’s early 1300
- Like many great Franciscan thinkers was centred on God’s love
- For him Christmas, the Incarnation, is caused simply by God's generous and free love,
o it is not provoked by anything a mere human creature has done [i.e., because of the Fall].”
- One questions of the time was if there was no fall with Adam and Eve, would Christmas and the incarnation still have happened
o Some like Aquinas said no
o Duns Scotus said yes
§ It was always God’s intention and desire to be with us in this new way
o He says that Christ is the first thought of God –
§ or as Richard Rohr says - God's pre-emptive strike of love.
7. Conclusion
As
we think about righteous man of faith – Jospeh
sign
of God with us offered Ahaz the unrighteous man
hold
theme of love
I
invite you to take time at the end of each day to give thanks for ways God with
us has both brought love into your day; and through you brought love into the
lives of others. I also invite you to reflect on what has led you away from
love.
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