God is with US
This week we hear the Christmas story as told by Matthew. It is told from Joseph’s point of view (Luke is from Mary’s) and is very different from Luke. Compare them and see if you can work out why they are so different. Matthew works hard to mirror the story of Jesus with that of Moses and of the people of Israel in general. And he uses Isaiah 7:14 to explain his name – God is with us! God is with us is not some escapist notion that allows us to pretend that everything is or should be wonderful. Tish Harrison Warren writes, “Our response to the wrongness of the world (and of ourselves) can often be an unhealthy escapism, and we can turn to the holidays as anesthesia from pain as much as anything else. We need collective space, as a society, to grieve—to look long and hard at what is cracked and fractured in our world and in our lives. Only then can celebration become deep, rich and resonant, not as a saccharine act of delusion but as a defiant act of hope.” [1] Th...