The Fourth Sunday in Advent, 12/22/2013

Sermon on Matthew 1:18-25, by Carl A. Voges

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear and son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.” [English Standard Version]

“ …Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations…”

[Romans 1.4-

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

The Fourth Sunday in Advent – a Sunday when the world’s and the Church’s understandings of Christmas / Christmass collide. In the world’s understanding there are businesses hoping that the marketing strategies begun in September will have a positive effect on their profit margins. There are decorations on trees and in homes while colorful lights pierce the evening darkness. There are parish communities that staged celebrations of the Son’s birth earlier in December. You will find families and friends exchanging gifts in these weeks while gathering around festive meals.

In the Church’s understanding, though, a different perspective on Christmas / Christmass is reflected and practiced. It opens with the recognition that the waiting which began four weeks ago concludes this day at sundown. These weeks have been a waiting for the Lord’s activity in this world. While they been observed again this year, such waiting really has stretched over thousands of years. What keeps the observance of these weeks sharp and fresh is the realization that such waiting has been immersed in the Lord’s Scriptures along with his Sacraments of Baptism, Forgiveness and Eucharist. It is in and from these holy places where the Lord’s activity makes itself known in these days.

Today, on Advent Four, this activity gets very specific. It unpacks how the Lord’s birth occurred and describes the birth’s purpose – to save the world’s people from their sins. This activity is highly familiar, but, because it is from eternity and works in unexpected ways, it is helpful to review the Lord’s activity in the birth of his Son.

There is a man, named Joseph, who has promised to marry a young girl, Mary. Before this promise is completed in their wedding, though, they find out that Mary is pregnant. Joseph is not the one who has caused her to become pregnant and he is distressed to find out that she is. He decides to quietly break his promise to Mary and not complete their wedding.

But when the Lord’s angel appears to him in dream, he tells Joseph to not be afraid to keep his promise to Mary. The angel recognizes that she is pregnant, but, in ways beyond our knowing or understanding, explains that this has happened because of the Holy Spirit’s mysterious actions. Joseph is then told that Mary will give birth to son / that Joseph is to name him Jesus. The Son is given that name because he is the One who will save his people from their sins.

The passage concludes with the angel reminding Joseph that Isaiah had pointed to the day when the Lord God would be among his people. Waking from his dream, Joseph lets his concerns by overwhelmed by the Lord’s activity. He follows through on his promise to Mary and when she gives birth to a son, he names him Jesus.

Jesus, the Son of God, is being born to save his people from their sin! What does that mean? From our biblical studies we know that sin is the “desire to be like the Lord God” (Genesis 3). It is a drive streaming out from one’s self. It is an attitude that surfaces when one is born into the world. It is a condition and activity that creates the two understandings of Christmas / Christmass. The first one is based in the world’s life, the following one is rooted in the Lord’s activity.

We convince ourselves that this natural desire is not that serious, that it is merely a bad habit to be corrected, that it is manageable. The reality, however, is that it grabs us so powerfully we cannot correct or manage it. While presenting us with all sorts of attractive possibilities, it moves in on us and seeks to hold us permanently in its destructive and deadly ways. Through the birth of his Son, however, the Lord begins his attack on this desire. This attack was later completed in the Son’s dying and rising.

In its attempts to deal with this desire, the world leans on its understandings of Christmas.

The world is not ignorant, it is well aware of the dark side that attaches to its life. It is reminded daily of the hurts and wrongs that run between people, of the injuries and illnesses that press in on them. So it comes up with its understandings of Christmas, thinking they will protect and manage people from all this trouble, but such understandings do not get to the center of where the trouble is, namely, our native desire to be like the Lord God.

Those understandings may explain why people begin to shut their lights off on Christmas Day, take down their decorations and drag their trees to the streets. Christmas is over, it is time to move on to the other things necessary for this world’s life!

That’s why it is much healthier to be immersed in the Church’s understanding of Christmass. Working through the Lord’s holy places, the Spirit helps us recognize the Lord’s activity in the birth of his Son, a birth that leads to his dying and rising – the holy event that frees us from this desire to be like the Lord God.

This is why the Church rejoices in its understanding of Christmass for the next twelve days, letting the celebration run all the way to the Lord’s Epiphany on 06 January! We understand that both the Son’s Incarnation and Birth will break into the world’s dark side, that it will deal with the hurts and wrongs, the injuries and illnesses of the world’s people. The Lord crosses the lives of broken and afflicted people with his own, surrounding them with the realities of his crucifixion and resurrection.

Those understandings may be why the Lord’s people do not remove their decorations and leave the lights burning. They have received the gift that does not tire or wear out. The gift runs on into eternity! His people delight in it as they reflect that gift in the soaring liturgies of the Church along with the gatherings of their families and friends.

The waiting that began four weeks ago is over at sundown today. This coming Tuesday and Wednesday the impact of the Lord being with us through the birth of his Son begins!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts

and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord.

Pr. Carl A. Voges
Columbia, SC
E-Mail: carl.voges4@icloud.com

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