Isaiah 7:10-16, Romans 1:1-7, Matthew 1:18-25
Many years ago, before I paid much attention to my relationship with God, I had a startling experience. I have a friend whose daughter has an illness that affects the liver and the kidneys. When her daughter was three years old, she needed a liver transplant. I was out driving in my car one day and suddenly decided to drop in on my friend. I had never dropped in on her before without making plans ahead of time. As I pulled into her driveway, my friend came out on the front step with the phone in her hand and a frantic look on her face. The hospital had a liver for her daughter. They needed to pack and get to the hospital as soon as possible, and she needed someone to take care of her infant son. At that time, my spontaneity seemed like such good luck – there I was to take care of her infant son. But, over time, as I marveled on that good luck, I came to firmly believe that God guided me to my friend’s doorstep. God speaks to our hearts. God gives us signs to sustain us in this life – to comfort and heal us, to guide us in loving and caring for one another, to teach us and deepen our understanding of this life, to help us grow into the full stature of Christ.
“The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But, as we learned in our lesson from Isaiah today, Ahaz would not ask. And, so, Isaiah retorts, “‘The Lord himself will give you a sign.’” Isaiah prophesizes the coming of Immanuel, God With Us. And, in our Gospel lesson, an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream: “‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’…When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.” Joseph responded. Joseph acknowledged the sign from God, the appearance of an angel of the Lord in a dream, and responded. We are in Year A of our three-year Lectionary, our designated readings from Scripture for each Sunday and Holy Day throughout the year. In Years B and C, the Gospel lesson for the fourth Sunday of Advent is about Mary and Mary’s response to God and the angel Gabriel. Mary is pre-eminent among the saints. But, today we are learning about Joseph and Joseph’s response to God. Perhaps this Gospel lesson, centered on Joseph, puts an even greater emphasis on our call, in all our humanity, to see, and hear, and feel, and respond to signs from God.
I am rather fascinated by our Epistle lesson today. The entire lesson is the Preface to Paul’s letter to the Romans. Listen once again: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s it – that’s the lesson. What are we to learn from a Preface to a letter? Perhaps this…perhaps we are being called to be witnesses to Christ. Paul tells the Romans that he is called to be an apostle and he tells the Romans they are called to be saints. We are called to be witnesses to Christ.
In Horizons of Mission, one of the volumes in The New Church’s Teaching Series, Titus Presler sheds some light on what it means to be a witness to Christ. Titus Presler is Sub-Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs at General Theological Seminary in New York, and Professor of Mission and World Christianity. Listen to what he has to say about Witness: “God is the missionary at the heart of Christian mission—that is a central insight of scripture. Although the Catechism talks about the mission of the church, our starting place needs to be the mission of God. Mission is not fundamentally something we do as Christians but a quality of God’s own being. It is not a program of ours but the path of God’s action in the world. The mission of the church, therefore, derives from the mission of God, and it has meaning only in relation to what God is up to in the universe. Already engaged in mission, God simply invites us to participate in what God is doing” (p. 30). God invites us to participate in what God is doing. God gives us the signs. We respond and we live into God’s Creation, God’s peace and freedom, God’s justice, truth and love (The Hymnal 1982, #65).
A wonderful movie came out last year entitled Amazing Grace. This movie is about William Wilberforce, an abolitionist and a Member of Parliament from 1780 until 1825. Despite poor health, Wilberforce persisted for nearly two decades to secure the passage of a Bill to end the slave trade to the British Empire. Wilberforce was heavily influenced by his former preacher, John Newton. Newton was the captain of a slave ship for twenty years. One night, while steering the ship through a violent storm, Newton prayed aloud to God. Later reflecting on the events of the evening, he had a conversion experience, a humbling before God. With time, he repented of his involvement with the slave trade, and eventually became a minister. He wrote the hymn, Amazing Grace. “Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see” (The Hymnal 1982, #671). Inspired by Newton, Wilberforce was torn between a life in the Church and a political career. In the movie, Wilberforce goes to meet with Newton to seek his advice. Should he pursue the work of God, or the work of a political activist? Newton suggests he can do both, that the work to abolish slavery is the work of God. There are two memorable quotes in this movie related to Wilberforce’s reflection about his path in life. The first is Newton offering us an insight into God’s work. The signs that guide us through life are not necessarily striking like a lightening bolt. Newton’s full conversion took years, years of watching for and listening to the signs. He says, “God sometimes does his work with gentle drizzle, not storms…drip, drip, drip.” The signs are there, perhaps a gradual assembling of a puzzle, perhaps a gentle, but persistent affirmation of the work we are doing or the next step we should take. We are called to be aware, to hear, and see, and feel the signs. In another scene in the movie, when Wilberforce is contemplating his lengthy illness and the arduous process to abolish slavery, he says, “I was chosen for this task and I failed. Some part of me doesn’t accept the idea that I’ve given up.” Something speaks to him, something keeps him going. With encouragement from family and friends, he returns to the cause, and indeed, the Bill is passed, slavery is abolished. Wilberforce is aware, he feels, and sees, and listens to the signs, and his life’s work is completed.
Our Christmas hymn tells the story. “Angels, from the realms of glory, wing your flight o’er all the earth; ye, who sang creation’s story, now proclaim Messiah’s birth. … Sages, leave your contemplations; brighter visions beam afar: seek the great Desire of nations; ye have seen his natal star” (The Hymnal 1982, #93). There was a host of angels, and a bright star in the night sky. There were signs. And, Christ, our Savior, was born.
