Advent 4A 2019

Advent 4A_2019 December 22, 2019 Our gospel reading for today is Matthew’s version of the nativity story. Unlike Luke, Matthew tells the story from Joseph’s perspective, and Matthew uses a series of 4 dreams to reveal information about Jesus’s birth and to assist in his safety. Our reading for today starts with heartbreak, with what seems like broken promises between and man and woman, with a man who is struggling to “do the right thing” without causing unnecessary harm. Joseph’s expectations of his upcoming marriage to Mary are completely upended, and he is left trying to figure out the most faithful way forward in the midst of the scandal of the incarnation. Then, an angel comes to Joseph in a dream and tells him to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife. (What fear in Joseph is the angel countering, do you think? Fear of what people will think? Fear of further heartbreak or betrayal?) The angels tells Joseph that the child that Mary carries is in fact the child of God, and the angel gives Joseph instructions on how to name the child, which through this naming, Joseph is adopting the child as his own. When Joseph awakes, he does exactly what the angel has told him to do. I am struck this week by the fact that this portion of Matthew’s gospel uses the word for genesis two different times (although our NRSV translation doesn’t reflect this). Matthew is connecting the birth of Jesus with God’s creation of all that there is- as is reflected in Genesis; and Matthew is showing that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s long-standing promise to God’s people. I am mindful of how often creation comes out of chaos; how new life comes out of heartbreak. I think about the times in my life when I have stood at a crossroads between where I wanted to go and where God was calling me to go. So much of this life and the heartaches we bear come because we are unwilling to relinquish our own dreams in order to embrace the dream of God which we are being invited to participate in. I think about the times in my life when I have been truly heartbroken; in those times, I am often more receptive to God’s invitation to join in God’s dream than I am at other times when I feel like everything is going smoothly. I wonder if this is how Joseph felt, too? I think about the alertness of Joseph-his willingness to be open to signs and messengers from God in both the ordinary and in the extra-ordinary. I think about the courage of Joseph—the courage to say yes, to participate in the dream of God; the courage to love after heartbreak and disappointment. Every one of us is invited to participate in the dream of God. In the days leading up to the celebration of the birth of God with us, I invite you to reflect on the times in your life when you accepted God’s invitation to participate in the dream of God (and, if you are really courageous, to reflect on the times that you didn’t). I invite you to keep your eyes wide open to look for signs and the ways that God continues to invite you to participate in the dream of God. And I invite you to be courageous in your love, even after heartbreak and disappointment.