Fourth Sunday Advent

Fourth Sunday Advent
December 19, 2004

"The Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be Emanuel. (Isaiah 7: 10-14) ... the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid... they shall name him Emanuel which means "God is with us" (Matthew 1:18-24)

The Messiah is given the royal lineage of David and names (especially, "God is with us") which describe the wonders that will accompany his appearance in history:. The kingdom of God is about to become a reality only through the explicit cooperation of ordinary but extraordinary human beings.
Our tradition of faith, has always affirmed the importance of the human factor in bringing about the realization of ancient hopes for a change in the "rules of the game". The prophet and the gospel both announce that God is no longer far removed from us by some barrier of time and space. The Messiah is much more than we would ever have had reason to expect. He is the one who brings together heaven and earth, divine and human for every single individual who ever lived or will live. Perhaps "being saved", rather than "going to heaven", is to never again be far from God, regardless of who we are or what we do or don't do. Our God is the God who is always with us.
Joseph has a moral and ethical dilemma. Should he "put aside" his commitment to marry this woman who is pregnant? The answer comes to him in a dream when he is sleeping, "thinking" about it with another part of his brain more receptive to the ways of God. Joseph's, just as Mary's, acceptance might provide a metaphor for our own efforts to accept the mysterious ways of God, often revealed in times of crisis. The God who is with us often comes in darkness and unknowing as well as light and consciousness.
This past week in a conversation with an old friend, we discussed our mutual 60-something tendency to think that there was nothing left to be optimistic about. After lamenting the loss of the intellectual and theological tradition in which we were raised, apparently lost to this generation, we realized that what God has done with our lives, our children, indeed all humanity, can never be lost. Although not explicitly recognizing this as the result of God being with us, this is exactly what keeps us optimistic about the future. Not that life on earth has become any more or less unpredictable, violent and dangerous than it ever was. We need to remind each other that nothing good, true and beautiful is ever lost, despite appearances to the contrary. This could be one of the results of the coming of the Messiah into our personal and corporate lives.

Blessed be God, blessed be God's holy name.