Advent 4: Hey Joe

Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25

First Lesson: Isaiah 7:10-16

Challenges:

You scholarly types out there have already considered a challenge already: the Septuagint translation of verse 14 uses a word that is translated as "virgin" while the original Hebrew says "young woman."  Early Christians, including the authors of the Gospels, used the Septuagint for all of their scriptural needs and thus it was easy for them to see Jesus in this verse.  Had they been familiar with the earlier Hebrew, who knows what would have happened. And therefore our belief in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ is undermined completely and utterly...at least that is what some people will say or think.

This might be a challenge best left to a Sunday School or Adult Forum class, unless you want to make it the center of your entire sermon.  At the same time it might not be that big a deal: each faith community has it's own personality and concerns, but I see this as less of a concern for people in my particular faith community than it might have been a few decades ago.  They might just shrug their shoulders and say, "Ok." You are the expert on your own community/audience. How might they react?

Opportunities:

This could be a great chance to talk about names and their meaning.  I bet you already know (and if you didn't just nod and pretend that you did) that names in the Bible took on a special meaning.  They told you something about the person they were attached to.  Just read the prophet Hosea's words to get a sense of the importance of names.  Perhaps some people will not know, or need to be reminded, that "Immanuel" means "God with us."  To begin your sermon, you could pick out some popular names within you congregation and give their meanings (any baby name website will work for this).  From here you can springboard into what "God with us" is all about.

The Good News:

The "hope and expectation" wagon keeps rolling along with this lesson. Like many, if not all, of the texts for Advent there is something to look forward to.  And, hopefully, all of this hope, expectation and "looking forward" to a future reality will effect our present.  As many wise and faithful theologians have already said, this is a way that the future is breaking into the present.

Psalm: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

Challenges:

There is some powerful imagery that can make a point, but some of this imagery can either be confusing or problematic to the ears of some of your listeners.  What does it mean to be enthroned upon the cherubim and to shine forth before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh? (1-2) Why are only a few tribes of Israel mentioned?  This has to do with the fact that this is a psalm from the Northern Kingdom of Israel (not Judah).

Also, there is a very prevalent feeling today (at least in my context) that shies away from the idea that we should "fear" God.  God is love, etc.  People who dislike the idea of our "fear" of God will probably shy away from verse 4, which speaks of God's anger toward the prayers of the people. This doesn't make the psalm a bad one, it just presents a challenge for your listeners.

Also, the verses of the psalm that are left out of this reading are a vivid analogy for the liberation of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt and their foundation in the Promised Land.  You can't include everything I suppose!

Opportunities:

As I read and reread this psalm the word that kept coming into my head was "relationship."  The writer/speaker of this psalm has a relationship with God.  They acknowledge the ways that the people have failed God, but they are also not shy in describing the ways that God has punished them.  All of the psalms are great examples of people being honest and "leveling" with God: this is an excellent example of this.

 

The Good News:

This is a prayer FROM people TO God. In this psalm itself we do not hear if it was answered.  We do know that God DID and DOES remain faithful in many ways...especially through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Second Lesson: Romans 1:1-7

Challenges:

There is quite a bit packed into these opening seven verses of Romans: themes and ideas that would need chapters to completely flesh them out...and guess what, that's what the rest of Romans does! But we're not going to hear the rest of Romans today are we? Also, because so much is packed into a reading which takes about 40 seconds (yes I timed it) there is no way my mind can process all of the information in this reading and I have a theology degree: processing this sort of stuff is what I do!

Hearers of this lesson will have a tough time taking it all in: NOT because they are dumb or anything like this, but because it's a difficult passage. This is a good text for Sunday School or Bible Study.

Opportunities:

Having listed all of those challenges in the lines above, I will say that there is a treasure trove of content here: statements about the nature of the gospel, the identity of Jesus Christ, what Jesus does for us, and the purpose and goal given to Christians in the wake of all the above.  Instead of leading with this lesson, it could be a perfect addition to bring into your sermon after you have looked at the Gospel or the First Lesson.  There really is "something for everyone" here.

The Good News:

"...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..." (v. 5-6).  That sums it up: we are saved FROM many things (sin, death, etc.) FOR a purpose.

Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25

Challenges:

This is a pretty familiar story from the Bible, so familiar that people might tune out the details because they feel like they already know it.  Also, while a familiar story it is often read or heard in such a traditional, stilted way (at pageants or services) that the true, emotional import of Joseph's experience can be overlooked.  The way that you read this Gospel Lesson (inflection, emphasis, etc.) will help tell the story, while what you bring up in your sermon will take it the rest of the way.

Opportunities:

Can you get much more "real-life" than this? A regular guy is preparing to get married when he finds out that his bride-to-be is pregnant! I don't think this is the time to go into a description of First Century Galilean Marriage/Engagement customs...this is a chance to talk about how every-day, even MUNDANE this situation is.

The men in your audience/congregation probably have a deep sense of responsibility and honor: this sort of situation will speak deeply to them. It is also an amazing opportunity to talk about what it means to be a righteous man.

What should Joseph do? What kind of emotions are running through his head and heart?  While Matthew doesn't tell us, he DOES tell us that Joseph is a RIGHTEOUS (right-related) man and he is going to do the decent thing: dismissing Mary quietly.  If you are tempted to be a bit critical of Joseph for this, remember that Joseph hasn't been reciting the Apostles or Nicene Creed each Sunday and doesn't know that the child is conceived by the Holy Spirit. 

I named this post "Hey Joe" because Joseph's situation reminded me of the Jimi Hendrix song of the same name, where Hendrix sings, "Hey Joe, where are you going with that gun in your hand?" and the answer comes back, "I'm going down to shoot my old lady, I found her messing around with another man."  This is NOT our Joseph's reaction: he is a righteous man.

In a world where the mistreatment of women is all-too-common, Joseph is an amazing example of something else.

If you are not familar with the sermons of Fred Craddock I thoroughly recommend them.  You can buy his book here.  He preaches an AMAZING sermon on this text.  He talks about how Joseph could have received guidance from his friends and neighbors (who probably would have said, "Dump her!"), he could have "just done what the Bible Says." If this was the case Deuteronomy 22 says, "She is to be taken out and stoned to death in front of the people."

But Craddock says, "Joseph is a good man, and he rises to a point that is absolutely remarkable for his day and time.  He loves his Bible and he knows his Bible and bless his heart for it.  But he reads his Bible through a certain kind of lens, the lens of the character and nature of a God who is loving and kind.  Therefore, he says, "I will not harm her, abuse her, expose her, shame her, ridicule her, or demean her value, her dignity, or her worth.  I will protect her." Where does it say that, Joseph? In your Bible? I'll tell you where it says that. It says that in the very nature and character of God." The Collected Sermons of Fred Craddock (Westminster John Knox Press: Louisville, KY, 2011), page 66.

The Good News:

All the "usual suspects" found in the Gospel Message are here: a challenging situation (v. 18-19) which is changed by the action/intervention of God (v. 20-21) and the transformation of a situation into something whole and complete (24-25) according to the fulfilment of prophecy (v. 22-23).

I find there to be good news in the fact that God chose to use regular people to bring about a (or rather THE) transformation in the world.  Sure, Joseph was descended from David...not that this pedigree would have seemed that grand to a Roman or Greek.  But he wasn't a ruler or official or particularly "special" guy.  But God worked through him (and Mary too).