Second Wednesday in Advent

Advent Wreath: Isaiah 9:2-7 The people walking in darkness have seen a greatlight; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness. You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before You as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils. For You have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as You did on the day of Midian. For the trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire. For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

Music Video: Libera: Angels We Have Heard on High

Matthew 1:1-17 The historical record of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers, Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Aram, Aram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered King David. Then David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife, Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, Abijah fathered Asa, Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, Joram fathered Uzziah, Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered

Ahaz, Ahaz fathered Hezekiah, Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, Amon fathered Josiah, and Josiah fathered Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. Then after the exile to Babylon Jechoniah fathered Shealtiel, Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, Abiud fathered Eliakim, Eliakim fathered Azor, Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, Achim fathered Eliud, Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, Matthan fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, 14 generations.

How likely would you be to believe someone - and I’m talking about someone you know very, very well - if they came to you and said, “I’m having God’s baby! There was this angel and He said God thinks I’m really special - and my baby is going to save the world!”

You can hardly blame Joseph for considering divorce when Mary told him that. I doubt Mary was posting #motherofGod and #Godthinksimspecial. In fact she was probably really scared when she told Joseph. She sounded so grown-up and confident when she told the angel, “may it be to me as you have said” - but her voice was probably cracking and she was already worried about how to tell Joseph. I know it’s not politically correct to talk about such things - but Joseph had every right back then to have her put to death - so divorce was actually the kinder, gentler way of treating her.

For any of you who have either adopted a child or know someone who did - you know it’s called “gotcha day.” It’s the day a family is formed - and to be honest it’s pretty special. The mom and dad are telling this little one - or not so little one - they are choosing them. Out of all the babies and children in the world - they are choosing them. With all the choices in the world to know someone loves you enough - cares about you enough to choose you - that really is special.

Whatever Joseph had been thinking at first - after the visit of the angel in a dream - he was all in with God and with Mary and the baby that wasn’t his - but that wasn’t going to stop him from treating this child as though it was his own. It became the most special gotcha day in all of history. And Joseph immediately stepped into his role as the one who would love, guide and protect not just Mary - but this holy Child of God. And before you think I’m talking about Joseph “gotcha’ing” Jesus - it really was Jesus “gotcha’ing” Joseph - for such is the love of God.

When Matthew wrote his Gospel - he was writing primarily to a Jewish audience - so when he traced Jesus' genealogy he did it through Joseph’s lineage. A few years later when Dr. Luke was gathering all the stories for His Gospel and was writing for a primarily Gentile audience - he traces Jesus’ genealogy back through Mary’s lineage. If you trace both genealogies back you discover they diverge at King David with Joseph coming from Solomon and Mary coming from Nathan. Jesus was not “bone of Joseph’s bone or flesh of Joseph’s flesh” as the law required - but that didn’t matter to Joseph - and from everything we can tell from the Gospels - it didn’t matter to Jesus either. When the crowds gathered to hear Him preach said, “isn’t this Jesus - the son of Joseph the carpenter” - Jesus doesn’t correct them - He just smiles and keeps on preaching.

Kid’s Message

Matthew 1 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.

We have been praying, studying and thinking about how to have Christmas Eve Worship. We read the Mayor and the Governor’s regulations. We go over our Christmas Eve traditions. Some things we just can’t do. Some things we can. And all the stuff in the middle - all the things we want to do because they are more than just tradition - they in so many ways are Christmas Eve - we can’t do them the way we’ve always done them. Meaning, we have to come up with a new way of doing them. Preserving their integrity and purpose - but do them in a little different way to keep everyone safe.

In a way - it’s kind of like how God created the first Christmas. God worked at preserving the Old Testament promises and prophecies - but Isaiah wrote these words of God down for us to hear, “Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert....”

The reason a lot of people don’t like Advent is because it’s whole purpose is to focus us on the most radical act of humility and grace of all time - the Incarnation. The doctrine of The Incarnation declares that the God who created the heavens and

the earth with nothing more than a spoken Word - out of love for His fallen and rebellious humanity - emptied Himself of His power and glory and took on flesh and blood and got born to save His people.

The word incarnation literally means “to make into flesh.” This is what St. John’s words in his Gospel,“the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” are all about. That which is infinite taking on the finiteness of our physical bodies and getting limited in time and space.

God chose to step out of everyone’s expectations, traditions and usual way of things being done so that there would be no doubt about how great His love is for His people.

“No one has ever seen God,” John goes on to explain, but Jesus “has made Him known.” In other words, if you want to know what God is like, just look at Jesus. But to fully appreciate these words - we have to add something. God chose a carpenter named Joseph to teach Jesus how to be human. Think about this incredible, yet humbling holy task. God says, “I chose Mary to bring My Son into the world. I chose you, Joseph, to teach Him what it means to be a human.”

Joseph, who ignored the whispers and stinkeye and took Mary to be his wife even though he didn’t have to. Joseph, who was of the house and lineage of David and therefore had to make the journey to Bethlehem - but wouldn’t leave Mary behind. Joseph, who found a stable when there was no room for them in the inn. Joseph, who took the 8 day old Child to the temple to be circumcised according to the law. Joseph, who without thought packed up his wife and Son and fled to Egypt to protect them and waited until he saw Herod’s name in the obituary before he returned home. Joseph, who reached out and took this Child into his arms and said, “gotcha - You are mine as much as if You were my own flesh and blood.” Joseph accepted and fulfilled his role as though the fate of the world - or at least the salvation of God’s people - hung in the balance.

As I look out over the Gospels - I see Joseph’s influence on this holy Child. Jesus, who was not afraid to embrace the poor, the sick, the marginalized and the “untouchables.” Jesus, who was criticized for hanging out with sinners. Jesus, who treated women with dignity and respect. Jesus, who suffered. Jesus, who wept. Jesus, who got nailed to a cross but was still able to say, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

And do we really want to sit down and try to figure out which times Jesus was being like His real Dad - and which times He was being like His step-dad. Elton Trueblood said, “the divinity of Christ does not simply mean that Jesus is like God. It is far more radical than that. It means that God is like Jesus.” What we see in Jesus - God suffering, God forgiving, God loving the poor, the sick, the cast offs and even His enemies - I just don’t see Joseph telling Jesus’ boy, “that’s a tough one - you better talk to Your real Dad about how to treat sinners, women, lepers, the sick and even the overly-religious cause I’m not sure.” In fact I don’t see Joseph sitting down to tell Jesus how to treat anyone - I see Joseph living out his faith - and Jesus watching. Out of all the people in the world - God didn’t just choose Mary to be the mother of God - He also chose Joseph. Jesus was, is and ever shall be the Son of God - but He is also the Son of Mary and Joseph.

My Baptist heritage would say that I became a believer at age 13 when I got baptized and told the church, “I believe in Jesus.” I know it actually happened long before that - in fact long before I was even born. In the first chapter of Ephesians, St. Paul says, “Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.”

Before I was born - before you were born - before the foundations of the earth were called into being by His amazing Word - God said, “Gotcha.” He looked out and saw you and me and everyone else and said, “you are Mine.” And so, even when I have my Joseph moments - moments where there’s nothing left of my faith but a tiny seed of hope - the size of a mustard seed, maybe even a little smaller. While I’m trying to figure out what I should do - God speaks through Incarnation - the radical moment in time where God loved us enough to become like us. And like God choosing Mary and Joseph to bring the Baby Jesus into the world - God also has chosen us to bring - not the baby Jesus - but the crucified and risen Jesus into our world every single day.

Advent is a season of mystery - of deep blue - of asking questions and then waiting with expectation and anticipation for the answer. When God wanted to show us what He was like, He gave us Jesus through a teenager named Mary and a carpenter named Joseph.

As your neighbors and friends and even strangers look around and wonder about everything that is happening and whether there is any hope. As they ask, “how to treat the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the “untouchables,” and even their enemies - God is ready to bring them the hope and promise of His Son - and He’s going to do it through you and your life - just like He did it through Joseph 2,000 years ago. “Gotcha,” - God said to you in Jesus - and He will never let you go. And as you live your life and prove the grace of God to the world around you - God will keep reaching out and saying, “gotcha” to others as hearts and lives and souls turn to Him. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Skit Guys - Joseph

PrayersLord Jesus, Son of the Most High, Prince of Peace, Mighty Counselor, Word enfleshed - be born again into our world and into our life. Wherever there is war, wherever there is pain, wherever there is loneliness, wherever hope has been stolen, come, Thou long-expected One, with healing in thy wings.

Holy Child, whom the shepherds, kings and stable animals looked upon in wonder and awe - be born again into our world and into our life that awe and wonder may be restored in this darkened world. Wherever there is a fear of failure, wherever there is temptation, wherever there is bitterness - come, with healing in Thy wings.

Savior of the Nations, be born in each of us as we raise our faces to the sky, not fully knowing everything we want - but having access to everything we need. Remind us that Your love is beyond our knowing and has the power to make us whole - but is also so simple and pure that even a child can understand and embrace it. E’en so Lord Jesus, quickly come - and teach us to pray...

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name,Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us;and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom and the powerand the glory forever and ever. Amen.

And now may the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen