SETTING THE CONTEXT

Ahaz, the person referred to in our reading, was the king of Israel. He was unfaithful to God practicing idolatry and even child sacrifice to neighboring gods. He actively encouraged the moral decline among his people. (See 2 Chronicles 28:19) Ahaz and his people were afraid of coming under attack from two neighboring countries. In the midst of this stubborn and unfaithful people God reached out again.

Read Isaiah 7:10-16

Ahaz once again rejected God with a thinly veiled excuse of piety. The sign, Immanuel, will indicate the demise of the two threatening kingdoms, but Judah will still face judgment through the nation of Assyria.

Matthew’s birth story of Jesus is very different than Luke’s story. Matthew focuses on Joseph and his role. Mary’s engagement to Joseph was a serious marriage contract that involved the entire village. Even though they did not live together they were legally and morally bound to each other. They lived in an honor-shame society, so Mary’s pregnancy by someone other than Joseph shamed her entire family and was a deep insult to him. At best she and her family would be disgraced, at worst she could be stoned to death. Joseph’s mercy and righteousness are demonstrated by his unwillingness to subject her to public condemnation. He was asked to play a key role in this story by doing something that he and others would have seen as scandalous marrying an impure woman.

Read Matthew 1:18-25

THE SERMON

One of my seminary professors had a friend who got a summer job as the associate pastor for a small church while he was in seminary. This was his first job in this kind of ministry. Of course, shortly after he started the senior pastor decided to take a 4-week vacation. One Friday afternoon, his friend was dashing to the church; he had to type up Sunday's bulletin, finish his sermon and think of a children's sermon. His mind was full of all he had to accomplish as he pulled into the church parking lot. There was a young boy dressed in torn jeans with disheveled hair looking a little straggly standing by himself in the parking lot. As Frank’s friend opened his car door the boy moved a little closer. The pastor asked, "Can I help you?" The boy said, "Are you the pastor here?” After considering the vacationing senior pastor for a moment, he answered "yes, I am". The boy said, "My mother is very sad and I think she really needs someone to talk to. You see my brother just killed himself. Would you come talk to her?"  The pastor responded, "Yes, I will.  Can you show me to your house?" The two of them jumped into the car and drove a short way to a modest home. They got out and entered the house. The mother was sitting on the couch looking frozen, she was staring down the hallway where her sixteen year old son had put a gun to his head and shot himself a couple of hours before. The young pastor sat down and began to speak to her. After a few moments, it was like the floodgates opened and she began to talk and cry and talk and cry. After awhile the conversation waned and it was time for him to leave. As he was leaving, the young boy, Tony, asked if he could ride back to the church with him.  He said, "Sure" and they got in the car. As they headed back to the church they talked and through little things said during the conversation it became apparent that Tony's father was an alcoholic who abused his wife and sons. The young pastor began to wonder why Tony really wanted to ride with him. And finally Tony said, "Something happened a couple of weeks ago with my brother and I wanted to ask you about it. One night my Dad came home and we decided to get out of the house before the storm hit.  We did that sometimes. So we left the house and went to the corner liquor store and got a couple of sodas and went to the park. We sat on the table and pretty soon it got dark and the stars came out." It sounded like the older brother wished on a star and it turned into a litany of wishes. The older brother said, "I wish I could pitch like Nolan Ryan." The younger brother said, "I wish I could bat like Barry Bonds." The older brother said, "I wish I had a brand new red car." The younger brother said, "I wish I had a brand new bicycle." "I wish Marie had the hots for me. I wish Theresa would leave me alone. I wish Dad would leave Mom alone. I wish Dad would just leave. I wish Dad were dead."  Then the boys were silent and Tony said his brother got this far-away look. He was gone, in a totally different place and he stayed like that for a long time. All of a sudden, he said, "You know what I wish; you know what I really wish. I wish I could fly. I wish I could fly and I would fly so high, so high that I would fly right to the face of God. I wish I could fly right to the face of God and see God smiling at me." Then all of a sudden his brother savagely threw his soda bottle against the wall and he said, "But you know what the SOB would probably just turn his back on me." In the car, Tony turned to Frank’s friend and said, "Would he? If you could fly to the face of God, now I know you can't, but if you could, would you see the smiling face of God or would God turn his back?"^[i]

Emmanuel, the name for Jesus that we are considering today answers Tony’s question. Emmanuel means God is with us and in Jesus birth, life, death and resurrection we see that God is not only with us, but for us. In this name Emmanuel, we are told that God is not “up there” somewhere distant and unreachable, but that God is here with us. In Jesus, God entered the muck of human existence through the blood, sweat and tears of childbirth to live a life that included vulnerability to rejection, as well as the joys of tenderness, friendship and love. As our funeral ritual prays, he “knew our griefs, died our death and rose for our sake.” God is with us from the beginning to the end.

There is a fairly recent Christmas song written in Joseph’s voice called “A Strange Way to Save the World.” The chorus goes, “Why me, I’m just a simple man of trade. Why Him, with all the rulers in the world. Why here, inside this stable filled with hay. Why her, she’s just an ordinary girl. Now I’m not one to second guess what angels have to say but this is such a strange way to save the world.” I like the song a lot because if you think about it sending Jesus to us the way God did was a very strange way to save the world. Jesus came to an unwed mother and a scandalized father as a vulnerable baby; now that’s quite a beginning! If he were running for President or Congress today, I wonder what his opponents would do with that information! Emmanuel, God-with-us, is for all of us no matter where we’ve come from and no matter what we’ve been through.

As we see throughout his life, this Jesus God-with-us, does not take us out of the turmoil and pain of daily life, but rather he walks with us as we live life. This is a double edged sword; for those who abuse their power and act unjustly he brings judgment and a challenge to repent, for the weak, outcast and broken he brings healing, and for those who turn their lives over to him, he brings shalom or salvation. We’ll hear more about that on Christmas Eve.

Our son and daughter-in-law are expecting a son. He is due to be born in the next week. Our anticipation is building and building; each morning I wonder, “Will this be the day?” I try to imagine him and what he’ll be like, but I can’t. I can’t imagine how life will be once he is born and a part of our lives, but I do know that it will be different. And since he will be our fourth grandchild, I also know that in a very short period of time we will not be able to imagine life without him just as we’re unable to imagine life without Kaitlyn, Eli or Damian. I believe that once people allow this baby Jesus into their lives it works the same way. I can not imagine my life without Emmanuel, at the center.

I wonder what would have happened if someone had told Tony’s brother about Jesus. I wonder what would have happened if someone had invited him to church or to youth group so he could hear the he didn’t have to fly, he didn’t even have to wish to see face of God. All he had to do was open himself to Emmanuel, God-with-us. He had the witness of Scripture and people of faith to tell him about Jesus and through him, he would have seen the smiling face of God looking at him.  I don’t know for sure, but I believe that through Jesus, Tony’s brother would have found the strength and comfort he needed to keep walking until he could leave home and start a new life. I hope and pray that Tony received the gift of Christmas who is Christ; I hope that the young pastor’s answer to his question saved him from similar hopelessness and he helped him with his family situation. There are lots of Tonys out there who know neither the Message nor the Savior. Why don’t you invite one of them to join us this Christmas Eve to hear the great birth story of Emmanuel, God-is-with-us? Amen.

Sermon delived by Rev. Nancy Cushman on December 23, 2007.