Reflection on Matthew 1:18-25

Plan number one was very simple.  Joseph was to get married to Mary, and they would have a simple, but happy life together as a family.  They would likely have some kids, Joseph would support the family through his woodcraft, Mary would care for the little ones, they would laugh together, and it would be normal and wonderful.

Joseph’s first plan may seem a little general in nature, but no one hopes that very real and very specific hardships of life will appear.  The dream of the future is usually pretty simple and pretty happy.  Unfortunately, simple and happy rarely plays out as we had imagined.  Joseph’s plan for a simple and happy life is upset dramatically when he finds out that Mary is pregnant.

So, plan number two is hard and heart wrenching.  Should Joseph strike out in anger and ruin this woman who has ruined his plans in life?  Should Joseph publically disgrace this woman with whom he thought he was going to build a happy future? 

Destroying other people in retaliation is not righteous.  “Vengeance is mine,” says the Lord.  So, though Mary’s pregnancy and the unfaithfulness that it implies is a knife to Joseph’s heart, Joseph takes the high road. 

Plan number two consists of dismissing Mary quietly.  Their relationship together will just disappear and dissolve into the background of life.  Joseph is not the type of guy who would post his relationship problems all over social media.  Rather, he is the guy who would post recent vacation pictures of him in front of the Dead Sea, smiling with thumbs up, as people briefly wonder, “What happened to Mary?” and then go on about the task of fixing their morning coffee.

This plan is not going to go any better than the first. 

You see, we have a habit of making plans and God has a habit of doing whatever it is that God wants to get accomplished.  If you ever want to make God laugh, make a plan for your life.  Right? 

God has something much bigger in mind for Joseph than either simple married life or vacationing as a single man near the Dead Sea.  I am making up the vacationing stuff by the way.  I do not know if Dead Sea vacations were even a thing back then. 

In any case, whatever Joseph’s new plans for single life entailed, God has another idea.  God has plans to enter into the world.  God has plans to save the world from its sin.  God has another idea of what the future holds for Joseph, and the plans that Joseph tries to establish make no difference what-so-ever.

At the very moment when Joseph decides to end the relationship with Mary, God sends an angel of the Lord to him in a dream.  And, it was at that moment when plan number three is revealed.  But, plan number three is not Joseph’s plan; it is God’s plan.

"Joseph, son of David,” Joseph hears in a dream, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."  We are told by the gospel writer that “All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us.’"

Now, I desperately wish that when plans one and two do not work out in my life, that a dream might clearly reveal what God’s plan might be.  Would that not be nice?  Not that God never reveals to us plan number three, but the reality is that most of time when plans one or two do not work out, we have no idea what to do from there. 

This dream with specifics is nice.  Joseph is told to take Mary as his wife, name the baby Jesus (which means “savior”), and watch his future as he saves the people of God from their sins.”  That is nice.  The road laid out for Joseph is clear.  It is actionable.  And, rarely do we get such a clear plan handed to us through a dream from God.

Maybe, that is why Matthew’s birth story is placed on the fourth Sunday of Advent rather than Christmas Eve, because this is still about waiting. 

Advent is the season of waiting.  It is the season of the church year where we learn to slow down and listen and wait for the Lord to do what the Lord desires to do.  Advent is the space that occurs between plans one and two and God’s own plan.  So, if we have not gotten the dream from God yet, if God’s desires have not yet been revealed, maybe the lesson here is to not rush too fast into yet another plan of our own devising.  Maybe the lesson here is to simple wait. 

Wait and listen to see what God desires to do.

So, what has been eating at you?  What has been on your mind?  What issue in life have you tried to solve multiple times through multiple mental scenarios, all of which do not turn out well?  Maybe, the answer right now is to decide to not make a plan.  Maybe, the answer right now is to simply wait and see what God desires to do.

After-all, there once was a man who thought his life was coming apart because he was convinced that the love of his life was cheating on him.  He tried to fix what he could, but in the end, the man found out that God’s plan was so much better than he could have ever conceived.  Just when life seemed to be falling apart and it seemed that God had abandoned him, Joseph discovered that God was with him the whole time with a future that Joseph could not have even made up if he tried. 

In other words, God was with Joseph the whole time.  Is it any wonder that Jesus is “Emmanuel” which means, “God is with us.”

And, God is with you.  Especially, when plans one and two and seventy two do not play out life we had hoped, God is still with us.  Take the time to listen for the dream.  Take the time to wait and see what God will do because God is with us.  Jesus is born.  And, he is named Jesus, which means “savior.”  Our savior is with us.

Reflection on Matthew 3:1-12

As they made their way through the trees, it was the waters they could not wait to see.  It was the waters that they hoped would wash them clean.  It was the waters of the Jordan that they hoped would heal them and make them whole. 

You see, it was the waters that that parted and allowed God’s holy people to cross into the Promised Land.  It was the waters of the Jordan in which Naaman the Syrian bathed which healed the all consuming sores on his skin.  And, it was the waters of the Jordan that reverberated the voice of John the Baptist, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” 

Lives of straight paths are what the crowds hoped for as they made their way into the refreshing waters.  Their deep desire was that everything that creates roadblocks to God’s mercy and goodness in their lives might be washed away.  They wanted the Lord’s path to them to be straight.  They wanted the Lord’s path to be clear of roadblocks.  They wanted the Lord’s path to be free of sin and illness and everything else that gets in the way of the wonders of the Lord.

So, they were baptized in the waters of the Jordan.  It was not a Christian baptism which would make them a part of God’s people (they already were family with God through Abraham presumably), but rather, it was a baptism that washed away sin and made them feel clean and good and ready for the coming of the Lord.

And, we still make those sort of pilgrimages today.  People pay good money at spas to have the troubles of their lives washed away in mineral rich waters and toxins removed through therapeutic hands.  Others seek the cleansing smoke of Native American rituals, bathing in an ever rising river of natural fragrance.  Still others wash their sin and pain away in a bath of beer and whiskey. 

I prefer wash away my troubles with a cleansing bath of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.  There’s nothing that a glorious mouth wash of sweet and salty goodness cannot fix…at least for a couple of minutes.

And, that is the problem, is it not?  A nice, relaxing dinner always comes to an end, and the problems of the world return.  The massage that rejuvenated the soul is shaken off in a matter of minutes as you leave the spa and walk to the car that will return you to real life. 

Even John the Baptist admits that his watery baptism of repentance that washes away sin and leaves you ready for the Lord is merely temporary.  The cleansing waters may bring forgiveness, but the cause of sin and pain still remains.  “I baptize you with water for repentance,” John the Baptist declares, “but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me.” 

You see, there is only so much that we can do to heal our souls.  We can ease each other’s pains temporarily.  We can listen to each other’s problems and guide each other in paths forward.  We can even forgive sins committed against us, setting free our friends and family from guilt. 

One fact of which each of us is keenly aware is that none of these things get to the root of the problem.  None of these things fixes the soul.  Each of these things may repair the harm that the soul creates, but the soul is still wounded and will create harm again.  So, the amazing thing that John the Baptist promises is that the one coming after him will baptize us not only with water, but also “with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

You see, the purpose of a baptism of fire is not to wash the outside clean, but to purify the very soul itself.  When you take some metal and melt it down into a molten soup, all of the impurities raise to the top.  It is at this point that the sword smith or skillet maker can scrape off all the impurities that do you belong in the metal.  That way, the pure metal can be poured into a new mold and a new creation can be made. 

In the same way, Jesus comes not to just wash our sin and pain off of the outside, but to transform us into something new and pure.  In other words, John is saying, “a baptism of water is fine, but give me Jesus.”

“Give me Jesus.”  That reminds me, before my wife and I went to seminary we worked regular jobs and lived a regular life in a regular neighborhood.  And, in that regular neighborhood was a wonderful old woman, the neighbor across the street, who looked out for us and made sure this young couple was taken care of. 

Dorothy would take us out to have Chinese food periodically…or rather, she would enlist our help in taking her out for Chinese food.  At the Four Seasons Chinese Buffet, she would encourage us to partake in her favorite dessert: those warm, fried sugared rolls.  Her face would transform from revealing a life of age related aches and pains to one of pure ecstasy. 

However, being a good Christian woman, she would remark each and every time, “These are absolutely delicious, but I still wouldn’t trade them for Jesus.  Give me Jesus.”  That was her life.  It was one of enjoying life, but never confusing that enjoyment with the life that Jesus provides.  She would give it all up in order to have Jesus.

Only Jesus can melt down our souls, scrape out the impurities that lead us in the wrong direction and scrape away the pain that holds us hostage, and then pour us out into a mold to create something new for the world to see.  I have seen it happen over and over again as addicts are transformed into therapists, and those with disabilities are transformed into motivational speakers.  I have seen it happen as enemy soldiers who are filled with hate are transformed into people bearing mercy, and long estranged brothers are brought back together. 

Having a beer or two to relieve the pressures of life is all well and good for the short term, but in the end, give me Jesus.  You can have all this world and all its riches and all its fixes, but as for me, give me Jesus.

Give Me Jesus

(Afro-American spiritual)

I heard my mother say

I heard my mother say

I heard my mother say

Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus

You can have all this world

But give me Jesus

Dark midnight was my cry

Dark midnight was my cry

Dark midnight was my cry

Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus

You can have all this world

But give me Jesus

In the morning when I rise

In the morning when I rise

In the morning when I rise

Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus

You can have all this world

But give me Jesus

And when I've come to die

When I've come to die

Oh, when I've come to die

Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus

You can have all this world

But give me Jesus

You can have all this world

But give me Jesus

Reflection on Matthew 24:36-44

What is the point? 

What is the point of all of this end time language of evildoers being swept away like in the time of Noah?  There are two people working in the field.  One is swept away while another righteous one remains working.  There are two women holding their stone pestles, grinding meal in their mortars when one is suddenly swept away.  The righteous woman remains, grinding the grains.  What is the point of these fear-driven images?

I guess the point is exactly as Matthew writes, to “keep awake.”  But, still I ask, what is the end game here?  What does keeping awake look like?  Is Jesus asking us to become life-long insomniacs?  Are we supposed to literally stay awake so that our houses are never robbed by thieves?  Are we to hole ourselves up, booby-trap our doors, and survive off of canned food for the remainder of our days?

I ask because in the early 1990s, while I was in high school, there was a certainty that the end of the world was near.  Completely ignoring the words of Matthew 24:36 which read, "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father,” if you were alive to remember, some people thought that the Jewish settlements in the West Bank were a clear sign that the end was coming soon.  Infomercials were purchased and played after the nightly news telling us of this impending end.  If you also remember, there was no other late night programming at the time.  So, these infomercials were all a high school night owl had to watch. 

I was in fear.  The thought of the impending end of the world paralyzed me.  I had hardly lived my life!  There were places to be explored and relationships to be had.  I did not know how to move forward in life if it was all to be over very soon.  I had no idea what to do with this fear inducing information.

Of course, the 1990s passed by and the West Bank settlements did not usher in the end of the world, rather they fueled a period of anger on the part of the Palestinians that still exists to this day. 

And, that teenager who watched those late night infomercials grew up to go to seminary in order to learn how to answer some of these lingering questions from the decade before.  And, what that seminarian learned was that the writers of the Bible often take the time to answer the questions they raise; you just have to keep reading further in order to find the answer.

Maybe it was because we pull out little snippets of scripture to focus on in worship or because many Christians do not regularly read the Bible that it took me all the way until seminary to learn a very basic technique in order to find answers to my biblical questions:  just keep reading. 

With that said, what exactly do we discover when we read a little further past the images of unrighteous people being swept away?  What lies beyond the injunction to “Keep awake…for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming”?  What is the end game here?  What does “keeping awake” look like?  What is the point?

You find the point in Matthew 25:35-36.  This is what keeping awake is all about: giving the hungry food, providing drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger and caring for them, giving clothing to the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting those in prison. 

Those who are awake enough to remember these things are the ones who will not be swept away.  They are the ones who know what kingdom living is all about.  They are the ones who are awake enough to see the need around them and not allow the thief to snatch away those opportunities to love.

The idea that you can just bunker down in your home with your canned food and hide out until the day of the Lord’s coming is plain ridiculous.  Even Paul rails against such behavior in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-11 saying, “Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.” 

Of course, I do not personally know of anyone with a doomsday shelter, but I know plenty of people who feel as if they have nothing to contribute to God’s kingdom.  I know plenty of people who live in fear, or feel tired, or simply lack the ability to feel the Holy Spirit alive and at work in their lives.  They stand gazing at the horizon, looking for something better, looking for something beyond in the distance, and all the while the flood waters of hopelessness are collecting around their feet. 

Do not worry.  I have been there.  Plenty of times I have stood, unable to move, unable to shake the waters of inaction from rising toward my soul.   

That is why we have each other.  That is why we have a kingdom in which we stand, together.  That is why Matthew has told us to “keep awake” using the plural in the Greek. We “keep awake” together. 

Jesus desires deeply for us to keep awake so that we can care for others.  After-all, there have been plenty of times that Jesus has sent someone who was fully awake to provide water when we needed it.  In the past, Jesus has provided someone to hand us food when there was none.  Jesus has provided us people who have not been swept away by fear, tiresome souls, or simple inaction.  Jesus has provided us with kingdom people, who have not forgotten to:

give the hungry food,

provide drink to the thirsty,

welcome the stranger and care for them,

give clothing to the naked,

care for the sick,

and visit those in prison. 

“Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right,” Paul encourages his people in Thessaloniki.  And, Matthew is encouraging us, in the same way, to keep awake and take part in this kingdom living.

By the way, did you know that you can be arrested for being awake to long?  Yes, the cops will charge you with “resisting a rest.” 

Sorry, for that groaner.  The tone of this whole sermon was much too somber and that is not what kingdom living is all about! 

Living in Jesus’ kingdom is not a burden, but a gift!  We get to be a part of the story of salvation that Jesus has shown us on the cross! 

We get to see the eyes of people start to gleam once again when they realize that someone notices and someone cares. 

We get to know that we are a part of something vital in this world when we help. 

We get to be a part of God's love which is the foundation of all existence whenever we give the hungry food, provide drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger and care for them, give clothing to the naked, care for the sick, and visit those in prison. 

Keep awake so that we, together, might be a part of Jesus’ great vision to make God’s kingdom to come, and God’s will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven.