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Sermon: The Fourth Sunday in Advent Year A - 19th December 2010
St Aidan's Anglican Church West Epping 8:30am
Readings: Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25
Christmas is very close now. About five shopping days away. We go through the usual routines and rituals. We attend church and we hear the same stories. It can be so easy to let it all wash over us and just accept all that is going on. But Matthew’s account reminds us that there are real problems with this story, real problems with the story of Jesus’ birth, with the idea of God entering the world as a man. Have you eve been in a situation where you have had to tell a story but you know when you tell it, it will cause real problems? You have to tell the truth but what you say, instead of answering questions will only raise more. Instead of solving a problem it will only create a bigger one. This is the problem Matthew has in today’s reading. He is telling the story of Jesus’ birth but its problematic. When Luke tells this story it is from Mary’s point of view. It is a simple telling of what happened. But when Matthew tells the story it is from Joseph’s point of view and he is quick to point out the problem surrounding these events of the birth of this baby.
At the beginning we are told that Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph. This pledge was taken very seriously. But before they were married Joseph discovered that she was pregnant. She explained that this had happened by the Holy Spirit but how could Joseph know that was true? In order for him to have a righteous marriage a marriage that he could be sure was acceptable to God he couldn’t marry a woman he knew was pregnant. Jews took the keeping of the law seriously. And though he was poor, Joseph would normally do what he could to obey it. Here he was faced with a situation where he knew he must act. He could not enter a marriage that he knew could not be blessed by God. Mary herself, was in considerable danger. If the story had got out, she could have been stoned for immorality.
So Joseph’s solution was to terminate the agreement privately to minimize the problems Mary would certainly face. But then something happened. Joseph had a dream. He dreamt of the angel of God who gave him these instructions. He was to proceed with the marriage unconcerned. This would be a righteous marriage. It would have God’s blessing. The story that Mary had told was the truth. Her pregnancy was the result of the Holy Spirit. A son will be born and he must be called “Jesus” which means, “the Lord saves” and this will be his mission – to save his people. Then Matthew makes a comment on these events. He says this is a fulfilment of prophecy that a virgin would give birth to a son and he will be called “Immanuel” which means – God with us
Now this whole scenario presents us with at least two problems. First, we have the problem of this miraculous birth. We live in an age that is sceptical of miracles. People state that miracles don’t happen, therefore this could not have happened. Also, this story might remind us of various Greek myths of gods procreating with humans. Some have argued that this is just a Greek myth that has found its way into the story of Jesus. So with all the problems that this story creates we wonder whether it wouldn’t be easier to leave it out – no Holy Spirit – no virgin birth – no miraculous pregnancy. But if we do that we are left with Jesus, the man, we have Jesus, the good man, Jesus, the good teacher, Jesus the good example to us. At first this seems attractive But even that solution has its problems. The New Testament never speaks of Jesus like this. The New Testament speaks of Jesus as being God. In our reading the instruction from the angel is to call this child Jesus, because he will save his people. But this is God’s role. Only God can save. If Jesus is to bear this title then he must be God. Matthew refers to Isaiah’s prophecy that Jesus be called, “Immanuel” which means “God with Us.” Again, another indication that Matthew regards Jesus as not just a man but God himself. Of course, John brings it all together in his first chapter where he writes, “the word became flesh.” God had become a man.
And that gives us our second problem – how do we understand Jesus? Is he God, who puts on the cloak of manhood. Or is he a man, but divinely inspired. These were the arguments of the early church. How do we understand who Jesus is and does it really matter? We can understand a little better the Incarnation of Jesus – God becoming human – when we consider the alternatives. The easiest alternative is to believe that Jesus was nothing more than a man, a good man and a teacher and example. But if that is all he is then he is little more than a character from history. He spoke to a society of 2000 years ago. There is no reason why his teaching can have any relevance for us. He had some good ideas but so have others. We live in a modern world, times have moved on. If Jesus is just a man he has little to offer us today. On the other hand, If Jesus is God and not man he still has this problem of relevance.
Over the last 100 years we have seen the world go through such suffering. As we look at our world today we see the great injustices of a wealthy world living alongside a world of poverty and hunger. We used to call these people the third world. More recently, people have pointed out that it would be better to call them the two thirds world. They are the majority, not a small minority. But if Jesus is not man then he is not able to understand or experience anything of what it means to be human. As God, he remains removed, separated and distant from our humanity. If Jesus is only a man he lacks relevance, if Jesus is only God he lacks empathy with no direct experience of the human condition.
All this leaves us in an awkward position in one sense, but in actual fact, the best position. Matthew’s account is telling us in practical terms of an amazing event when God entered our world as a man – born of a virgin. People emphasize Mary’s virginity but that’s not the main point. Rather than stressing her virginity we need to remember her humanity. When God became a man he entered into every human experience, including birth, childhood, adolescence and manhood. As the writer to the Hebrews points out, he entered into the full human experience, including suffering so that he might truly be our advocate with the Father, And yet, at the same time he remained thoroughly God, able to heal the sick and raise the dead. Without the Incarnation we have no Christianity. It falls in a heap.
But this foundational doctrine sets the groundwork for that other great truth, the Resurrection. These two go together. You can’t have one without the other. So on the Cross it is God who suffers, and dies and rises again having defeated death. If Christ is not god, he cannot save us. If Christ is not man then he cannot be our representative and advocate before the father. but because he is both, he is able to save utterly those who trust in him. As one of the early church fathers said – God became a man so that man can become God. The story of Mary conceiving a child by the Holy Spirit is difficult. Joseph couldn’t accept it on face value. He needed a special revelation before he could accept Mary into his home. The Incarnation is difficult for us to understand, difficult to explain. Yet without it we are left with nothing to believe and no one to trust. But the message of Christianity is that God revealed himself in this new and special way in his son Jesus. At that birth, heaven and earth entered into a new alliance. At that birth, a new revelation came to all the earth. The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God, the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.