Advent rebirth

Today we’ve reached the last Sunday in Advent – more than ever the conflict between the advent period kept in the Church calendar and the joy of Christmas is highlighted. We have probably all sung carols, put up decorations, sent and received cards and maybe even gifts. Even the decorations in the Churches are up ready, but yet in the Church calendar we are still waiting.

This week I was thinking about the difficulty of living out advent in a world that’s longing for Christmas. I was talking to someone who couldn’t understand why decorations were not up in Church for the whole of advent – in fact she told me that my explanation was wrong ! But not to worry ! The distinctions between Advent and Christmas, though huge, are complicated, and there are many misunderstandings !

One night a lady went out carol singing. There was a major problem in that she had an awful voice. She knocked on the door of a house and began to sing. A man with a violin in his hand came to the door. Within half a minute tears were streaming down his face ! Without asking, the lady went on singing for another 10 minutes, singing verses from every carol she knew, and some she didn’t ! At last, as the man’s crying got even worse she stopped. ‘I understand’ she said softly, ‘You are remembering your happy childhood Christmas days. You’re a sentimentalist!’ ‘No’ he sniffed, ‘I am a musician’.

That was the only joke I could find which kind of brought in Christmas and misunderstandings ! But today in our gospel reading(Matt 1:18-25), it seems that the calendar has gone mad again ! In this advent season, as we prepare ourselves for the birth of Jesus, as we continue to wait, the gospel reading tells us of the birth of Jesus. It is confusing to put it mildly, and yet the reading is not actually just about the birth of Jesus, it is actually about the response of Joseph.

As this period of advent draws to a close we approach the very centre of the greatest drama ever – the story of the clash between God and Satan, of good against evil. It is a story so large that kings and emperors and rulers of this world are all only pawns in the story. And we, too, are drawn into the story – each of us has our own part to play out because, as we are drawn into the story, we realise that the story is far from over.

Yet the greater theme of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus are not the object of our thoughts today. In the gospel Matthew speaks only of a man and a woman, and of their anxiety over the birth of their child. He tells their story in a very matter of fact way, and we could easily miss its importance. Yet it is on this small stage of the lives of these two people that the greater drama is played out. In the lives of these two people, we see the whole gospel story – God breaking into the lives of His people, claiming them as His own, and using them to bring in His kingdom.

The story begins very simply with no flashing signs. In many ways it’s a very sad story at first sight. A man and a woman, Joseph and Mary, in an arranged marriage, and suddenly, before the marriage date, she becomes pregnant, and Joseph is not the father. The mystery and the magic of the wedding day suddenly seem lost. This time of happiness suddenly becomes a time of real problems. And Joseph had decisions to make.

And this wasn’t a very liberal society ! The law says he must deal strictly with Mary, and even though he loves her his trust is shattered. If he went ahead with the marriage he would either look irresponsible or, if he admitted the child wasn’t his, he would look like a fool.

And as he weighed up his decision an angel came in a vision, and told him of God’s plan for him. For many this is the hardest part of the story to accept. Not many of us receive night time visitations by angels any more. A lot of people have difficulty believing that God speaks to us at all any more. Yet He claims that He does – He speaks to us decisively in Jesus Christ. The question, really, is whether we are listening. And that was the real question that faced Joseph. He had made a decision. He had decided to send Mary away. But in this vision, God opened up a new possibility to him.

There was no easy or obvious decision to make. It seemed he would lose either way. We all know the ending, Joseph accepted Mary and her child, and we’re so used to hearing that ending that we often don’t think of the consequences for him. By doing this he was risking his business and his reputation. He was offering all he owned to a child that wasn’t even his. He could be considered weak or look like a fool, and yet the alternative was to ignore the voice of God speaking to him.

But it was then that Joseph really showed what he was made of. He showed what was really important in his life. Setting aside the knowledge of the economic and social consequences, and even the possible religious consequences of his action – he decided to follow what he believed was God’s will in the situation. So although he had only the faintest glimmerings of what the angel was talking about, in his desire to be obedient, to listen to the Word of God, and to respond in faith – he changed his mind and married Mary – even over his own objections.

By his obedience to his Lord, in opening his life to the realm of the possible, and letting God use him as He deemed fit – in denying himself and affirming God’s plan, whatever the personal cost – Jesus, the Saviour of all, came into the world. The Hebrews had a favourite name for God: “Yahweh Nisi,” “God who is before us.” But by this one person’s faithfulness, Yahweh Nissi, the “God who goes before us,” became Emmanuel, “the God who is with us” – the God who took on human flesh and acted decisively in history on our behalf.

Advent and Christmas are special seasons. They are seasons in which we remember how God gave Himself for us in the form of a very special baby… It is a time for joy, for praising God, for celebrating and giving gifts. But it is especially a time for rebirth for us as God’s people. It’s a time to discover who we truly are and to discover the wonderful possibilities God offers us as His children.

Joseph was able to make the decision he made because he was standing on the brink of Christmas. He could let go of himself – his desires, his dreams – because he saw God’s kingdom coming. He saw God’s desire to be active in his life. As so he responded – he broke all the rules we cling so tightly to to survive. And he knew that if he were to fall, it would only be into the loving arms of God.

As we also sit on the brink of Christmas once again, may we realise how God has chosen us to reveal Christ in the world, to be born into it again through our faithfulness and our love...

He waits to be reborn again this Christmas into our hearts and into our lives, and so, may we, like Joseph, living on the brink of Christmas, receive this most wonderful gift. AMEN