Greetings on the last Sunday of Advent as we rapidly approach the Feast of the Nativity in four days and the celebration of Jesus’ birth.
Our invitation to worship calls asks God to help us have a clear conscience as we live in the world so we can get into the heavenly mansion. Our first lesson from the prophet Isaiah is God’s command to King Ahaz to ask for a sign, and ultimately God giving the sign of the coming Messiah. In the response the psalmist asks God to restore God’s people to their proper place in God’s kingdom. The New Testament reading from Romans establishes the account of Christ’s divinity even though he was born of Mary. Our Gospel from Matthew is his version of the annunciation and a description of Joseph as one who live according to his conscience, not society’s dictate.
This Sunday’s readings invite us to consider the often unexpected and improvable truth about God in the person of Jesus Christ. God’s invitation comes in the creation of Jesus as divine in the human realm, living as a sign of the eternal covenant. The story doesn’t gloss over the difficult questions of faith – how does a virgin (maybe better a young woman) conceive a child? How does a carpenter become the adopted father of the Son of God? The answers for us are the answers the early believers had to arrive at, God’s promise may not be a provable fact but God’s promises are as consistent and longstanding as any provable fact we arrive at. Our faith helps us live in the uncertainty of life lived in community with others.
Which hard questions is God asking us to consider as we continue the journey to Jesus’ birth? I invite your comments,
Les+
Readings: Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25
Sermon link: https://audiomack.com/fatherles-2/song/advent-4-sermon
