Mt 1.18 Adv4A God s Weakness Rev Wm Bell St Anne s 18Dec2016 1

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1 Mt 1.18 Adv4A God s Weakness Rev Wm Bell St Anne s 18Dec Now the genesis of Jesus the Messiah took place this way. In the name of the God who saves in new and creative ways. Amen. So, I love babies. Real, live, huggable, messy, noisy babies. And I ve made sure all 3 of my children have first-rate cameras. So that they can record the wonderfulness of my grandchildren. And send me those pictures and videos on a frequent basis. I know my own genesis fairly well. And I ve pointed out my Scot-Irish White Trash genealogy before. So I ve been intrigued with my new grandson Henry. The first descendant of mine with olive skin and brown eyes. His dad, Sammy, is born of Italian and Nicaraguan roots. Sammy s family is matriarchal and Hispanic to the core. But Henry also has his own unique spirit. He looks out on the world with a gaze of concerned surprise. As if he s saying, Really, this is what the world has to offer? And as he s grown, Henry s trained his parents well. They respond to his every cry and smile with lightning quickness. And, no doubt, when I see him on December 26, He ll soon have me under his spell also. So Matthew opens his spellbinding story, On the 1 st page of the New Testament with the Genesis of Jesus. The beginning of the new creation. The fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham. When, through the children of Abraham, God will bless all the nations of the world. The genesis of Jesus comes at the 43 rd generation after Abraham. But the genealogy of Jesus flouts traditional Old Testament norms. In addition to the 42 Jewish males who begat Jesus, Matthew includes 4 women, 4 unusual Gentile women. Tamar who dresses as a harlot and seduces her father-in-law, In order to force him to provide the male heir she is due. And so her son Perez becomes Jesus ancestor. Rahab, the prostitute of Jericho, who helps the Israelites, And is the mother of Jesus ancestor Boaz. Then there s Moabite immigrant Ruth, Desperate to provide for herself and Naomi, She hatches a bodacious plan that forces a marriage to Boaz. And bears Jesus s ancestor, Obed. And David himself, kills Uriah the Hittite, and takes his wife, So Bathsheba bears Solomon.

2 Mt 1.18 Adv4A God s Weakness Rev Wm Bell St Anne s 18Dec And you thought your family tree has skeletons on it. But none of this prepares us for the genesis of Jesus himself. Joseph has a plan for how his relationship with Mary will play out. Both of their families arrange their betrothal. Mary must be at least 12 years old when the arrangement is made. Carefully chaperoned, Joseph will visit Mary in her home. And when Mary is ripe for marriage. Joseph will bring her into his home and they will be married. Then they will have marital relations. And, hopefully, have children. But as we know, we make plans, and God laughs. Joseph goes to visit Mary one day and Mary is pregnant. Imagine how angry and betrayed Joseph feels. But Joseph is a righteous man, upstanding and respected. He knows the two choices the Deuteronomic law allows him. First, he may publically shame her, And then the men in her family must stone her to death. In order to uphold the honor of their family. The tradition of honor killings that still infests traditional societies. Or, second, he can privately end the betrothal with a writ of divorce. And let Mary and her family work it out on their own. Joseph decides on the merciful option. But Joseph goes to sleep that night. And, like his Old Testament namesake, Joseph has a dream. In the dream, God gives Joseph a third choice. Joseph, the son of David, may take Mary into his home. Claim her as his wife. And claim the son in her womb. Adopt him by naming him Jesus, which means God Saves. And through Jesus, the Lord God will save all the people. The hope and promises that begin with Abraham, And continue with the proclamations of God s prophets, God will fulfill through this Jesus, who is also God. Because God fathers Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. So the next morning, Joseph wakes up. And he decides to accept the taint of scandal. The whispers that follow him and Mary and Jesus forever. Upright Joseph rejects his duty and obligation. And follows his dream, his imagination, and God s promise.

3 Mt 1.18 Adv4A God s Weakness Rev Wm Bell St Anne s 18Dec Joseph saves Mary and Jesus from death by stoning. And will save them again by fleeing to Egypt. And so God s salvation of all creation begins. The promised new heavens and a new earth begin. Through Jesus, son of Abraham, son of David, son of Joseph By adoption. Son of Mary in the flesh. Son of God by nature, out of the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus Matthew begins the New Testament with a New Genesis. A genealogy of unusual marriages ends with an unprecedented miracle. The genesis of Jesus through a virgin birth. In fulfillment of God s prophetic word through Isaiah. God s new creation begins like the first one. Through God s saving word and God s life-giving spirit. The God who will be with us until the end of the age through Jesus. Through the words of Jesus. And through the Holy Spirit given to us at our own baptism. But this is such a different story than any Christmas pageant No Annunciation or Visitation or Magnificat. No stable or animals or shepherds or heavenly host. Mary never speaks a word in Matthew s Gospel. Oh, there will be wise men and vicious King Herod. And like Joseph in the Old Testament, This Joseph will go down to Egypt and save his family from death. Herod will slaughter innocent babies. But the baby Jesus will survive and grow up. Then a different Herod will conspire to slaughter Jesus on the cross. Unlike Luke s story, of universal wonder and glory, Matthew s story is masculine and Jewish and gritty. But both stories convey the same good news. God is doing something new in this new covenant. Something new that fulfills and validates the old covenant. A virgin will give birth to a son through the power of the Holy Spirit. In this marginal eastern edge of the Roman Empire, God will work through a humble and poor peasant family, To begin a new creation. One where there is only one Lord, only one King, And that King is Lord Jesus. Son of Adam, Son of Abraham, Son of David, Son of God. Son of Tamar and Rahab and Ruth and Bathsheba.

4 Mt 1.18 Adv4A God s Weakness Rev Wm Bell St Anne s 18Dec The rich are overthrown and the lowly lifted up. No Caesar can claim to be our God or Lord, only Jesus. A new creation that encompasses all languages and nations and tribes. Where all of us can also claim to be children of Adam and Abraham, In the flesh and by adoption. There is a deep irony here. Jesus is God s natural son--son of God by nature, And Son of Joseph by adoption. On the other hand, we are sons and daughters of Adam by nature. But through Baptism, we are adopted sons and daughters of God. Where, in the power of Holy Spirit, God claims us as his own. Not that we should let this give us a big head. Looking at the stories, at the violence and threat of violence. At the weakness of Tamar and Rahab and Ruth and Bathsheba. At the weakness and humility and poverty and fragility of baby Jesus. Of the threat to pregnant Mary, and refugee Joseph. At the slaughter and victimization of innocent children in Bethlehem, In Syria and throughout the world today. If we are followers of Jesus the reconciling, merciful Jesus. We know that we are strong when we are weak. That the road to the new creation is the walk to Calvary. Not at the head of a militant army. But as harbingers of the peaceable kingdom. We need to behold Jesus as the precious, endangered baby And Jesus as the slaughtered Lamb. Jesus whose fidelity to God s mission reveals to us all, That Baby Jesus and the slaughtered Lamb, Are God s NO to human violence. And God s YES to human kindness and humility. Indeed the resurrected Jesus is God s YES to all humanity. To God s adoption of us all as sons and daughters. And when I fly to Houston the day after Christmas. I will hold that powerful and fragile baby Henry. Who will capture my heart with his startled look and easy giggles. I will see his mother and him as a miracle, Just as Joseph saw Mary and baby Jesus they are miracles. And just as Joseph s heart swells in amazement and wonder, And with the fierce desire to care for and to protect. I will feel that same fierce love to do whatever is in my power, To care for and protect this baby and his family.

5 Mt 1.18 Adv4A God s Weakness Rev Wm Bell St Anne s 18Dec This miraculous baby and his mother. Amen. Matthew 1:18-25 (NRSV) The Birth of Jesus the Messiah A. Mary s unusual PG 18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. B. Joseph s decision 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.. C. Angel Message20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. C Scripture message 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, God is with us. B Joseph s decision 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, A Mary t unusual PG 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.