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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
So-called “reality” TV shows may highlight extreme examples, but, to some extent, we all have dysfunctional families. And, though in some ways family dysfunction may be worse now than before, the problem has been around almost since the beginning, when the first man and woman fell into sin in the garden. If reality shows were based on some of the families in the Bible, they might even be too much for TV! Yet, as He has almost since the beginning, God uses dysfunctional families to accomplish His purposes. An example of such use is found in today’s Gospel Reading, the Annunciation of Jesus’s birth to Joseph. On this Fourth Sunday in Advent, as our Advent focus shifts a little by anticipating more the celebration of the birth of Christ, this morning we consider that Gospel Reading under the theme, “God Uses Dysfunctional Families”.
In the verses before today’s Gospel Reading, the divinely-inspired St. Matthew gives the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, from Abraham to Joseph and Mary (Matthew 1:1-17). Over the course of that genealogy, two women are mentioned as wives of those from whom Jesus descended, which mentions are unusual. (By the way, the families of those two women were also dysfunctional in their own ways.) But, more‑startling is Matthew’s genealogy’s mentioning Jesus’s descent from Mary and not from Joseph. That startling genealogy thus leads us to expect what follows in today’s Gospel Reading: an explanation of Jesus’s genesis or origin, how He was conceived and born. In this case from St. Matthew, the birth is told from the “angle” of Mary’s husband, Jesus’s “adoptive father” or “guardian”, and the telling includes the statement that the miraculous birth fulfilled God’s prophecy spoken through Isaiah, part of which we heard as today’s Old Testament Reading (Isaiah 7:10-17) and another part of which itself contains the usual descent of kings from men.
One year ago in our Sunday morning Adult Bible Class, we watched the movie “The Nativity Story”, which tries to portray what Mary and Joseph might have been thinking as the events of Jesus’s conception and birth take place. To make the movie, the screenwriter obviously had to expand on what the Bible tells us. For example, we do not know for sure how Joseph first found out Mary was pregnant, nor do we know what, if anything, she told him about the pregnancy, nor do we know, if she told him anything, whether or not he believed her. What we do know for sure is that Joseph was considering divorcing Mary quietly, when he both could have put her to shame publicly and have had her stoned to death, in keeping with the law (Deuteronomy 22:23-24), though we do not know to what extent that law was observed at the time (see John 7:53-8:11), nor can we completely relate to marriage customs in vogue then but not now. Still, Joseph seems to have assumed wrongly that Mary was unfaithful to him, and he seems to have been trying to live according to God’s law but apparently could neither bring himself to follow that law strictly nor forgive her, as his adopted Son would later emphasize (Matthew 18:15-19:12). Regardless, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, to stop Joseph from divorcing Mary at all and to announce the birth of her Son, whom Joseph would adopt and Who would save His people, including Joseph, from their sins.
I have never seen the TV show “Duck Dynasty”, in part because I do not have cable or satellite, and the show is on the A&E network. Yet, I was aware enough of the show even before the news about the show this past week: Phil Robertson, the so‑called “Duck Commander” and patriarch of the no-doubt dysfunctional family, was indefinitely suspended from the show because of comments he made in an interview with G-Q magazine. Robertson was asked what he believed was sinful, and he did not hesitate to name homosexuality—something that the Bible clearly calls sinful but something that society not only increasingly tolerates but increasingly openly condones. Of course, homosexuality is not the only thing the Bible calls sinful that society tolerates and condones, nor is it the only thing the Bible calls sinful. In some way or another, all husbands and wives sinfully fail to “love and honor each other”, just as we all sinfully fail to lead “sexually pure and decent lives in what we say and do”. We sin against that Sixth Commandment as we sin against the other nine: in thought, word, and deed, by what we do and by what we leave undone. We do not love God with our whole hearts, and we do not love our neighbors, including our fellow dysfunctional family‑members, as ourselves. We justly deserve God’s present and eternal punishment.
In the Gospel Reading, the angel of the Lord tells Joseph that Jesus is so‑named because He will save His people from their sins. The Lord does not tolerate or condone sin, but He calls people to repent: to turn in sorrow from their sins, to trust Him to forgive their sin, and to want to do better. When we so repent, then God forgives our sin. God forgives our sins against the Sixth Commandment and the other nine. God forgives all our sin. He forgives our sin for the sake of Jesus, Who was born to save us.
Today’s Epistle Reading (Romans 1:1-7) somewhat indirectly summarizes the long‑promised Gospel, or Good News, of God concerning His Son, Who was descended from David according to the flesh but Who also was declared to be the Son of God according to the Holy Spirit by His resurrection from the dead. Jesus’s virgin birth is God’s sign of Who Jesus is, and His resurrection is God’s sign of approval of what Jesus did—His dying on the cross to save us from our sins. All of this is the work of the Triune God. In the Gospel Reading’s annunciation to Joseph, the Father’s angel speaks of the Son born of Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit. In the creeds of the Church, we confess the conception by the Holy Spirit and birth of the Virgin Mary. We affirm the fact of Jesus’s virgin birth because of what it means: God miraculously with us to save us. Do not miss the miracle! The angel of the Lord tells Joseph that which is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit. What a simple and yet adequate way of stating the mystery of the incarnation! And, that Human Baby in the womb was and is true God, capable of being and, in fact, born without changing Mary’s status as a virgin. And, He lived up to His Name: living, dying, and rising again for us and for our salvation. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). That salvation comes freely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and that saving faith in Jesus Christ only comes from God’s working through His Word in all its forms.
In the Old Testament Reading, God’s Word was spoken to King Ahaz, and he did not believe it. In the Gospel Reading, God’s Word was spoken to Joseph, and he did believe it. God wants to create faith in all who hear His Word, but some reject it. In others, the same Holy Spirit—the same Spirit Who conceived Jesus in the Virgin Mary and Who was given to the Church at His crucifixion (Matthew 27:50; John 19:30) and resurrection (John 20:22)—that same Spirit of Christ creates and confirms faith in Jesus by water and the blood, by baptism the Lord’s Supper (John 19:34; 1 John 5:6). Just as the Holy Spirit alone was responsible for Jesus’s conception, so the Holy Spirit alone is responsible for our becoming children of God. In Holy Baptism, the Holy Spirit works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation. That is the way we are born! And, as Jesus was born using an incomprehensible, spiritual mode of presence, so in that same way He is present in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper (SD VII:100), present with us and for us with forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. In His Word and Sacraments, the promise of Jesus’s title “Immanuel”, which means “God with us”, is continually fulfilled. He is with us in His Word, in water, and in bread and wine. In such ways, He is with us always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
Jesus’s own earthly family was in some sense dysfunctional, as I mentioned all our families are, in their own ways, on account of sin. For example, the Gospel Reading refers to Joseph as a “just man”, but he was considering divorcing Mary wrongly. Joseph was “just”, or “righteous”, as his forefather Abraham was “just” or “righteous” and as you and I are “just”, or “righteous”. Joseph, Abraham, and we believe God, and God credits that belief to us as righteousness. Jesus’s righteousness becomes our righteousness. Like Joseph, we do not always consider, much less take, the “just” or “right” actions. Nor do we always think or say the “right” things. In Joseph’s case, he did do what the Lord through the angel commanded him to do: he took Mary as his wife and Jesus as his Son. And, sometimes, faith likewise brings forth good works from us, such as being faithful husbands and wives and God-fearing children, even in our dysfunctional families. However, when we fail to produce such good works, as we will, maybe especially in the holy days to come, our Lord answers our prayer of today’s Collect and comes and helps us by His might so that the sins that weigh us down may be quickly lifted by His grace and mercy.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +