The Promise of “God with Us”
Watching for the Morning of December 18, 2016
Year A
The Fourth Sunday of Advent
The name ‘Immanuel’ (“God [is] with us”) echoes through the readings this morning. It is the name the prophet uses to declare that deliverance is coming to Judah. And it is the name Matthew uses for the infant Jesus, as though it were a throne name. But it is much more than a throne name, it is a declaration that God has come to dwell with us, that heaven has bent to kiss the earth. The new age is dawning, the way to the tree of life is opened, healing and joy have come. In the mystery of God, our frail flesh is shown a fit vessel of the holy, and the ancient promise is fulfilled: “I will dwell with them and they shall be my people”.
The season of Advent waits for the advent of God: God’s advent/coming at the consummation of history, God’s advent in acts of deliverance and redemption throughout history, God’s advent in the swaddled child of Bethlehem, God’s advent in the healing works and words of Jesus, God’s advent in our hearts and minds. The season waits and prepares and rejoices in the advent of God. And the news of Bethlehem is too great. It spills out from Christmas into Advent even as the love of God spills forth into our lives. The Immanuel child is born. God is with us.
So Sunday we hear the prophet’s words from Isaiah, and also Matthew’s use of those words to reveal the meaning of this child’s birth. Joseph is pondering divorce, but a heavenly messenger declares this is God’s doing. Through this child God “will save his people from their sins” (free them from the debt to God they cannot pay, heal the torn relationship we can never make right). Paul’s opening words of his letter to Rome speak of Jesus “promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures” and “descended from David.” And the psalmody we sing from Isaiah declares: “Shout aloud and sing for joy, royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
The Prayer for December 18, 2016
Gracious God,
who called forth the first morning of the world
and brings all things to their final end when all night is vanquished,
make us ever mindful of your journey to us,
and help us to welcome the child of Mary into our lives;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever
The Texts for December 18, 2016
First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16
“The young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” – To a king unwilling to trust God when threatened by northern neighbors marching against him, the prophet Isaiah gives a sign: by the time this woman gives birth people will be naming their children “God is with us!”
Psalmody: Isaiah 12:2-6
“Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” A song of salvation in praise of the God who dwells in our midst (sung in place of the appointed Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19).
Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7
“To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints.” – Paul begins his letter to the believers in Rome with a summary of the gospel.
Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25
“Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.” – In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus and his adoption by Joseph we hear God speak both through the angelic visitors and the prophets of the one who is savior and Immanuel.
Watching for the morning 