Semester Sign-off and Incarnation

Matthew 1:18-25Now 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. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 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. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

"Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel,"

which means, "God is with us." When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Christmas Eve is in exactly one week. 

Do you feel prepared?

What’s left to do?

  

We try so hard to make Christmas a special time of year.

We try to make the experience perfect.

When we cannot do that, perhaps a sense of failure creeps in.

Or we remember people we have lost,

And wonder how our world could ever be the same.

In the midst of the bustle of the Christmas season

is the story in the Gospel.

Tonight we read Matthew’s version,

And on Christmas eve, you would hear Luke’s account.

But I’m going to refer to both of them.

When I think about how Christmas

becomes an exercise in getting things right,

in making a perfect memory,

it helps to stop and think, really think,

about the First Christmas.

Let’s start with Mary.

She was an unwed pregnant teenage girl

Engaged to a probably-much-older Joseph.

Joseph, is faced with the situation and plans to dismiss her quietly.

This is probably the most humane thing he can do in his culture.

He could very easily play the aggrieved man

and expose Mary to a lot of scorn.

A more harsh reaction would have been

the conventional way to do things.

But angelic visits to both bring the knowledge 

of who it is they will be raising.

At least they have that going for them, and not much else.

Then, while pregnant, Mary and Joseph 

have to trek from one town to another to be taxed.

They find no room at the Inn.

The way pageants and movies tell of the story, 

you hear that the innkeeper lets them use a stable,

But actually, that is not in the Bible.

They very well could have spent that night in the stable illegally.

As squatters.

Nor is Mary giving birth in great circumstances, 

as she is having to pick straw and mud 

from the blanket in which she wraps her child.

The first Christmas was attended 

–according to the world’s standards—

by a sexually suspect woman, 

and a man flouting the conventions of his culture by staying with her.

The first Christmas was cold.  Damp.  Dirty.

The first Christmas was punctuated 

by the moans of a woman giving birth

in a stable not their own

in a town far from Mary’s home

in a land occupied by a brutal empire.

It was as far from ideal as they could get.

It was also Holy.

and it represents the scandal of the Incarnation.

“Incarnation” means “to take on Flesh”

And Christmas is the celebration of God’s son, Jesus Christ,

Taking on flesh and living among us.

The scandal is that of all the ways God could be with us,

The Son chose this way.

God chose to identify with his people

in the most vulnerable ways possible.

God chose the marginalized and the suspect.

And while Christ was walking among his people,

He continued to reach for the marginalized and the suspect.

When he died on the cross, he died as one of the marginalized and suspect.

When he rose again, he showed that there was a power greater 

than the way the world orders itself.

And that the business of God is salvation for all

by pointing out that the world’s ways of seeing power

are destructive of the very people we are called to love.

So why care now?

The work is not yet done.

Christ’s incarnation is still ongoing by we who are members of Christ’s body.

I chose “incarnation” as the name for this campus ministry

Because the greatest witness to God is to be Christ to all we meet.

Next semester, new opportunities will arise for us to do so.

We may be imperfect.  

We may be surprised.

We will also find that holiness abounds around us

as we imitate Christ.

I want to end tonight by giving thanks.

Thank you all for being here and returning week after week.

Thank you for offering support.

Thank you for giving your encouragement.

Thank you for sharing your gifts.

I look forward to seeing you next semester!