Sermon Tone Analysis

 Today we celebrate the birth of our Savior.

As we listen today, let's notice, reflect, pray, & act on all the Spirit shows us.

Do you see tension between Lv 20:10 & Isa 42:3?

In Lv 20:10?

notice the law's strict, harsh righteousness.

It calls for Mary to be stoned.

10 " 'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife-with the wife of his neighbor-both the adulterer & the adulteress must be put to death.

How different that is from Isa 42:3's righteousness, which the Messiah will bring!

3A bruised reed he won't break, & a smoldering wick he won't snuff out.

In faithfulness he'll bring forth justice.

This is a new word about what righteousness really is.

Isaiah spoke for Israel's future exile in Babylon.

He offers a new version of righteousness that is in tension with & will supersede the rigid law of Leviticus & the Torah.

Let's now see that tension Mt 1:18-19.

18This is how Jesus Christ's birth came about.

His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph.

But before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

19Joseph her husband was a righteous man, so he didn't want to expose her to public disgrace.

He had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Mary was betrothed, promised to Joseph.

Exclusive.

Married, & within a year of being able to live with her husband.

During her betrothal year, Mary was chaste.

And still she became pregnant.

Who could believe her story?

'The Holy Spirit did it' Right!

Poor Joseph, Mary's husband, is a righteous man.

Not in a rigid, harsh way.

But he's done.

The only question?

How can he end the betrothal?

He doesn't want Mary stoned, humiliated, or shunned.

Over & over & over in his mind, he's writing a certificate of divorce.

Sleep eludes him.

What's he waiting for?

Appearances can be deceiving.

The choice seems obvious.

Death or life?

Shame or despair?

Mary's good name or his own?

None of these were really choices for Joseph.

He lives by a Reformed law, according to a Reforming Spirit.

Leviticus?

So cold, so hard, so clear.

Flint striking granite.

Isaiah?

Gentle righteousness borne of a nation's brokenness.

The ambiguity of a breeze.

Joseph chose new righteousness, becoming Protector of Bruised Reeds, Patron saint of Smoldering Wicks, model for manliness for those who have ears to hear.

Fresh mercy every morning not only for me & mine, but for every tribe, every clan, every tongue, even those from countries not our own.

Living into this new righteousness cost Joseph dearly.

He was so misunderstood among those for whom God's choice appears to be cold, hard, & clear.

Appearances can be deceiving.

Let's pray: Lord, make us protectors of bruised reeds: Where there is cold calculation, let us bring warm embrace; where there is hardness of heart, let us bring gentleness of spirit; where flint strikes granite, let us point toward mercy's dew; where others cast out, let us draw in; where others shame & blame, let us name with a divine claim; where there is a too easy clarity, let us bring questions, oh, so many, many questions.

O Divine Master, may we not so much seek to snuff out the smoldering wick as to reignite the flames of justice; to fear brokenness as to be transformed by it; to shout, "Crucify!" as to pray at the foot of the Cross.

For it is in being embraced by your mercy that we share it with others; it is in welcoming Mary into our home that God-possibilities flourish; it is in singing a new song that the birth of Messiah Jesus comes about.

In Mt 1:20.

20After Joseph considered divorce, sleep finally came & with it a dream.

an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.

"Joseph, Son of God's Promise, Son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary home as your wife.

What's conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

God's love overshadowed Mary, just as it will overshadow all your fear, anger, & doubt.

People say fear limits the heart; much more does it enslave the mind.

Hearts break &, sooner or later, later or sooner, heal.

But a mind?

Broken minds last & last & last... Joseph, tempted & expected to fear, is saved by dreaming.

Not thinking, scheming, or even believing, but dreaming.

Imagination, the spiral of growing, developing, multiplying Faith.

Hope.

Love.

God's Promise, God's Peace-Hidden awake, revealed asleep, Have we forgotten this ancient dance?

Neglected the God-dreams given to us as children?

Deserted all God-possibilities of our youth?

Allowed them to be choked out of us like the Sower's thorny soil?

Might God-dreams live again?

Can they?

Should they?

Will they?

And with them, Holy Spirit?

Oh, Father Joseph, pray for us sinners in the hours of our life!

Let's pray: Lord, fill us with dreams: Let us see possibilities instead of limits.

Travel over mountains instead of seeing roadblocks.

Let us be deaf to naysayers.

Let us see your abundance instead of scarcity.

let us be known, for certain, instead of being unknown & uncertain.

Let us dream instead of fear.

O Divine dream-giver, may we embrace your will more than our own.

May we dream bigger dreams more than seek to avoid great challenge.

May we seek to hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit more than listen to the siren call of our fear.

For in hearing the Holy Spirit sons & daughters prophesy.

In sacred whisper the young see visions & the old dream dreams.

In sleep God brings life among us.

We call him Jesus.

In Hebrew, Yeshua.

"He Who Saves."

Let's read Mt 1:21.

Gabriel, the Lord's messenger, told Joseph, 21a"You're to name the boy Jesus.

Yeshua.

From their own brokenness will God heal his people; their darkened souls will become prisms of light.

21bHe'll save his people from their sins."