December 5, 2010, Advent 2 (A)Matthew 1:18-25
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. 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 fulfil 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.
God at Risk
A priest, a pastor, and a rabbi were busted in a small rural town as part of an illegal gambling operation. When the police entered room, the chief of police was shocked to see the three. “Father O’Brian,” he said “are you gambling?!” The father cut his eyes up to heaven and said a short prayer “Forgive me Lord for what I am about to do.” Then looking the chief of police right in the eye, he said “No my son, this is a social gathering.” The chief turns to the pastor “Pastor Nelson, are you not gambling?” The pastor mumbled the same prayer as the priest and said to chief “No, I am not gambling.” The chief turned to the rabbi, “Rabbi, how about you? Are you gambling?” The rabbi looked at his two colleagues at the table and said “And with whom would I be gambling?”
Gambling is what some would consider one of those guilty pleasures. It’s not the kind of thing you go around letting everyone know you do. If it causes you some mixed feelings, you will probably understand the predicament of the pastor on vacation.
One day he walking along a secluded beach for his morning devotions. He was deep in prayer when suddenly a powerful voice from on high spoke to him “Dig!” He paused and looked around. “Dig!” the voice boomed again. So he dropped to his knees and began to dig. Within no time, he found an old wooden box with a lock on it. The powerful voice said “Open it!” He looked around and found a rock and began beating at the lock. It fell off and when he opened the box it was filled with gold coins. The voice rang out “Go to the casino!” The pastor jumped to his feet, gold coins under his arm, and ran to the nearest casino. He cashed the coins in for chips. Again the voice said to him “27! Put it all on 27!” The pastor did. And as the roulette wheel span round and round, the ball jumped and bounced, and finally landed . . . on number 20. At last the big powerful voice from on high bellowed “Dang it!!!”
Albert Einstein was quoted as saying that “God does not play dice with the universe.” God doesn’t gamble. That is probably true, but today as we continue the series of messages “Waking up for ADVENTure” I want you to know that God definitely takes risks.
How else can you understand today’s reading from Matthew chapter 1 where God singles out a poor rural Jewish teenager and tells her I want you to bear the Messiah? How else can you understand God putting this engaged youngster on the spot like that? How else can you understand God entering the world in human form under the cloud of scandal of an unwed mother?
Unwed teenage mothers are something we know a lot about in this country. In fact, you could say that America is #1 in this regard. We lead the Western world in teenage births. 34% of all newborns born in the USA are born to teenage moms. The vast majority of them are unmarried. And you talk about risks?! Unwed teenage moms are among the most disadvantaged. Their educations suffer. Job prospects evaporate. Welfare and dependency are before them. The babies are often underweight, underdeveloped, and undernourished. There is a lot at stake.
Even more so for a teenage girl in Jesus’ day, where the end result for girls in Mary’s situation – pregnant while engaged – was a capital offense. She could be put to death for the episode. Stoned to death. It was a risky move for her. It was a risky move for God.
As you prepare yourself for the coming celebration for the birth of our Lord, I want to help you understand the risk God took in entering the world in human form. There are a wide variety of risks but for now let me point out only a few.
First, when Jesus entered the world under such a cloud of scandal, he took the risk of being misunderstood. People could have easily dismissed Jesus as the Son of God concluding that since they knew his mother, and father, and brothers and sisters, that he couldn’t possibly be anything special. Many just blew him off because he seemed to them to be just the son of an ordinary carpenter. Misunderstanding often followed Jesus. It is a common sight in the gospels to hear stories of people who just don’t get him. The are puzzled by him. They are stumped by him. He is, for many, an enigma wrapped in a conundrum shrouded in mystery. Throughout the Gospel of Mark, the disciples misunderstand him time and time again.
When Jesus entered the world, he had to use words to get his point across. He couldn’t simply place his hands on someone’s head like Spock in Star Trek and have a marriage of the minds where his thoughts were automatically transferred. No he used words and actions, both of which were often misunderstood. His life-saving message moving through the gridlock of human communication.
Secondly, when Jesus entered the world, God took the risk of being mistrusted. The world that Jesus walked into was a world filled with mistrust, cynicism, and skepticism. Unlike today, right? In Jesus’ world, society was fractured. People in the streets didn’t trust their leaders. The leaders didn’t trust the people. No one trusted the Romans. And so why should Jesus be any different? The religious leaders didn’t trust Jesus. They thought for sure he was a pretender. They thought for sure he was leading the people astray. Every lesson he taught and every miracle he performed only confirmed their suspicions that Jesus was putting people in spiritual peril. As a result they charged him with breaking the Sabbath, blasphemy, and demon possession. No act of love on his part could convince them otherwise.
It reminds me of a dog we had not too many years ago. Actually, not enough years ago. It was one of the times that Karin and I tried to bring a mangy critter into our domicile. The kids were young. It would be good for them, we thought. So off to the pound they go. And when they return, they bring home what turned out to be the most mentally deranged beast God ever created. It was black and cute, but that was about it. It was mostly mean. It was mean to the kids and to Karin. I just kept telling them “Love the dog.” All it needs is some L-O-V-E. In the morning, it would wake Karin up by jumping up the side of the bed and biting onto her hair and hanging on. I just told her to “Love the dog.” One morning I was ready to head to the church office and was going to put the dog out. Even though we had welcomed the dog, spoken gently to the dog, and bent over backwards to express tenderness, affection, and goodness to the dog, it did not trust us. As I tried to entice it outside with treats or toys or soothing speech the dog backed away from me. It backed itself behind the sofa. I reached back behind the sofa to encourage it out. The more I reached, the more it back away. Finally, I am able to extend myself far enough that I can ever so gently stroke its little paw and then its ear. Suddenly, the dog bites me. It sinks its teeth into my flesh, my blood pouring out. As I take the sofa and push it aside and grab the mut to take it outside, the demented creature loses control of its bodily functions on me. It had diarrhea on my freshly ironed white shirt. We no longer have that precious little creature.
No matter what we did, it interpreted our actions as hostile. No matter how we approached it, it viewed our movements as destructive. Because the world was so conflicted, whenever Jesus spoke love so many people heard damnation. When he performed healing many saw violation. He was mistrusted.
When Jesus entered the world there was a lot at stake. God risked being misunderstood. He risked being mistrusted. He also risked being mistreated. When you are born and you have questionable parentage, boys and girls can be cruel to you. When you are born poor and Jewish in an anti-Jewish world, the world will make sure to put you in your place. When you speak against the corruption and abuse of the prevailing social order, you can count on some push back. And Jesus, well . . . he was pushed. And he was shoved.
Throughout much of his work in the world, someone was always hatching a plot to take him out. Finally, in the end they did. Strung up and beat, spat on, laughed at, stripped and humiliated. Publicly displayed as a criminal and a failure, he was given a parade through town to highlight the mistreatment.
“Why?” You might ask. Why would God take such risks? Why bother, when you are holding all the cards? Why would God expose himself to such loss? The reason that God takes such a risk with you and me is simple. He wants to show you his hand.
He wants to show you his hand, punctured and injured. That’s what he tells Thomas isn’t it? “Look at my hand. See the mark. Put your finger here.” In so many ways, Thomas voices much of our misunderstanding, the mistrust, or perhaps even mistreatment of Jesus.
As Jesus shows you his hand, he shows you that in taking on the risks he did, he put everything on the table. God held nothing back. He bet the house for you. Not so that he could win. Not so that he could add to his heavenly stockpile. Not so that he could increase his holdings. But so that you could win.
Isn’t that something parents routinely do? How often have you as parents of guardians played a game with your child only to lose so that they could win? Whether it is a game of old maid, go fish, hearts. A game of horse or pig. Even a game of tag. Do you not gladly take the loss so that your child can gain?
Jesus Christ has taken on the risks he has not so that he can win it big but so that you can win it big. He put everything in the kingdom on the table, so that he could show you his hand, and loose. So that in his loss, you might win the kingdom.
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