December 19, 2004:
Living Between Times: The Child
Eileen Parfrey, Springwater Pres.
Matthew 1:18-25, Isaiah 7:10-15; Luke 1:47-55

There's something that has always puzzled me about today's gospel reading. If Matthew was right to quote Isaiah, about the virgin's child being named "Emmanuel," why did the angel tell Joseph to name Mary's baby "Jesus"? If the baby was "God with us," why name him, "he saves"? In a word, because it is the very presence of God which saves. Jesus appears in Matthew's gospel as "God with us," even before he is born. His last words to his disciples before ascending into heaven are, "I will be with you always." Everything in between revealed God's presence, so that means the meaning and purpose of our lives is God's presence, that God with us changes everything.

Well, it certainly changed things for this couple-this presence of God as an inconvenient baby, a scandalous baby so ill-timed as to nearly make Mary an unwed mother. A God-with-us that required the bridegroom to give up letter-of-the-law for heart-of-the-law. Joseph must have been a man of exceptional faith, to accept the "holy spirit" explanation of Mary's circumstances and to do the requirement in the explanation. The angel asks Joseph to believe something so incomprehensible that 2,000 years later we still have to say "virgin birth" because that's just about the most ridiculous thing anyone could think of. Except for God.

Ahaz could have used some of what Joseph had. In an irony of hyper-correct religion, Ahaz could not listen to the word of assurance from God because it first required him to forget what he'd been taught about God. In order to hear, he first needed to obey. Like many people in over their heads, Ahaz felt that betraying signs of weakness meant he hadn't earned the right to be helped. Even by God. We can feel sorry for him, but we also know, when it comes to living with the demands of God-present, it's much safer to hold God at arm's length. God-with-us for Ahaz meant acknowledging weakness-military, social, political -and since that weakness could only be helped by active trust, he couldn't make the final leap. God-with-us for Joseph meant being saddled with scandal he hadn't asked for, to marry a woman of questionable virtue, claiming a baby who was not technically his.

This time of year, the burdens of our lives can seem as heavy as Joseph's. Is it the short days and dreary weather, or are the demands just too much? All the normal demands-balancing work and family, the social expectations of friends, the driving people obligations we've made, the volunteering we said we'd do, not to mention our bodies' demands for nutrition and rest and fighting off illness. And then this season comes with more demands for shopping, wrapping, partying, mailing, writing, photographing, traditions. What if God told us to ask for a sign? Could we fit it into our schedule? The public drama of the season builds to a crescendo this week-achieving, accomplishing, organizing and making happen the ritual eating and consuming and receiving. What if this time of year wasn't about ho, ho, ho, and Merry Christmas, but about the Feast of the Incarnation? What if this wasn't a cultural event, but a holy birth-birthing the holy? In our lives. What if we were as consumed-every day, all year long-with tending the holy as we are now with tending The Family Traditions and Tidings of Good Cheer?

One of my friends said of today's readings, "A sign doesn't need to be miraculous to be efficacious." I love that word--"efficacious." It means "do its job." A sign doesn't need to be a miracle to give us a message. We urge pregnant women to eat nutritiously, to remain active, to get good prenatal care-for her health as well as the child's. We might urge similar care for Christians. In spiritual circles, it's called "tending the holy." To tend the holy is to live as if we believe God is breaking into the world through us, as if we are the vessel through whom God's presence is birthed into the world. To tend the holy is to listen for our own equivalent of Joseph's dream.

A midwife for Christians might recommend self-care practices the spiritual equivalent of the advice given pregnant women-good nutrition, activities, prenatal care. These practices could help us be intentional about tending the holy. Scripture and holy reading, prayer might be considered spiritual nutrition. The midwife might recommend for Christians, as a nutritionist might tell expectant mothers, to eat a balanced and varied diet, don't just eat the same thing over and over. Be conscious of what you take in, not just passively grabbing whatever is around, and for heaven's sake, eat more than once a week, just on Sunday. We recommend daily exercise for expectant persons, consciously developing an ability to listen. An expectant Christian might protect a daily time devoted to listening for God, setting aside busy-ness in favor of expectancy. And don't forget the need for good spiritual prenatal care. Think of corporate worship and, outside of worship, staying in community and cultivating spiritual friendships. Two good examples of spiritual friendships are what have developed in the Tuesday prayer time and the Soul Feast Sunday School class.

A word to the men and boys in the congregation. I hope you have not tuned out because you don't identify with the metaphor. Do not dismiss this metaphor just because you have not and do not intend to bear children. God will not be limited on this. This is the God who gives babies to old, childless couples (think Abraham and Sarah, think Elizabeth and Zechariah). This is the God who gives babies to virgins, to women who aren't married (think Mary). If you think those are amazing developments, don't be surprised if God uses men as well as women to birth the holy into this world.

I learned that from the children of this congregation last year. As you may know, one of the ways the children of Springwater get ready for Christmas is by acting out the Christmas story for each other. We dress up and change costumes, acting out the story as many times as we need to in order to allow all the children to play all the parts they want to play. Last year, a little boy wanted to be Mary. At first, some of the kids objected, but in the spirit of hospitality, they allowed as how a boy could pretend to be Mary just as easily as a girl. We acted out the story five more times, with him as Mary each time, and we learned that the holy comes into the world despite the human limitations we might try to impose!

God's intention is to use us to bring the holy into the world. This table reminds us that we are all invited to be vessels of God-with-us in the here and now. When we eat this meal together, we are tending the holy. When we eat these scraps of bread and sip this mouthful of grape juice, we actually believe God is present. It is the body of Christ! When we leave the table today, we are carrying Christ with us into the world. We are literally the vessels of God. We carry the presence of God, but that presence makes a requirement of us. Just as the dreamer Joseph's "explanation" carried a requirement, so this meal has a requirement. We are called to birthing, to tending the holy. Each of us is to be God-with-us for those around us. Soon the Christ-for-whom-we-wait will come. And then, Merry Christmas indeed.