Rev. Dustin ParkerSomething about a Name..
Concordia Lutheran Church
The 4th Sunday of Advent, December 19, 2010
You Shall Call Him, They Shall Call Him
Matthew 1:18-25
† In the Name of Jesus †
These two truths shall bless you, all of your life, revealed in the way the son of Mary, the son of God was named. ImmanuEL - God with Us, and Jesus, YHWH saves His people from their sin!
The Long Walk..
The man strode through the foothills surrounding the small city of Nazareth during the few minutes he could spare from his wood-working. Tormented by the events of his day, tormented by the actions that led to his fiancé being sent to her cousin’s house.
The rumors would start soon, some challenging his own sense of honor, and whether he was a righteous man; others challenging whether he was a blind fool. How could he deal with the shame, how would he deal with another blow to the honor of the family lineage, which once boasted of kings, and now was reduced to a simple day to day, hard working yet righteous carpenter.
We don’t know how he discovered Mary was with child, we don’t know if he suspected as she was “sent away” to “care for” her elderly cousin. We know the discovery pained him, the grief causing his to struggle deeply with his what it meant to be just, what it meant to be righteous. He fiercely struggled with what this sin meant, and how he should deal with it.
It is inevitable that we will go through similar dark days. We too struggle with those who have, or will sin against us, who will seem to betray us. We cannot point to Joseph, can we? For truly he was not betrayed by Mary, the Angel of the Lord declared her righteous, the angel brought the word that the conception was a holy thing…
Or maybe, there is a lesson there as well…
A lesson that there is something in a name…
Or in this case, two names…
In one, the answer to what is just and righteous. In the other, the answer to unrighteousness, and in both… peace.
The Consideration
Call for justice
Call for revenge
Heart of mercy?
Hosea
Deuteronomy 22 puts Joseph in an unenviable position. A strict reading of the passage gives no loophole – a women who is not a virgin on the night she is received into her husband’s house was to be stoned, unless the case is one where she could not defend herself or cry for help.
In a way, it was justice, but it could also leave room for revenge, sanctified revenge. A final solution, a final way to deal with the pain of her betrayal. Joseph had every right to this resolution – yet while we might call it justice, was it righteous? Does it matter that our thirst for revenge might diminish the call for purity? Does demanding justice sometimes come more from a desire for selfish satisfaction than it does from the desire to see evil purged from our midst?
Did Joseph for a moment think of Hosea and the prophets and think of the call for mercy instead of sacrifice? The words of another just man, who was likewise betrayed by his lady?
We know Joseph chose originally a path that seemed to be somewhat merciful. He would bury the divorce, the reason for it would not be made public. It would cost him the dowry paid to her parents, it would mean he would bear the weight and shame of asking for the divorce. His decision was somewhat noble, even as it was, except that it was missing a vital piece of information, what the child would be called.
They Shall Call His Name - Immanuel
God is Among Us
The Reign of God
The Justice of God?
Restlessly asleep, still unsure of his course of action, God’s desire would be heard, and it would trump Joseph’s, and bring him relief, and indeed a sense of peace and joy.
Even as Joseph wanted to be merciful, it was misplaced. Not because God disdains mercy, but because mercy from him wasn’t needed. Mary was the virgin, long before prophesied. The baby he wondered about the source of, was the source of His life, not just the proof of God’s existence, but the God existing in our midst, in physical form.
There is something special that happens, when the children of God find themselves in His presence. They are stripped of that which they struggle with, feed of that which binds them; and they find themselves empowered and enlightened to live in God’s reign.
There are times in our lives, when heeding Luther’s encouragement to put the best construction on other’s actions is difficult, even impossible. Even as just as Joseph was, how could he ever have come up with the “best construction” regarding Mary’s pregnancy? Yet the Angel of the Lord would declare to him that best construction, and free him to receive her as God’s blessing to Him.
Realizing we live in God’s midst leaves us free of condemning others, and the issue of sin becomes one to where we assist them in knowing the freedom they have in Christ. We’ll talk in our Bible Study about this more, and how we should work towards restoration and encourage each other to walk holy.
Understanding what it means to be able to put the best construction on others words and actions becomes significantly easier, when we realize that Christ has declared them righteous. It enables us to take them in, even if they did sin against us. It enables us to love, where the world would say love is impossible.
Does it mean we won’t be sinned against, again? No, Does it mean that meekness is another name for being weak? No. It means that we realize that condemnation is not our burden, not our responsibility.
He Shall called Him
God doesn’t leave us alone in this…
He saves His people from sin
Even as Joseph would hear the words heralding the incredible promise of the Messiah was at hand, there is a second, more intimate name that Joseph was given the blessing of bestowing. Jesus, pronounced in Hebrew Yeshua – the sacred name of God YHWH hyphenated with the word for salvation, rescue, deliverance.
The name Joseph would give to Jesus, the name that would fulfill prophecies, and the prophecy of Immanuel. You can’t go into God’s presence, having not dealt with the sin that ensnares us. Yet with the coming of Immanuel, comes salvation from sin! It’s power shattered as completely as the rising of the sun shatters the darkness.
This was not just the plan that was in effect as a baby was born in Bethlehem. It was the promise given to Eve in the garden, the promise to Sarai and Abram, this child of whom Isaiah said he was the “Everlasting Father”, Almihty God, the son born of a virgin, the lamb who would be led to the slaughter, bearing the iniquity of His people. Bearing our sin.
We are no longer alone, scrambling over the rough countryside trying to delve answers to the situations in life. We no longer have to play judge and jury and executioner. Instead we seek to continue the work, delivering people from their bondage.
Mary, who conceived Jesus without sin, was declared righteous by God to Joseph, the one who thought she sinner against him. . While, we the children of god whom He called, whom He baptized, He has declared us just as righteous as well!
He called His name Jesus
He saved Joseph from His sin…
Joseph did as he was directed – he named Mary’s son Jesus, and God fulfilled His promise and saved His people, jew and gentile alike. And He has promised to dwell with us, uniting to us in baptism, as He delivers another promise, delivering His Spirit to dwell within us, until His return to bring us home.
What Child is this? Joseph would respond, the One who spared me and rescued me from sinning against Mary, and from every other sin…
May we dwell in His peace, knowing we have been delivered from sin as well! AMEN!
 
The 4th Sunday of Advent, December 19, 2010
You Shall Call Him, They Shall Call Him
Matthew 1:18-25
† In the Name of Jesus †
These two truths shall bless you, all of your life, revealed in the way the son of Mary, the son of God was named. ImmanuEL - God with Us, and Jesus, YHWH saves His people from their sin!
The Long Walk..
The man strode through the foothills surrounding the small city of Nazareth during the few minutes he could spare from his wood-working. Tormented by the events of his day, tormented by the actions that led to his fiancé being sent to her cousin’s house.
The rumors would start soon, some challenging his own sense of honor, and whether he was a righteous man; others challenging whether he was a blind fool. How could he deal with the shame, how would he deal with another blow to the honor of the family lineage, which once boasted of kings, and now was reduced to a simple day to day, hard working yet righteous carpenter.
We don’t know how he discovered Mary was with child, we don’t know if he suspected as she was “sent away” to “care for” her elderly cousin. We know the discovery pained him, the grief causing his to struggle deeply with his what it meant to be just, what it meant to be righteous. He fiercely struggled with what this sin meant, and how he should deal with it.
It is inevitable that we will go through similar dark days. We too struggle with those who have, or will sin against us, who will seem to betray us. We cannot point to Joseph, can we? For truly he was not betrayed by Mary, the Angel of the Lord declared her righteous, the angel brought the word that the conception was a holy thing…
Or maybe, there is a lesson there as well…
A lesson that there is something in a name…
Or in this case, two names…
In one, the answer to what is just and righteous. In the other, the answer to unrighteousness, and in both… peace.
The Consideration
Call for justice
Call for revenge
Heart of mercy?
Hosea
Deuteronomy 22 puts Joseph in an unenviable position. A strict reading of the passage gives no loophole – a women who is not a virgin on the night she is received into her husband’s house was to be stoned, unless the case is one where she could not defend herself or cry for help.
In a way, it was justice, but it could also leave room for revenge, sanctified revenge. A final solution, a final way to deal with the pain of her betrayal. Joseph had every right to this resolution – yet while we might call it justice, was it righteous? Does it matter that our thirst for revenge might diminish the call for purity? Does demanding justice sometimes come more from a desire for selfish satisfaction than it does from the desire to see evil purged from our midst?
Did Joseph for a moment think of Hosea and the prophets and think of the call for mercy instead of sacrifice? The words of another just man, who was likewise betrayed by his lady?
We know Joseph chose originally a path that seemed to be somewhat merciful. He would bury the divorce, the reason for it would not be made public. It would cost him the dowry paid to her parents, it would mean he would bear the weight and shame of asking for the divorce. His decision was somewhat noble, even as it was, except that it was missing a vital piece of information, what the child would be called.
They Shall Call His Name - Immanuel
God is Among Us
The Reign of God
The Justice of God?
Restlessly asleep, still unsure of his course of action, God’s desire would be heard, and it would trump Joseph’s, and bring him relief, and indeed a sense of peace and joy.
Even as Joseph wanted to be merciful, it was misplaced. Not because God disdains mercy, but because mercy from him wasn’t needed. Mary was the virgin, long before prophesied. The baby he wondered about the source of, was the source of His life, not just the proof of God’s existence, but the God existing in our midst, in physical form.
There is something special that happens, when the children of God find themselves in His presence. They are stripped of that which they struggle with, feed of that which binds them; and they find themselves empowered and enlightened to live in God’s reign.
There are times in our lives, when heeding Luther’s encouragement to put the best construction on other’s actions is difficult, even impossible. Even as just as Joseph was, how could he ever have come up with the “best construction” regarding Mary’s pregnancy? Yet the Angel of the Lord would declare to him that best construction, and free him to receive her as God’s blessing to Him.
Realizing we live in God’s midst leaves us free of condemning others, and the issue of sin becomes one to where we assist them in knowing the freedom they have in Christ. We’ll talk in our Bible Study about this more, and how we should work towards restoration and encourage each other to walk holy.
Understanding what it means to be able to put the best construction on others words and actions becomes significantly easier, when we realize that Christ has declared them righteous. It enables us to take them in, even if they did sin against us. It enables us to love, where the world would say love is impossible.
Does it mean we won’t be sinned against, again? No, Does it mean that meekness is another name for being weak? No. It means that we realize that condemnation is not our burden, not our responsibility.
He Shall called Him
God doesn’t leave us alone in this…
He saves His people from sin
Even as Joseph would hear the words heralding the incredible promise of the Messiah was at hand, there is a second, more intimate name that Joseph was given the blessing of bestowing. Jesus, pronounced in Hebrew Yeshua – the sacred name of God YHWH hyphenated with the word for salvation, rescue, deliverance.
The name Joseph would give to Jesus, the name that would fulfill prophecies, and the prophecy of Immanuel. You can’t go into God’s presence, having not dealt with the sin that ensnares us. Yet with the coming of Immanuel, comes salvation from sin! It’s power shattered as completely as the rising of the sun shatters the darkness.
This was not just the plan that was in effect as a baby was born in Bethlehem. It was the promise given to Eve in the garden, the promise to Sarai and Abram, this child of whom Isaiah said he was the “Everlasting Father”, Almihty God, the son born of a virgin, the lamb who would be led to the slaughter, bearing the iniquity of His people. Bearing our sin.
We are no longer alone, scrambling over the rough countryside trying to delve answers to the situations in life. We no longer have to play judge and jury and executioner. Instead we seek to continue the work, delivering people from their bondage.
Mary, who conceived Jesus without sin, was declared righteous by God to Joseph, the one who thought she sinner against him. . While, we the children of god whom He called, whom He baptized, He has declared us just as righteous as well!
He called His name Jesus
He saved Joseph from His sin…
Joseph did as he was directed – he named Mary’s son Jesus, and God fulfilled His promise and saved His people, jew and gentile alike. And He has promised to dwell with us, uniting to us in baptism, as He delivers another promise, delivering His Spirit to dwell within us, until His return to bring us home.
What Child is this? Joseph would respond, the One who spared me and rescued me from sinning against Mary, and from every other sin…
May we dwell in His peace, knowing we have been delivered from sin as well! AMEN!
 
