Sermon
- The Rev. Leah D. Schade
“And You Shall Call Him - Everlasting Father”
4 Advent, Dec. 23, 2007
Text: Matthew 1:18-25
This is
the last of our sermon series on this phrase from Isaiah 9:6: “For unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given . . . and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace.”
We’re focusing today on the phrase, “everlasting Father.” Here’s what I
want to do with you today. I want us to start with this phrase, “everlasting
Father” by exploring what it means in Hebrew. Then I want to connect it
to our gospel story today from Matthew. And finally I want to explore
what significance these biblical texts have for us today.
In Hebrew, the two words are “ad” for everlasting, and “abba”, for
“father.” Everlasting is an interesting word because it means “of the
past”, “of the present,” and “of the future”, into perpetuity. This is to
say that God is of continuous existence - God was, is, and shall be for eternity.
And the word “abba” means father - and carries with it a specific connotation
of benevolence and protection.
So what Isaiah is saying in this text is that this promised savior-child has
always existed, exists now, and will exist forever. This is important to
remember in light of the story that lies ahead in Matthew. Because we can
conclude from Isaiah that God is seeing the bigger picture - the past, the
present and the future - that we mortals are not privy to, but to which God
gives us glimpses at certain times.
Now this passage from Matthew shows us the nativity story from Joseph’s point
of view. Let’s set the stage. Joseph is supposed to marry Mary, but
- surprise - she’s pregnant. This is a very shameful set of circumstances
for Joseph. Imagine how people would talk - either he and Mary were
intimate before the wedding. Or she must have been intimate with someone
else. In any case, the crime would fall on Mary’s shoulders. The
Law would demand that she be stoned to death for her indiscretion.
Now let’s just pause for a moment and consider Joseph’s dilemma. Here is
the woman he loves, the woman he wants to marry, pregnant. He knows he is
not the father. Which can only lead him to one conclusion - she must have
been with someone else.
We’re not told how Joseph was feeling at this point. But I would imagine
him to be very hurt, disappointed, feeling betrayed. He may also have
been feeling intense jealousy and anger. For a man engaged to be married,
this is the worst thing that could have happened. Here he was going along
on his chosen path, following his course, living his life, when suddenly the
bottom dropped out from under him, the carpet was pulled out from under his
feet, and he toppled head-long into a nightmare.
Nevertheless, we’re told that Joseph is a righteous man, meaning that he was a
good man - merciful, God-loving. He reflected the qualities of the
“ad-abba” - the Everlasting Father we spoke of earlier. So his plan is to
privately release Mary from the marriage contract to avoid a public
humiliation.
Now this is where that very same “ad-abba” appears to Joseph and gives him that
glimpse of the bigger picture. God tells Joseph not to be afraid to take
Mary as his wife because the child is from the Holy Spirit. And then we
hear another phrase from the prophet Isaiah: “Look, the virgin shall
conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God
with us.’”
Actually, I like the old-fashioned King James translation better here, using
the word “Behold.” “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a
son.” To look, is to passively see something, to observe. But to
behold is something different. Behold means to embrace with your
eyes. To hold with your vision. To immerse yourself in the sight of
something, and to accept it into yourself.
And it carries a positive connotation. I mean, you never say, “Behold, a
parking ticket! Behold a flat tire!”
No, we behold something that is beautiful, significant, meaningful.
Matthew has people beholding all over the place - “behold, there came wise men
from the east.” “behold, the angels came and ministered to Jesus.”
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son. Joseph: Behold
your pregnant fiance’. Behold this young women carrying a baby
inside of her. Behold, the God-bearer, Theotokos.
Maybe, Joseph, the worst thing that could have happened is not the worst thing
after all. Maybe, in fact, it is the best thing.
So Joseph, trusting ad-abba, the Everlasting Father, takes Mary as his
wife. She gives birth to her baby, and Joseph names him Jesus. Then
three more times, ad-abba appears to Joseph in his dreams to warn him to flee
to Egypt to escape the murderous wrath of Herod, to tell him later that it’s
safe to return home, and then to take a detour and settle in Nazareth.
Over and over again, Joseph puts his trust in ad-abba, the Everlasting Father,
even when things seem to be at their worst.
So this leads me to the question I want us to consider for today. How can
we embrace God’s presence in the midst of life’s changes, especially when those
changes are not positive? We’re going along on our chosen path, following
our course, living our lives, when suddenly the bottom drops out from under us,
the carpet is pulled out from under our feet, and we topple head-long into a
nightmare. We discover our child is experimenting drugs or
alcohol. We hear the diagnosis of inoperable cancer. Our beloved
announces that the relationship is over. The pink slip arrives in our
mailbox. And we find ourselves speaking those words: This is the worst
thing that could have happened.
How
can we trust the Everlasting Father when we are faced with the worst thing that
can happen? Or maybe an even more fundamental question: Why
should we trust? Why should we have faith that the Everlasting Father is
still present, still listening, still caring, still benevolent, still
protecting, when all signs point to just the opposite?
I think that’s probably more the question that the women asked when they stood
at the foot of the cross, beholding their beloved rabbi gasping for
breath. Remember I said that Matthew has people beholding throughout his
gospel. Well, in Chapter 27, the women were, indeed, beholding once again
- beholding Jesus on the cross, holding him with their
eyes, embracing him with their vision, immersing themselves in what
they were seeing, and accepting it into themselves.
They were undoubtedly believing that this was the worst thing that could have
happened. Then they brought down his lifeless body, and Mary, his
mother, bearing him again, not into life, but into death. Holding your
dead son in your arms - it doesn’t get any worse than that.
And yet - ad-abba, the Everlasting Father was at work, even if they
could not see it at that darkest hour. Because three days later – we behold
again. From the 28th Chapter of Matthew:
“And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel
of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the
door, and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white
as snow:
And the angel said unto the women, Fear not: for I know
that ye seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here: he is
risen, as he said. Come, behold the place where the Lord lay.”
The
worst thing that could have happened is not the worst thing. It is, in fact,
the best thing! We do have cause to hope. Ad-abba, the Everlasting
Father, is more powerful, more beneficent, more all-knowing, all-loving than we
could have ever imagined. Fear not, righteous people of God. Your task,
simply, is to . . . behold. Amen.