Homily for the Fourth Sunday in Advent Year A  Is; 7: 10-14, Rom; 1: 1-7, Mat; 1: 18-24

We hear one of the brief snippets in scripture today about Joseph, stepfather to Jesus. He is concerned about quietly divorcing Mary when he finds out she is pregnant. He was betrothed at the time to Mary and not married. During the time of Joseph and Mary there was a set process for marriage. First the engagement was arranged by the families. After the engagement there is a period of one year of betrothal before the marriage. The only way not to marry the woman you were betrothed to was a divorce, because they were as good as married.

 

The first reading ties in nicely to the Gospel where it relates to Ahaz. Ahaz was under stress as there was a war coming and the opponent was significantly better than the Jewish army at the time. He was considering and alliance which would strengthen his army. Isaiah reminds him that if he calls on God to assist he will be there. The idea of the women will carry a child who will be named Emmanuel. Emmanuel as we know means God is with us.

 

Ahaz chose the wrong option and lost the war and the Jewish land to the Babylonians. The thing is God continued to walk with the Jewish people throughout all their ups and downs, he was there allowing them to make mistakes and live with the consequences. We see Joseph having the same decision thrust upon him and an angel comes to him as he sleeps. Joseph to the contrary of Ahaz agrees to believe in Gods love and does as he is requested. He moves from the betrothed state to making Mary his wife. We all know who the child who is to be born to Mary and Joseph, we celebrate this birth next week.

 

We hear a lot about Gods love being universal and we are supposed to love like God. Joseph showed this love by doing something many men would not do. The thing he did before he was able to make that decision was to accept Gods love for him. Do we do this?

 

Christ reminds us that God walks with us wherever we go, if we let him he will see us through all forms of trials and tribulations. While they may not work out the way we expect if we accept and then show Gods love the outcome will be for our benefit.

 

Paul showed this through his life. While he was in Rome he continued to show Christ’s love for all people even those who were persecuting him. The opening statement of his letter to the Romans is something we should all aspire to.

 

“a slave of Christ Jesus,

called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God,

which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,

the gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh,

but established as Son of God in power

according to the Spirit of holiness

through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord”

 

We should all feel this same way. We see this type of belief in Christ more so in this time of year during Advent. The difference is we should behave this way every minute of every day of the year. We will all fail at one time or another for a variety of reasons. We do however have something that should strengthen us during those times of distress. We have the Eucharist, and in order to be worthy to receive it we have reconciliation to remind us that our sins will be forgiven.

 

With the Eucharist we take the resurrected Christ into our bodies and are able to take strength from him during our difficult times. We are able to be placed in situations like Ahaz and Joseph and make the right decisions. We have a world that may not agree with some of the things the Church stands for, we individually may not agree with some of these things either.

 

This is one of the things that makes God so worthy of praise, because regardless of our beliefs he loves us anyway. He will walk with us when asked, but he will also let us walk alone if we so choose. While we have the ability to think freely as well as act freely our actions and interactions, we need to be aware of the consequences that come from them. Ahaz chose the incorrect way and he paid the price for it. Joseph chose the correct way and we all still benefit from it.

 

We benefit in the joy and extra smiles we see at this time of year. We see this as we witness the children of the parish grow and mature into adults. We see this in the decorations and the displays in all the stores

 

The examples from the displays in the stores will go away on the 26^th of December, most people will take down their decorations by the first of the year. The joy and extra smiles will go away as soon as the special parties and the holiday goes by.

 

The only example that goes on is we as a parish watch our children grow into mature adults. These experiences should lead us to more joy and smiles as we have at this time. If we choose to leave church while we see the children all giddy and ready for Christmas and go about our lives without remembering and sharing that joy we forget the love of God that we are to use for the good of mankind. Do we want to keep this feeling of love, joy, and coming together that comes with Advent and Christmas beyond the season? In order to see this through we need to take the time to remember Gods love for each of us that we see so beautifully in our young children at this time of year as well as throughout the year. With the upcoming celebration of the birth of our Savior we need to bring this feeling throughout the rest of the year. During this week we need to reflect on who we would have lead us in this endeavor. Will it be the general consensus we see outside the church or will it be by following Christ? I know who I will try to emulate, even though I know I will fail at times. How about all of you?