Collect and Readings for Fourth Sunday of Advent – Isaiah 7.10-16, Psalm 80.1-8, 18-20, Romans 1.1-7, Matthew 1.18-end
The Prayer for today
God our redeemer, who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of your Son: grant that, as
she looked for his coming as our saviour, so we may be ready to greet him when he comes again as our
judge; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Matthew writing for a Hebrew audience is keen to show the Jewish people that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah. He draws attention to Isaiah’s prophecy spoken to King Ahaz and sets out Jesus’ credentials. Through Joseph, Jesus is a descendant of King David; through Mary, this son, born to a virgin, fulfils the ancient prophecy and turns out to be ‘Immanuel’ or ‘God with us’.
It is not unusual for prophecies about short-term, immediate events to turn out to have resonances far in excess of their original meaning. One familiar example is the call of St Francis to ‘repair my Church, which is in ruins’. It was far more than one stone chapel which was eventually ‘repaired’; the whole Church of God became refreshed and invigorated.
The expectant atmosphere of this week’s readings attunes us to God’s way of orchestrating events and working in co-operation with his people. The stage is set, the timing is right, the focused light of all hopes and longings of a generation is about to shine out in the person of Jesus. Typically, we find God delighting in using the ordinariness of good people so that the extraordinary things can be accomplished. Typically, he allows individual people to know their own part in the action exactly as and when they need to know it.
It is because Joseph is expecting God to be God that he prepared to alter his sensible and considerate plan to make no loud accusations about Mary when divorcing her for assumed unfaithfulness. Whatever the dream was, it made him think again. Perhaps Mary had tried to tell him the truth and he hadn’t been able to believe her before. We can only guess at how Mary felt before Joseph changed his mind.
God will still speak to us through our dreams, memories and feelings, if only we take the trouble to notice. They can often be our own personal parables, able to put us in touch with our true selves; enabling us to recognise God’s ways forward which we haven’t been able to see before.
Some things to reflect on:
· What methods have you noticed God using to alert people to repentance or to a new and better way of dealing with a difficult situation?
· How can the transcendent God work in partnership with ordinary people? Where have you seen this happening?
God bless and stay safe and well.
Rev’d Fiona Robinson
