Are
you a rule-keeper or a rule breaker?
I
find myself irritatingly set on being a rule keeper on the whole. I
will walk dutifully around 3 sides of a lawn if there’s a “keep
off” notice, and get dreadfully anxious if I think that I might
have accidentally infringed a rule I somehow didn’t know about…
I
really don’t want to be a nuisance in any way, stepping over the
line is a definite “No”, so – it’s just as well that I wasn’t
involved in those early weeks of Mary’s pregnancy. I would probably
have wanted to hide because, you see, anyone could tell things
weren’t as they should be.
Matthew
starts the story in such a calm, matter-of-fact way
“Now
the birth of Jesus took place in this way...” Engagement preceding
marriage. Utterly respectable until – WHAM -
“Mary
was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit”
WHAT?
Let
me read that again.
It
sounds so undramatic, even ordinary – and because we’ve probably
heard these words a thousand times, they may not have much impact.
But
for Joseph – they rocked his world.
How
on earth could he, how could anyone muster up enough faith to trust
Mary’s outrageous claim?
A
child from the Holy Spirit?
It
beggars belief.
And
it’s definitely not the right way to do things, is it…Not in
accordance with the laws of Israel, which would have Mary AND her
lover stoned to death without further ado.
Joseph
is righteous. He wants to do things properly – but with compassion
too.
Clearly,
his hopes and dreams for the future are in tatters, but he isn’t
one to be vindictive.
You
can imagine the turmoil.
It’s
scarcely surprising that he has difficulty sleeping, or that his
sleep is troubled by extraordinary dreams.
Dreams
that rekindle hope – if only he can have faith and courage.
This
beginning of the Jesus story is not being played by the rules…
it’s
an almighty mess, frankly (and of course, we
know that worse is to come)
What
should Joseph do?
He
doesn’t have to be a part of this mess. He could save himself a lot
of trouble by steering well clear – but somehow, faith triumphs,
giving him strength to accept the scandal, the gossip, the risk that
he too will be seen as a troublemaker, refusing to play by the rules.
Actually,
he may be engaging deeply with the rules, the truth, of how things
actually ARE, rather than the perfect pictures of how they ought to
be.
Yes,
there is mess...There is disappointment...but that’s the world into
which God will soon be born to an unwed teenage mother.
Born
into scandal and shame.
Born
into risk and fear.
Just
the way that God has always planned it.
“Look,
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall name him
Emmanuel. God with us”
Too
often we seek to deny the messiness of our very human lives.
The
shiny Christmas decorations, the myriad lights that seek to drive
back or distract us from the darkness of poverty and distress here in
our city and beyond can be part of that denial, like all those ads
encouraging a perfect family Christmas, a world away from tetchy,
exhausted parents, and over-excited children greedy for the next
present.
But,
you know, Immanuel, God with us, is there in the reality.
In
the frantic preparations that never quite seem to be enough
In
the anxiety over family gatherings where not all the family is really
that thrilled to find themselves together.
In
the disappointment and the loneliness of those who had never imagined
it would turn out like this.
God
with us -
I’m
going to date myself now by admitting a fondness for the 90s track by
Joan Osborne, “What if God was one of us”.
In
case you don’t know it, let me share the chorus
“What
if God was one of us. Just a slob like one of us. Just a stranger on
a bus trying to make his way home.”
I
have never dared to investiigate whether the song was written in
faith or in irony – and if you know, please don’t tell me.
Because,
of course, this is the heart of everything.
God
IS one of us...whatever that might look like.
Immanuel.
God
with us in the endless business of the Cathedral at this time of
year..in the hard-won beauty of the choir singing away the dark on
Advent Sunday...in the weary scraping of candlewax from the
floor...in the stickiness of a thousand Christingle oranges…and the
starling-chatter of school-children filling the nave for their end of
term celebration.
God
with us in the patient preparations and proof reading for service
after service after service...
God
with us no less in the barely suppressed grumpiness of overtired
staff and of volunteers who’ve agreed to do just one more event,
because “we know you’re stretched at this season”
God
with you, Paul and Sheila, in what must surely be an emotional
roller-coaster as you prepare to bring so many years of loving
service here to an end.
God
with you in the next adventure as surely as God has been with you
shining through all that you have brought to the life of this place.
God
with us in our hopes and our fears, for ourselves and for our
country.
God
who has NEVER played by our rules, but turns them upside down in
every way….living his manifesto, Mary’s Magnificat..
God
the rule-breaker stepping down from the throne of glory that
we would
surely cling to...setting aside everything but love to be with us in
our triumphs and disasters, our moments of faith and our days of
doubt…
When
Joseph broke the rules and joined Mary on the side of God’s wild
subversion, he can’t have known what the future might hold.
I
wonder how often he comforted his wife, comforted himself, by
repeating Isaiah’s words
“Look,
the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and they shall name him
Immanuel”...how often he fell asleep, using that name as a prayer
as he tumbled into darkness
“Immanuel”...God
with us…
Here,
now and always.
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