December 24, 1995	Emmanuel	Isaiah 7:10-16

Return to Sermon Index	Romans 1:2-7

Matthew 1:18-25

Sometimes, the things that we desire, but would never think to ask for, are the very things that God gives to us, anyway. Think about it. Even though it is something that we deeply cherish and treasure, none of us ever asked for life. At least as far as we can tell, none of us ever asked to be born here. Yet, here we are. And most of us have it in our hearts to stick around for as long as we can. But, none of us ever asked for such a gift as this. Nevertheless, life is no doubt the greatest gift that any of us have.

Our Old Testament lesson for this morning talks a little about gifts that are not asked for. In Isaiah 7 there is the account of an exchange between Isaiah and King Ahaz, king of Judah. For some time Ahaz has been very worried about an alliance that has been going on between the king of Syria and the king of Israel. He worries that the two nations to the north will try to force Judah to join with them in a war against Assyria. And, certainly, this is not something that he wants to do. So, for some time Ahaz hasn't been getting much sleep thinking about this problem.

It is at Ahaz's moment of greatest anxiety that Isaiah comes to Ahaz and tells him that the Lord can ease his mind. In fact, Isaiah tells him, "Ask the Lord your God for a sign concerning the outcome of this situation." All Ahaz has to do is ask and his problem will go away – taken care of by the Lord!

Imagine what a marvelous thing God offered the king of Judah through the prophet Isaiah! All Ahaz has to do is ask and it will be given to him. Imagine what you or I could do with such a gift! What would you ask for?

Remember that commercial on television? An explorer has just discovered a magic lamp. Blowing the dust off of it, he rubs it and out comes the genie who then tells the explorer that he has three wishes. First the explorer asks to be adored by beautiful women. And, puff! there they are – three or four beautiful women. And then, the explorer asks for great treasure. And, puff! the explorer is surrounded by piles of gold and jewels. And, finally, the explorer asks for long life. And, puff! the explorer is suddenly turned into the Eveready Bunny with the drum, while the genie laughs.

Indeed, what would you or I do if given the opportunity to ask for and receive anything we wanted? That was the opportunity given to Ahaz. But, the amazing thing was that Ahaz, as it turned out, was afraid to ask. Why was he afraid to ask? Because he didn't have faith. He didn't really believe that God would give him what he prayed for. And he didn't want to look like a fool if the people heard him asking God for something and God didn't come through. He was afraid. And, so he didn't ask.

Have you ever been in such a situation as that? Have you ever wanted something so badly that you were afraid to ask for it? afraid that the answer might be "no"? afraid that even if the answer was "yes" something bad would still happen to ruin the day?

Indeed, some people are afraid to ask God for the things they want. Nevertheless, God tells us to ask. Jesus told his followers to be persistent in asking the Lord for the things they needed. The apostle Paul told his fellow Christians to pray without ceasing. And, so, we are encouraged to ask God for what we need, as well, in spite of our fears, in spite of our lack of confidence. All we need to do is ask.

But, sometimes, even though we may be afraid to ask, even though we may not know to ask, God still comes through, giving us gifts that are more wonderful than our minds could ever imagine. That's what happened with King Ahaz. Although he was afraid to ask God for a sign concerning the two warring nations to the north, the Lord have him one, anyway. And it turned out to be a sign that was more wonderful than any of us could imagine. In fact, Isaiah's words to Ahaz were, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: A virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel . . . . and before the child is weaned the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste." And history tells us that, indeed, this is exactly what happened. Within the time it would take for a young woman to have a child and wean him, the Assyrians came and destroyed both Syria and Israel, leaving only Judah to wonder what would happen next.

God does come through in wonderful, unexpected ways, in spite of our fears, even in spite of our inability to ask. This, of course, is true in the events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ.

Our Gospel lesson for this morning tells us that Mary, a girl as young as 13 or 14 was betrothed to a carpenter named Joseph. And our lesson tells us that before their marriage vows had been finalized, before they had known each other as husband and wife, Mary became pregnant. Now, the scriptures tell us that it was by the power of the Holy Spirit that this had happened. But, how was Joseph to know? All he knew was that the girl he was engaged to had gotten herself pregnant. How? He didn't know. And when he asked Mary, all she could tell him was something about God being pleased with her and something about an angel visiting her. Joseph being a good man, could have suspected a dozen things: Maybe someone had raped her. Or, maybe one of her male relatives had sexually abused her. Or, maybe she'd gotten a little frisky with some of the local boys. Who knows what had happened? But Joseph was afraid that if he married the girl he would end up with more problems than she was worth. So, Joseph, being afraid, seriously considered quietly ending their relationship.

Now, notice that it was because of fear that Joseph made this decision. Yet, how God cuts through our fear! When Joseph went to sleep that night he had a vivid dream wherein an angel told him, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife." In spite of his fear, Joseph was told to put his fear aside, "because," as the angel said, "what is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

What a wonderful gift God gave to Joseph! Here, because of Mary's untimely pregnancy, he was afraid that perhaps his whole future with Mary as his wife was ruined. But, with a dream and the visitation of an angel, Joseph's fears were cast aside. And he took Mary home with him to be his wife.

But, Joseph could have been like King Ahaz in our Isaiah passage for today – afraid to believe God's message, afraid to ask God for a sign. But Joseph had faith. He believed in the dream. His very soul had been touched by the love of God. He believed in his heart that something wonderful was about to happen.

And we need to believe, as well. Christians have long been amazed at the sign of God's liberating power given to King Ahaz more than five hundred years before Christ was born. Remember what that sign was? "A virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Five hundred years after King Ahaz that sign is remembered at the birth of our Lord. Once more that sign is one of God's tremendous liberating power, a sign of God's love given to Joseph and to Mary and to the world.

In the past four weeks scripture and worship in this church has been leading us to know God's liberating power over darkness. Through the days of Advent, one week at a time, four candles have been lit as a sign of this approaching wonder until now we are forced to make the choice between the skepticism of Ahaz or the trust of Joseph and Mary. Can we trust in the signs that God has put before us? Can we trust our dreams? Can we trust our visions and the other gifts of God's love given to us?

Let us have the faith of Joseph,

Trusting those angelic dreams.

God is with us as a shepherd,

Leading us to quiet streams.

Let us have the faith of Mary,

That the child may in us be.

Love is born of those who share it

To the world for all to see.

Amen.