Today in the Spirit: Advent 4A (Annunciation)
We all know that sense of heightened desire that accompanies the arrival of a big day, like a wedding day or the first day of a new job. A moment of transition is at hand, and, like a child waiting for, well, Christmas, we feel more intensely that combined force of eagerness from not yet possessing a desired gift and the anticipation of joy when we will at last hold the gift in our hands. It is this bidirectional yearning that the church seeks to capture in its messaging for “Annunciation” Sunday (the sub-title given to the Fourth Sunday in Advent in the 2019 Book of Common Prayer).
The assigned Gospel reading for Advent 4A is Matthew 1:18-25, the narrative of the annunciation to Joseph. An unnamed angel appears in a dream to the husband of Mary, “a just man” (19), who is at the time considering quietly divorcing Mary for becoming pregnant by another man. The angel tells him, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (20-21). And, as in the annunciation to Mary in Luke, this narrative concludes with the description of Joseph’s obedience to the word of the Lord spoken.
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The complementary OT reading from Isaiah 7:10-17 will increase our sense of wonder in Advent worship as we contemplate the connection between OT prophecy and NT fulfillment of God’s promises. Through the prophet Isaiah, YHWH declares to the king of Judah, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (14).
With the appointed Psalm 24, we join in worship a chorus of faithful believers, perhaps together with the host of all heavenly beings, demanding that “the earth” belonging to YHWH open its gate to the coming of the Messiah: “Lift up your heads, O you gates, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in” (7).
Our assigned NT reading from Romans 1:1-7 presents us with the apostle Paul’s magnificent opening words to his letter to the church in Rome. In Advent, our worship will benefit from his extended greeting, bringing together the cradle, the cross, and the empty tomb. Paul sees himself as a link in the chain of a unified saving act of God, which has already become known in the early church as “the gospel of God”:
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh…
Romans 1:1-3
Here again, as in the OT passage, we should note the emphasis on Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of prophecy.
In our Collect for Advent 4, the opening line (“Stir up your power, O Lord”) assumes that God’s power for today extends from the coming of Christ into the world long ago. What is more, the petition calls for a continuing advent of Christ (“with great might come among us”) in the present, so that Christians of any age may be delivered from the bondage of sin hindering our walk with the Lord.
The Collect
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and as we are sorely hindered by our sins from running the race that is set before us, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen
Behold the Virgin Shall Conceive (Isaiah 7:10-17)
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. 17 The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”
Isaiah 7:10-17
Taken on its own, there are a host of questions surrounding this difficult passage in Isaiah:
- What kind of “sign” has God given Ahaz? Since the king could ask for anything, are we to understand that the confirming signal actually delivered is something miraculous or not?
- Since the Hebrew term translated “virgin” in most English versions can also mean “young woman” (as in NET), what exactly is being prophesied here? Truly a conception in a virgin woman, or a word of knowledge about a normal birth?
- What is the sign exactly? The birth of the child? The name “Immanuel”? What are the consequences of the child’s coming into the world?
In our worship, beloved–all these questions aside—what is important to us devotionally is that we hear it in light of the inspired NT reading from Matthew. There we find that by the word of God, Joseph learns that Jesus was to be born by a virgin woman; and that this is, by Matthew’s authoritative reckoning, the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (see Mt. 1:20-23 in the Gospel reading). 2 Peter 1:20 says, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things” (NIV). Yes, and in this case, we have the prophecy itself and Spirit-inspired, apostolic commentary on it. This is what it means for us to declare in the creeds that we believe in an “apostolic” church. We submit to the authority of the apostles’ office as given by Jesus and to the authority of the apostles’ teaching as inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Today, in the Spirit, we stand on the word prophesied in Isaiah and confirmed by the apostle: Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, “Immanuel”—God is with us.” Hallelujah!
O Ancient Doors (Psalm 24)
1 The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, *
Psalm 24:1-10, New Coverdale Psalter (BCP 2019)
the compass of the world and those who dwell therein.
2 For he has founded it upon the seas *
and established it upon the rivers of the deep.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? *
Or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, *
and who has not set his mind upon vanity,
nor sworn to deceive his neighbor.
5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord *
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of those who seek him, *
even of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates,
and be lifted up, you everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory shall come in.
8 “Who is the King of glory?” *
“It is the Lord, strong and mighty,
even the Lord, mighty in battle.”
9 Lift up your heads, O you gates,
and be lifted up, you everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory shall come in.
10 “Who is the King of glory?” *
“The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory”
Or, “Lift up your heads…you ancient doors” (7,8 ESV). Meditation on the word “ancient” (from a Hebrew term also meaning “everlasting”) offers a way forward for devotional application of this passage in our worship. Note: Psalms with the title “of David” could mean David wrote the psalm, or commissioned it, or that he is intended by the author to be the voice of the singer. Thus, commentators tell us, this song might have been composed by or for King David for use in the ceremonial procession of the ark of the covenant–the symbol of the Lord’s presence on earth–into Jerusalem: into the “tent” David himself makes (see 2 Sam. 6:12-17), or the temple Solomon will later build (see 1 Kgs. 8:1-6).
Whatever the case, tent or temple or both—these gates are hardly “ancient” to the people of Israel. What is older than old are the gates established by God so that humanity should not have access to the “tree of life” after the fall of Adam and Eve (Gen. 3). Who stands at these doors? And who is “this King of glory” that he may rightfully demand that they be lifted up? In your mind’s eye, in our worship, picture the Son of God coming into the earth (Adventtide) and by virtue of his saving ministry (Eastertide) commanding that every barrier to the saints entering eternal life be thrust aside.
Imagine, then, Jesus speaking these well-known words from a sermon attributed to John Chrysostom (d. 407 AD): “Enter then, all of you, into the joy of your Master. First and last, receive alike your reward. Rich and poor, dance together. You who have fasted and you who have not, rejoice today.”
Today, by the Spirit, we join the throngs of the faithful, crying out in the psalm: Yes, “Lift up your heads, O you gates, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors; [that the] the King of glory shall come in (7)—and we right behind him.
Called to Belong to Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1-7)
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:1-7
Paul begins this letter much as he does other epistles with his qualifications, not as a missionary or a rabbi, but as “a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God” (1). We may wonder whether, from the perspective of this particular Christian community in Rome, one he did not plant and had not visited, they thought Paul was seeking to set himself apart as superior. But, then, in the space of a few verses, far from separating himself, Paul pulls this church of Jews and Gentiles hard into his orbit, declaring that “all” of them in Rome are “called to belong to Jesus Christ” (6) and “loved by God and called to be saints” (7) The same word “called” (Gk. klētos, or “summoned”) is used by Paul to describe himself and them.
Devotionally, the effect of this salutation is to hem us all (every generation of Romans readers) in the same corral. All of us, clergy and lay members, summoned by God into life with Jesus Christ, enjoy the same privilege of being children of the Most High and the same obligation to live as such. The plural “you” here and elsewhere in Paul’s writing is crucially important for getting to look at, not at ourselves individually, but more at each other: Our first instinct here must not be to look in the mirror and say “I am called,” but to look around the church meeting and say “we are called.” It is as if Paul is saying, “You all are selected by God’s love to be swept up into the saving ministry of Christ, and to heed my words as Christ’s apostle: Now, listen carefully to what I tell you for fifteen more chapters.”
Today, Holy Spirit, in this Advent season, as we read Paul’s greeting to the Romans, we thank you for loving us, for including us among the chosen of Christ; and now, Lord, what next?
But As He Considered These Things (Matthew 1:18-25)
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
Matthew 1:18-25
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
At such a critical juncture in the historical inbreaking of God’s kingdom, “the birth of Jesus Christ” (18), we may wonder about the timing here. The angel appears to Joseph, not before Mary “was found to be with child” (18), but after; not before he was compelled to “consider” what to do, but after. We might think: “Isn’t it a little risky to come at such a key player as Joseph that way, and even a little cruel? Maybe an angelic visitation early on with both parties present might have been more prudent?”
We may wonder along these lines—or, rather, trust that Almighty God knows how best to accomplish his plans and how best to secure our cooperation along the way. He knows to keep Abraham from slaying his son after the knife is in his hand, and not before; he knows to throw Saul off his horse before he reaches Damascus, and not after. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways…As the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return to it..so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire” (Is. 55:10-11).
Today, in the Spirit, I choose to let go of speculations about God’s treatment of Joseph then, and of my loved ones and me now—and I will trust your higher wisdom.
Today in the Spirit
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