December 23

Advent 4

Isaiah 7.10-16
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.

Matthew 1.18-25
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

You know how it is when you are sleeping and someone else–a partner, a child, a cat–wants to come into the bed with you? They creep in and you have to make room. I think that’s what both of these texts are about today–making room. King Ahaz, in a moment of false piety, refuses to make room for God to speak. Joseph, in a dream, meets one of God’s messengers and immediately makes room for him and his message, changing his life drastically, to accommodate this Immanuel, God with us.

In the season of Advent, especially now as Christmas rapidly approaches, we are busy people, our schedules and our houses are crowded. Our with-us God is trying to creep in…will we notice? Will we make room in our cozy lives for the upset of a baby, especially this baby who is the very presence of God with us? (TCP)