Matthew 1.18-25

At Christmas, we often focus on the birth of Jesus found in Luke 2. Matthew's story is often forgotten. The lectionary relegates Matthew 2 to Epiphany, after the twelve days of Christmas. Yet it is Matthew who tells us about Joseph and how Jesus descends from Abraham.

We are reminded first of Jesus genealogy (Matt 1.1-17). Note this inclusion of the four women; their stories are mostly scandalous (Rahab, Tamar, Ruth , and the wife of Uriah, Bathsheeba).

Jack Kingsbury reminds us that Matthew's story is about Jesus. It is easy to get lost in the settings, animals, and minor characters at Christmas, yet the story remains about Jesus.

It is easy for Jesus to get lost in the shuffle.

This Sunday's sermon focuses on one word in Greek - "genesis". The NRSV translates Genesis as "birth;" others argue that the broader sense of this word should be used. Jack Kingsbury says that this passage tells not of the birth of the baby Jesus, but the origin of the name Jesus. As Joseph struggles to accept and name this child, salvation history hangs in the balance....

Zephanian 3.14-20

painting by Gwen Meharg

We continue this week in the minor prophets with Zephaniah. Zephaniah was roughly contemporary with the reformist king Josiah of Judah (2 Kings 22). The story of Josiah is fascinating. The priests rediscover the Hebrew scriptures, most importantly the book of Deuteronomy. In the eighteenth year of his reign, Josiah begins to implement God's law. Idols are cast out. The people begin to worship the Lord. Josiah is the last good king in 2 Kings.

Zephaniah's prophecy most likely heralded and caused this change in Judah. In Zephaniah's prophecy, God's judgment universal judgment gives way to the possibility for universal restoration. The message of Zephaniah holds today. At Christmas, God established His presence in the midst of the people, coming as a strong deliverer, beginning to reconcile the world through a baby. The cross of Jesus proclaims the same universal judgment on sin, evil, and injustice; the resurrection proves that the incarnation began to restore all the world to God, gathering in the lame and the outcast.

Rejoice!

Advent 2

In Hebrew, Malachi means my messenger. It is the same word used in the Old Testament for angel.

The book of Malachi is a book of disputatons, a series of questions and answers. This Sunday's text does not include the questions from the end of chapter 2: "How have we wearied him [the Lord]?" (answer: by saying, "all who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them") and "Where is the God of justice?" Yet this final question is the springboard for Malachi's message.

Malachi answers the second question, saying that the Lord is coming and how he will act when he comes. His message was one of repentance and reform. "Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts." (Malachi 3.7)

Christians interpret Malachi in a post-Christmas context. In this text, Malachi is a messenger sent to tell of a second messenger (John the Baptist) who prepares the way for the Lord (Jesus Christ). The fundamental question still remains: knowing of the Lord's (re)appearance, what are we going to do to prepare for him?