“Ascend the Mountain” by Jim Bayne

“Ascend the Mountain” by Jim Bayne

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as Sheol, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD! (Isaiah 7:10-12)

Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? Or who may stand in his holy place? One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. (Ps 24:3-4)

Through him, we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ (Romans 1:5-6)

Now, this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. (Matthew 1:18-21,24)

Piety

My God, You have created me out of love to know you, love you
and serve you in a way no one else can do.
Your plans for me are far greater than any I might dare dream for myself.
Lord, grant that I might be open to your grace

to know the next good step in your plan for my life.
Give me the courage and the generosity to say “Yes”!
Show me your will for me, O Lord, and help me to say with Mary,
“I am the servant of the Lord: let it be done to me according to your word. Amen.

(Bishop George J. Lucas)

Study

Imagine the agony Joseph must have been going through when he learned that his wife to be was pregnant!  Was he furious? Betrayed? Depressed? Desperate? Shamed? Devastated? All of the above? Who wouldn’t be?

But Joseph was like Ahaz before him.  He was not about to tempt God.  He had  “decided to divorce her quietly.” She may have betrayed him, but he did not want to see her suffer.  He truly loved her.

But God had a different plan. He sends an angel in a dream to tell Joseph it’s OK. Go ahead and marry Mary. She’s going to give birth to the savior of the world!

The gospel tells us that when Joseph awoke, “he did as the angel of the Lord commanded.” 

Do you suppose it was that simple? How many of us, caught in a situation like Joseph’s and settled on a plan of action, would wake up from a dream and immediately change direction?  Not many I suspect.

To be as trusting as Joseph, there had to have been a lot of prayer, study, and action ahead of time.  We can see evidence of that in Joseph’s decision not “to expose her to shame.” As the scripture tells us, Joseph was a “righteous man.”

This may have been the first time Joseph saw an angel in a dream, but it was certainly not the first time Joseph heard the Lord speaking to him and giving him direction for his life. To respond as he did, Joseph had to have spent many hours pouring over the Jewish scriptures, delving deeply into their meaning, discussing them with friends, and finally implementing them in his life.

We know from elsewhere in the scripture that he was a regular at his local synagogue and surely made many trips to the temple in Jerusalem.  He would have developed a deep life of prayer.

Joseph’s prayer and study came to life in the way he related to others. This was certainly not the first time Joseph needed not to put someone to shame, but to show compassion and mercy.

When you put all of this together, it is easy to imagine that following his dream, Joseph took some time to think about what the Lord was asking him to do. You also can believe that it didn’t take too long for him to decide to drop his plan and follow the one the Lord was asking him to follow.  Joseph had built up considerable trust in the Lord’s leading.

Action

Well, here we are approaching the end of Advent. Have these past three weeks been a period during which you devoted some quality time to prayer, study, and action?

What have you done to increase your trust in the Lord?

What have you done to prepare better yourself to deal with life’s little surprises constructively and compassionately?

Have you been “unwilling to expose ...to shame” anyone in your life that has caused you pain?

Has the Lord been speaking to you and calling you to go in a new direction?

It’s never too late to learn new ways of living or to restart old ways of righteous living that may have gotten lost in the chaos of the modern age.