December 30, 2001
Rev. Sue Yarber I have always been interested in the
relationship between the two testaments. Matthew is, by far, the most Jewish of
the gospel writers. Matthew quotes the Old or First Testament, prophets more
than the other gospels. Matthew, of the gospel writers, is most interested in
presenting Jesus as the Messiah, salvation of Israel. In
today’s story, Joseph, Mary’s husband, like the Joseph in Genesis, can
interpret dreams. New Testament, or Second Testament, Joseph’s story echoes the
story of Moses in Exodus also. Joseph of the First Testament, son of Jacob also
known as Israel and his wife, Rachel, was sold into slavery in Egypt and, now
in today’s scripture lesson, the salvation of Israel depends on Joseph, Mary’s
husband, taking the baby Jesus, the salvation of Israel, to Egypt. In
Exodus, the salvation of Israel depends on Moses’ flight out of Egypt and now,
in today’s New Testament reading, it depends on Joseph and family fleeing to
Egypt. Moses survived his infancy due to the creative genius of two midwives,
Shiprah and Puah, who saved him from the Pharaoh’s plan to kill all male Hebrew
children. Jesus stands threatened to experience the same fate at the hands of Herod.
Rachel, First Testament Joseph’s mother, weeps for her slaughtered sons of
Israel. Whoa, Joe how did you know? I have a
deep interest in dreams. My thesis for my Masters of Divinity is entitled, “The
Spiritual Significance of Dreams.” Dreams are responsible for spiritual
practices, the formation of certain doctrines, and worship practices within
Christianity. I will spare sharing my entire thesis with you, but suffice it to
say, that the Spirit of God has moved in dreams to reveal God’s self to us since
the beginning of time. In
Hebrew thought there is no distinction between dreams and visions. Both are
represented by the word “chalom” which means “to be made healthy and strong.”
Dreams were understood as a part of health and wholeness by the Hebrew
people. God’s spirit works through
dreams to provide for the salvation of Israel. In the
book of Acts every major event of the early church is marked by a dream, vision
or appearance of an angel. To say that dreams have played a big role in the making
of a people, first a Jewish people and also, later a Christian people, is
absolutely accurate according to scripture. I come
to this passage of the Bible with keen interest in Joseph and his spiritual
journey. Looking at today’s story as it
stands alone prompts me to ask several questions. My first question is “Whoa,
Joe how did you know?” How can any of us tell the voice of God from
all the competing voices that we encounter?
It is a matter of discernment. The spiritual journey is about
spending a lifetime honing the skill of distinguishing between God’s voice and
the voice of others. Not all dreams are revelation... you know the
ones where you are wearing an article of leopard print clothing and trying to
sing “Mary had a little lamb” in German while your dead relatives play in a
mariachi band... those are just crazy amalgamations of daily activities and
unconscious and conscious material and, perhaps, the misfiring of biochemical
substances in the brain. Seriously,
dreams, both waking and those we have when we are asleep, can be a source of
revelation. God is reaching out to us to tell us something important about the
meaning of our lives and our divine purpose. God’s life - giving power comes to
us through our dreams. If I was
pressed to say how I know when God speaks to me, and I’m not talking about
George Burns’ voice from a loud speaker, but rather a quiet, still, internal
knowing ...I would simply smile and say, “I just know.” Sometimes, hard as it
for my analytical mind to understand, there is no logical explanation but I
simply know from my insides out. We have
to be in touch with God to know when God lays a hand upon us. God is always
working in our lives to bring about healing and wholeness. The question is will
we know it when it happens? Are we open to God’s touch or do we resist the
guidance given from God? Henri Nouwen says it this way: “ A
fearful refusal to give birth to new life and a fearful attempt to create it
ourselves are both ways to play God. Thus, we keep an anxious distance from the
Lover who invites us to surrender ourselves and be led to unknown and
unpredictable places.” Listening
to the still, small voice of God requires us to leave behind this world and
enter into a place of solemn communion with the eternal one. Just as the
survival of baby Jesus depended on Joseph’s willingness to listen to God
through his dream, the survival of Christ within you and Christ within me
depends on our willingness to listen to God through our dreams, whether awake
or asleep. What
would you do if you could do anything in the world? What stands in your way? What
if that is your divine purpose and you let fear stop you from living it?
What about Joseph? What if Joseph had written off his dream of Jesus being in
danger? Our waking
dreams, our deepest desires and aspirations, tell us about the spirit of Christ
that lives within us. If you don’t believe me then sit down with your partner
or a friend and ask what his/her dreams are for their future. See if the
person’s eyes light up, their voice will fill with expression, they will move
their body as they tell you their wishes and hopes. Never has the person you
will be speaking to looked more alive and beautiful. Christ came so that
will would know the fullness of life so that we would be “made healthy and
strong.” We have a purpose and source of being. Yo, Joe, what do we owe? An
ordinary person, Joseph, followed God’s voice against incredible reasons not
to...who wants to believe that a baby you love as your own is in trouble. We,
like Joseph, are called to protect the innocent Christ child in a world that
threatens daily to kill him. Greed, fear, hatred, indifference and
self-centeredness threaten to squelch God’s gift to us and the only safeguard
against assassination of the Christ child is constant and deliberate communion
with God. We each play a part in the
presence of Christ here on earth. Will we willingly give of ourselves, in
order, to bring Christ to safety and to the shelter of loving arms, our
loving arms? Christ taught Joseph a depth of love he never knew before.
Christ longs to teach us that same love. The Christ child wants to speak to us
and guide us to a place where we can grow and live with him in a way that
transforms us and the world around us. If Joseph were here I would ask him
my second question, “Yo, Joe what do we owe?” I imagine he would
simply smile at me and calmly say, “Your life and all the love that God has
given you.” Each of
us is here to do a portion of God’s work. We are uniquely gifted and guided to
the right place and time to offer ourselves to the Christ child. Our lives are
ordinary and our responses to God are ordinary. Our ability to hear God above
the clamor of all that tries to distract us is extraordinary. It is a skill
that requires practice and time and space. Joseph reminds us to take seriously
the gift of love that God gives each of us. The divine spark of Christ, the
baby, innocent and loving, lives in each of us. We are responsible for
nurturing and protecting the Christ child that is born in each of us. So Joe here we Go! Nouwen
tells us that we cannot refuse to give birth to new life. Picture refusing to
give birth... anyone who has had a baby or had the honor of being present when
a baby is born knows that there is no refusing new life. Birth is ...and there
is no two ways about it...so it is with Christ...Christ is... Christ is born
anew in each of us. We can
not create new life but we can receive new life. We are asked to dance with the
one who brought us this far. God longs for us to open our hearts to the Christ
within. As we look to the New Year let’s do so with a willingness to as Nouwen
puts it, “ surrender yourself and be led to unknown and unpredictable places.”
You just might find an innocent babe, God’s pure love, needing ordinary you to
touch the lives of others with God’s love. May the spirit of Christ bless you
now and always! DREAM ON! Please
pray with me: Holy God, you are the babe of hope that lies deep within each of
us. You are the messenger and the message, the truth and strength to follow
that truth. We ask that each of us listen to your small, still voice and know
the way to your perfect will for us. We pray all these things in the mighty
name of your beloved child, Jesus the Christ. Amen!
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