December 2, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, ‘We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!‘” (Isaiah 4.1)

“Jesus taught, ‘But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.‘” (Matthew 5.28)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD during the First Week of Advent 2024:

I know it seems like an odd scripture for Advent (Matthew 5.28), but whenever we objectify the image of the living God to serve the image we hold useful for ourselves we may actually be stepping into the realm of lust. You see “lust” is not the exclusive territory of the sex drive. You certainly won’t hear that term used in the Christmas story. In truth, we do hear about it just not in those terms. What happened through Mary is so spiritual that we may well miss it in the conversations which happen between Mary and Gabriel concerning the conception of Jesus as the Son of Man and the Son of God. What we don’t want to get into is thinking about our parents being intimate. Ewwwww, gross! Well, we certainly don’t want to think of God and Mary in the same way. And we shouldn’t. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit alone that Mary is able to conceive in the purity of God’s love for humanity. What is born in her and through her by faith is the answer to our prayers for healing and a firm identity of self before God. Because of this “love story” concerning God and humanity which is told in the “Mary perspective,” we are brought into the realm of how God desires to work His wonder of salvation and redemption in us and through us. No, we will not become the “mother” of Jesus. Those who thought that was the possibility I was speaking about have truly missed the message of the virgin birth. And that is where the teaching from the Sermon on the Mount speaks for me today when it comes to the “lust” issue so prevalent in our Christmas celebrations.

You think “lust” is not prevalent? When Paul gave sincere instruction to Timothy, who was like a spiritual son to him, saying “It is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil, not that money or wealth is inherently evil, but that the desire and pursuit of it at all costs is,” he was putting it in the framework of lust. There is the lust for money, fame, fortune, power, control, indulgence, freedom to be whoever we want to be without accountability to anyone, etc. It isn’t just about sexuality and intimacy; although many would love for it to be limited to just that so that the “rest of that story” is not included and thus free to pursue. As Jesus was teaching about it, he was covering a whole lot of history for those who were listening. He was speaking of spirituality, politics and human relations. It falls into the category I mentioned yesterday along the paradigm of “law versus spirit.” To push something to the greatest extreme so disturbs its identity and purpose that it becomes corrupt and, in turn, evil. Do we want to take one of those “fierce conversation” looks at how the world celebrates the day the Church has designated to be “the birthday of the King of kings and Lord of lords.” Couched in philanthropy and compassionate “good will,” whatever charity is offered will be measured by the witness of the intent of the day called Christmas. Little wonder why the intent of the day is covered up and over with the commercialism of “love, joy and prosperity.” Honestly, even our birthday celebrations for kids have been impacted by this kind of thinking as gifts are given to the attendees so that no one is left out of the “gift giving.” It sounds a lot like a payoff, doesn’t it. It feels like a gratuitous thank-you for taking your time to celebrate the birth of a child. Is that what birthdays are really all about? Are we displaying the measure of the worth of the person by the gifts we give to say, “I love you”? Perhaps there is a bit of cynicism here but honestly in the world today what is the measure by which we give gifts of compassion to those “who are in need”? It really seems to have less to do with honoring the King of kings than to make sure there is equity of “Christmas cheer” for all people everywhere. And we dare not use the extravagance of the magi gifting to validate our excessive spending. Their gifts were significant because of the prophetic and spiritual meaning and purpose. They weren’t trying to “suck up” or “butter up” Jesus in hopes that it would go well with them on their birthday. They were paying tribute to the King of kings and Lord of lords and not lusting after power, recognition, fame and notoriety. In truth, the magi desired obscurity not only to protect their lives from evil Herod but to promote the vital importance of the Christ child who was coming into His Father’s Kingdom. In contrast, we have Herod who was extreme of lust for power, greed, avarice, licentiousness, etc. He lived in fear of the loss of notoriety as the “true” king of Israel. He set himself in place, not mimicking Pharaoh of ancient Egypt in the days of Joseph and four hundred years of his descendants and those of his father Jacob, to be the example of what such “wonder” lust can do. His jealousy and fear of loss pushed him over the edge of sense and sensibility to order the death of infants to protect the crown. Here we may be able to hear the extension of Jesus’ teaching to say something like this “It is lust, such as the love of money, which is the root of all kinds of evil.” Eve was guilty of it. Adam was guilty of it. Cain was guilty of it. Judas of Kerioth was guilty of it. Sadly, we all have some form of lust in us because we all have sinned (put something before our relationship with God as priority) and fallen short of the image we are intended to bear before all the world. Except Mary.

Mary had a spiritual passion for God. In a certain tradition, Mary was given as an infant or child into the service of the temple. We know that her uncle and aunt, Zechariah and Elisabeth, were of the priestly line. Zechariah served in the temple himself and thus his brother may have as well. Regardless, Mary was brought up in the midst of faith and righteousness. Her focus was on serving God and for that devotion, God found favor in her. Such favor that God ordained she would be the bearer of this “good news of a great joy that a savior would be born into the world.” She was the means by which prophecy was fulfilled and the redemptive love of God was made known. It is a story of God’s love for His people and for their souls. He did not see them as objects but worthy living beings whom He had created in His own image. It was a passion of faith, hope and love which God poured out on Mary for the sake of His people. What God was doing was to bring justice into the world to overcome the injustice which sin was using to bind all people into a life a emptiness which could never be filled by anything this world could offer or even afford. The blessing for her faithfulness to become the “bearer of this good news,” the Christ child was not seen as an act of physical intimacy but of spiritual fulfillment.

Fortunately, we have the gospel of Matthew to further emphasize the message of pure love which leads to salvation and the fulfillment of God’s word. In Matthew, it is Joseph who is portrayed as a loyal and law-abiding citizen who is motivated by his faith in God, his hope in God and his love of God. Yes, he had compassion for Mary and her reputation and by law desired to divorce her secretly. But that consideration was motivated by his love for self. How would it look on her and him if she was discovered to already be pregnant before marriage? It isn’t like it didn’t happen in those days, it did. But no self-respecting man who desired to be seen as an upright and good Jew would risk his reputation in such a way. But Joseph would not let Mary be hurt either because he was a good man and loved her. This demonstrated his righteous persona. In a quandary, he needed God to provide the answer. God did so and revealed to him the truth he needed to know to do that right thing. This is what righteousness can do for each of us as well. It does this so that we are not consumed by the fears and anxieties which this world gives birth to in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Those fears and anxieties have their root in lust, the out of control lack of trust…l-ust…l-ack of tr-ust in God, which can only be resolved by trusting in God in all things and leaning not on the meanderings of our own hearts. Joseph trusted God and Mary and was blessed with the joy and opportunity to be the stepfather of Jesus; His mentor and guide in those formative years. Because of the true love of Joseph, we see the love of God as heavenly Father deep-rooted and well-founded in Jesus. It was Joseph’s passion for God just as it was Mary’s passion for God that they were called to be the parents of Jesus.

So, refer back to Isaiah 4.1 and hear the cry of the “women” of surviving Israel and Jerusalem. They clamored for a name of a husband in order to have “legitimacy” according to the Law. But, they were wives in name only as they had determined to continue in their own ways to provide for themselves. They did not abide in righteousness. Their intentions were revealed in the hardness of their hearts to not trust in God but lean upon their own device. This is the way of lust and we must be duly warned of it. Further, they did so with the spoken intention of “removing all disgrace.” What was their disgrace? Simply it was that they had no husband and their reputation for self-provision was well-known. We might even consider the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well as an illustration of it. In the hope of surviving, she had five husbands and that did not work out well for her. Now she was living with a man so she could have a roof over her head. But what if these five husbands were five brothers each dying in succession and by law taking her to be “their wife.” We know this Pharisaical template presented to Jesus in questioning the state of eternal life (Matthew 22, Luke 20, Mark 12). Of course, Jesus corrected their taunt with the reality of life in heaven aligned to God as was the life of angels already in Heaven. Such questions would not exist when God is the first priority and all things are made right by God’s mercy and not man’s law. The same was offered to the woman at the well when Jesus spoke to her of “living water.” He did not give her literal bread and water but spiritual truth about herself as she was and as she could be. These are the true gifts of Christmas, are they not? It doesn’t negate the gifts we offer but refines the meaning and purpose of the gifts according to the riches of Heaven. Is that what we do or are we captured by the “conventional wisdom” of the world to satisfy our own understanding which meets today’s standard and not tomorrow’s glory?

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.