Scripture/Sermon of the Day

18 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 pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. 20 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. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

which means, “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Jesus.

I. I believe it was yesterday — Friday — a portion of the long-awaited Epstein files were released. The Justice Department was required — forced — by law to make the documents public, detailing Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking scheme. People were disappointed though because these papers were highly redacted — with whole paragraphs and pages and even whole sections consisting of hundreds of pages totally black — totally covered. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers Friday the department needed more time to review all of the documents and planned to release more in the future, even though the law required all documents to be released by Dec. 19.

But — the Department of Justice doesn’t have to follow the law — because — they ARE the law. Did anyone think the public would ever see any material that would be damaging to those in power now?

There was a lot of drama going on in our reading for today as well. Another big reveal — God. And just like today, you’ll see that the people in power don’t want it to happen. It will make King Herod go on a murderous rampage, killing thousands of children. And many people won’t even notice God-as-human. It will be life as usual.

III. Last week we saw how even John the Baptist — probably the holiest man alive at the time — was unsure. He waited all his life for God to appear. The purpose of his life was to announce the great Messiah.

But all he got was this peasant named Jesus from a dirty village called Nazareth, a place people joked about and said things like — “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” John thought: “THIS IS THE MESSIAH?!”

IV. John waited for a BIG REVEAL — all he got was Jesus — a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant. And John didn’t see any change — didn’t see “a new heaven and a new earth” — as the Bible had prophesied. He just saw this homeless man covered in dust from the road telling people to forgive and love one another.

And John ended up in prison, disillusioned. He thought the Messiah would be great. He told the crowds that “Someone is coming who will MAKE ISRAEL GREAT AGAIN!” There was a big MIGA movement — but there didn’t seem to be anything great about Jesus. John’s disciples asked Jesus, “Are you the one? Probably not, right?”

Jesus said: “Tell John that I heal people, and teach them to love one another.” John thought to himself: “What’s great about that? That’s not going to drive out the Romans. WE NEED REAL POWER — FIRE AND BRIMSTONE! — NOT LOVE! I’VE MADE A MISTAKE! Don’t forget — John was Mr. “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

V. That’s exactly what Jesus’ step-father JOSEPH said to Mary about 30 years earlier. When Joseph was engaged to Mary and found out she was pregnant he said: “I thought you were the one — but I made a mistake.” But before he broke his engagement to her the angel told him, “NO! Mary must be your wife, and you help her raise her child. His name is Jesus.”

VI. What these last two weeks have shown us is, when it comes to spiritual matters — we are flying blind. Imagine what would have happened without Gabriel’s intervention. As AA teaches us, more than ever, we need the help of a higher power NOT JUST TO SEE — BUT as Paul tells us in Romans — even TO DO THE RIGHT THING.

But HERE ON this first day of winter, this shortest day, and THE DARKEST EVENING OF THE YEAR, the angels, and the Holy Spirit, and Jesus will help us. BY DIVINE INTERVENTION, WE WILL FULFILL GOD'S PURPOSE FOR OUR LIVES BY CARRYING THE LOVE OF JESUS, GIVING IT AWAY EVERYWHERE, TO EVERYONE.