Father Owen's Sermon and Homilies
Coming Home
First Sunday After Christmas
Poverty In The Richest Nation
The World's Most Expensive Toy
The Rev. Walter V. Hillebrand's Sermon and Homilies
Sermon Sunday September 30, 2012
'Surrender'
Sermon Sunday August 19, 2012
iPhone 5 - Missing Features
Sermon Sunday May 6, 2012
Relationship with the Vine (Jn 15: 1-8)
Jesus washes the disciples feet (Jn 13:1-17, 31b-35)
Homily February 12, 2012
'Let us get off our high horses' (1 Kings 5:1-14)
Sermon Fourth Sunday of Advent 2010
Matthew 1:18-25
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 with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 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.She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus (NRSV).
I have to admit that I struggled with this week’s Scripture readings. On Thursday night, during our AGAPE Meal or more specifically during our meditation and sharing of the Gospel reading I still did not have clarity because today’s Scripture is so rich and conveys many different messages.
Let me try to approach this week’s readings from different angles. One would be to point out my own struggle with the wording in the text and another would be the message that speaks to me.
In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 1 verse 23 one can read the quotation, “The virgin shall conceive and bear a son” whereas in Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14 it is written, “The young woman is with child and shall bear a son.”
One may notice, that even though the same translation of the New Revised Standard Version of both scriptures was used, one can find a difference in its wording.
The Old Testament writing is worded with ‘The young woman’ and the New Testament translation is worded with “The virgin shall conceive and bear a son.”
The difference is caused by the limitations of translation. The Old Testament version was translated from the Hebrew word ‘Almah’ and the New Testament using the word ‘Virgin’ comes from the Greek word ‘Parthénos’ (Strong's Concordance).
One could be distracted by the different wording and lose sight, not seeing the tree in the forest, if you understand what I mean. For many of us, it is easier to argue and rationalize expressions instead of believing the ‘Word of God.’
In using the wording ‘Virgin’ the Gospel writer makes a clear statement. Matthew announces something special, something you and I never would have dreamed of. The Gospel tells us that something miraculous happened, something you and I cannot understand, something we struggle with, that a virgin can bear a son is beyond human understanding. It is supernatural, it points towards an omnipotent God. And then comes our fear because if this God can make a virgin bear a son then this God can do what ever He wants to do. It is out of our control.
My beloved sisters and brothers, the conception of this special child in this special way by a virgin, the virgin Mary, cries out for our attention. God wanted to send us a clear message. God wanted us to know that this child is divine. It is the child of God conceived by the Virgin Mary through the Holy Spirit. This child is the Incarnation of God. In addition, that the child was born by the Virgin Mary, also clarifies the humanity of God. Only in becoming man could God become a partner, a friend, a companion for you and me. A God that cannot suffer like humans cannot know the pain, suffering, and what death looks like from the perspective of man. The Incarnation of God conveys the message to us that our God is a God who is close to us human beings, a God who understands humanity.
There is another point in today’s Scripture reading that I struggled with during this past week.
It is written that an Angel appears in Joseph’s dream saying that Mary “Will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus.” But then, we find that, Isaiah is quoted within Matthew’s reading stating, “They shall name him Emmanuel.”
Did you understand this? The commands are clear one is to name the newborn child Jesus and the other is to name him Emmanuel. I found this interesting.
I pondered over these two different names and after a while I thought about how names are used in my little hometown in Italy. Usually, there is a First Name, which is given to the newborn. But then, many times we use a second name to make the person known by a name that already is known by others throughout the village. It is a way of making sure everyone knows the person, her or his history, and background. Sometimes, these names may even contain information about the qualities of a person.
Through this perspective of using the two names given to the child, this helped me to open up my mind allowing another version for using these names.
The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew word ‘Yeshas’ (Strong's Concordance). The word has many meanings: deliverance, liberty, prosperity, safety, and last but not least, Salvation.
Emmanuel, on the other hand, means as stated in Matthew chapter 1 verse 23, “God is with us.” Therefore, one can interpret the Scripture passage that the child should be known as The One, who people will call Jesus Emmanuel. The One, the Church will call the Savior knowing that through this Jesus, God is present among us. God gave Himself a human face and became flesh and blood for us, Jesus, the Savior, the God who is with us.
Having clarified some vital components of today’s Scripture let me now turn to the message that speaks to me.
The word Advent comes from the Latin word ‘Adventus’, which means coming. It is a time of preparation for the coming of Christ. So, each year we remember and celebrate Christ’s birth while preparing for His second coming.
Living in the 21st century, this time of year is especially hectic for some of us. Our capitalistic society puts more and more expectations upon you and me. The so-called Society requires us to work double as hard finishing up all work before the Holidays. Also, society does not accept not having enough money, which is simply interpreted as failure. The show MUST go on; hence, Business MUST go on. Unfortunately, almost no one has time to care for one another. All that counts is success.
What about the others? What about loving our neighbor as ourselves?
Time Magazine states that the U.S. “federal deficit tripled seemingly overnight.” It is hard for us to understand the number TRILLION as well as hard to top this number. If we look at the debts of this country then we talk about thousands of trillions. As all of you have noticed, the banks are no longer lending money as freely as they did before. An increase in foreclosures and bankrupt companies are announced daily in the News. All this became part of life. It seems to be accepted and normal in our society. The sad story is that it seems not to matter, life just goes on. People still buy and live on credit cards even though clear signs are surrounding us. Just recently, gas prices went up again and in general prices are increasing. Now, you can tell me that this is a normal fact during the winter season. But I ask you to tell this to our sisters and brothers who have no roof over their heads tonight, tell this to all the people suffering from depression because they lost their jobs and do not know how to survive this night; not next week or next month my follow Christians, NO, they struggle to survive this night. Christmas music lifts up one’s spirit, but just hearing Christmas music playing from afar does not help them to make it through the night.
My beloved sisters and brothers, I know that all of you have worked hard during the year and now finally the Holidays are near and one wants to celebrate and be together with our beloved family.
Keep in mind that our economical system is a BEAST, a DEMON in our time. Capitalism is a form of Economy in which only the fittest survive. So we all live at the expense of others. It means that you and I who have the means to survive are in a good place because we are participating in this system.
Maybe instead of following the stream of capitalism all the way and buying stuff others will have to return the following week, maybe, this season you and I can provide for someone in need, maybe we can donate to a shelter or contribute to an orphanage. Perhaps we can invite a lonely person into our home and become Christ for them, saving their Christmas Eve or day, saving them at least for one day.
Advent, my sisters and brothers, is a time of preparation. Maybe, we should end this advent season in stillness, maybe this year we should discern and reflect on the past year and what you and I will change for the coming year through remembering and being touched by the birth of Christ.
Maybe this year we should end the advent season in weeping as today’s Psalm suggests: Weeping for the poor, weeping for the hungry, weeping for the naked out there in the cold, weeping for all the silenced voices.
Maybe we should end this advent season with tears for all the injustice in the world, perhaps we should shed tears because we were not good sisters and brothers to each other. And maybe, my beloved community, we should end this season of Advent in prayer, asking God to restore human kind, asking God to help all the people in need, asking God to send Emmanuel as our companion and friend, guiding us through our lives, helping us to help others, loving us that we may be able to love others from the deepest place in our hearts.
O come, o come Emmanuel – You the Savior and God who WAS, IS and WILL BE always with us.
AMEN
Love and Peace,
The Rev. Walter V. Hillebrand, Deacon
