Fourth Sunday Of Advent
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle A
Object:
Seasonal Theme
The hope for, and anticipation of, the coming of Jesus into the world and into our hearts again.
Theme For The Day
God is with us as Isaiah promised God would be. The one named Emmanuel invites us to be family.
Old Testament Lesson
Isaiah 7:10-16
God With Us
In this passage the writer of Isaiah is telling King Ahaz there will be salvation for Israel from attack by Syria and Ephraim. A son is born, and because her nation is spared, she names that son Emmanuel, i.e., God is with us. Before the son is three years old, Syria and Ephraim will fall. The controversy over verse 14 and its support of the virgin birth just isn't worth getting into. Still, you just can't separate the use of the son's name Emmanuel from the birth narrative of Jesus, which will so dominate today's worship.
Emmanuel is a rich word naming God's presence in the world and with us. So this is setting the theme of the Christmas message to be celebrated on this Sunday. Try as we might, Emmanuel will be recognized today starting from this Old Testament Lesson by our people no matter how much we try to keep it Fourth Sunday Of Advent rather than Christmas!
Just be a little careful in your scholarship as this text claims the son will be thus named in honor of Israel's deliverance and does not claim the child is the deliverer. Try as we might, the remainder of this reading will be unimportant because of our culture's obsession with the sentimental birth narrative, shopping, and family responsibilities. Emmanuel says it all for this day.
New Testament Lesson
Romans 1:1-7
God's Family
Paul is writing here to Christians he did not know who lived in the greatest city of the world of that day. The word he uses for himself is that of a servant. Contrasted with that, Jesus is called Lord (Kurios) meaning master or owner. He claims right at the first of his letter those truths called incarnation and resurrection (v. 4). Paul claims because he was chosen to be an apostle he received God's grace and a job to do for God. He assures these Roman Christians that God loves them, they are his very own family, and they have available God's peace.
The Gospel
Matthew 1:18-25
Holy Spirit Conception
I'm convinced Matthew would have us concentrate on the birth of Jesus being the work of the Holy Spirit and not on the virgin birth. The Holy Spirit brings God's truth to people so here we have the fact that Jesus is the Spirit's vehicle bringing the truth about God to us. Jesus tells us what God is like and demonstrates how God would have us live in the world and with each other. So like no other time in history, God was at work through the Holy Spirit in the conception and birth of Jesus. It is those facts we celebrate as we read this account of the young girl conceiving and birthing a child whom they name Emmanuel.
Preaching Possibilities
A. This close to Christmas we must give in to the commercial hype and social pressure of our culture and celebrate the birth of Jesus even though our liturgical senses would want us to wait until Christmas Eve for that emphasis. The Isaiah passage and the Gospel fit nicely together. In the Old Testament we have the naming of a son Emmanuel (God with us) in celebration of the fact Israel is saved from invasion. In the Gospel we have the naming of Mary's son Emmanuel because this son will be the savior from our sins. In the Romans account, Paul writes that this one born called Emmanuel is "the powerful son of God" (v. 4).
I see two themes running through the three readings for the day:
1. God is with us and named Emmanuel.
2. All this is the work of God's Holy Spirit.
B. We might connect the Old Testament and Gospel yet another way by talking of two dreams: The dream of the woman whom named her son Emmanuel to celebrate the country's deliverance and the dream of Joseph wherein he was assured his betrothed's pregnancy was the special plan of God to be with God's people.
C. Still one more possibility. That is to explore what it meant to have God with them -- for Isaiah, for the virgin who is pregnant in Isaiah 8:14, for Saint Paul in Romans 1:4, and for Joseph in Matthew 1:20-24.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
A. The son's name, Emmanuel, tells it all!
1. The young girl who Isaiah promises will name her son Emmanuel did so in celebration of the fact God was with her and her people. Thus they survived attack and possible enslavement and defeat. God does that for us still. When life is most dangerous, we do get through because God is with us too. Tell your story or a story of God seeing someone through.
2. Saint Paul wrote to the church at Rome that he, as God's servant, had good news to tell about this powerful God's son -- he was God in human flesh and he was raised from the dead. The God who did that for us loves us and chooses us to be his own family. This same holy parent will be kind to us and give us peace.
3. And it all began with the birth of a baby boy in Bethlehem whose young mother and bewildered father named their little boy Emmanuel.
4. Now give your own witness as to what it means to have God with you as a pastor, preacher, spouse, parent, neighbor, citizen, and so on. You might continue with what having "God with you" this year can mean to an ill person, an executive at the office, a nurse, a school teacher, an old person living alone, a single parent, a young person in school, etc. You make up the list which will be relevant to your sermon hearers. Close with the story of the pianist listed later.
B. A whole different approach would be to talk about the Holy Spirit's Christmas. Because of this momentous event, God's Spirit must teach King Ahaz to be patient, Isaiah to give more proof, Paul to take the news out as a witness, Mary to accept her special calling, and Joseph to humble himself and deal compassionately with his pregnant fiancèe.
Prayer Of The Day
O God of Isaiah, Paul, and Mary, we pray today a prayer of thankfulness that you continue to be "with us" even when we don't acknowledge it. Emmanuel, work in us new ways of living and see us through the good and bad times of our lives. Amen.
Possible Stories
On an episode of the formerly popular television sitcom Night Court, Mac, the black court bailiff, said to a woman covering for her husband's suicide by confessing to murder: "Beyond a man's limit is a place where God doesn't want us to be alone." So God's Emmanuel and the Holy Spirit are with us.
A mother brought her son to a concert to hear a great pianist. At intermission the little boy broke away, went up on stage, and began to play "Chopsticks" on the grand piano. A spotlight was placed on the little lad and the crowd got quiet. The boy became very frightened. The maestro saw it from the wings of the stage, came out and sat on the bench with the boy, and began to play the upper part of "Chopsticks." He leaned over and whispered, "It's all right now, son. I'm with you." God comes and sits with us and sees us through.
