One Sign Fits All?

Fourth Sunday of Advent

on Isaiah 7:10-16 and Matthew 1:18-25

• Advent, season of preparation for the coming of the Lord.
Time to remember the birth of Christ
AND to look forward to the return of Christ...
live in such a way that you represent and resemble Christ,
and so increase His visibility in the world.

• The context of Isaiah and Ahaz is that Judah (Ahaz's land) has foreign armies advancing on three sides. God is telling Ahaz that those armies will be no more in a matter of months/years... 

In the midst of war, God says TRUST me, I am with you in real time and in real issues...

• On to Joseph, God says TRUST me, I am with you in real time and in real issues... Joseph's commitment was not a one-time thing. By not dismissing Mary Joseph took on the public scrutiny of suspicion or ridicule... either he was a liar that he'd not slept with Mary or he was a fool for believing nobody had... Joseph's “yes” (combined with Mary's “yes”) was a lifetime, year by year, month by month, by week, by day, raising a child.
God says TRUST me, I am with you in real time and in real issues...

• The sign Isaiah related to Ahaz, Matthew revived 700 years later as a sign of God's presence with Joseph 2000 years ago, and it remains a sign for us 2000 years later... for Ahaz is dead, Isaiah is dead, the woman and child that were signs to them are dead... Joseph is dead, Mary is dead...
and Jesus is alive.

• The witness of scripture is that God is with us and God is for us.
It is God's desire to be with us in real time and in real situations.

• On Friday I saw FB friends from Hershey posting about the death of a senior from the high school... a young man named Mark took his own life. I don't know Mark or his situation, but between 30 and 40,000 suicides per year... that's every 15 min. Tenth highest cause of death in the nation.

D'ya know the highest risk group for suicide? Men, 70+.

God is with them. And we in the church need to pay attention & be present.
We in the church need to let them know that God is good and life is worth living.

I thought it might be teens. (3^rd highest cause of death for teens, btw)

D'ya know that gay teens are 4x more likely to attempt suicide than straight teens?

God is with them. And we in the church need to pay attention & be present. We in the church need to let them know that God is good and life is worth living.

And answer me this: when did God send Jesus for the salvation of the world? When they were sinless and with their act together? When did God embody love? When was God with people? God blessed the undeserving world while it in sin and darkness lay...

• In times of emotional distress... God is with you.
And sometimes people respond to God by reaching out to the distressed.

• In times of national distress, like war (a la Ahaz)... God is with you. & with vets.
And sometimes people respond to God by reaching out to those torn by war.

• In times of economic or political distress... God is with you.
And sometimes people respond to God by reaching out to the distressed.

• In times of medical distress... God is with you.
And sometimes people respond to God by reaching out to the distressed.
Like Laney Brown, who turned 8 on Friday... Laney has leukemia and last night THOUSANDS of folks gathered outside her Reading PA home to sing Christmas carols... http://readingeagle.com/article/20131221/NEWS/131229987#.UrZpBdJDuNY

• God is with us and God is for us.
It is God's desire to be with us in real time and in real situations.
& that's a sign for all times... one sign that fits all.