Not One and Done

The Gospel reading is Matthew 1:18-25

Matthew regarded Jesus as a new Moses, a new lawgiver, with a new law to be written on our hearts. Joseph found that to fulfill the law he had to go beyond it, to go beyond ordinary waking consciousness to the direct personal experience of Divine intentions and activity. Tradition told Joseph to divorce Mary, but Spirit told him to take her into his home as part of a deeper Divine plan.

We too are being called to perceive the Divine dimension of what is happening in our own time and place, and to unite with the Living Truth. If we do this, if we live a policy of Love, the world will be utterly changed. At the same time, God yearns to be in intimate communion with human beings.

The advent challenge is for us to follow Christ in becoming individually and together Emmanuel in our broken world. We can offer ourselves to be little Emmanuels in practical ways in our world. This is what Joseph was doing when he put aside the law that said for him to divorce Mary, and instead listened to God.

Christmas is not meant to be “one and done.” We can offer ourselves to be Emmanuel to and for one another.

Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.