“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid” Matthew 1:20
A parish Christmas message usually follows one of two patterns: 1) remember how great the year was? Well so do we. Now please contribute to our year end campaign. Or 2) Thanks for coming to church today. Why don’t you try it all next year!
There is nothing wrong with this of course. You can consult my previous Christmas letters for great examples of these messages! By all means DO make a generous end of year gift so we can go into 2020 on a positive note and please DO come back next year. Even if this is your first time here this place is not the same without you.
But this year I have a sense a different kind of message is in order. It is a tense time. A scary time. And a worrying time. It doesn’t serve anyone, least of all Jesus, to pretend that locally and nationally the world feels quite a mess. Fear is a constant refrain no matter your politics or your location.
Is there room for joy, hope, and expectation in your heart this Christmas Season?
Remember these words from the Angel Gabriel: “Joseph, Son of David, Be Not Afraid.” This was not just a generic message of inspiration though. Joseph was being sent on a mission. He was about to alienate his family, friends and King Herod. He was going to take Mary and Jesus across a foreign border and help hide his newborn Son from a vengeful, fearful King. He was rebelling - not against an unjust ruler or a corrupt political system but against a world that said “its always going to be like this.”
It is tempting today to want to rebel against corrupt leaders locally or nationally. To take the other side and fight the enemy. But just as it was in Jesus time so it is in our time, the struggle is not against each other, but against the cosmic powers of this darkness and the spiritual forces of wickedness. It was against those forces that the angel sent Joseph out.
You are Joseph. You are a son of David. The Incarnate God Goes with you.
It is against those forces that God sends us out this Christmas.
We are Children of God. We are sons and daughters of the Holy Family. The Incarnate God walks with us.
The only way to defeat cosmic powers of darkness is with joy and light. The only way to confront spiritual forces of wickedness is with love and hope. It is my hope that we will take this message into 2020 and out into the world; and we will confront the hate we see with joy, the fear we feel with hope, and the pain we encounter with love. And that you and others will be drawn in to this place so that they too can take joy, light, love and hope out into the world.
This season there IS room for joy, hope and expectation, because we are making that room here at Memorial; and I am grateful to walk with the incarnate God and with all of you in these days.
Merry Christmas!
The Rev. Grey Maggiano, Rector