Are You Awake?
“Are You Awake?”
Fourth Sunday of Advent YEAR A, December 22, 2019
Isaiah 7:10-16 Matthew 1:18-25
Andrew Kennaly, Sandpoint, Idaho
Have you ever had a vision, or dream, or heard a voice that comes from God, or an angel, or Jesus? Some message received but you can’t explain, like saying it was just your conscience speaking, or that voice in your head that chatters on most of the time, or some other phenomena? Have you ever heard a message from God? It’s not really something we talk about much, either in church or in the larger society. Even though it’s in the Bible, like this morning as we read Joseph having a dream, a visit from an angel, an encounter compelling enough to lead to action. Or the prophets or kings, like Isaiah, Ahaz, and others, who somehow hear or know what God is trying to tell the people. In this case, Ahaz resists, but Isaiah as he confronts Ahaz is certain enough in the message that he does what most prophets do: speaks truth to power. There are other scenes, like angels appearing to shepherds announcing the birth of Jesus, which we’ll hear soon enough this coming week as Advent leans into Christmas. The Bible is filled with stories of God’s voice speaking to people, sometimes during dreams, like Joseph, sometimes not. Have you ever had dreams like this, or heard a voice?
I have. Twice. Actually, more. In some ways, I hear the Word of God every week as I prepare sermons, as I deliver the sermon; the creative process of Spirit mingling with heart, soul, mind, and body is expressed and received, hopefully in ways that resonate or dialogue with peoples’ lives. So in that sense, I’ve heard God countless times. But two times are especially unique in my life; times where I audibly heard a voice, outside of my own head. I was awake both times, once while walking through the inside of a church, and once while laying in bed worrying and fretting and wondering what I was doing with my life. Both times the voice was not in my head, and it wasn’t my voice, it had a different tone, a unique sound of another origin. The time I was walking, the voice came from behind me and I actually turned around to see who was there. I had thought I was alone, and then when I heard the voice, it was one of those surprising things. Turning around, there was nobody there, but that voice had just spoken, plain as day. The time at night, the voice was also external, like it was hovering over the bed. Shawna didn’t hear it, only me. But it was crystal clear in a deep dialogue that has echoed ever since. Laying in the bed, it was humbling to hear that voice because I knew it was important, having heard a voice years before walking through that room, and while that first time my response was a mix of surprise, comfort, and annoyance at the message, with a bit of confusion, the second time it was fear, flat out, triggering physical anxiety, and yet knowing even that response was held in a larger care.
You may be wondering what the voices said?! Well, what they said was exactly what I needed to hear at those particular moments, and they helped me in what I was facing at the time. The messages were delivered loud and clear, changed my life, both times. This is one reason that as we look at biblical stories, we don’t read them as history. They are not meant as history, as textbook teachings of dates and peoples. Scripture is much more powerful than that because it points to archetypal patterns of life, of ongoing interacting with God, the dynamics of faith, and the struggles of waking up, cleaning up, and growing up, in Christ. We are extensions of the biblical narrative, and we participate in God’s divine purpose of Love.
Biblical visions or voices of angelic messengers are not something we can force, but simply open ourselves to, if the are given. Like I said in the Words of Assurance just a bit ago, “As we come alongside Joseph and Mary this fourth Sunday of Advent, we see God at work tuning hearts to hear divine love in action. God, through Christ Jesus, teaches us to awaken to the depths of God’s steadfast love.” Are you awakened? Most of the world is asleep, which gets back to the archetypal pattern of these stories which present ego-centric, self-referential people going through life, making decisions. Then they are confronted by something outside their boundaries of thinking, an invitation to let go of their plans, their self-made identities, and the comforts of their own patterns.
For King Ahaz, the LORD, God Almighty, invites Ahaz to ask for a sign, removing ego boundaries, saying, “let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” This is an invitation into boundless love, eternal grace, total trust, as God seeks to console, and yet Ahaz hides behind pious language that on one hand sounds sincere, but in a deeper way shows his fear and unwillingness, his lack of faith and his preference to staying close to the familiar, as he refuses, “to put the LORD to the test.” Ahaz turns his back on God’s invitation and refuses the reassurance. This refusal “wearies” God. Isaiah calls Ahaz on his behavior, sharing God’s message that God, who sought out partnership and cooperative action, will now act unilaterally to give the world what it needs in that crisis moment. God was looking for faithful action grounded in presence, but found none.
Joseph knows what he’s going to do. He and Mary have plans, but the pregnancy interrupted the social norm. Joseph is a good man, good enough to put his reputation on the line in ways that must have been frightening for both he and Mary. “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife…” The messenger confronts his fear because as ones plans are questioned, ones ego is challenged, and the ego fears that which is beyond its control or understanding. The fact that Joseph has fear shows this archetypal pattern of God wanting to partner with faithful people who trust God’s purpose, even when that runs counter to what the world would insist on.
In this case, Joseph agrees. Joseph woke up, which is another way of saying he is “awakened” in a spiritual sense, partnering with God through cultivating a humble heart, responsive to God’s loving message. Joseph does as the “angel of the Lord commanded him” and the world changed.
What is God placing on your heart? How is God interacting in your life to challenge your status quo and snap you out of conventional thinking? Are you awake enough to notice windows of the Spirit shining into your life, or do you just bump along the surface level of reality? If you’ve heard a voice, or seen a vision, do you explore it, hold it, learn from it, and integrate it into your life, or simply forget it, dismiss it?
At the Immaculate Heart Retreat Center on the south hill of Spokane, there is a statue carved out of white marble. It’s a statue of Joseph, the carpenter, the husband of Mary who raised Jesus, presumably teaching him the trade of carpentry. The statue shows this man holding a chisel and a mallet as he has a piece of wood leaning onto his body. The wood is half log, and half board, as the hand work of hueing out a beam from raw wood is half way complete. Both are honored, the tree, rough and natural, and the beam, smooth and functional for use in carpentry. What takes a few seconds with modern machinery must have taken a good long while, using muscle and hands, one chip at a time. This person, holding mallet and chisel, is a man of patience, of willingness to see beyond the roughness of a situation to the strength of the unseen core. Joseph, the skilled craftsman, could work with the grain, allowing the beam to take shape.
That statue also has eyes, and the sculptor was very talented. When you look directly into Joseph’s face, it’s as if he is looking just past you. But if you look just past him, your peripheral vision notices his eyes are looking right through you. It is not a stare down, but its like God’s indirect dance of invitation that is patient, gracious, and embraces your core essence in reverent ways because you are known and loved. In Christ, we are invited to a larger pattern of humility, forgiveness, encouragement, trust, and equipping, called and sent to live lives that are shaped by the Spirit to embody God’s purpose of being “with us.”
The Word of God is alive and well, calling out in many ways. May we learn the art of letting go, releasing self-deceiving thoughts and patterns, allowing our essence, our True Self, to emerge with humble, yet confident sincerity and courage. The creative power of God is at work, and we are invited to partner in co-creating a world of justice, love, and peace that honors Christ in all things. May we awaken to hear, and heed, the Message. As we get closer to Christmas and hear story after story of divine encounters, may we look and listen more intently for the ways God comes into our heart, in Christ. May God’s goodness and humble love be lived and experienced, now, even as forever. Amen.