Incarnation

First Sunday of Advent
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In this Advent season, we are going to prepare for Christmas by exploring the meaning and the significance of the incarnation. I wouldn’t call myself a one-trick pony, but it doesn’t quite feel like a sermon from me unless I spend a little bit of time talking about the depth and significance of a word. So let’s talk about this word incarnation.

Incarnation comes from the Latin word ‘Incarno’. In, meaning in, and carno, meaning flesh. It means, to embody, to enflesh, to become human.

Incarnation is the hope that God isn’t merely with us, incarnation says that the God that created all that is, the power, the potential, the dream, the hope, the love, the God that called all things into being, came to us in the person of Christ.

God was born as one of us, for the healing and the hope of all of us.

Since incarnation is so central to the Christian faith, you’d think that in the last 2000 years, we would have figured out the how of incarnation. We might have some fancy theological terms like homoousios and hypostatic union. We might have theories about how the immaculate conception created the necessary conditions for Mary to be the Theotokos, but this language, as expansive and confusing as it is, ultimately falls short of explaining the mystery.

And I’m OK with that. This is faith after all. I won’t pretend to explain the how of the incarnation, and yet, I can’t help but be compelled by this hope of incarnation.

I am less interested in being able to explain the how than I am passionate about living into the why and what now of the incarnation.

The why is the incarnation so captivating. Why would God come to us in Christ? And if we are swept up by the hope of the incarnation, what now? What does this mean for our lives? What does it look like for us to live into the significance of the incarnation?

Each week during Advent, we’re going to be exploring some of the different names and titles that Jesus is given, this week we’re going to be looking at the royal and political titles of Messiah, Christ, and King.

If you are tired of politics, I get it, but let’s remember that politics matters because our common life together matters. Politics and policies are not hypothetical. They have a real impact on real lives and that’s why we care. That’s why we volunteer. That’s why we vote. That’s why we can’t ignore or become apathetic about politics.

And this is an aside, but when it comes to Greek words, I can’t help myself. Our word politics comes from the Greek word πόλις (polis) meaning our common life together, how we decide to govern and care for the life of our community.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement that Grace is a part of, once wrote:

Would to God that all the party names, and unscriptural phrases and forms, which have divided the Christian world, were forgot; and that we might all agree to sit down together, as humble, loving disciples, at the fee of our common Master, to hear his word, to imbibe his Spirit, and to transcribe his life in our own!

Perhaps, on the other side of this election, as we all prepare for Christmas, it’s time for us, regardless of how we politically define ourselves, to set aside every other allegiance so that we can sit at the same table together?

At the same time, it is political to notice who doesn’t have a chair, whose chair is squeaky, and who sits at the head of the table. And yet, in our church we know that all persons are welcome to Jesus’ table. Everyone is welcome, everyone is included, no one can be cast aside. That’s the politics of Jesus.

What might it look like if we devoted ourselves to transcribing that life into our own? Can you imagine how different the world would be today if everyone person that claimed to be a Christian attempted to care for others with the same compassion, mercy, and inclusion as Christ?

That’s a political act that would change the world.

As the Gospel of Matthew begins, it’s written, “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place…” (1:18).

In our reading today from just a little bit later in the Gospel of Matthew we read about the Magi coming to Israel, asking, “Where is the newborn king…” In the Gospel of Luke, angels announce to the shepherds the birth of Jesus and say, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you – wonderful, joyous news for all people. Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord.” (2:10-11).

The most common title for Jesus in the Christian scriptures are Christ and Messiah, and as we’ll see, these are different words for the same thing, the anointed king.

Last names weren’t common in the ancient near east. There were occasionally titles or names that helped to identify one person from another. Mary Magdalene, for example, was from the city of Magadala. If Mary was from Urbandale we’d know her as Mary Urbandalian. Jewish children, like Jesus, were often identified by their father’s name, so it’s possible that some people called Jesus, Jesus bar Joseph since bar is the Hebrew word for ‘son of’.

Christ is not a last name. In Greek the word is Χριστός (Christos) and that is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word משיח (mashiach) meaning anointed one.

Anointing simply means to apply oil, and I don’t know how you start your days, but I start most of mine by anointing a skillet with oil to make bacon and eggs. One morning, I thought I would be fancy and decided to make an omelette in my anointed skillet and as I was slicing and dicing the ingredients, I also sliced my finger. Because of that I had to anoint my finger with a very special kind antiseptic oil.

In the ancient near east, in the first century, anointing with oil often represented being clean. There weren’t bathtubs or showers in the first century, and so, as they could afford it, people would clean themselves with oil and if people could afford it, scented oil. It wasn’t quite shampoo, but people even cleaned their hair with a mixture of oil and sand to scrub and exfoliate their scalp. With the sand still in their hair, they would use a comb to brush out the sand, and once that was done, they would put more oil in their hair to style it.

What I’m trying to say is that Jesus wouldn’t have showered or bathed every day. So if this pandemic has altered your self-care routine, don’t worry about it too much. And the next time you sniff someone and think to yourself that they haven’t bathed in a while, remember that they smell like Jesus.

Anointing with oil didn’t only represent being cleansed. Throughout the Bible, anointing is a way of showing the significance of an object or person.

The first example of this is from the Book of Exodus. There in chapter 30 we read:

…Prepare a holy anointing oil…Use it to anoint the meeting tent, the chest containing the covenant, the table and all its equipment, the lampstand and its equipment, the incense altar, the altar for entirely burned offerings and all its equipment, and the washbasin with its stand. Make them holy so that they may be perfectly holy.…

In this passage, a very special oil was used to anoint and show just how valued the furnishings in the Tabernacle. The space where the community gathered for worship was holy and it needed to be celebrated as such.

Whatever you are watching this sermon from, I don’t suggest putting oil on your phone or laptop or TV, but the next time you dust it or wipe it off, think of it as an anointing in your own way. Throughout this season, anoint them time that we share together, make it set apart and special in a way that centers you and brings to you into the awareness of God’s presence.

Places of worship were anointed with oil and Political leaders in Israel were anointed as well. In 1 Samuel 10:1 it’s written, “Samuel took a small jar of oil and poured it over Saul’s head and kissed him. “The LORD hereby anoints you leader of [God’s] people Israel,” Samuel said. “You will rule the LORD’s people and save them from the power of the enemies who surround them.”

Saul ruled as the first King of Israel, and was anointed with oil to celebrate the significance of this power, authority, and responsibility.

The act of anointing, throughout the Hebrew scriptures, sets things apart, celebrates them as special and unique, as representing the work of God in the world. Saul is the first anointed king, the first messiah in the scriptures.

To the next king, the second messiah and anointed one in the scriptures, to King David, a promise is made by God through the prophet Nathan, “Your dynasty and your kingdom will be secured forever before me. Your throne will be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16)

Sometimes this is called the Davidic Covenant, the promise that a descendant of David would rule over God’s people forever. For 400 years, that proved to be true, and while 400 years is a great reign for a monarchy, it’s not forever.

In the year 586 BC, the Davidic dynasty was nearly destroyed. The Babylonian empire conquered and devastated Israel. The King at that time was blinded, but only after they were made to watch their children be executed.

If anyone thought the violence in Game of Thrones was over the top, you haven’t read the Bible.

Israel was left in tatters, and many in Israel were forced into exile, made to live as strangers in a strange land.

It was a moment where it felt like there was no hope. All the people could see was chaos and confusion, anxiety, worry, and fear. Everything they knew and were used to was gone.

But while in Babylon, the people remembered this covenant, they remembered God’s promise to never abandon them. Ezekiel echoes this covenant writing, “I will appoint for them a single shepherd, and he will feed them. My servant David will feed them. He will be their shepherd. I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will be their prince. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

Ezekiel’s words come 400 years after David’s death, so Ezekiel isn’t promising that the same David from all those years ago will be returning. This is Ezekiel saying to the exiles that even in this uncertainty, even in this fear, even in this strange and unfamiliar moment where we can’t help but feel the weight and the worry of it all, there is another king, there is another way, there is hope for today, because God’s anointing isn’t over.

One of the great works of art inspired by the Christmas story is Handel’s Messiah. The Des Moines Choral Society, featuring our choir director Michael Gookin, will be premiering ‘The Messiah Project’ on Facebook on December 12 at 7:30 pm if you want to learn more about Handel and the Messiah.

One of the passages of scripture that is featured in Handel’s Messiah comes from Isaiah, “Nonetheless, those who were in distress won’t be exhausted…The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in a pitch-dark land, light has dawned…A child is born to us, a son is given to us, and authority will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be vast authority and endless peace for David’s throne and for his kingdom, establishing and sustaining it with justice and righteousness now and forever.” (Isaiah 9:1-2, 6-7)

Here’s what that song, featuring these words from Isaiah, sounded like last year when they were performed as part of the sing-a-long Messiah with the Des Moines Community Orchestra

Passages such as this one from Isaiah are sometimes called Messianic Prophecy or Messianic Promises, and I would suggest that in terms of prophecy, these passages are less of a prediction and more of a description. The anointed one, the messiah, the Christ, would shine that light, coming to us like the dawn of a new day. Peace and mercy and justice and righteousness would define and describe the Messiah and Christ.

From the earliest days Christianity, followers of Jesus couldn’t help but look at passages such as this and see Jesus in them. The prophetic imagination and hope of the Hebrew scriptures, pointed the early church to the teachings and the life of Jesus.

But let’s remember these passages in the Hebrew Scriptures are descriptive and not necessarily predictive. So to our Jewish friends and neighbors as they read these words from Isaiah in a different way than we do as followers of Christ, may we extend to them the mercy and kindness and grace and compassion that we believe Jesus extends to us.

Jesus was Jewish, and because Jesus would have grown up with these passages and with this promise that God would never abandon God’s people, maybe we can see Jesus looking at these words from Isaiah as a job description. Can we imagine Jesus reading these words from Isaiah and saying, “If this is what Isaiah says the anointed one is, that is who I will be.”

We kind of see this playing out in the Christian scriptures too. There’s a passage in Zechariah 9:9 where it’s written, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (NRSV).

Sometimes Christians forget that Jesus would have read the Hebrew Scriptures. Only once in the Gospels does Jesus ride a donkey, it’s in the passage that we read on Palm Sunday where Jesus enters Jerusalem, and in that story, Jesus really only needed to walk down a hill. It’s not like at the start of that passage in the Gospels Jesus turns to a disciple and says, “My dogs are barking, I don’t think I can walk any more today. Pete, why don’t you get me a donkey since we won’t have Uber for a couple thousand years.”

Jesus goes out of their way to fulfill this passage, to embody the hope and the promise that it represents.

For us as Christians, the hope and promise of God with us has been fulfilled in Jesus the Christ.

Jesus rode a donkey, so we can check that promise off the list. But other messianic promises are still in process.

There is a passage in Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3, where the same hope, promise, and words are found in both passages, “they will beat their sword into iron plows and their spears into pruning tools. Nation will not take up sword against nation; they will no longer learn how to make war.”

We are not there yet.

We are still beating our swords against one another.

We haven’t lived into to the promise of justice for all people, everywhere. We are sometimes tempted to say that our nation has never been more divided on issues of justice, forgetting that in recent history, our nation used violence and intimidation to enforce a ‘justice’ that said we would be separate and vastly unequal.

Jesus, as the Christ, as the Messiah, as the heir to David’s kingdom and rule, you could say that Jesus’ first campaign rally and political speech, is found in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 4, where Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. [God] has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners, and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (4:18-19)

I see Jesus, I see the incarnation, inviting us to live out this promised hope. The politics of Jesus says love your neighbor as you love yourself. It doens’t matter who they are, it doesn’t matter their economic background, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental ability, love them as you love yourself, which presumes that you love yourself too.

Jesus empowers, encourages, and enables us to do this.

If we are citizens of the Kingdom of God, and each week we join together in the prayer that Jesus taught where we say, ‘thy kingdom come, thy will be done’ what’s the will that needs to be done? It’s grace, it’s peace, it’s mercy, it’s reconciliation, it’s justice, it’s lifting up the vulnerable, liberating the oppressed, making sure no one is left behind, it’s wearing a mask to protect one another, it is every act of grace and peace that transcribes the life and the love of Christ into our own.

When Jesus talked about how we should treat one another, when Jesus talked about politics in the kingdom, when Jesus talked about the incarnation of God’s will among us, Jesus talked about welcoming the immigrant as our neighbor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and caring for the sick, grieving, and lonely.

The ethic of this Kingdom, the politics of Jesus, is love, which means we, as citizens of grace and peace, must be devoted to treating one another with mercy and kindness and justice and joy.

Jesus urged everyone that followed him to let the light of their life shine before others so that our good deeds, the ways that we care for one another, the ways we forgive, the ways we seek justice, the ways we work for restoration and renewal, the comfort we share with those who are grieving, the ways we embody grace and peace, are all invitations to embody the incarnation.

As we begin this Advent journey, we have to ask ourselves if are willing to set aside all other allegiances in order to follow the anointed one, the messiah, the Christ, the king, that simply, and profoundly, says, love one another.

The great pastor and scholar Howard Thurman sums this up in his poem, The Work of Christmas:

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among others,

To make music in the heart.

Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, the King, invites us to be a part of the work of Christmas and the kingdom of God. So may we all respond to Christ invitation to be a part of the incarnation incarnating the work of Christmas. Let us yield all other allegiance, all other politics, to the politics of Jesus by offering our lives, our time, our resources and skills to the love that is God born with us in Christ, and hope that born in our hearts this Christmas. Amen.

Micah 5:2

As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, you are the least significant of Judah’s forces, one who is to be a ruler in Israel on my behalf will come out from you.  His origin is from remote time, from ancient days.

Matthew 2:1-2

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem.  The asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews?  We have seen his star in the east, and we have come to honor him.” 

Neuropsychopharmacology 2011;36:1219–1226. Pilocarpine in the Secretion of Saliva Cevimlenine Vs Pilocarpine, cross over design. Follitropin alpha works by helping to stimulate the development of eggs in the ovaries http://apotheke-online24.org/. It’s a type of drug known as a long-acting beta agonist (LABA), and it relaxes muscles in the airways.

Nov. 30 – Dec. 5

Click on the day to expand the guide.

Monday

Read – Matthew 1:16-18; 2:1-6; Micah 5:2-4

Notice – “Christ” was a title, not a last name. The Greek word “christos” meant “anointed one,” the same meaning as the Hebrew word “mashiach,” or “Messiah.” Matthew said Jesus is called “the Christ”—that is, the anointed king. The “chief priests and legal experts” knew Micah 5 when King Herod asked them. But it was the foreign magi who spoke of the infant as Israel‘s ultimate king. The Magi didn’t say, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We have come to make a treaty with him,” or “We have come to attend one of his meetings.” The magi had a reaction of hope, joy, worship, grace, and peace found with Christ. As you plan for Christmas, how will you seek to find that same hope, joy, worship, grace, and peace?

Pray – King Jesus, amid all of the holiday hoopla, with everything I would like to do, and everything we can’t do, help me to find a place of inner stillness and peace. In that space, help me, like the magi, to name you king, and to commit myself anew to serve you. Amen.

Tuesday

Read Psalm 72:1-6; Matthew 16:13-20

Notice – Psalm 72 is sometimes called a “royal psalm,” one that was written to express the hopes Israel had for their king. As much as we would want our leaders to be an example of Psalm 72, no leader can fulfill all the hopes that the psalm expressed. The hope rose anew as Peter and the disciples followed Jesus. They saw him as “the Christ,” the true king who could bring justice, peace and righteousness forever. Note carefully all the qualities Psalm 72 asked God to give to the king. How thankful would you be if any of the leaders we recently elected fully lived out all those qualities? What kept Israel’s kings (and our leaders) from being able to fully live them out? In answer to Jesus’ question, the disciples said people identified him as “John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” That was no insult— those were great, respected names. Yet they fell short of what the disciples saw in Jesus. To what extent can you join Peter in declaring that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God”? What factors shape what you believe about Jesus?

Pray – Lord, the carol says “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” Thank you for rekindling hope in me, and for giving me strength to live beyond my fears. Amen.

Wednesday

Read Acts 17:1-4, Acts 26:19-23

Notice – Scholar N. T. Wright noted that Paul’s preaching from the Scriptures wasn’t just a few proof texts. “It was a matter of the entire plan of God, the whole sweep of the narrative, the story of Israel going into the dark tunnel of slavery in Egypt only to be rescued at the Passover, of David fleeing from Absalom only to be reinstalled after a great victory, of Jerusalem being destroyed and the nation carried away captive to Babylon, only to be brought back and rebuilt after a tribulation everyone thought would be final … of a story whose main themes were all about suffering and vindication, disaster and reversal, death and resurrection.” In other words, Jesus as “the Christ,” crucified and risen, embodied the essence of all of God’s saving action. In what ways have you seen the “whole sweep of the narrative” in your life? Where do you see signs of us being brought back and rebuilt, what looks like vindication and resurrection, even in the midst of this pandemic?

Pray – Lord Jesus, the world around me sees suffering as something to avoid at all costs. Thank you for living out a different story, one that gives me hope that service and suffering are the ultimate paths to life and true greatness. Amen.

Thursday

Read Isaiah 9:2-7, Matthew 21:8-16

Notice – Isaiah wrote of Israel’s hope that God would send a faithful heir of David’s royal line to rule forever (cf. 1 Kings 9:3-5). In Israel, donkeys were for kings (e.g. 1 Kings 1:33-44) as well as common people. But Zechariah 9:9-10, which Matthew cited, distinguished a king on a donkey, who came in peace, from the war horses and chariots of a conqueror. People hailed Jesus as the “Son of David,” God’s promise come true at last. Some who watched Jesus no doubt hoped he would lead a military campaign to kill the Romans and restore Israel’s power. His ride on a donkey pointed in a different direction. “When the chief priests and legal experts saw the amazing things he was doing and the children shouting in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ they were angry.” They didn’t want a gentle king, a “Son of David,” who said to love your enemies. Do you? “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Yet even after he met Jesus, Paul would write, “Now we see a dim reflection” (1 Corinthians 13:12). In what ways has Jesus already brought light into your dark world? In what ways are you waiting for the full brilliance of God’s light?

Pray – Lord God, during Advent we renew our trust in your gift of hope. So much in our world, globally and locally, tugs me toward hopelessness. Renew and reinforce my ability to live in hope this Advent. Amen.

Friday

Read – Acts 10:34-43, Romans 14:2-12

Notice – Rome’s Caesar claimed worship as “Lord” (Greek kurios). There could only be one “Lord,” so to say Jesus was king and lord was risky. But even to Romans, Peter and Paul said Jesus was the true kurios, the Lord of all. With Rome’s military might pitted against Jesus’ seemingly naïve witnesses, the contest looked ridiculously uneven. It was—but 2,000 years of history shows that it was Caesar, not Jesus, who was overmatched. One important way Rome demanded that citizens in its empire show their allegiance was to say, formally, “Caesar is Lord.” Picture the scene as Peter declared to this group of Roman soldiers, “This is the message of peace he sent to the Israelites by proclaiming the good news through Jesus Christ: He is Lord of all!” (verse 36) What “lords” has Jesus challenged and dethroned in your life?

Pray – Lord Jesus, you are Lord of all. That takes in all of the world’s big problems that sometimes trouble me—and it also takes in all of my internal struggles. Be Lord of all, inside me as well as outside. Amen.

Saturday

Read – Revelation 19:11-16

Notice – In a vision packed with symbols, Revelation proclaimed Jesus’ final triumph over evil. Some symbols stay the same over time—heroes, for example, ride on white horses. Others symbols take a bit more thought—the sword from the victor’s mouth is a symbol for the power of God’s word (cf. Hebrews 4:12). Rome happened to be in power at the time of Revelation’s writing. But Rome was hardly unique. Human rulers have often claimed divine approval for their actions (e.g. Nazi soldiers wore belt buckles that said, in German, “God is with us”). Some, like the Roman emperors, have even claimed to be divine. Scholars G. K. Beale and Sean M. McDonough said Jesus’ title “is expressing the idea of ‘ultimate ruler over all kings’ … The name is taken from Daniel 4:37 Septuagint [Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament], where it is a title for God.” Headlines continually report concerns about political leaders near and far. Do you trust that Jesus is “king of kings” over all of them? How does that trust inspire us to keep them, and ourselves, accountable? In what ways does that trust form the basis for the hope in which we live, during Advent and all year long?

Pray – Jesus, you are the King of kings, you are the Lord of lords. I cannot fully grasp all the reach of that, but I can and do ask you to be Lord of my life, to make me the person you want me to be. Amen.

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