Jack McKinney

Pullen Memorial Baptist Church

December 23, 2007 – Fourth Sunday of Advent

Texts: Isaiah 7:10-16; Matthew 1:18-25

Long-Range Plans

            Being a minister means I have a job that falls into the general category of one of the “helping professions.” Other jobs in the helping professions include therapists, social workers, and dog catchers. Some kinds of help are more obvious than others.

            If you have a job in one of these professions you may have noticed something. Unless you are the dog catcher, people don’t call on us when their problems first develop. In fact, calling your minister or a therapist is often a last-resort ploy after everything else has failed.

And I have noticed that even when people do get around to calling me, many of them who step into my office have that look on their face that says, “I’m not sure this was a good idea.” I guess it is kind of like going to the dentist. Once the pain is bad enough you will call your dentist, but when you are sitting in the waiting room the thought crosses your mind that you could probably stick it out a few more days before facing that drill.

            But here is the honest truth. Once you muster up the courage to come see Nancy or me, or call your therapist, that doesn’t mean you are always going to get the help you seek. I often think the success rate in ministry is not unlike that of a major league hitter. An old adage says if a ball player gets three hits in ten at bats he is headed for the Hall of Fame, but if he only gets two hits in ten at bats he is headed for a career in insurance. There are weeks in this job when I only wish I would have hit .300.

            But before you start thinking the next time you have a spiritual problem you will call the dog catcher or dentist, let me say one other thing. The reason people don’t always get the help they seek when they come to see someone like me is not that those of us in the helping professions are inept at our jobs. Quite the contrary. People in these professions rate as some of the most-educated and compassionate individuals in our society. But if that is the case, why isn’t our rate of success better? Well, the answer to that question may be found in our scripture readings for the morning.

            Isaiah 7 and Matthew 1 are always read together because Christian tradition has taught that the child named Immanuel in Isaiah 7:14 is Jesus, the child announced to Joseph in Matthew 1:23. Now I have little interest in addressing that connection this morning except to say you must realize this interpretation is purely a Christian construct. The original readers of Isaiah would not have thought the baby referred to in this text was to be born centuries later in the town of Bethlehem.

            But there is a connection between these two passages I am interested in exploring, for in both texts we find a similar and fascinating solution proposed to very urgent problems. Problems that need fixing immediately, if not sooner.

            In Isaiah 7 we see a conversation taking place between King Ahaz and the prophet Isaiah. The urgent problem in this story is that two different armies have banded together to attack Jerusalem. Ahaz, desperate to find a solution to this military crisis, seeks out the counsel of his spiritual advisor. Actually, to be more accurate, Isaiah seeks out the king in order to give him a word from God. But regardless of who initiated the meeting, the king obviously is open to what the prophet has to say. He has probably called everyone else first, maybe even the royal dentist and dog catcher, but with no solution in sight he turns to the prophet.

            Isaiah’s advice is odd to say the least. He tells the king to ask for a sign. Ahaz says he won’t test God like that, which sounds pretty wise to me, but this just ticks Isaiah off. So Isaiah says he is going to give Ahaz a sign anyway. And what is the sign? What is the symbol of help on the way? What is the salvation God is sending to spare the king and the people of Jerusalem? Well, Isaiah tells the king that a young woman is going to have a baby named Immanuel, which means God is with us, and about the time that baby is old enough to eat solid food the kings of the two armies who are attacking Jerusalem will be defeated. In other words, as the barbarians are at the gate, Isaiah’s solution is to look for the birth of a baby and when that child is about eighteen months or so this crisis will be over. Something tells me King Ahaz didn’t feel a lot better after that conversation.

            In Matthew 1 we find a very different problem, but the solution proposed is similar. Joseph discovers that his young fiancée, Mary, is with child. The law was pretty clear in this matter. A woman who was pregnant out of wedlock could be killed. Joseph is described in this passage as a decent guy who didn’t want to see Mary hurt or humiliated, so he was going to find a way to end the relationship quietly. But then he had a dream where an angel appeared and urged a different solution. Go ahead and marry the girl, the angel says, because the child she is carrying is very special. Now to you and me this sounds reasonable because we know the end of the story. But think about Joseph’s dilemma. He has a scandal on his hands that can’t be covered up forever. It would seem something has to be done, but the message from the angel is basically do nothing. Go ahead and get married, have the baby, and someday many years in the future you will understand the reason for this plan. Like King Ahaz hundreds of years before him, Joseph has an immediate crisis and the proposed solution is to wait for the birth of a baby. Strange, isn’t it?

            Any plan that involves waiting for the birth of a child is by definition a long-range plan. And when you are facing immediate problems long-range plans don’t feel very satisfying. When you don’t have enough money for rent or your marriage is crumbling or you have an aching loneliness that won’t go away you feel like you need a solution. Now. You need a plan to fix the problem, not a plan that forces you to wait and look way out into the future.

            And our culture leads us to believe that such fixes are available for almost any situation. Quick fix preachers tell us that if we will pray the right prayer or make the right monetary pledge God will take care of what troubles us. Quick fix politicians promise instant solutions to complex problems if we will just vote for them. Quick fix companies trumpet products that will make us younger, happier, and more virile. Quick fix financial institutions promise easy money for whatever dream we want to fulfill. America is the country of the quick fix. And if you want to know why our culture is awash in preachers pushing theological garbage, and politicians willing to say anything to get elected, and companies selling empty promises, and shady financial institutions leading people into crippling debt, all we have to do is look in the mirror. There is an assumption that we can find quick solutions to almost any problem and that assumption makes us easy prey for those willing to take advantage of our pain and suffering.

            Which brings me back to those of us in the helping professions and our seemingly low rate of success. When someone walks into my office with a serious personal problem or relationship issue, and wants the answer to fix the problem, I already know the chance for success is limited. Because there is no instant glue for a broken heart. There is no bandage to put on the wounded soul. There is no pill that dissolves bitterness, loneliness, or guilt. In a world that promises instantaneous results, I have nothing instant to offer you. The church is that strange place where we read stories about babies to be born as the response to dire circumstances. Talk about a different way of looking at things.

            And all of this makes us wonder about the nature of a God who thinks a baby being born in a stable is a good idea for how to address the problems of the world. What kind of God is that? Apparently not a God real concerned about quick solutions. In fact, I will tell you if your faith rests in a God who is going to solve your problems in a timely manner, you will end up bitterly disappointed. Because the best I can figure God isn’t particularly interested in being a handy deity with a cool spiritual tool belt with all kinds of nifty gadgets. No, it seems from what we read in the scriptures, and what we experience in this life, God’s main interest is in seeing who we are becoming as we encounter the inevitable crises and struggles that come our way. What kind of character are we developing as we face obstacle after obstacle? Are we growing more generous or more stingy? Are we developing compassion or cold disinterest? Are we learning to walk in the light of the truth or do we lurk in the shadows of deception? Those are the questions God seems to have the most interest in.

            KaKi and I have some friends from our seminary days named Joy and Mark Newcom. Not long after we were all out of seminary, Joy had a baby boy named Stross who was born with spina bifida and other birth defects. Joy has recently written a powerful book that takes an honest and uncompromising look at what life was like raising a child with special needs. In reflecting on Stross’ fifth birthday, she wrote these words:

As I’ve learned through the balance of each year, my most intense periods of learning are not reserved for birthdays alone. They have also come in doctors’ offices, hospital rooms, classrooms, grocery stores, office hallways, shopping malls, church aisles and at my children’s bedsides. I’ve also discovered the lessons arrive unannounced and usually are not welcome. They have uprooted my family, magnified the dynamics of my marriage and challenged my sense of self…

            As I’ve grown, I’ve learned to appreciate others whose lives have given them ‘God vision’ and ‘God ears.’ I’ve even grown to understand how my way of relating to the world through a prism of faith isn’t a prerequisite for others’ spiritual insights…

            But while my manner of interpreting life may differ from someone else’s, I believe we share a multitude in common. In particular a human condition that has inherent processes for discovery such as understanding wrought by pain, renewal shaped by acceptance and rebirth born of tested faith.

            Regardless of who we are or how we got where we are going, it seems we are each invited to follow a path of love that points to life. (Joy Newcom, Involuntary Joy: A Story of Unexpected Rebirth, JoyMark! Books, 2007, pp. xiii-ix.)

            On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we have lit the candle of love. Love is not a quick fix. It is not an instant solution. It is a path we take, as Joy says, that points to life.

            The baby foretold in Matthew 1 eventually was born and about thirty years later started a remarkable if brief ministry. Only Jesus did very little to fix anything. The Romans occupied his homeland when he was born and they ended up killing him. Poverty was pervasive in his lifetime, as it is today. Violence and injustice were everywhere in Jesus’ world, and not much has changed in 2,000 years. So why are we still talking about him if he didn’t solve all of these serious problems? Because he showed us how to be gentle and kind, and how to stand up in the face of abusive power, and how to love people without exception. In other words, Jesus showed us that life is not a series of problems to be solved; it is an opportunity to discover our souls.

            And that is a plan, even if we have a lot of help, that will take at least the rest of our lives.