One of my favorite places on earth is Virginia Beach. I don’t know why I like it so much. I think maybe because it is closer, cheaper and much less crowded than some other beaches I’ve been to. Antonina and I went there for our honeymoon and had a wonderful time. We returned this past year on our 5th anniversary, so it has many fond memories for us. This year was a first for both of us. We got flooded out of our campsite!
Since we were tent camping, we didn’t watch a lot of news or hear a lot of weather. The morning was bright and sunny, so we hopped the trolley and headed off to the beach. We played in the surf, and baked in the sand. We played in the surf some more and then we heard the whistles. It was the lifeguards. They were calling everyone out of the water. When we looked back at shore, we saw a dark black sky directly to our west. We hurried to get dried off. We scurried about trying to pack up our bag. We rushed back up to the trolley trying to make it back to camp before the rain because I left the tent windows open!
Before we got to the trolley however, the skies burst forth in the most torrential downpour I’ve ever witnessed. The rain was coming in sideways as the winds howled. The sky was mostly dark, but was brightened by the frequent lightning. It was raining so hard, in fact, that the trolleys quit running because they couldn’t see to drive. The problem was that none of them stopped at the pick up point. There we were, standing in the rain, soaked through our skin and down to our bones.
A trolley finally arrived, and when it did, everyone pushed to get on. I am fairly sure it was fuller than is safe, and I am quite certain it was fuller than was comfortable. We got on toward the front, but as people kept piling on, it got fuller and fuller, until I just wanted off the trolley all together.
Do you ever feel too crowded? So crowded it might just be easier to jump off the trolley all together? So crowded it might just be easier to give in? So crowded you just want to throw your hands up and say, “fine…you win”? As I look around at our world today, it seems like this time of the year is one of those times where we feel pushed from every direction. Consider Advent. Advent really has all the makings of a truly spectacular season. It is my personal favorite. It has all the beauty Christmas celebration, yet it is quiet and serene. I liken Advent to the first big snow where all is quiet and still, and all is well in the world and in our souls.
But when was the last time you could really embrace the quiet of Advent? It never happens. It seems that Advent is usually skipped altogether. We are pushed right into Christmas. The Christmas sales make their debut on Thanksgiving, and these days, it seems the music and decorations start even before that. The pressure is so early, and so intense that by the time we get to the 25th we are ready for it to be over and we still have almost two weeks of Christmas celebration left to go. We’ve got so much to do that the silence, the serenity, and the beauty of Advent preparation just seem to get pushed right out by the busyness of Christmas.
And speaking of things getting pushed out, I’m sure you’ve noticed how it seems Christ can so easily be pushed out of Christmas. If it weren’t bad enough that we push Advent right out the way to get to Christmas earlier than we ought, we are pressured even more to push the Christ-child out of the season that bears his name. Parades, Santa, Jingle bells, reindeer, snowmen, family and if I hear “Happy Holidays” one more time I think I’m going to explode. Not that I don’t understand, not that I’m unsympathetic and not even that I really mind so much. It’s just the pressure. All the pressure. Everything builds up, and pushes me over the edge sometimes. It just gets to me. Sometimes I just want to give in and celebrate the holidays from Thanksgiving to December 25. Enjoy Rudolf, Santa and all the elves, eat lots of candy, drink lots of eggnog, travel to see family and wish everyone a hearty “Happy Holidays!” Maybe then I’ll not get so tightly strung. Wouldn’t it just be easier to get off the trolley?
Then I come to Advent passages like today’s reading from Isaiah 7.10-17.
Now to really get the impact of Isaiah’s words, we must understand a little of the geography and a little of the politics. Israel is now a divided kingdom. There is the southern kingdom and the northern kingdom. The southern kingdom is known as Judah. The northern kingdom is Israel, although it is also often referred to (as it is in this passage) as Ephraim. Each kingdom is independent and each kingdom has its own king. The king of Judah is Ahaz and the king of Ephraim, we are told, is the son of Remaliah. Two kingdoms, two kings.
Now, lets just say that Judah is represented by Belmont County, and Ephraim, or Israel, is represented by Jefferson County. There are a couple other players in our story. The first is Aram. Aram was just to the north of Ephraim, and their king was Rezin. They will be represented by Columbiana County. So now we have Belmont, Jefferson and Columbiana Counties: all independent, all with their own kings. The final player is Assyria. Assyria is a mighty empire. It is not a single nation like Judah, Ephraim and Aram. It is a mighty Empire. It is not a small county like Belmont, Jefferson and Columbiana. It is more like a state, like Western Pennsylvania.
So now, you have a rough picture of the geography in the region. Next, we need to imagine the political pressure in the area. Assyria is trying to strengthen and enlarge its empire. It is moving south and west. It has its eyes set on the valley. Particularly, it is moving in on Aram and Ephraim. Jefferson and Columbiana have no chance alone so they join forces. They realize their chances are still slim against the force of Western PA so they come down to Belmont to see if Belmont will join the cause. It seems like a good idea, but there is one hitch. YHWH told Ahaz, the king of Belmont to keep out of it.
And so scene is set for the filling of the trolley. The kings from Aram and Ephraim are threatening Ahaz if he refuses to join them. He doesn’t want to join them. He knows he shouldn’t join them. But he is afraid not to join them. All the pressure from Aram and Ephraim is filling the trolley where Ahaz is being smushed. On top of that, times are tough. Judah is facing economic and agricultural shortage. The land of milk and honey has dried up. Perhaps joining Aram and Ephraim would get his people some food. Perhaps the land could flow with milk and honey again. The pressure builds. The trolley fills. Ahaz just wants to get off.
Just as the trolley is getting too full, and Ahaz is about to push open the doors and jump off, the prophet comes with a message. Ahaz is to ask the Lord for a sign. But Ahaz knows no one should test the Lord and so he refuses. The situation is so dire that the Lord gives Ahaz a sign anyway. What was that sign? The sign was a child. There is a young woman, we are told, who is presumably known to both Isaiah and Ahaz and who is pregnant. She will very soon give birth to a son. It will be known that the son is a sign from God, and before the son knows right from wrong he will be eating milk and honey in the land. And before the son knows right from wrong, the kings of Aram and Ephraim will both be gone. And before the son knows right from wrong Aram and Ephraim will be exiled to Assyria.
The boy is a sign of God’s presence in Judah. Ahaz must not align Judah with Ephraim. Ahaz must not give in to the pressure. Ahaz must not jump off the trolley. If he does, Judah will suffer the same fate as Aram and Ephraim. If he resists, however, the land will once again prosper. Ahaz must not feel the pressure; he must watch the baby! He must watch the baby and find hope and peace, and love and joy! He must watch the baby!
Watch the baby! What a profound sign. In this morning’s Gospel lesson, Matthew quoted from Isaiah. He took the sign that was given to Ahaz and reinterpreted it as a sign to the world. To a world mired in sin, to a world pressured by evil, to a world where hope is in short supply, where peace is not to be found, where people need love more than ever, God promises a sign. It is a sign of joy. We need not live in sin. We need not be overcome by evil. We do have hope, we can have peace, we are all loved! It is found in watching the baby.
As I reflect on the season Advent, and what it means, and all the pressure we feel to push Advent out early to celebrate Christmas prematurely, I think of the baby Antonina and I have been blessed with. I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago after our last ultrasound. He asked me how much our baby weighed and I told him. He said to me, “your baby is already 6 oz heavier than my son weighed when he was born at 32 weeks.” They had alot of difficulties with their pregnancy, and the baby was born very earth. It occurred to me that we could have our baby any time. It could come early just like Brennan did. I am glad though that I get to wait. Every day I grow even more excited. Every day I feel the baby do things I could never have imagined. Every day that goes by is a better chance that both Antonina and the baby will be healthy. Every day that goes by is another day to prepare our home for the coming of the baby. Every day that goes by my joy is increased. I could jump the gun and wish the baby was here now, but then I think of all the joy I’d miss…the joy that only comes with waiting, and anticipating, and watching the baby.
When I reflect on Christmas, and what it means, and all the pressure we feel to push Christ out of Christmas, I am given a sign: watch the baby. Keep firmly focused on the child. Christmas is a time for worship. All the food, all the presence, all the parades, and reindeer and snowmen are nice. St. Nicholas is wonderful, and we all love to get home for the holidays. But amidst all that we must watch the baby. Christmas, before anything else, is a day – a season – of worshipping the baby in the manger. God’s gift of love to us. Christmas is all about the family of God gathering for a celebration of incarnation. Christmas is about the Church gathering to proclaim to the world that they don’t have to get off the trolley. They don’t have to be overcome by the pressures of life. It is about gathering as God’s family, proclaiming with one voice that there was once a virgin who gave birth to a son, and he is known as Immanuel, which means, “God is with us.” It is about gathering as Christ’s Church, proclaiming with one voice that there is hope – that there is peace – that God is love – and that in him is joy…if only we will watch the baby. To the glory of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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