Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
Welcome to the commons cast. We're glad to have you here. We hope you find something meaningful in our teaching this week. Head to commons.church for more information.
Scott Wall:Back to this morning where we need to set off into the first of what we're calling advent landscapes. We're gonna talk a little bit about an early gift, a flashback, voices, and how god saves. But before we jump into that, pause with me now. Let's pray together. God of an ever expanding cosmos, and god too of quiet, Unexpected arrivals.
Scott Wall:Even now, you are near to every anxious mind. You're near to every longing heart. You are near to us scattered though we feel. And as we step today together in these few moments, as we step into advent expectation, We choose to trust that you're here with us, in our ache for peace and an end to violence, in our waiting for all that's Still unrealized in our search for light and our search for calm, We pray that you'd be with us now as we turn to ancient words, that you would help the words to be quick to settle in us, and that you'd help us to be patient. We ask this in the name of Christ, our hope.
Scott Wall:Amen. Alright. Well, Several months ago, I went out to Kananaskis for a hike with some friends from here in the community. If you know me, this is no surprise. I do this often when I can.
Scott Wall:And On this particular day, I wasn't able to be at the trailhead when my friends were saying they were gonna start, so we agreed. They would go ahead. I would catch up and find them up on the ridge. Simple enough. Right?
Scott Wall:Now one of the things that I often use when I hike is an app called AllTrails. It has a catalog of hikes from all over the world, and you can download maps To navigate and also you can track your ventures and brag to your friends about all the fun places you've gone. Right? This turned out to be one of those days when having this app was super Helpful. Here's an image of our out and back journey that day straightforward.
Scott Wall:Right? Straight is an arrow. But what happens when you zoom in is you start to see the specifics of my root that day, and something happened Right in that little red circle, the the the truth is, if you can make it out, is that I couldn't find my way. Look at me. I'm all over the map here.
Scott Wall:And let me tell you the story. See, I got out there, and I was an hour or so behind my friends. So I I was starting to push the pace in this 40 plus year old body. And it was early in the season, so I don't have my summer lungs yet. And this particular hike, it follows a river valley for a bit, and then the valley breaks into 2 more valleys, and the trail goes where?
Scott Wall:Straight up the ridge in the middle, which I did not know. And in my out of shape light headed stupor, I couldn't find the trail for the life of me for about 10 minutes. So I'm going back and forth. You can see the signs of my confusion. They're all over the map.
Scott Wall:And I kept looking at my positioning, and I say, well, that's not right. And then I backtracked, And I'd look at my surroundings, and I said, no. I'm in the right place, but there's no chance. And then I backtracked again trying to find out where to go. And I did eventually.
Scott Wall:I found my friends. 1 of them snapped this picture. The summit was awesome. Here's the proof, but it's not the point because we're not talking about mountains and high places today. We're talking about valleys.
Scott Wall:Those moments in life where it's hard to find our way. And starting here, I really think it offers us an early gift, much like the whole season of Advent actually does, where like AllTrails did for me that spring day, we can situate ourselves in our lives as they are. Advent gives you a few weeks to note the features of your life's landscape. We're all headed Toward the heights of Christmas joy and celebration, for sure, but we get to be honest right now about how maybe we're disoriented, Or maybe we're fatigued as we come to year end. Maybe we're unsure of how we got where we are, and we don't know how we're gonna get out of here.
Scott Wall:Today, we're gonna scout the low places in human experience. And note too that as Bobby already mentioned, we're gonna make some Face for the complexity of this season by hosting darkest night liturgy on 21st. Put that in your calendar. Come join us. For now, trust That advent's arrival doesn't push you and rush you forward.
Scott Wall:There's a chance here to pause and to take a look around and to get your bearings. And with this in mind, let me read you a familiar gospel text. Matthew's gospel records, This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother, Mary, was pledged to be married to Joseph. But before they came together, She was found to be pregnant through the holy spirit.
Scott Wall:Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law and yet didn't want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to Divorce her quietly. But after he had considered all this, an angel appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, Don't be afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in her is from the holy spirit. She's gonna give birth to a son, And you are to give that son the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sin. Now all of this took place, the story about Joseph and a dream, it all took place to fulfill what god had said through the prophet, A virgin will conceive, give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means god with us. And when Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the lord had commanded him, and he took Mary home as his wife.
Scott Wall:So I think probably for many of us, this is a familiar scene. And there's a couple noteworthy things here to take a look at. 1st, it's kinda interesting that in the entire story of Christmas and especially in Matthew's account, Joseph doesn't say anything in the sequence. He has no lines. Is this because he was the strong silent type?
Scott Wall:Or maybe it's the fact that he was older and before the stories of Jesus' birth were collected, he was long gone. We don't actually know. What we have is the story of Matthew recording Jesus' arrival, which begins by telling us about a scandal. Mary's not supposed to be pregnant. She's not supposed to be sexually active, and Mary tells us that Joseph's getting ready to distance himself from association with this illegitimate child.
Scott Wall:But he has a dream. Angel assures him. But then, the ancient narrator tells us why this part of the story matters. Like, why throw a scandal in the story? And he flashes back.
Scott Wall:See, this reference To a virgin and a child would have immediately reminded the early Jewish followers of Jesus who had this gospel text. It would it would have reminded them of another dark time in Israel's history. See, about 750 years earlier in the 8th century, god's people were under pressure from Several surrounding nations, most notably the Assyrians, they were the military juggernaut at the time in the ancient near east, and the situation was dire. And to make matters worse, god's people were being led by a weak and an undesirable king, a guy with the name Ahaz. And in the story, god sends the prophet Isaiah to Ahaz and tells the king, ask god for a sign.
Scott Wall:Whether it's in the deepest depths or in the highest heavens, just seek divine counsel and intervention. But Ahaz won't. He refuses. His mind is made up, and his belligerence ends up resulting in disaster. So Isaiah tells him, listen, god is gonna give you a sign.
Scott Wall:A virgin's gonna conceive and bear a son, And we'll call him Emmanuel. And there's a lot of speculation about who this child is in the book of Isaiah. And we're not gonna spend any time here. We don't have time, but I'm inclined to agree with scholars who think that this is a reference to Ahaz's son who would be born, Someone named Hezekiah. And you only need to know that to pay attention to the fact that Hezekiah would grow up To become a king whose character and faithfulness to god would save the nation, he would convince them that god was with them.
Scott Wall:And in using this flashback to an earlier historical period, the gospel author situates Christ's unfolding story in a much longer one, One that was very familiar to his audience. And why would the author need to do that? Well, maybe because They knew that their audience did the same thing with the familiar that we do with it in our own lives. See, we often adopt a negative narrative about ourselves simply because those around us use it. We often spiral into apathy and defeatism when we see or feel a pattern reemerging in us.
Scott Wall:We sometimes get So focused on the difficulty that we've been facing for a long time that we forget we've been anywhere else. And to their ancient audience, the gospel author offered a reminder that god's redemptive presence had been at work for so long Through many dark seasons, often appearing in the most unlikely of places. But for you and for me, well, Perhaps this advent return to an ancient author's flashback might help us reflect on whether And whatever challenge that seems too familiar in us, with this reminder that shifts are always happening, That our character can always be growing, that despite the feelings of being in a rut or in a negative pattern, perhaps we carry those with us. If you really think about it, you aren't who you were. Jewish philosopher and theologian Martin Buber described this Power of the scripture to come alive in fresh ways as its infinite interpretability.
Scott Wall:And I love this language for how the Christmas story comes close each year, and it whispers in the dark of how hope can be born anew. But I also love how this language, It suits the work that you do when you look back to foster gratitude in the middle of adversity, And when you persist because you have learned to do this somewhere in your past, And when you grieve and you heal slowly because you know the contours of your own soul, These choices that you are making, they may not seem significant, but they're a big deal. They're stunning Examples of how to infinitely interpret your experience in the world with grace. Knowing and sometimes not knowing, just trusting that change always comes. Now let's zoom in quickly on Joseph and the scandal in this story.
Scott Wall:To start, there's some clear cultural differences between our society's practices and expectations around marriage and engagement and those In the text, we are told that Joseph and Mary, they are pledged to be married. When's the last time you heard anybody say that? Right? It's not something we say anymore. It's actually hard to imagine the production teams from shows like Perfect Match or Love is Blind and Love Island knowing how to turn Joseph and Mary's love story into 12 episodes of riveting dramatic action.
Scott Wall:And no, curious minds, I haven't watched any of those shows. And, yes, I'll take a polygraph to prove it. The the point is this. Basically, in ancient Jewish society, a couple entered prenuptial contract in front of witnesses. And this agreement was breakable only by formal divorce even though they aren't actually married.
Scott Wall:They wouldn't live together. They wouldn't consummate their relationship sexually. This is not 21st century reality TV. They would be thought of as legally married until about a year later or so, The union would be formalized in ritual and in celebration. And it's during that in between period that Mary informs us that, Or sorry, that Matthew informs us that Mary is pregnant, and this would have meant that she would likely have been accused of committing adultery, legally or, yeah, a legally binding or violation of a binding agreement.
Scott Wall:And this this was a serious charge. In Mosaic law, we actually find injunctions where women accused of adultery would have been stoned to death. To be clear, most scholars think that By the 1st century under Roman rule, such practices weren't happening in Israelite society. But what was well within Joseph's legal rights, According to ancient law, was to publicly divorce Mary, to name the violation, and give her and her family up to shame. Now what's interesting is that the text actually describes Joseph as a faithful observer of this ancient law.
Scott Wall:But, curiously, the Greek grammar, the 2 clauses here, there's some tension in the vocabulary that they use. The story implies That Joseph has no choice but to do what the rules demand. And it implies that Joseph Chooses to be more compassionate than what is expected, which is such a poignant picture. See, all it takes is a little imagination, and this concise narrative expands emotionally. It's not hard to imagine a scenario like this playing out in a small rural community that we can imagine.
Scott Wall:Accusations get leveled and harsh words are said and threats are made. And like so many of the difficult moments you faced, This is not something that Joseph has asked for or brought on himself. He's followed the rules. He's taken the high road for a long time. The text sort of implies that he's respected for being a person of good character, which is why it's not so hard To imagine him having trouble sleeping.
Scott Wall:It's not hard to imagine him fielding all kinds of opinions From all these people around him, a long litany of shoulds that he should consider. It's funny, isn't it? These are the voices that tend to echo In the low points of our lives. Right? It's when we're at our lowest that people get free and direct with their advice about what we should do.
Scott Wall:It's actually when someone's embroiled intention or controversy, that's when we assume that they should've made different choices. For me, personally, it's actually moments like this when I'm hardest on myself, how I should have done this Or that, how I should adhere to others' expectations or face the consequences. If if nothing else, This story acknowledges that Joseph's choice wasn't easy, and neither are the choices you make. This story validates how there is a special agony and struggle when you face a difficult diagnosis And everybody has an opinion about what treatment you should use. When you navigate professional setbacks are disappointments, and it's hard to find allies.
Scott Wall:You aren't sure who to trust, whose advice you should take, or when you discern It's time for a relationship to shift and be redefined, and not everybody can see the good that you're choosing yet. For these, in the 1,000 valleys like them, Joseph's story assures you that wisdom, It often moves towards you in these moments. The spirit there, mysteriously and quietly crafting discernment that sometimes It might drown out all the shoulds, but always shapes a courage in you to take whatever step you must. Now one more quick note here. The NIV translation.
Scott Wall:Matthew chapter 1 verse 20. I read it to you early. It doesn't convey the full measure of the ancient language. It tells us that after Joseph had been considering these things, considering not shaming Mary, that is, This angel appears, which makes it sound like he's just been thinking about what to do. The tense of the Greek verb here actually implies that he had come to a conclusion.
Scott Wall:Joseph had made up his mind. And it's then, after he goes to bed after having made up his mind that he has this divinely infused encounter, Which makes me wonder, was there something about this situation and his decided course of action that was just not sitting right? Like, does Joseph's decision making process offer a model for being patient with ourselves in difficult situations To pay attention to our bodies and our sleeplessness and our anxiety and our subconscious, These subtle intuitions that at times tell us that something's not quite right. What should I reconsider? Perhaps.
Scott Wall:That's rooted in the text. But what we see is that the messenger tells him, don't be afraid. Messenger instructs him to move ahead With this formal engagement to Mary and to take the child as his own, to add this Child to a celebrated lineage that the writer of Matthew has just finished laying out for us. It goes all the way back to king David. The messenger tells Joseph to name the child Jesus, which means god saves.
Scott Wall:And he does these things. We know how the story goes, which just means that there's a way to hear and read this story that diminishes where overlooks the way that it probably played out. We can assume that because the angel gave this that because Joseph observed the law, that because this son was gonna grow up to become the living and the risen Christ, that this choice played out super conveniently and smoothly. And I think that's a nearsighted assumption. I don't think well, I think what actually it does is it finds an injustice To our own attempts to work our way through the most trying seasons we face, I think you should assume that Joseph had to live In the real time ramifications of this choice, and this is a choice that didn't make scandal and complexity go away, isn't it Plausible that there were people around him that felt he was making a massive mistake, and they never came back to talk to him again?
Scott Wall:It's plausible, isn't it, that days came when he second guessed the choice. Jesus is a teenager causing some problems in the school. It's only human that that happened. Right? It's entirely plausible that Joseph himself didn't live to see how this difficult situation worked out in the end.
Scott Wall:He's long gone from the text before Jesus is a public figure, which is why I think there's something so profoundly embedded in the Story here, and it shapes how we live. It became so clear to me as I read the work of scholar and theologian, Alice Mackenzie, recently. She argues that the crucible of this tale is found in how Joseph must agree to be the father to a child that isn't his, But that quote, he must summon faith sufficient to commit a crucial act of incorporation. I love this language. Of course, Mackenzie is alluding to how Joseph incorporates the unborn Jesus into a royal Israelite lineage By staying faithful to this marriage agreement.
Scott Wall:But what's also implied is how in this familiar story, Joseph incorporated what was surely one of the most difficult, scandalous, and hardest moments in his life. He incorporated into his story. How incorporating this woman and this child in naming the child Jesus, Joseph grabbed hold of the scandal and the heartache and the difficulty. And instead of pushing them away, instead of Avoiding them in an attempt to move on, he chose to take them and declare for the rest of his days, this is my story. This It's how god saves.
Scott Wall:I think there's an invitation there for all of us this advent. But I don't wanna be trite about it. If you are facing, maze in your life, An obstacle that's more massive than you think you can get past. If you have been in a valley and your route up and out of it looks a lot like my trail report from the spring. Maybe you feel like you're going in circles.
Scott Wall:I wanna respect the depth and the uncertainty that that is. And I wanna encourage you, if you feel like you can, you can let us know. There's lots of ways to get in touch. I also wanna encourage you, if you have assistance, you have allies next Do you reach out to someone you shouldn't? None of us should be in valleys on our own.
Scott Wall:But I also want to name the tug of this story for me. See, I think the story is meant to show us How salvation has been and always will be rooted in the deepest truth of our darkest days. How your illness and your sorrow and all the things that have happened to you that you couldn't control, these things were never intended to be erased By redemption's long redemptive arc no. Joseph's story shows us that the courageous A continuing and sometimes excruciating choice to incorporate these valleys into our stories. This becomes the source for the deepest of hopes that we seek.
Scott Wall:And it's the kind of hope that a weary world needs. Let's pray. Loving god, In Christ, in the story of Christ's messy arrival in the world, You enter the complexity of our experience. You show us this beautiful image of a descending divinity. Here to be in the low and in the dark, with us in all our wandering.
Scott Wall:And I think that in a lot of ways, you teach us through this to trust the long backstory of grace. This force that renews and moves us along even sometimes when we don't think it's happening. And god, where we forget or we overlook your tender, generous work, have mercy. And as we walk into this advent season, we pray that you would remind us in every step and in every sorrow you are beside us, And that when we humbly and falteringly bind ourselves to the limits of our lives there In Jesus, you are ever saving us. Come and speak peace To every failing heart, I pray in the name of Christ, our hope.
Scott Wall:Amen. Hey.
Jeremy Duncan:Jeremy here, and thanks for listening to our podcast. If you're intrigued by the work that we're doing here at commons, you can head to our website, commons.church, for more information. You You can find us on all of the socials at commonschurch. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel where we are posting content regularly for the community. You can also join our Discord server.
Jeremy Duncan:Head to commons.church/discord for the invite, and there you will find the community having all kinds of conversations about How we can encourage each other to follow the way of Jesus, we would love to hear from you. Anyway, thanks for tuning in. Have a great week. We'll talk to you
Jeremy Duncan:soon.