A Sermon by the Rev. Elice Higginbotham
For the First Congregational United Church of Christ, Chappaqua, New York
The sermon will begin with a reading of "one of the most boring passages in the Bible" - the genealogy of Jesus, as found in the Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 1, verses 1-17. With some help from volunteers, a tree - not, not a Christmas Tree, but a Family Tree - will be set up, and the list of Jesus' forebears will be put up on the tree (starting with Abraham, the root, at the bottom), as the genealogy from Matthew is read. Jesus will be at the top of the tree.
The whole congregation will help with the reading - an insert is found in your bulletin. There are places for the men and boys to read, and I will read the long list of names (that's why I went to seminary, so I could learn how to pronounce all these names, or at least say them with authority, so who'll know the difference!). You'll see that some names are in bold capital letters, with a box around them, LIKE THIS. These are the names of WOMEN. When we come to one of these names, only women and girls will read these names, and we'll wave our hands in the air while we read them. That's to draw attention to the women, because you'll see that there aren't very many of them.
(Reading of Matthew 1:18-25)
So now we've had the whole first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew this morning. We just read the first half together, and Mary Peters read the second half just a few minutes ago. This chapter tells us where Jesus came from, and how he was born. It sets us up for Christmas.
Now, why do you suppose that Mathew, the Gospel-writer, started the story of Jesus this way?
(Anyone care to respond?)
First, because Matthew wants us to understand that Jesus is the great leader that his people have been waiting for. By giving us the names of all these important men who were Jesus' ancestors, the Gospel-writer is telling us that Jesus comes from the right family to be a leader, and he deserves respect.
I'd like us to look at some of the other symbols that are hidden, in a way, in the way this story is told. There are some symbols that may not be so obvious to us, in the 21st Century, as they were to the very first hearers, in the first century after Jesus lived.
Now, remember this - how many generations were there between Abraham and King David?
(14 generations!)
And how many from King David until the people were taken away into exile in Babylon? And how many after the exile until Jesus?
Who can do the math: what's one-half of 14?
(Seven)
So we have three double sevens here, right? So, what would be the next generation, staring with Jesus?
(The seventh)
That's right: Jesus begins the SEVENTH SEVENTH generation! No this may just seem like math to us, and not anything else special. But the people living in the time and place and culture of the people in the Bible, seven was a special number. When you read a story in the Bible that has the number seven, it usually means that it refers to something very holy, special, or great. Those of you who remember from your Sunday school - how may times did Jesus tell his followers that they were to forgive those who wronged them?
(Seventy times seven)
People living in Jesus' time would understand that number, with two sevens in it, to mean infinite. A great number. Always forgive more times than you can count! Well, in the same way, for the earliest readers or hearers of Matthew's Gospel: one of the ways that Matthew is pointing out to them that Jesus is really the son of God -- sort of a sign in that culture - is that, with Jesus, the "seventh seven" begins. The seventh seven means something unique, holy, different from anything before it. Very great. Even so great as "Emmanuel." Emmanuel is a Hebrew word, and who remembers what it means?
(God with us)
God with us. That's who Jesus is. Jesus is called "God with us." Jesus means that "God IS with US"!
Now, just a moment ago, when we read one of the most boring passages in the Bible (and had fun with it, didn't we, so maybe it wasn't so boring), do you remember how many women there were in all that long list of names? What did we do when we came to a woman's name? And we did it to draw attention to the women, because there weren't very many of them on the list.
Now, that's not because all those generations of Jesus' ancestors didn't have any mothers - of course, they all did. But there are lots of lists of people's ancestors in the Bible, and there hardly ever are any women in them, because in that ancient time and culture, very often women didn't count. They were not considered important enough to be remembered. So someone in the biblical time and place, reading this story of Jesus' birth, would know right away that something very different is happening here. People count, who have never counted before! The women count! They matter. They are worth remembering! This was an important sign - we're talking about something completely new, where the ones who never matter, now matter. They are not invisible, but worth remembering. This is a new time.
Now, let me point out something else about these women. I don't want to tell you each of their stories, because each one would make a little novel, and we'd never get to coffee hour. But not only were they women, who suddenly count in God's new world, where they were invisible before; but they are women of questionable reputation. That means that most good people probably thought they were not very nice. Good people might not have wanted to be their friends. But here are their names, showing up in the list of Jesus' ancestors! Matthew is including their names, to show us that this new time that is starting with Jesus, is a time when everyone matters. Everyone counts with God. Emmanuel. This God is with us!
Now, just one more thing... the lesson that Mary read for us this morning. It's the story about Joseph, who raised Jesus like a father. Now, can you remember anything that Joseph said?
(Nothing. Joseph says nothing.)
There's not very much more about Joseph in the whole Bible. In fact, the only stories we have about Joseph are ones where he is about to be in a tough situation, and God tells him to do something about it - something quite hard - and Joseph doesn't say anything. He just does it. He just does what God tells him, in order that Jesus can be born; in order that Jesus' mother may be supported and cared for, so she can raise this little baby into an adult. A little later in this story, God tells Joseph how he can save Jesus' life when it is in great danger, and Joseph does it. He doesn't say anything. He just does it.
Joseph is nothing special. He is an ordinary man, who happens to find himself in extraordinary circumstances. He is an ordinary man who makes it possible for the God-who-is-with-us to come to birth, to be with us... to begin the process of making this ordinary world a new world, where the ordinary people who have never counted, count; where the people no one cared about or wanted to be with, count.
So this first chapter of Matthew, with its boring genealogy and its story of an ordinary working man who doesn't say much, are signs of who our God is. This God is Emmanuel:
(which means: God with us!)
This is the God-who-is-with-us.. So what do you suppose that says about us? Here is that God, a tiny baby, in an ordinary family, changing the whole world, and calling us to be this God's people.
God-with-us really means US!
Amen.
