Christmas Midnight 2007, Threads of Destinies

Christmas I, Midnight

Matthew 1: 1-25

[Now is proclaimed the beginning of the whole Gospel, according to Matthew in the first chapter.]

This is the book of the new creation, which has happened through Jesus Christ [or, the generation of Jesus Christ], a son of David, who is a son of Abraham.

 Abraham was the father of Isaac,

   Isaac the father of Jacob,

   Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,

   Perez the father of Hezron,

   Hezron the father of Ram,

  Ram the father of Amminadab,

   Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

   Nahshon the father of Salmon,

  Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

Ruth and Boaz, Koch

   Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,

   Obed the father of Jesse,

  and Jesse the father of King David.

   David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

  Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

   Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

   Abijah the father of Asa,

  Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

   Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

   Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

  Uzziah the father of Jotham,

   Jotham the father of Ahaz,

   Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

  Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

   Manasseh the father of Amon,

   Amon the father of Josiah,

  and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

  After the exile to Babylon:

   Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

   Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

  Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

   Abihud the father of Eliakim,

   Eliakim the father of Azor,

  Azor the father of Zadok,

   Zadok the father of Akim,

   Akim the father of Elihud,

  Elihud the father of Eleazar,

   Eleazar the father of Matthan,

   Matthan the father of Jacob,

  and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

From Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David to the deportation to Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the exile in Babylon to Christ are fourteen generations.

The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way: Mary, his mother, was betrothed to Joseph. But before they were aware of having come together, she conceived a child by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph however, her husband, who was an upright man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, was considering whether he should quietly set her free [or, decided to consider all this a mystery.] As he was pondering this, behold the angel of the Lord appeared before him in a dream and said to him:

 “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because that which is to be born of her is conceived out of the power of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall give him the name Jesus, that is, the Bringer of Healing, for he it will be who will heal his own of their error and guilt. “

All this took place so that the word of the Lord, spoken by the mouth of the prophet, might be fulfilled:

“A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel, that is, God in our midst.”

           

Now when Joseph rose from his sleep he did as the angel of the Lord directed him, and he took Mary to himself as his wife, and he knew her not until she bore her son, and he gave him the name Jesus.  

Christmas I, Midnight

December 24-5, 2007

Matthew 1:1-25 [the beginning of all the Gospels]

The beauty of a Persian carpet is created by many hundreds of threads of different colors. At the beginning, these different threads appear to be separate; but eventually they will be woven together according to the plan of the weaver.

We hear tonight of a new creation. After forty-two generations, all is

Tree of Jesse

ready—the new divine human being is being conceived. The threads of all destinies are coming together. And this surpasseth human understanding. It is as though Joseph sees all the threads, but cannot see the pattern or purpose. Or perhaps knows God’s purpose, but cannot see how the threads are supposed to weave together.  And so Joseph offers his human thinking to the divine realm. And he aligns his will with the angel’s words: “Carry on together,” says the angel. “Do not separate. The Spirit of God is at work in this. Join us in this tremendous work of beauty. Your cooperation is vital to the plan.”

Every year Christ draws near to humanity. He seeks to renew His conception again in humankind. Within each of us there is a virginal element, a Mary-soul, able to conceive the Son of God in the depth of the heart. And in each of us there is also a rational element, a Joseph-soul who wonders what to do with all this. “Let her be fruitful,” the angel says to all of us. “Don’t pull away. Let the Holy Spirit enter you, so that you may conceive and know the Bringer of Healing in our midst, the Light of the World.”

Here, at midnight, our own complex souls can know and conceive the Light of the World; we too can speak the poetic words:

Late in winter

My heart is still a rose in bloom.
At night I need no candle or lamp,

For my soul has forever awakened

To there being just the reality

Of Light

And the wonderful Lawlessness of God.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Hafiz, The Wonderful Lawlessness, in Tonight the Subject is Love, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 41.