The Gospel of God

St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Gainesville FL
The Chapel of the Incarnation, Gainesville FL
December 19, 2010

Year A: The Fourth Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25

The Gospel of God

Today’s second lesson was the opening of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome. This is the only existing letter of Paul that was written to a congregation that he hadn’t started or hadn’t already visited. Paul knows some of the people in the early Christian community of Rome, but he hasn’t yet been in the empire’s capital city.

Paul begins his letter by boldly introducing himself as “a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God.”

The Gospel of God. It’s an unusual expression, isn’t it?

You may know the word “Gospel” means “good news.” Of course, we talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we talk about the four individual gospels, Matthew, Mark , Luke and John.

But, we don’t usually use the expression the “Gospel of God.”

And just what is the Gospel of God? What is the “good news” of God?

The Gospel of God isn’t a book. The Gospel of God isn’t a religion. The Gospel of God isn’t a set of laws. The Gospel of God isn’t a philosophy.

What is the Gospel of God?

The Gospel of God is a person. The good news of God is Jesus Christ.

As Advent draws to a close and we move toward Christmas, it’s a good time to remind ourselves that the Gospel of God is Jesus Christ. This is the good news that we proclaim. The good news of God is Jesus Christ.

In a unique way, God reveals God’s self in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, God says here I am, this is what I am really like. In Jesus Christ, God shows special love for the poor, the outcast and the suffering. In Jesus Christ, God shows no limit to forgiveness. In Jesus Christ, God proves that even death itself cannot destroy love.

The Gospel of God is Jesus Christ.

And during Advent we’re reminded that from the start, God has called people – in a sense, God has needed people - to nurture this Gospel.

And one of the great nurturers of the Gospel of God was Joseph.

In today’s gospel lesson, Matthew tells us about the events leading up to Jesus’ birth, and introduces us to Joseph, a descendant of King David living in modest circumstances. We don’t get many details about him, but maybe we’re told everything we need to know.

At this crucial moment, Joseph briefly takes center stage.

Try to imagine Joseph’s situation. In First Century Judaism, marriage had little or nothing to do with romantic love. In that time and place marriage was a contract negotiated by two families aiming to gain as much advantage for themselves as possible.

The first part of the marriage process was betrothal. Betrothal was a much greater commitment than our engagement. Under Jewish law, divorce was required to break a betrothal.

In the midst of all of this, Joseph learns that his betrothed, Mary, is pregnant. Imagine Joseph’s shock, confusion, anger, disappointment and shame. According to the law, Joseph could return Mary to her father and she could be killed.

Yet, Joseph the righteous man doesn’t act on his legal rights. Instead, from the start, he shows mercy toward Mary, planning on a quiet divorce. Maybe he hoped that the man who had impregnated Mary would do the honorable thing by stepping up and taking care of her and their child.

But, then God calls on Joseph to be more righteous than he probably he ever thought possible. God calls on Joseph to be more merciful than he probably ever thought possible.

God called on Joseph to nurture the Gospel of God.

Joseph nurtured the Gospel of God by being open to the unexpected and difficult responsibility that God had given him. Joseph nurtured the Gospel of God by choosing love and mercy over the letter of religious law.

And thanks to Joseph’s courage and faith the Gospel of God was nurtured and grew stronger.

God called Joseph. And God is still calling. God is calling us here today, right here in Gainesville, to nurture the Gospel of God.
What would that look like for us?

For starters, nurturing the Gospel of God would mean not giving in to fear. There’s certainly plenty to fear in our world. The world seems to grow more bleak and dangerous with each passing day: threats of economic collapse in Europe, riots in Haiti, a broken political system and economy here in the United States. Each morning I cringe a little when I open the newspaper. On Thursday morning I opened the New York Times and was chilled by this headline: “New Advice on the Unthinkable: How to Survive a Nuclear Bomb.” Great. Plus, there’s all the routine, everyday suffering around the world that never makes it into the newspapers.

And there’s plenty to fear in our own lives. Some of us are fearful about our health or the health of one we love. Some of us are desperately looking for work or fearful that our job may be on the line. Some of us are fearful of being alone. Some of us are fearful of how people would judge us if they knew our most shameful secrets. Some of us fear God’s judgment. (And some of us fear that the end of this building would mean the end of St. Michael’s – the community that is a lifeline for us.)

In his dream the angel says to Joseph, “do not be afraid.” Joseph had to overcome his fears because a fearful Joseph could not have nurtured the Gospel of God. And what was true for Joseph is certainly true for us. If we give in to fear, we cannot nurture the Gospel of God.

Joseph isn’t only courageous. Joseph is also described as righteous, as someone who took the expectations of his religion and his culture very seriously. But, for Joseph, mercy overrode the rules and regulations of his religion and culture. Even before his dream, Joseph wasn’t publicly judging Mary or condemning Mary. Instead, even before his dream, Joseph was planning to show mercy to Mary.

Nurturing the Gospel of God would mean being righteous like Joseph and more importantly it would mean being merciful like Joseph. Nurturing the Gospel of God would mean resisting the temptation to judge others, resisting the temptation to assume the worst of others, resisting the temptation to hold a grudge against those who disappoint us or hurt us.

Finally, nurturing the Gospel of God would mean giving away our lives in service to the good news that is Jesus Christ.
In a very real and concrete way, Joseph risked it all to nurture the Gospel of God.

And Joseph’s not the only one who risked it all to nurture the Gospel of God. There’s Mary, of course. And there’s also Paul, who gave away his life traveling around the Mediterranean telling people the good news of Jesus.

Finally, by the time of the mid to late 50s of the First Century, as he was about to undertake his journey to the heart of the Roman Empire, Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome. He boldly introduced himself as “a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God.”

The Gospel of God isn’t a book. The Gospel of God isn’t a religion. The Gospel of God isn’t a set of laws. The Gospel of God isn’t a philosophy.

The Gospel of God is a person. The good news of God is Jesus Christ.

And God is calling us today just as God called Joseph, and Mary and Paul. God is calling us to nurture the Gospel of God. God is calling us to nurture the good news of God, right here and now.

Amen.