“The Dilemma of Dreams”

                                “The Dilemma of Dreams”
                                Matthew 2:13-23
                                Sunday, December 26, 2010
                                Rev. David Hutchinson

    A baby was born to a poor woman.   
The woman was not yet married.
It was two thousand and ten years ago - - approximately - -
And there may have been farm animals - - somewhere nearby.
    I think we can say that much with near certainty.
        But that sort of thing happens all the time.
        So certainty - - doesn’t really mean all that much.
            Does it?
    I mean babies are born in humble desolate circumstances all the time.
    So, setting aside for now - - the question of ‘Divine conception’, Jesus’ birth is NOT really much of an event - - by the standards we usually use to measure - - - significance.
    As events go - - it would be easy to miss - - or to ignore.
    But - - approximately 700 years before THAT mundane event - - the prophet Isaiah had said - - that an event just like that one would be a sign.
In chapter seven of the book of Isaiah, God is haggling with king Ahaz about signs. Ahaz doesn’t     want any signs from God. God says, “Come on Ahaz, ask me for a sign about the future” Ahaz says, “No thanks, I’m good”.
Ahaz thinks - that his political alliances will protect him. He has life fairly well planned out. He has a good life insurance policy. Knows where the signed copy of his will is. Everything is safe and secure.  What does he need with a sign from God about the future?
But God says, “Trust me”.
I am going to give you a sign. 
And the sign is described in chapter seven of Isaiah:
“a young woman will conceive and bear a son”
            And it will be a sign - for those who have eyes to see it.   
    But in order to see it - - - we have to make a decision. We have to decide between a security system built on power and alliances and politics and financial arrangements on the one hand…and a security system based on trust in God, on the other. 
     I would like to think - - that in a situation like that I would choose to trust, and that I would understand God’s sign for my life.        But I’m not so sure…
    Would I - - respond appropriately to a sign - - from God?
I mean, in my own life I’ve confused signs as simple as a doorbell and a telephone! Let me tell you how: I was sitting at my desk trying to do two things at once: checking email while reading a set of Session minutes. And just then, as the phone rang, someone knocked on my office door, and I picked up the phone receiver and said, “come in”. 
    Usually I don’t make that mistake because the signs are pretty clear:
        A knock and a ring…..
    But imagine if the sign was much less clear.
        A baby - - born to a poor young woman….
        That’s all we really know for certain.
        Matthew’s gospel doesn’t even mention the animals.
    So imagine being Joseph.
    Imagine being Joseph - - and being able to interpret this birth as a sign of something that might actually change the whole world. 
    “Immanuel” was the NAME by the way.
Immanuel was that name of the baby born to the poor woman described by Isaiah.
    Immanuel means, “God with us”.
    So - - could something so ordinary that it happens all the time - -
- - really be a sign of God being with us?
    Matthew - - thought so.
    When Matthew’s gospel described this humble birth, Matthew quoted Isaiah.
    Matthew wanted to make it clear that this humble baby WAS a sign.
        And somehow Joseph got it!
    And according to Matthew the thing that helped him ‘get it’, was dreaming.
    Five times in the first two chapters of Matthew we read about dreams. Four out of the five times, the dreams are dreams of Joseph. And the other dream is the one that guides the Magi: the “wise men”.
    And every time a dream happens, it’s a warning to go a different way in life.
    And every time, the dreamer has to choose to believe the dream.
    And every time, the dreamer has to decide to go a particular direction.
    Every time the dreamer has to decide whether to trust - - - or not.
    And every time, the dream - - is intended to protect the child.
    In Joseph’s first dream he has to decide what to do about the fact that he is engaged to a woman who is already pregnant. Imagine finding yourself in that dilemma!
The custom would allow for divorce. Lots of people would choose that option.
But then - - Joseph has this darn dream.
In the dream he hears God say, “do it differently, and trust me”.
Joseph is called by his dream to imagine - - that a birth described 700 years before by Isaiah - - might just have some connection to his own situation. 
The writer of Matthew is convinced that there IS a connection.
For Matthew, Jesus IS Immanuel.
For Matthew - - 700 years of waiting has finally come to an end!
For Matthew even after all that waiting - - there is still hope!   / /
And all Joseph has to do - - - - is believe it.
    Really?
    After 700 years?
    Come on...
Joseph’s dilemma – isn’t about Mary.
Joseph’s dilemma is - that he has to decide whether to trust his dreams.
Joseph’s dilemma is that he has to decide whether to keep dreaming.
I don’t know if it gets easier after the first time or not.
But it keeps happening.
Joseph keeps dreaming…and even the Magi dream….
A dream guides the Magi away from Herod.
And then another dream guides Joseph to Egypt. He goes TO Egypt to escape the wrath of king Herod who killed all the male children…
And that just TINGLES with meaning - if you know the history of the Hebrew people….because who was nearly killed IN Egypt by an oppressive powerful Pharaoh? He escaped in a basket in a river…..?            Moses. 
Jesus - - just like Moses - - will set people free from slavery…
        That’s what Matthew wants us to believe.
        That’s - - what Jesus is a sign OF:
            Freedom from oppression, slavery, and sin…
    And Joseph follows his dreams - - and believes it.
And then another dream guides Joseph back from Egypt.
And finally a fifth dream guides Joseph north to Galilee.
 to a city called Nazareth.
    In all of these dreams, Joseph is guided away from powerful forces of evil.
And he is guided into an alternative vision of the future. 
        He has to decide whether to - - grab for power,
or whether to give up power to God.
    As we consider our own futures, I think that for us, making choices similar to Joseph will not be easy. That’s because so often we think that we see everything clearly and we have things figured out.
But then life changes.
    One day someone you love just dies - - and everything changes.
    One day you have a pastor - - and the next day you don’t.
    One day you have a plan for an elevator - - and the next day there is a road block.
    One day someone does something that hurts you - - and the next day you understand their actions more fully - - and begin to forgive. 
    One day you buy a great new house - - and the next day you learn about the pain some people in the neighborhood feel because of gentrification. 
    One day you think the problems are solved - - and the next day new ones appear.
    Changes - - - lead to choices.
    And the choices - - call us to stay awake to God.
And I think that’s how Joseph - - reminds us to keep awake.
    Joseph wakes us up to life.
    Joseph urges us to stay attuned and awake.
    Awake from our dreaming.
    And awake BECAUSE of - - our dreaming.
    Now, if we can stay that kind of awake - - it could change our lives.
    And if we can stay that kind of awake because of the birth of a humble baby…
        Born to a poor young girl…
        Maybe there really IS something Divine about the conception of that baby!
            Maybe Joseph’s the one who came up with the idea…?