12-22-19

Matthew 1:18-25

“A Dream and A Birth”

Sometimes it’s really hard to know what to make of things.  Take Joseph – he’s engaged to Mary and she’s pregnant, before they’ve lived together – and he wants to do the right thing.  I wonder if he had sleepless nights wondering what to do.  I wonder what Mary thought was the right thing for her to do.  God’s messenger, an angel, enters into the story, and they marry and a child is born.  Preparing for and welcoming children into our lives is a big deal, and this is not just any child.  This is a “God with us” child.  A save us from our sins child.  How can we know and trust when messages are from God?  What does it mean to remember and celebrate the faithfulness and obedience of Joseph and Mary and rejoice and give thanks for Jesus?  Sometimes dreams and visions lead us to hard work and uncertain paths.  I wonder what those who would become the very first members of Webster Groves Christian Church were thinking and feeling as they contemplated Joseph’s dream and Jesus’ birth even as they were following through on their shared dream of becoming a worshiping community and birthing a new congregation 125 years ago this Christmas Eve?