December 18, 2024

Matthew 1:18-25

God works in unexpected ways. Jesus was conceived by an unwed mother, and more extraordinarily, by a virgin. Joseph could have sent her away, but the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him to marry her anyway.  Joseph immediately did exactly what the angel instructed – such was his faith. It was a messy situation – but God does not care about human planning and fitting life events into tidy boxes. All this happened before Jesus was born, and he (in his human self) would only hear about it later, as many of us have. How many of us have been born of unplanned pregnancies and unusual situations? No one should ever feel embarrassed by the circumstances of their birth, a small miracle, as a child of God. The world was blessed by the birth of this child Jesus, who seemingly came out of nowhere. How human, and yet how divine.  We think we know everything about how the world works, but let us remember that we don’t. Let us be in awe of the workings of the Holy Spirit, and keep an open mind to how Holy Spirit works in our lives.  Amen.