Fourth Sunday of Advent
~ If we are honest, the opening of Matthew’s Gospel—the long genealogy of Jesus—is the part of Scripture we are most tempted to skim. It is a list of forty-two generations, a dry recitation of “who begat whom.” But if we pause and look closer, we see that this list is not just a family tree; it is a theology of history.
It is a list populated not just by saints and heroes, but by the broken, the scandalous, and the forgotten. It includes King David, a man of great faith but also a murderer and adulterer. It includes Rahab and Ruth, outsiders to the faith who were grafted in. It is a messy list for a messy world.
And that is precisely why it is the perfect reading for us right now, here at Saint Margaret of Scotland.
As we look around our country and our world today, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. We see division, anger, and tremendous challenges that seem to have no easy solutions. We look at the news and wonder: Where is this all going? Has the plot been lost?
Matthew’s genealogy answers us with a resounding “No.” It reminds us that God has been working His design through human history for centuries—often through the most unlikely people and during the most turbulent times. God writes straight with crooked lines. His design does not depend on perfect circumstances; it prevails through the imperfections.
We see this most clearly in the second half of the Gospel reading, where the camera zooms in on Joseph.
Joseph is a man whose world has just collapsed. He is a righteous man who discovers that Mary, his betrothed, is with child. By the law and custom of his time, this is a disaster. His life’s plan—a quiet, respectable marriage—is shattered. He decides to divorce her quietly to spare her shame, trying to manage a crisis he didn’t create.
But then, God interrupts. An angel appears in a dream and asks Joseph to do the impossible: to set aside his fear, to ignore the whispers of society, and to trust in a plan he cannot fully understand. “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid.”
Joseph’s greatness lies in his response. He wakes up and does exactly what the Lord commanded. He trades his own plans for God’s providence.
This is our invitation for this Fourth Sunday of Advent and the coming Christmas season. We are invited to trust that God is doing something new, even when our personal lives or our national landscape feels chaotic. We are asked to believe that the confusion of the moment is not the end of the story.
The genealogy proves that God plays the long game. The birth of Jesus proves that God does not abandon us to the chaos; He enters into it. He becomes Emmanuel, God-with-us.
As we move from the purple of Advent to the gold of Christmas, let us pray for the courage of Joseph. Let us stop trying to control every outcome and instead trust in the God who can bring salvation out of a messy history. The challenges we face are real, but God’s design is greater, and His love will, inevitably, prevail.
Merry Christmas to you and your families and blessings of the season.