This Week’s Sermon

~ December 14, 2025 ~ (On Line Worship)

“The Greatest Gift Ever”

Isaiah 9:2-7, Matthew 1:18-25 December 14, 2025, The Third Sunday of Advent

Last week, the title of Kari’s sermon was, “The Worst Gift Ever.”  So this week I thought we should look at “The Greatest Gift Ever.”  Because I think we might all agree that God’s gift of his Son, Jesus – was the greatest gift ever!

Actually, I wasn’t sure where Kari was going to go with “the worst gift ever.”  But I think she led us beautifully to the greatest gift, didn’t she?  And in the course of her sermon, she painted for us a vivid picture of Mary, and what this whole “Nativity thing” was like for her.  And as she said, Mary was in a precarious position!  And she endured a lot of hardship, all because of those words she said to the angel when she was told about all this.  She said, “Let it be to me according to your word.”  Her willingness made for some difficult times!

That was the way Luke began his telling of the story of Jesus – the story of that greatest gift!  And today, we’re revisiting the way Matthew begins that story.  And of course, he begins by telling us about yet another angel visitation.  This time the angel came to Joseph.  And this time it was in a dream.  And this time we don’t know the angel’s name.  But my money’s on Gabriel.  He’s the one who was “making the rounds” in those days!  In fact, I’m thinking Gabriel was also the angel who made the announcement to the Shepherds that we’ll look at next week!

Well, Matthew begins by telling us again about Mary’s predicament.  And this is another place where the Bible describes, in a “Biblical way,” what could be seen as a delicate subject!  He says, “His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, and before they had come together, Mary was found to be with child.”  Don’t you love that?  It’s said very nicely!  But as Kari said, in those days, even that carefully worded statement would have been scandalous!  It meant that Mary’s very life was in danger!  And we can only imagine all of the social implications that went along with it!

Matthew then goes on to say that “Joseph, being a ‘just man,’ and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.”  I never really understood that verse very well.  It’s always seemed to me that it was Joseph who didn’t want to be “put to shame” here!

Well, I did a little research.  And it makes more sense to me now!  The easiest way to understand it, is that it was indeed quite scandalous, and other than claiming the baby as his own, which Joseph wasn’t ready to do, he had two options.  One, was a full on “public divorce,” with public accusations, and a trial, and probably severe punishment.  But Joseph didn’t go that way.  Instead, Joseph chose mercy.  He went with the second option, which was a “quiet divorce.”  That meant no public accusation, no spectacle, no shaming or retaliation.  And it meant minimum “damage” to Mary’s life.  So, Joseph was a “just man” in that way.  Or a “righteous man,” as some translations say it.

But it didn’t matter!  Before any of that happened, Joseph met this angel in a dream.  And of course we know this story.  The angel tells Joseph that Mary’s child was miraculously conceived – by the Holy Spirit.  He was going to be this special gift – this “greatest gift ever” – to the world.  And his name would be Jesus, a name which means “God Saves.”  And the name “Jesus” is the New Testament equivalent of the name “Joshua.”

And once again, we can’t begin to imagine what Joseph thought about all this.  We know the story.  He was a peasant man, betrothed to a young woman, who was now found to be “with child.”  And maybe we can step away for a moment from what we know, and try to imagine Joseph’s confusion, his feelings of betrayal, and his worries about the future.

Well, the angel goes on to confirm all of this by quoting Isaiah.  And if you remember, this was Kari’s Old Testament scripture from last week.  So I didn’t have us read it again today.  But let me remind you of the key verse.  Isaiah said, “I will give you a sign.  A virgin will conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name ‘Immanuel.’”  And then, as part of the narrative, Matthew adds that “Immanuel” means “God with us.”  (Which was a good thing – if we didn’t know Hebrew!)  And it’s that idea – “God with us” – that is the greatest gift ever!

That quote from Isaiah comes from a time 700 years earlier.  At the time, the kingdom of Judah was under attack.  Judah was the southern kingdom of Israel, which had split after the death of Solomon.  And Ahaz, the king of Judah, wasn’t sure what to do.  He was thinking of asking the Assyrians for help.  But Isaiah didn’t like that idea.  So gave him a “sign.”  And the sign he gave pointed beyond Ahaz’s lifetime to something God would ultimately accomplish centuries later.  A child would be born, and he would be called “Immanuel” – “God with us.”

That’s what king Ahaz needed to hear.  And so do we sometimes!  Isaiah was telling Ahaz that God is with us.  And he was not to rely on earthly alliances.  God would preserve Judah!  And the “sign” he gave was a far-reaching sign that pointed to the grand scale of things, not just to the current conflict.  It was a sign that spoke even of the coming of the Messiah.  And that gave Ahaz hope.  But it was also a sign that Matthew saw as being fulfilled in the coming of Jesus.  It would give hope to people of all times!  And that means us, too! 

That’s the passage the angel quoted Joseph in this dream.  We can’t forget that!  We can’t forget that, in the midst of all our Christmas preparations.  We can’t forget that in all our gift giving.  And it’s too easy to do that, isn’t it.  It’s too easy to get caught up in all the swirl of this season, and then get to Christmas Eve and think, “Oh yeah, Jesus was born!”  “Immanuel.”  “God with us.”  “That’s what this is all about!

I invite you to keep that “greatest gift” in mind before Christmas Eve.  God has sent his son.  And as the angel said. “He will save us from our sins.”  “And he will be ‘Immanuel’ – God with us!”  I invite you to think of that every day this Advent season.  As the anticipation grows, as we move closer to Christmas, think of the anticipation the world felt in those days.   In the season of gift giving, think of God’s “greatest gift” with every gift you buy, and with every gift you wrap and give, and with every gift you watch your loved ones open.  With each one, I invite you to think, “We give gifts because of the greatest Gift Ever!”

In Jesus, God gave us this precious gift of his Presence, his mercy, and his salvation.  If we’re worried or anxious, or we feel like we’re all alone – like Ahaz, with enemies on his doorstep – we can remember the sign which pointed to this Gift.  God will preserve us, just as he preserved Judah.

And so now, we look to this sacrament.  And if we’re not sure about that salvation part, this is it!  These elements represent for us the rest of the story.  And I’m sure the sacrifice represented here was not what anybody had in mind at the beginning of the Advent Story – or for previous 700 years, for that matter!  Think about all those years the people longed for a Messiah.  Had it been written in those days, they would have sung the hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear.”  What a beautiful hymn!

And now it happened!  The Son of God has appeared.  And he was and is “The Greatest Gift Ever.”  And then, this – this sacrament – this is the gift no one expected!

Prayer

Eternal God, we thank you today and always, that you are with us.  We thank you for the greatest gift ever, the gift represented in the symbols of this season, and the gift represented in the symbols of this sacrament.  Help us to know that.  Help us to keep that in mind as we celebrate once again this most important time of the year.  For we pray in the name of Jesus, “Immanuel,” “God with us,” Amen.