Have a Very Twisted Christmas

Isaiah 7:10-16 and Matthew 1:18-25

The Dream of Saint Joseph, Giovanni Battista Paggi 17th Century (PD)

This past week, our office staff had our Christmas get-together. 

We had all sorts of conversations and as usual, I had to make an off-color joke, 

To which someone responded, “Oh my, our associate pastor is just a little bit twisted, isn’t he?”

Now, I must say, both my joke and the comment that followed were lighthearted and most likely the joke was far more innocent than some of you are imagining. 

After all, Pastor Stephen and I are usually pretty good as long as you keep us separated at any type of social event. 

But I must admit, when I was described as “a little twisted”, I thought to myself, that is one of the finest compliments I could receive as an associate pastor. 

In fact, I would also describe myself as a little twisted, especially during Advent and as we get closer to Christmas. 

To be honest, my two favorite twisted sources of entertainment -once I get a chance to go home for Christmas- are as follows; 

The movie; “National Lampoons Christmas Vacation” and The Pogues Christmas ballad; “Fairytale of New York”. 

Funny thing is I don’t believe these two Christmas fav’s of mine will make it at St Michael this year.

National Lampoons Christmas vacation is probably not a movie we’ll watch here at St Michael, and I’m relatively doubtful that our music director is going to let me drop the Pogues' British Punk into our Christmas Eve service this year. 

But both our first lesson and our gospel are pretty twisted too, just like many of our own family Christmas gatherings that turn out a little bit twisted in the end. 

Just like our lives, that sometimes turn out to be a little different than we imagined, maybe even a little bit….twisted.

~

In our first lesson, things are certainly twisted for Ahaz. 

Ahaz came to the throne of Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, under duress. 

The King of the northern Kingdom, had formed a coalition, to force Ahaz to ally himself with his forces and confront the Assyrians.

The Assyrians had become the dominant power in the region and formed a seemingly invincible military force that was destroying anything in its path that didn’t submit to their bidding. 

As a king, Ahaz is unprepared for the crisis. 

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, in a less than ideal situation he became desperate. 

He had a vision for how things should be, how he wanted them to be. 

Desperate he violates the two most sacred offices that he holds, 

Not the office of King, but the office as God’s anointed leader. 

A relationship between, not a King and his subjects, but a role as God’s servant, the human vessel for God’s will and purpose in Israel. 

The second most sacred office he violates, is the office he holds as a father. 

Desperate because of these twisted events, frustrated because things have not occurred as he had envisioned them, Ahaz turns to pagan gods for help, offering his own son as a burnt sacrifice. 

Engraving of Ahaz sacrificing his son

So, God sends Isaiah in our first lesson, to counsel Ahaz. 

Perhaps to evoke courage or provide a more positive outlook?

But the conversation falls flat, because Ahaz refuses to voice his doubts over the twisted predicament he and Judah now face. 

“Ask for ANY sign, ANY question, confront God with your doubt, your anger, your unbelief” this is what God asks of Ahaz.

But instead of taking God’s invitation to name his twisted outlook out loud, Ahaz falls on his own false piety.

As if revealing his already obviously lacking confidence in God is a graver sin than turning to pagan gods and sacrificing his very own son?

In response, God exits the conversation and sends in the ax man; Isaiah. 

And Isaiah doesn’t candy coat anything, he exposes Ahaz’s cowardice as a far greater sin than just a lack of courage, he deems Ahaz as obsolete, 

Because Ahaz can no longer be the vessel for God’s will if Ahaz thinks God is helpless against this less than ideal situation. 

And so, Isaiah declares that God will work through another, and Ahaz is left to grovel before Assyrians. 

Eventually finding himself literally, licking the boots of the Assyrian King, humiliated and useless, to God as well as the people of Judah. 

All because it wasn’t happening according to his OWN plans or his OWN vision. 

~

A similar situation arises for Clark Griswold in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. 

Clark Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, finds himself attempting to host the perfect Christmas gathering in his own home. 

By the end of the movie, his entire extended family has come to his home to celebrate Christmas, which should be a joyous occasion.

Yet his Christmas tree is caught on fire, his family’s Christmas turkey is so overcooked to the point where it fizzles out like a balloon when they attempt to slice into it, and a police SWAT team nearly destroys his home when his backwards cousin Eddie kidnaps Clark’s boss for nearly sending Clark into financial ruin. 

All of the comical hijinks that surround the movie is really what makes it entertaining, because as I sit back watching Clark attempt to create the perfect Christmas experience, I see myself.

I think many of us do. 

Hoping to avoid the pitfalls and tense family conversations, complaints about cuisine, the gifts, the decorations, ….maybe the sermon?

But sometimes the harder we try, the more futile our efforts are, and the more we work at it the less faith we have in just why we celebrate the season in the first place. 

And so, we try to make it look more like the vision we have for Christmas, just like we try to perfect our own lives.

Striving for perfection in our marriages, our families, our work, our finances, yet never reaching our goal, and frustrated with just how twisted it has all become. 

~

Joseph’s situation is a bit different from Ahaz -or Clark Griswold for that matter- Joseph is also in a no win situation. 

He has committed to a legal and religious agreement to marry a young woman, who is discovered to be pregnant. 

Being a righteous man, it was Joseph’s DUTY to divorce Mary. 

St Joseph with the Infant Jesus,
Guido Reni 1620 (PD)

Not out of spite or anger -although he has that right too- 

but because the child, if male, is a prized heir of another. 

Joseph has a religious and legal responsibility to NOT take another’s child as his own. 

He has two choices. 

He can release Mary from her agreement, so that the true father can take the child as his own. 

Or he can reserve the right to disgrace her for violating their religious and legal agreement, which would carry a legal penalty that could cost her life. 

And even before Joseph dreams, we see his character because he is righteous AND YET unwilling to treat Mary with the cruelty any other “righteous man” would have legally subjected her to. 

Joseph proves himself a kind man, even without a sign from God. 

Yet, Joseph fades into the background and barely makes it past Epiphany in Bible studies and worship. 

Joseph would be lucky to win an Oscar for best supporting actor.

In spite of the fact that God’s sign invokes an obedience that defies Joseph’s plans for his own life, his own estate, his own religious convictions, his own rational thought, his own vision of how this life would all pan out. 

Joseph cannot possibly see this will, this plan, as advantageous for him. 

It is humiliating at best and upon receiving word in his dream that it would be a male child. 

He is committing to favoring this child over any other male heir he and Mary will ever conceive in the future. 

And for a lowly peasant carpenter, that is asking a lot. 

In Luke’s account, Luke focuses on Mary’s willing yet passive submission to God’s will but in Matthew’s account Matthew chooses instead to focus on Joseph’s active obedience and willing participation in God’s will. 

Perhaps, as we prepare for the coming of this Christmas season we should consider the importance of both of these traits, both of these stories. 

Especially when things become difficult. 

Because while so many of us present the facade of a joyous Christmas in our homes and in our lives,  many of us struggle with Christmas. 

When we see an empty seat at our family table perhaps, or as we avoid making eye contact with our own particular cousin Eddie at the table, or maybe we just want to skip Christmas altogether in hopes that we can start our twisted lives anew by flipping the calendar while crossing our fingers that 2017 will be better. 

~

My other secular Christmas favorite, the Pogues 1987 ballad; “Fairytale of New York” is anything but a fairytale. 

Much like Ahaz and Joseph, it is a twisted situation. 

The song is a call and response duet that tells the story of an Irish couple, aspiring to make it on Broadway. 

After having immigrated to New York city they find their lives falling apart, as well as their relationship. 

Recollecting their dreams of how they envisioned things would be in New York they sing; 

They’ve got cars big as bars

They’ve got rivers of gold

And later the couple acknowledges; 

You were handsome 

You were pretty

Queen of New York City

When the band finished playing

They howled out for more

But the song becomes dark, as they accuse one another of ruining their vision for their shared lives together. 

Accusing each other of ruining the other’s dreams through their own broken actions, substance abuse and even infidelity. 

It’s a dark, gritty, and yes, a very twisted ballad. 

But that is why one particular stanza moves me to tears, almost every time I hear it; 

I could have been someone

Well, so could anyone

You took my dreams from me

When I first found you

I kept with me

I put them with my own

Can’t make it out alone

I built my dreams around you

~

This is our final week of Advent. 

It is a time of preparation for a festive season, fraught with good food, music, family, friends, you name it. 

But it is also a time to believe that God is at work in all things, including our twisted failed dreams and lives. 

We can plan for perfection, we can visualize what our dream Christmas will look like, obsessing over our own preparation, causing anxiety, stress, and frustration when things don’t turn out the way we want. 

But even in the most twisted situations, God can create truly perfect dreams. 

After all, who’s twisted dream in life begins on the soiled floors where animals are kept and ends crucified on the cross?

Because when God dreams it, it becomes something more than just twisted, it becomes love incarnate. 

Amen

Adoration of the Shepherds, 
Gerard van Honthorst 1590-1656 (PD)






Sources

Hughes, John. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik. Burbank, California: Warner Brothers, 1989. DVD.

Pogues, The and Kirsty MacColl. “Fairytale of New York (feat. Kirsty MacColl).” on The Best Of The Pogues. 1991.