Carmakers know that the driver’s most important view is what’s ahead.  They make sure drivers can see the road clearly - to the side, and even above and below so that the road in front, is most obviously seen.  While the view of what’s passed is important, the view of what’s ahead is the most significant.

On the Fourth Sunday of Advent we hear the story of Joseph as he gets the news that his fiancé, Mary, is pregnant – and not by him.  Joseph has a choice.  The Bible calls him a righteous man, one who knew the well-established laws and traditions of his faith and obeyed them.  So now Joseph can follow the rules he’s known all his life, dismissing or even exposing Mary, opening her up to severe punishment.  Or Joseph can obey an incredible vision that’s opening up right before him.

Should Joseph seek the security of the seasoned faith of his forebearers, which he can see clearly in his rearview mirror – or might Joseph trust what’s unfolding right in front of him – a dream - that God is doing something amazing and new?

Every day you and I meet people and run into situations that we want to quickly categorize and stereotype – we want to judge what’s in front of us through a lens that’s behind us.  We forget that every person, every encounter is new – and has never come across our path in the same way before.  When we look at new things through old lenses we rob them of their distinctions – and we block out what God is trying to say to us – and the world.

Trying to move forward by looking behind us has its obvious difficulties – which is why Advent calls us to lift up our heads – and look, in watchful expectation – to see anew at what’s unfolding before us.  And as tempted as we are to stereotype - and to think that this Christmas will be just like all others – it won’t be.  When we pay attention to every store clerk, slow driver, and unfavorite relative – with the expectation that God has put them in our lives for us to value, respect, and love – we can find gifts more precious than anything that fits under a tree.

So let’s move on toward Christmas with hope and expectation, valuing what’s behind us, but wholly embracing the magic, the mystery, and the wonder that’s before us.

Reading:

God is Not Great – Christopher Hitchens

Made in Detroit – Paul Clemens

Changing the Conversation – Anthony Robinson