My New Year’s Wish for Everyone….
On Sunday, we took a look at Joseph’s dreams in Matthew’s Gospel: a dream to hang in there with Mary and to name her baby “Jesus”; a dream to flee to Egypt when Herod’s anger and jealousy made it dangerous for Jesus to remain there; a dream that it was safe to return to Israel; and a final dream to NOT go home to Bethlehem where it was still not safe for Jesus, but rather to live in Nazareth where it was safe.
I shared with the congregation four key themes in the Gospel reading (Matthew, chapter 2) that develop throughout Matthew’s Gospel:
- Matthew wanted his readers to know that God wanted Jesus alive because there was a special mission for Jesus: then Matthew develops that mission in the rest of the Gospel, namely, to bring compassion, justice and inclusion to all people.
- Matthew wanted his readers to feel the tension between the Empire of Rome and all of the ways that it manifested itself (including King Herod and then his son Archelaus) on the one hand, and an alternative new realm that Jesus was to usher in on the other hand.
- Matthew wanted his readers to know that the way of Jesus is not always easy…or painless…or the most direct route from Point A to Point B.
- Finally, Matthew wanted his readers to know that they are never alone, just as Joseph was never alone, and just as Jesus was never alone.
These four themes actually point to God’s dream for the entire world: especially that compassion, justice and inclusion are for everyone…and that God never leaves us alone…none of us…ever!
MY NEW YEAR’S WISH FOR ALL: I hope you will be part of God’s dream for the world this year, and that you will share it with others all year long!
Aloha nui loa!
Kahu Alan Akana
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