Joseph – Wicomico Presbyterian Church

Sacred Knowing

Isaiah 7:10-16 Matthew1:18-25 I don’t think I have ever quoted rap lyrics before, but the words that I keep thinking of all week come from the Notorious B.I.G: If you don’t know, now you know. If you don’t know, now you know: that something, maybe something you never wanted to know, something you never even guessed at…something your imagination could not encompass…well, now you know. Now you know…and the question is, what are you going to do with it? Like King Ahaz, whom we meet in Isaiah. Ahaz is in a tight spot. Caught between two choices, neither of which feels good to him. Ahaz thinks he knows what is right. He knows the law, as he should. But he also knows he is afraid, like everyone else around him is. The Lord comes to Ahaz and asks him: wouldn’t you like to know what I know? But Ahaz doesn’t want […]

Dreamers

Genesis 37:1-38 When I ask people about their dreams, often they say, “I don’t have dreams, I just don’t dream.” Or, if they do have dreams, they don’t remember them. But, sometimes, if we continue talking they will remember a dream they had … then maybe another dream will come to mind. When it comes to dreaming, I think we all do it – it’s a matter of being mindful of our dreams. During the past six months, I have read, many people have been experiencing pandemic dreams. Some of them are pretty obvious – like dreams about being sick, or having a loved one sick with the virus, dreams about being unable to breath or desperately trying to find your lost face mask. But some are weird and funny dreams – like being wrapped up in toilet paper and being the envy of all who see you. Being surrounded […]

Appearances

Isaiah 7:10-16 ; Matthew 1:18-25 It is good that we have a Sunday in Advent devoted to remembering Joseph. Joseph, the man who is the father – yet is not the father – of Jesus; Joseph, who doesn’t even get a mention in two of the four gospels; Joseph – the man who raised the Son of God. How he must have struggled with emotion in those early days. When he learns that the young woman he has chosen for his wife is somehow pregnant. And he knows it wasn’t him. How he must have fought down all kinds of feelings while he struggled to determine how he would respond to this news. He knew, of course, that the law would support him if he chose to have her publicly exposed and condemned as an adulterous woman. Because even though they were not yet married, they were betrothed to one another, something that was as […]