Sunday before Nativity 2014 - Fr. Michael Margitich

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy

Spirit. Amen. On one occasion, a man went to

his doctor and asked, Doctor, can you help me

with my problem of snoring? And the man said,

as soon as I fall asleep, Immediately I begin

to snore. You know, it happens all the time.

Can you help me with this situation? The doctor

asked, does this bother your wife? The man answered,

it not only bothers my wife. it disturbs the

whole congregation when I'm at service. And I

mention this for a reason because on this Sunday

immediately prior to the celebration of this

great festival of the Nativity of our Lord the

church designates the entire first chapter of

St. Matthew to be read. Now, out of the 25 verses,

the first 17, as you heard, contain these long

names. And I wouldn't be surprised that during

the Deacons, reading, some of you might have

sung it out. I recall one of our beloved parishioners

who is now with the Lord said, Father, I don't

mean to be disrespectful or irreverent, but reading

the Old Testament names is the least interesting

to me. And it doesn't matter what language you

use. I consider it one of the least spiritually

up, the least uplifting and uninspiring passages

of the New Testament. And then he went on to

say, this is probably one of the reasons I don't

give my full attention to the reading at least

of those verses, 17 verses. Now it's true that

this reading of some unpronounceable names and

the law of the beginning seemingly seems to be

uninteresting. Yet the church continues to read

this passage year after year. And I'm glad you

asked why. Because the people that are mentioned

in this passage have historical and spiritual

impact and significance. The first reason is

like all people, the Lord had ancestry. He had

a family tree. But what is surprising, and perhaps

even disturbing, if you know your Old Testament

history, about these people, you will find that

some of them are morally and ethically have a

checkered history. Now without going into detail,

there were a few righteous, but many were unrighteous.

Some were good, And some were evil. Most of them,

unfortunately, reflect the darkest picture of

distorted human relationships. And this is one

of the reasons, incidentally, why our church

put out that reading list for the entire year.

Because you would get some sense of understanding

of history, why these names were included. Of

the 14 kings mentioned from the time of David

to the deportation of the Jews to Babylon, 14

of these kings, really men of questionable character.

Only two, Hezekiah and Josiah, could be considered

as righteous people. So the second reason then

for reading illustrates, and this is important,

to what degree our Lord identified with humanity.

Even St. John Chrysostom in one of his sermons

said Christ was not embarrassed by the skeletons

in his ancestry. And another reason is given

by St. Matthew in today's Gospel, the 26th verse

tells us that he writes all of this that took

place in order to fulfill that which was spoken

by the prophets. Jesus fulfilled all the prophetical

remarks made by the prophets regarding his birth,

his death, And his resurrection. And in that

verse. Today we have. A very conclusive remark.

Behold. A virgin. Shall be with a child. And

bear a son. And he shall call his name. Emmanuel.

Which means what? God is with us. God is with

us. Now this list, as I said, appears to be irrelevant

and almost not appropriate for the occasion.

But for this list, God tells us that He is the

God of history. So when we hear the passing of

generations, these are not haphazard events or

arrangements that have occurred in these personalities.

And through them, God was reaching out to sinners,

and I want to emphasize this, and through sinners.

He was reaching out to sinners and through sinners

because of his love for mankind. So our Christian

faith is not a discovery by man. Certainly it's

not a philosophy conjured up by some overstimulated

imagination. Our faith Is based on divine revelation.

Meaning. That the word of God. Became flesh.

In the person of Jesus. And lived among us. God's

revelation. Is expressed. Through. Jesus. And

in the words of St. Paul. When the fullness of

time came. God sent for his son. So there is

a basic reason for the reading of this passage.

In Jesus we see what God is like with the coming

of the birth of the Messiah, the time of guessing

about God is over. And the time of absolute certainty

is come. Jesus said, he that has seen me has

seen the Father. He that hath seen me hath seen

the Father. And St. Paul said that Christ is

the inexpressible gift. And so as we grow closer

to the feast of the birth of our Lord, let us

recall once more What the shepherds heard from

the angel. And this will give us the reason why

we should be here on the day we celebrate that

glorious feast. Behold, I bring you glad tidings

of great hope, which shall be to all people.

And in Luke, second chapter, the angel said to

Joseph, Mary, your wife will bring forth a son,

and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will

save his people from their sins. God has delivered

us from the dominion of darkness and transported

us to the kingdom of God, said St. Paul in his

first chapter to Colossians. This is why, my

dear people, that this season is filled with

special liturgical services, hymns, sacred celebrations,

festive lights, praise and hymns. Because as

God's people, we know and we experience at the

deepest level that long lay the world in sin

and error primed until He appeared and the soul

felt its worth. Now let us look toward the future.

Let us look with anticipation and a sense of

joy and thanksgiving and worship, leaving open

the possibility And the opportunity for the God

of wonder. To use this present time. Your time

and my time. To bring about his kingdom. For

God is with us. In the name of the Father, the

Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thank you.