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Once again, the first reading is interesting.  The Prophet Isaiah has something to offer us on our faith journey, but like all Old Testament readings, this reading needs some explaining, some context. 

It’s a story about Ahaz, the king of Judah, and it take place about 730 years before the birth of Jesus.  Israel to the north and Judah to the south (where Ahaz is king) are sister countries.  Between these two countries is where you find God’s Chosen People, the Jews, living.  The archenemy to the Jews, at that time, were the Assyrians.  The northern kingdom of Israel, along with the kingdom of Aram, pressure King Ahaz in the south to join them in fighting the powerful Assyrians who are about to take over the whole region.  King Ahaz, in the southern kingdom of Judah, is told that if he doesn’t join Israel and Aram in fending off the Assyrians, then the Assyrians will take over his own country of Judah and the entire region. 

Ahaz does not like being told what he should do, even if what he should do is for his own benefit and the benefit of his country.  The four kings of Judah, who preceded Ahaz were good kings, because they regularly turned to the prophets and to God for guidance and wisdom.  Ahaz is nothing like the leaders who came before him; he is a tyrant.  He turned out to be a bad king replacing worship of the one, true God with pagan rituals, even rituals of human sacrifice. 

Even though he turned his back on God, the prophet Isaiah still encouraged Ahaz with these words, “Ahaz, ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol, (the land of the dead), or as high as heaven.”  In other words, “I know you have turned your back on God, but God has not turned his back on you.  So, Ahaz, ask God for the big stuff you need in your life right now, stuff as deep as Sheol and as high as heaven.  God is just dying for you to ask and will be more than glad to deliver it to you.”  Ahaz will not ask.

In the same vein as Ahaz, when we ask little or nothing of God, it is a real insult to God’s goodness, God’s bountifulness.  Don’t ask for little red wagons.  Ask for the big stuff you need in life and ask with confidence.  The problem with most of us is we ask little, we expect little, and consequently we get little. 

One of my favorite stories in the gospels is a story of a big ask.  It is the story of when Peter and the other disciples are caught out at sea in the middle of a vicious storm.  They are about to drown, and to make things worse, they see a ghost coming toward them and they cry out in fear.  It is not a ghost but the Lord Jesus who says, “Courage!  It’s me!  Do not be afraid!”  Peter knows something Ahaz didn’t know—that the Lord is in the game of big asks.  So, he says “If it’s you Lord, ask me to come to you across the water.”  Jesus says, “It is me, come!”  And Peter walks on the water. 

Ahaz, 700 years earlier will not ask a sign of the Lord.  As king, even though he’s about to be invaded, he will not ask the Lord for help, not even for a sign.  He will do it on his own, thank you very much.  After all he is king, and as king who needs God!  Peter, on the other hand, knows how to ask the Lord for the big stuff in life even if it means asking that the Lord beckon him to walk on water.  If Peter had little confidence in God’s ability to provide, he simply would have asked Jesus to toss him a life jacket.  God is not interested in offering us life jackets, nor little red wagons for that matter; that’s an insult to God’s generosity.  God is not happy until we ask to walk on water.  And then God delights in making it happen.  

Isaiah encouraged King Ahaz to ask for a sign.  If Ahaz would humble himself, suck up his pride, and simply ask God for a sign, God—without a moment’s hesitation—would give him a sign.  And this is the sign God would give, just for the asking: “a young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Emmanuel.” 

What kind of a sign is that?  It is a sign of closeness, of intimacy.  Ahaz, that’s the sign, trust in it.  God won’t abandon you, Ahaz, any more than a mother can abandon a child. And on top of that the child’s name is Emmanuel which means “God is with you.”  Ahaz has turned his back on God, but God still desires a relationship of closeness with Ahaz. Unfortunately, Ahaz will not ask for a sign because he secretly fears, that if he receives the sign from God, he will have to follow the sign and give up control. He will have to give control to God and do it God’s way.  He will have to admit his way is not working and leads only to a dead end. 

Ahaz reflects something very deep in human nature, which we may even discover in ourselves.  We’ve all had experience, for example, with a person who suffers from some kind of addiction or somebody who is really messed up and absolutely refuses to talk about it or to seek help, to see a doctor or a counsellor because they are afraid.  They just know if they take that kind of a step, they may have to change—and there’s a certain security in the control they think they have.  When we are in that kind of a state, we would rather leave well enough alone even though well-enough-alone leads to a dead end. 

Joseph, not King Ahaz, is our guide today.  He is open to a sign that God gives him in a dream.  He will trust, not in himself to figure things out; he will trust in God.  Joseph, like Ahaz 700 years earlier, felt he was in a bind.  But Joseph knew that God would be with him in his decision to do the right thing, to spare Mary public disgrace, to take Mary as his wife and to raise this child as his own. Before you drift off in sleep tonight, ask God to give you a sign, a dream.  Don’t ask for anything puny or meagre.  Ask for something big.  I guarantee you; you will get the sign of a mother and child.  It will be the sign of God’s closeness in your imperfect and messy life.

Fr. Phil Mulligan