Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
The readings for this last week of Advent provide an interesting anomaly; while in previous weeks' readings it was usually the Gospel reading that didn't seem to fit the others, this week it is the Psalm that doesn't seem to have a thematic tie to the others.
Isaiah, Romans, and Matthew all have threads of calling. In Isaiah we receive the prophecy of the virgin bearing a son. (In the RSV it is "young woman." The NASB has it "virgin." Strong's lexicon has the word as 'almah which it says can be either. However there is a notation that indicates that "There is no instance where it can be proved that this word designates a young woman who is not a virgin.") This son is called before his birth to be called Immanuel and will choose good when he is old enough to do so. The Romans passage shows a geneology of calling, beginning with Christ, following to Paul, and continuing to "all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints." Finally, the Gospel reading shows us the event of Joseph being told by the angel that the baby Mary is carrying is both holy and called to save the world from sin. In each case, there is this idea that individuals are called to do something by God. Isaiah and Matthew show us individuals called before birth to some great work; Romans doesn't necessarily show pre-birth calling, but rather a calling now that something else has happened.
While it would be possible to read the Romans passage as a pre-birth calling, I think there is also a comfort in the idea that we can be called to something later in life. For the Romans, it would not have been possible to be called to be saints prior to Christ's work on Earth. So, once that work was done, then they could (and were) called. How many times in our lives to events occur that then facilitate a calling that wasn't there before? I've never really felt a specific calling to help those in Indonesia and India, but after the recent tsunami disaster, I have felt called to provide some kind of aid and to pray for those people.
The Psalm, however, is not about calling. But it does describe the one who shall ascend the holy hill and stand in the holy place.
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to
what is false, and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing
from the LORD, and vindication from the God of his salvation. Such is the
generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
While this doesn't present a calling, the description does seem to mesh with the description in Isaiah that the called one will "eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good." That is, he will choose right when he is of an age to do so.
The opening of the Psalm praises the overall power and authority of the Lord. He created all things. It is He who has the power and authority to call any He has created to do His will. So, while the other readings demonstrate the fact of being called, the Psalm shows us who does the calling.
