Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25 "Joseph"

 

It’s hard to be Joseph at Christmas time. I’ll bet you can tell me several Christmas carols highlighting Mary, but it’s hard to find, let alone remember, one with Joseph. A couple weeks ago we talked about the absence of John the Baptist figurines, Joseph gets depicted in more, but not all manger scenes. And when you read through the Biblical accounts of Jesus’ birth, Joseph doesn’t even get a speaking part. One minister tells the story of a phone call the afternoon before the annual Christmas pageant from a mother to say that her small son, who was to play the role of Joseph, had a cold and had gone to bed. The play director replied, “Well, it’s too late to get another Joseph, so we’ll just write him out of the script.” And they did - Joseph just disappeared, and not many (not enough!) watching that night actually realized Joseph was missing.

 

Maybe you know what it’s like to be Joseph—to feel left out of the action, or out of step with the “Christmas spirit,” as it’s often called. For some, the end of December brings painful memories of loved ones who have died, or hopes that never came to be. For others, the season comes with difficult relatives, overtired customers, and busy neighbors, all expecting us to be endlessly cheerful. Add to that the pressure to eat more than we should, spend more than we planned, and smile through it all—and it can be tempting to slip quietly into the shadows with Joseph.

 

Matthew’s account of the beginning of Jesus begins much quieter than Luke’s account we’ll read on Christmas Eve. Luke tells of grand events - empire censuses and angel choirs. In Matthew’s account we’ve got a fiancé and a dream, yet these are enough to mark the change in the course of history. Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together…

 

Mary and Joseph are engaged. In those days getting married didn’t happen in a day; it took a whole year or more.  Soon after puberty, a young woman’s family would arrange for her to be married. The intended couple exchanged promises but did not consummate their relationship for usually about a year while they continued to live with their parents. As a primarily economic and childrearing arrangement, during this time of preparation their families arranged the financial dowry, and they prepared to live together. But unlike today’s engagements, betrothal was binding; it was only able to be broken only by divorce or death.  

 

However, by sentence #2 of our reading today we discover all is not going smoothly. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant…  During a betrothal, pregnancy was unthinkable. It wasn’t time. It wasn’t done. It wasn’t right. And in a culture built on honor and reputation, not just marriage but business, family standing, and religious faithfulness were all at stake.

 

Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly.

 

Joseph has the legal and social  power to decide between three options:   

1. He can bring Mary before the town council and publicly get the word out that he’s not the father.  This option will safeguard the good name of himself and his family, but may subject Mary to possible punishment, even as severe as stoning.  

2. Joseph can choose to divorce her in private with two witnesses.  This won’t necessarily save his reputation, but it will give Mary some measure of protection from societal repercussions.

3. Thirdly, Joseph can accept this child and raise it as his own.

 

All three options hold troubling consequences for the young man who only days before dreamt peacefully of building a home, settling into business and raising children. Joseph has weighed the options and intends to proceed with a quiet, but none-the-less permanent, divorce.  

 

“But just when he had resolved to do this” or as some translations say… But while he thought about these things… It’s not quite settled yet - maybe nagging at the back of his mind. And he begins to dream.  

 

“an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. On this Matthew and Luke agree: the conception of the baby in Mary’s womb is miraculous.  Like her elders Sarah, Hannah and Elizabeth – all who bear children in their barrenness – young Mary conceives a child in a divinely extraordinary way.  

 

Will Willimon, long time professor and then chaplain at Duke University recounts that over the course of his career the questions students asked about such a miraculous claim changed from debating the science of a virgin birth, to a student who stated, “If I believe in a God who had a hand in creation, resurrects the body after death, and can bring reconciliation, forgiveness and peace where once only pain and terror reigned, in the whole scope of Christian belief, a virgin birth is not so hard to believe.  Besides,” they added, “who would want to believe in a God who isn’t even big enough to birth life?”

That may not answer every question, but perhaps something like that took root in Joseph’s heart. The angel’s words—“Do not be afraid”—find their way into his life. Joseph’s decision to stand by Mary would not have done much for his reputation in town.  Quite likely he lost some carpentry customers.  Maybe even his family reacted badly to the disgrace brought on their household.  It wasn’t easy, and in 2 weeks we’ll read of their lives being endangered for such a decision.  Yet Joseph heeds the angel message. Instead of turning away Mary, Joseph embraces her. In Mary’s time of upheaval, uncertainty, and stress, Joseph walks the way of love - the rugged commitment to be with and for someone unto Christlikeness.

This is the quiet, persistent message of Joseph’s story. It isn’t about spectacle or sentimentality, holiday cheer or even religious enthusiasm. It is about saying yes to God’s invitation to love. Even without a speaking part, Joseph’s faith shines through his actions. 

When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife 

Often our obedience to God, and our turn toward love, doesn’t come with warm fuzzies. Our faith shows up in our actions of love, even when they are difficult. Grace for family or friend whose choices puzzle us. Patience and persistence to set boundaries with someone intent on running roughshod over ourselves or others. And as the serenity prayer reminds us: to have the wisdom to know the difference. 

 

The messy, joyful, imperfect, holy call to love. A rugged commitment to be with and for someone toward Christlikeness. Joseph’s love enables both he and Mary to draw near to God and one another. 

 

The angel concludes the message to Joseph that Mary will bear a son, and [Joseph is] to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” The people of Jesus turn out to be not only Hebrews, fellow Israelites and Jews, but all peoples… well beyond the boundaries of ethnicity and clan and status, Jesus’ people turn out to be tax collectors, sinners, the lame, blind, imprisoned, oppressed, and the poor.  Jesus’ people are the criminal next to him on the cross and the enemies he commands us to love. Jesus’ people are you and I and all those who find themselves caught up in God’s story in the world where a little baby is destined to “save his people from their sins.”

 

For God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8

 

Joseph’s quiet love and obedience point toward the God who is coming and has come to us in Jesus the Messiah. Jesus will demonstrate the love and power of God, not in overwhelming displays of might, but in the birth of a son to a young couple, and on a cross on a hill, and in an empty tomb. 

As we stand again on the brink of Christmas, Joseph reminds us that faith is not always loud or celebrated. It does not always come with music or applause. Sometimes faith looks like getting up in the morning and doing what God has asked—quietly, faithfully, even at great personal cost. Joseph shows us that even when we feel unseen, out of step, or written out of the script, God is still at work. For we never lose sight of the good news that before Joseph ever said yes to God, God had already said yes to us—in Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us.

A God who has demonstrated his great love for us - a rugged commitment to be with and for us as we are transformed into Christlikeness. Emmanuel.  

May it be so in our lives and in our life together. Amen.