Over the past few weeks, we have been working our way through the
events that led to the birth of Jesus our Savior. On the first Sunday of
Advent, we focused on the Angel Gabriel’s visit to Zechariah to tell him that
Elizabeth was pregnant with the miracle baby who would become John the Baptist.
Last week, Gabriel returned to earth and visited Mary and announced to her that
she was pregnant with the Messiah. This morning, another angel visits the earth,
this time in a dream that was dreamed by Joseph, Mary’s betrothed. Hear about
his dream and his response as we read Matthew, Chapter one, verses 18 through
25:
Proclamation of the Scripture Matthew 1:18-25
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His
mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together,
she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did
not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her
quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from
the Holy Spirit.
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name
Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said
through the prophet:
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will
call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had
commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to
a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the People of
God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Prayer of Illumination
Pastor: Immanuel, as we wait for your return, help us see your glory and love through the reading and preaching of your Word. We pray in your name. Amen
What do Nancy
Regan, Jeff Bezos, Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, and Gerald Ford and Jesus have
in common? Power? Wealth? Influence?
Yes, and they are
all people who were adopted by their stepfathers.
Joseph went about
things a little differently than the other stepfathers mentioned. The betrothal
process was different in the 1st Century, in Israel, than what we
do. There was no arranging a surprise gathering of family and friends, kneeling
down on one knee, offering a diamond ring, and asking Mary to marry him.
Instead, Joseph and Mary grew up in a community where families lived alongside
of each other for centuries. They were possibly 2nd or 3rd
cousins. The fathers of the couple probably met and decided it would benefit
both families to formalize their connections by arranging a marriage of their
children. This would have been the
betrothal….Joseph may have had a say in the matter, but the parents and
grandparents and the Matriarch’s of each family had a bigger say.
In this time
period, the betrothal probably took place when Mary was so young that she was
before her child-bearing years. So, she would have stayed at home with her
parents until she was mature enough to get married. And, in the middle of that waiting period, probably
just before it would have been time for Mary to do the final wedding ritual and
join Joseph’s family household, Joseph found out Mary was pregnant. And, he
knew she was not pregnant with his child.
Joseph was an
up-right, stand-up, man. His plan was to divorce Mary quietly, so that she wasn’t
publically disgraced.
But, then he had a
dream….
During Joseph’s
dream, an angel visited him. Our first two angel appearances, to Zechariah and
Mary, were in-person. But, God chose to send Joseph a message in a dream. And,
in the dream, an angel appeared to Joseph and explained Mary was in disloyal to
him, and was not a fallen woman, but was pregnant with the child of God, the
Messiah. The angel told Joseph to name the baby Jesus, just like the angel had
told Zechariah to name Elizabeth’s baby John.
After the dream,
Joseph knew what he needed to do. He accepted the call of God. He welcomed Mary
into his home, completing the official steps of “marriage.” But, it says in the
scripture that Joseph waited to consummate the marriage until after she had
given birth to the baby. So, they were technically married, but not physically
married until after the marriage.
Joseph and Mary
were young people. They were given a tremendous responsibility. I suspect they had
no idea what they were accepting – how would a child of God act when he was a
baby? Would he come out knowing how to talk and dispensing advice to his
parents? We know strange things occurred after these angel annunciations…. it
sounds like the birth was pretty odd, with another round of angel visitors.
Then some wise men came and the family had to flee to Egypt. Trials occurred
again and again.
But, Joseph agreed to the challenge. He agreed
to accept the responsibly.
God knew what God
was doing….God knew Mary…God knew Joseph. God knew their hearts. God knew what
God was doing and knew that Joseph and Mary would be excellent parents.
Joseph could have
said “No-way.” He could have done what he planned on doing – dismiss Mary
quietly. Joseph could have gotten married to another person, been a normal
carpenter, had a normal life. Many people are uncomfortable with the idea of
step-children. They want to raise kids
who look like them, who act like them, who think like them. Joseph could have
walked away from all of these strange occurrences, these angelic visits, these
weird pregnancies, and said, “No thank you.” But, he didn’t. He did what God
asked him to do. He rose to the challenge of raising Jesus. He taught him his
trade of carpentry. He taught him to read the Torah. He taught him how to be a
good Jewish boy.
When we are young
people, teenagers, we often have a sense of “my life after this.” People plan
for their professions – they go to school, they learn a trade. They dream about
their weddings and marriages and lives with their own families. Sometimes, we
make timelines and spreadsheets and map out what we expect to happen.
Joseph probably had
a plan for his life that included what he expected to happen. But, when a major
curveball in life was thrown his way, he still hit it out of the field. He
accepted that his plans were different than God’s plans. And, Joseph showed us
that when God tells you a different plan, you can embrace it. You can embrace
God’s plan for your life and it will work out. Maybe not the way you thought it
would, but Joseph rose to the occasion. He raised Jesus. He took care of Mary.
He shepherd his little family through their trials, their journey to safety, their
exile as refugees, and their return to the Motherland. Joseph went with the
flow and accepted that ultimately, he wasn’t in-charge; God was in charge. And
Joseph trusted God and God’s plan.
Because of his resilience,
his steadfastness, his loyalty, and his trust in God, we are all blessed by the
sacrifices Joseph made. May we all strive to be like Joseph, to trust in God
and to live generously for the good of other people, including those we love.
Amen.
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