4th Sunday in Advent
Matthew 1:18-25
"A Man of Faithfulness"
A father was telling his small son the story about the lost sheep who left the other 99. He explained, how the little sheep crawled through the hold in the fence -- running and skipping and playing in the sunshine. Out of the woods came a wolf, that was about to attack the-lamb. But in the nick of time, the shepherd, who had been searching for the lost sheep, appeared. He grabbed the lamb, placed it on his shoulders, and took it back to the fold.
The father was surprised when his son climbed up on his knee, clasped his hand and asked, "Daddy’ did they fix the hole in the fence?""
The good news of the birth of Christ is that the hole in the fence has been fixed--the great sign of a loving God has come to us. "It is the fixing of the fence", this love of God for us that we celebrate during this season of advent and Christmas. As you know our theme throughout this season of Advent has been to answer the question of our hymn of the day, "What Child is This" We saw in the first Sunday of Advent, this child is a child who will judge us, second, we saw that he gives us the power of repentance. He makes it possible for us to change, to turn away from our sins. In the third Sunday, we saw that not only did he come for judgment, but he also came as redeemer. He brings hope for a better life because he is God’s hand in the world.
And today, the 4th Sunday of Advent, we see this child as a human child, born to human parents, in a most humble, of dwellings assuring us that indeed our God put skin on. To get a handle on what it means that our God put skin on, that this child was indeed human, I would like to look at the birth story of Jesus through the eyes and feelings of Joseph.
Of all the characters in the Christmas Story, I can relate to Joseph the best. Who ever gives him any credit? From the biblical record he is the most nondescript person you will ever find. Why, even his identity with his son is lost. Most Jewish boys were called son of Joseph, as in Matthew’s gospel when Jesus was referring to Peter at the time of Peter’s great confession of faith, he said, "Peter bar Jonah," Or Peter son of Jonah, but what about Jesus himself, in our hymn of the day; the last line of the 1st verse says "Haste, haste to bring him laud, the babe, the Son of Mary." Son of Mary, not son of Joseph. He might not of bore him, but he helped raise him, he was a son in the sense that Joseph trained him in the skills of a carpenter. But beyond this, Joseph had a problem with his betrothed. We need to take a moment to understand the Jewish marriage system for all of this to make sense.
A man and woman were engaged when they were small children and this was announced by their parents. The next stage was the betrothal. This was the one-year-period during which the couple ratified the previous engagement during which they were known as husband and-wife, lived together, but did not have the rights of husband and wife. Then the finally stage of marriage was when the couple were granted all the rights of a husband and wife.
Our text originates in the betrothal stage, so it is understandable why Joseph is devastated by the pregnancy of Mary. Joseph is a just man, a righteous man, a man of principles. No wonder he was humiliated!! The woman he loved was pregnant, and she cannot explain to him exactly how.
This righteous man knew his options. He could expose Mary by bringing her before the court, or he could privately hand her a bill of divorcement in the presence of 2 witnesses. But his righteousness was clothed in compassion. There were rules covering his situation, but the love of Joseph was more than legalistic. His sense of what was right was also tempered by compassion and forgiveness. Even though he was deeply hurt, he was not vengeful, he could forgive Mary.
Joseph was faithful to Mary. Joseph thought of Mary. Not himself, not of what others might think. He thought of Mary. Even though he didn’t understand all about her condition, he was not willing to put her to shame. Don’t call him weak. He was strong in a compassionate, caring kind of way.
Not only was Joseph compassionate, caring, as he related to Mary, but Joseph also learned to listen to God’s voice in his life. God came to Joseph in a vision and told him he had a special plan for him. God wanted Joseph to stay with Mary, and name this baby Jesus. God came to Joseph and asked him to break with tradition. To do something out of the ordinary. God said to Joseph, stay with his wife who was pregnant even though you aren’t - even in the marriage stage of your relationship, stay with her, support her, and then raise this son as if it were your own. And beside all of this, God says, "and you don’t have to worry about a name for your son I have taken care of that already too, his name will be Jesus."
Can you imagine anyone listening to this kind of story from God? But Joseph did. He was determined to obey even when he did not understand. He embraced meaning as he was willing to participate in the mystery. Joseph did not plan the Christmas story. There was no way he could have predicted it. But after much wrestling, he opened himself to it and allowed himself to participate it.
I wonder how many of us would had heeded the words of God, and acted as Joseph did?? How many of us would have be willing to break with tradition, with the way things are, with they way things always have been, to let God’s creative hand move into our lives? How many of us would have been willing to participate in a mystery of God that we didn’t understand? How many of us would have surrendered to God in the way Joseph did?? I wonder.
In John Steinbeck’s novel, "East of Eden", there is a speech by Lee the cook which speaks about God’s creative hand still reaching into our world, reaching into our lives. Listen to these powerful words; "Does a craftsman even in his old age, lose his hunger to make a perfect cup,thin, strong, translucent?" He held his cup to the light. "All the impurities burned out and ready for a glorious flux, and that--more fire. And then either the slug heap or perhaps what no one in the world ever quite gives up, perfection.’’ Lee drained his cup and said loudly, " Cal, listen to me. Can you think that whatever made us ----- would stop trying ?"
God is still creating in his world through us. As he did with Joseph, he does with us. Are we willing to be the "Joseph" in this day and age?
I think every generation should have their Joseph’s. People who are willing to wrestle with their God as he calls them to new directions and detours by his Holy Spirit. God needs people of wonder and imagination who can envision new means of mission and ministry that may well be different from what they have ever tried.
Every generation needs a Joseph who is willing to be compassionate, forgiving and living beyond the legalism of the law. Looking beyond what is prescribed, to what needs to be done in the name of love and grace. " An artist moved to a new country and was called by the king to come and paint a picture. Everyone watched breathlessly, as he set up his equipment and with a flourish of hand moments, the artist drew a perfect circle and put his crayons away. He said, "Many artist can paint the colors of nature, or the face of a person, but only a genius can draw a perfect circle."
God wants us to be that kind of genius in this world. People who can draw circles of love.
"George Washington Carver was a kind of Joseph, a man who let Christ draw his perfect circle of love. Carver loved flowers . He loved flower seeds. To Carver, a tiny flower seed and a tiny baby had a lot in common. They would both one day blossom and release all the potential that was created in them. So, when white people were jealous of Carver or showed him how racially prejudice they could be, he send them a package of flower seeds. The late Henry Food said this about his friend Carver, "This simple thing, sending out flower seeds, helped to create a good feeling between white and black people. He sent out seeds; and they were not only the actual seeds of flowers; they were the seeds of tolerance, beauty, affection, kindness, love tend faith, and they are still growing all over the Southland."
Is there anyone in your life, who should get a package of seeds?
Are you Joseph in this day and age, I hope so.
We close with a legend of the fourth wise man, Artaban, a kind of Joseph in his world.
"The Other Wise Man " by Henry Van Dyke,
There was a fourth wise man named Artaban. He traveled to join the other three so they might together bring their gifts to the Babe. But he never reached the appointed place, because he came upon a man half-dead by the roadside. Being knowledgeable in medicine, he was able to save the man’s life. But he missed the others and now he had no way across the dessert to where the Baby lay. So, he looked at the gifts he would bring the child, a brilliant sapphire, a deep-red ruby and a pearl. With a heavy heart he found a buyer for the sapphire and bought his own supplies to cross the desert.
He arrived in Bethlehem only to to find that the Babe and his parents had fled to Egypt. All around him, parents were grieving as the soldiers came and killed their first born child. Artaban had a chance to bribe a solider who was about to kill a young child. He parted with his ruby, but he would always remember the sweet face of the infant he had snatched from Herod’s wrath.
Thirty-three years later, he heard the news that the little Prince, the Christ child, would be sentenced to death on a cross. He hurried with his pearl to ransom the Prince of Peace. But even this last gesture of love for this Christ child was denied him; for he came across a little girl who was being sold into slavery. He exchanged his pearl for the life and freedom of the little girl.
Then a great earthquake came to where he was standing. Artaban was knocked to the ground. A soft voice came to him telling him that when he gave his jewels for his fellow man he gave them in reality to Christ. When he sold his sapphire, because he helped the beaten man, he sold it for Christ, when he used his ruby to bribe a guard to save a life, he used it for Christ, when he exchanged his pearl for a girl’s freedom, he used it for Christ.
Artaban died, but he had brought his gifts to the king.
Amen
Written by Rev Tim Zingale, December 17, 2001
