What Is Righteousness Version 2

“What is Righteousness?”

Matthew 1:18-25

What is the first image that pops into your head when you hear the word “righteous?”

Do you think of some fire and brimstone preacher with a red face who points a finger at sinners and declares them guilty in the eyes of an angry god?

Or do you think of angels, harps and clouds?

Perhaps you think of righteous indignation—anger in the face of injustice.

***Put up on the Screen the Picture of the Church Lady***

Maybe the first image to pop into your head is someone who comes off as self-righteous—thinking they are better than others when it comes to morals and character—someone like “The Church Lady” from Saturday night live.

***Take down picture***

Or perhaps you think of a good and virtuous person—someone like Mother Teresa or Saint Francis.

We don’t tend to use the word “righteous” much these days.

At least, I don’t hear it in everyday conversations, do you?

In any event, Matthew describes Joseph as a “righteous man.”

What does Matthew mean by this?

By the time of Joseph the religious system was such that a righteous person was known for their uncompromising strict obedience to Torah, the Law of Moses as it was interpreted by the leading sect at that time—the Pharisees.

This put a heavy burden on people.

A burden with such weight that

people couldn’t stand up under it.

(pause)

When Mary found out she was pregnant she must have told Joseph that she had become pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

It doesn’t appear that Joseph believed her.

Would you?

Joseph thought Mary had been unfaithful to him, and of course this broke his heart…

…and since he was just a human being it must have also made him feel utterly betrayed, humiliated and angry.

He very easily, in his anger and in following the letter of the Law, could have had Mary put to death.

This would have saved his reputation.

But instead, Joseph, did not want Mary publicly disgraced nor killed.

So, he planned, instead, to end the marriage quietly.

And, in doing this, instead of making Mary look bad—Joseph is the one who was about to lose his good reputation.

At first, people would just think Mary and Joseph had a falling out.

But as soon as people started to notice that Mary was pregnant, they would come to believe that before their actual wedding ceremony Joseph and Mary had been intimate and then Joseph dumped her.

Joseph would take the blame.

He would look like the bad guy.

Mary’s dignity would be intact and no one would be put to death.

This tells us that the real meaning of righteousness in God’s eyes is to be merciful, forgiving, loving and willing to lose one’s life for the sake of another.

We have the capacity to be so cruel to one another, so unforgiving, so vicious, but that wasn’t Joseph.

And that isn’t Jesus either.

When the Pharisees criticized Jesus for making friends with and eating with tax collectors, prostitutes and “sinners”—which would have been anyone who broke one of the 613 Laws in the Old Testament Jesus explained Himself to them in this way: “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’”

When the Pharisees criticized Jesus for allowing His disciples to harvest grain on the Sabbath—breaking another Law—Jesus said the same thing.

God is often depicted as being a moral policeman who is out to get us, and Christianity has been used to judge, condemn and humiliate people and often still is.

Often times, people think God doesn’t love them or accept them if they mess up or sin.

This can lead to self-hatred and can even cause mental illness.

But aren’t human beings humiliated enough?

Don’t we already carry around heavy burdens of guilt and shame?

Jesus came into the world to free us from this guilt and shame.

***Please Put Matthew 11:28-30 on Screen (New NIV)***

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

This is the God I worship.

How about you?

God is not a judgmental and fair-weathered friend.

God is Someone we can trust.

I was once going through a difficult time where I was wrestling with guilt and self-hatred.

I thought that God couldn’t possibly love me because I knew I couldn’t measure up.

And then I came across this passage in Colossians 2:13

***Please Put the following on the Screen***

“When you were dead in your transgressions and sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ.