Sermon preached by Fr. Tom
at St. Thomas Episcopal – Plymouth
December 21, 2013
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25
“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be an acceptable offering in your sight, Oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer.”
Everyone’s favorite story of Jesus’ birth comes from the Gospel of Luke. In Luke’s version, the angel appears to Mary, telling her that she is to have a baby — a very special baby. In Luke’s version, Mary is the star of the show, but there are some other interesting characters too: “shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night,” and angels praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven.”
But the story that we read this morning comes from Matthew’s Gospel. In Matthew’s Gospel, Mary has only a supporting role and Joseph is the star. In Matthew, we are told about the angel coming to Joseph. Joseph and Mary were not yet married, and Joseph had learned that Mary was pregnant. He knew the baby was not his child, so he decided to divorce her quietly.
I said that they weren’t married, but that Joseph had decided to divorce Mary. From our way of thinking that doesn’t make sense, but from their way of thinking it made all the sense in the world. Joseph and Mary were betrothed. In that time and place, being betrothed was as binding as marriage. To call off the wedding wasn’t as simple as just letting your friends know that it was off. The couple either had to marry or divorce once they were betrothed. So Joseph decided to divorce Mary.
Matthew says that “Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose (Mary) to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.” Not every man who called himself righteous would do it that way. Some would have made a great show of Mary’s situation. I think some people who consider themselves righteous are way too happy to point out unrighteous behavior in others.
But Matthew tells us that Joseph, BECAUSE he was a righteous man, decided to dismiss Mary quietly. He wanted to leave her with as much dignity as possible. I see that as a true act of love. Joseph didn’t want to go through with the wedding, given that Mary was pregnant with another man’s baby, but he did not want to shame her unnecessarily. I see this as the difference in righteous and self-righteous. There is a big difference.
But the angel came to Joseph 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. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
When Joseph awakened, he did as the angel had told him. He married Mary. She bore a son, and Joseph named him Jesus, which meant “God is salvation.” Note that the angel called Joseph to do the naming. Mary’s role was to bear a son, and Joseph’s role was to name him. This is what they call in the theater “a supporting role.”
At the book group last Tuesday, someone asked exactly how Jesus was from the House of David. This is a great question, and Matthew traces the family tree of Joseph. Joseph is descended from David by way of Solomon. This is nice, but Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, and so how is Jesus descended from David?
I told you earlier that Matthew tells the story of the Nativity from Joseph’s point of view, and it is Joseph’s lineage we get in Matthew. Luke tells the story of the nativity from Mary’s point of view, and the family tree in Luke is Mary’s. David had a bunch of sons. Solomon and Absolom are two we remember, but another one is Nathan. Mary is descended from Nathan. This means that about 42 generations before Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph had a common ancestor – David. They are kin but not so close on the family tree.
You may remember that during the 2008 presidential election it was discovered that Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential hopeful Barrack Obama were 8th cousins. Joseph and Mary are not so closely related as those two.
I would like you to do like Matthew and look at the birth of Jesus from Joseph’s point of view. I am not sure about you, but I feel sorry for Joseph. Mary is pregnant with a baby that is not his. Despite this, Joseph did what the angel told him to do.
There is a recurring theme in Joseph’s life and that is doing what angels tell him to do. Today’s reading is the first of three times in the Bible that an angel appears in a dream to Joseph.
Today the angel tells Joseph to take Mary as his wife. Joseph doesn’t complain. He doesn’t try to bargain with God. He doesn’t worry about what his neighbors are going think. He just does what the angel tells him to do.
Later, an angel will tell Joseph to take Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath. Joseph does not complain. He doesn’t protest that he has finally built up a good carpentry business and can’t afford to leave it. He doesn’t tell the angel that he doesn’t like Egyptians. He just packs up his little family and leaves for Egypt.
Still later, an angel will tell Joseph that Herod has died and that Joseph should take his family back to Israel. Joseph doesn’t ask who is going to pay for the move. He doesn’t tell the angel that he can’t afford food and lodging for a long journey. He just packs up and they go.
This is a man who gets no speaking parts in the Bible. He may be the star of Matthew’s Gospel, but he never gets a line. In all of the Bible, Joseph never says a word.
We won’t hear much more about Joseph after he brings his family back to Israel. As far as Matthew is concerned, Joseph has done his job and is moved off-stage. After a brief mention when Jesus visits the Temple in Jerusalem as a child, Joseph just disappears. Scholars think that Joseph may have died while Jesus was growing up.
Here is one of those things I am really struck by as I think about today’s Gospel. Joseph played such a small part in many ways.
· Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father.
· The Bible does not record one word that Joseph spoke.
· Joseph did not seem to be rewarded in this life for his obedience.
Joseph may have played a small part, but it was an important one. I think that Joseph is heroic. Why was Joseph a hero? He did win a gold medal in the Olympics. He did not find the vaccine for polio. He was not the come-from-behind underdog to lead a political party to victory. He did not fight for human rights and inspire others to work for justice.
In some ways he may have rescued a damsel in distress. Mary, even though unmarried and pregnant, wasn’t really a damsel in distress. Joseph never did anything especially heroic or saintly that we know of EXCEPT that he did what God wanted him to do. He did not answer the call just once either. He went to Egypt when he was told to go there. He left Egypt when he was told to leave. Because of Joseph’s faithfulness and obedience, Jesus grew up in safety. Joseph cared for Mary when she was vulnerable and needed him. Joseph has to be a great unsung hero of the Bible. He is faithful and he is obedient.
Joseph was one of those strong silent types. He didn’t say much. Joseph was obedient to God’s call. He may have been a man of few words, but his obedience spoke powerfully about his faith.
You know people like that. They have never preached a sermon. They have never written a book. They never get their picture in the paper or deliver a state of the union address. They are faithful though. They are faithful to God and faithful to what they know to be right. We would love to have their strength. We would like our lives to speak as powerfully as their lives do. When God called, Joseph did what God called him to do. That was what made his life such a model for us.
You might say, “But God never called me to do anything,” but he has called you. You probably never had an angel visit you, but God calls to you in some shape or fashion every day.
Here are some of the things God calls us to.
· God calls all of us to honor our mothers and fathers.
· God calls some of us to marriage.
· God calls some of us to raise children in a faith-filled home.
· God calls all of us to live in peace and charity with our neighbors.
· God calls many of us to help those in need through work with the Non-Food Pantry or the Caring Committee.
These are only a few of the general ways that God is calling us. To hear the specific things God is calling us to do, we pray for guidance, and then wait in silence, and then the trust and obey. If we can do these things with Joseph as our model, we can become, like Joseph, a heroic witness to God’s grace and power.
My real takeaway this morning is in the words of the angel to Joseph. “Do not be afraid.”
I have said these words in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen