SCRIPTURE: Matthew 1:18-25
TEXT: 20b”…for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” THEME: Through the Angel’s visit, God expands Joseph’s understanding of his situation with Mary. INTRODUCTION There are two stories of the birth of Christ. One from the gospel of Luke and the other from the gospel of Matthew. We like to treat these like historical documents and assume one left out parts of the same story that the other included. So, we mash the two stories together into one story. These actually are two people who have heard the same story but are retelling it; one to their Ohana and the other to their haole friend. In order to make the most impact to their different audiences, they have left out certain details to focus on other points, to make their story more interesting to their audience. So, in Luke the angel speaks to Mary. That doesn’t happen in Matthew’s gospel, so the take that visit out of our heads as the angel comes to visit Joseph. SCRIPTURE In those days to be engaged is practically being married. In verse 19 Joseph is referred to as Mary’s husband. That is neither here nor there as the more important news is that Mary is pregnant and Joseph was not the father. So, Joseph, being the compassionate person that he was, bends the social religious rules of convention and decides to end his engagement to Mary quietly, so she can marry the father of her child, no harm no foul and they both can go on with their lives. It’s almost as if the angel of the Lord was waiting to see what Joseph would decide, and wasn’t going to show his wings, unless absolutely necessary. Having resolved to dismiss her quietly, the angel goes to work as Joseph sleeps. “Joseph, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, 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.” What a dream!? This is crazy, way beyond anything imaginable. What the heck is God doing and why me, why Mary????? Then the angel quotes scripture from the prophet Isaiah (7:14), “the virgin will conceive and bear a son and they shall name him Emmanuel”. Which means…… (audience participation)? God is with us. It’s not about him or Mary, it is about God and God doing something amazing for the people of God, and for all people. This is where we all make the mistake and wake up from our dreams too soon. If Joseph had stayed asleep for a little longer, he might have gotten more details about what was going to happen in the future and the kind of things Jesus would be doing. So, take the song Mary did you know? And put Joseph’s name in there. The other change is from deliver to adopt. “Joseph did you know your baby boy would one day walk on water…” When he awoke, he did as the angel said, took Mary as his wife. Sheltered her under his protection and provision. Respected her and what God was doing and when she had borne a son, he named him Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke, it is the women who names the babies. But in Matthew Joseph does it. Just as the angel said. Taking this baby, conceived by the Holy Spirit but giving to him his identity, his ancestral line, his protection, his provision, his inheritance, his trade, his family, his love and his devotion. For all intents and purposes, Jesus is Joseph’s son, and so Joseph takes him into his household, into his heart and gives him his name. APPLICATION Through the Angel’s visit, God expands Joseph’s understanding of what God is doing. How is God expanding our vision of the church? How is God showing us who can belong to our congregation? In what new ways can the people of God do different things from what they have always been doing? What are some of the rules of social religious decorum that need to bend for humanity’s sake? And if we are willing to bend them, what more will God help us to imagine that we never thought was possible? Marrying an unwed parent with a child that is not our own. Tithing a tenth of our income as an act of worship as a weekly offering to the church. Being forgiven by God for the things we have done just because God loves us. I was watching a ‘Santa Movie’ and Santa was saying how long his naughty list had gotten when it struck me, God doesn’t have a naughty list. Love forgives all of us. How about this? Being able to forgive someone who has hurt us, by not wanting to hurt them back. They still need to stay in jail. They still are a danger to society, but being able to give up our right to hurt them back as much as they have hurt us and by not wanting them to suffer in the same way we have suffered the hurt they have caused, is forgiveness that can heal our wounded soul. They still need to pay for the consequences of their action, that is justice. Forgiveness is way beyond what we think is possible because God loves us all. CONCLUSION In this season where we get ready for Christmas, be awake to the movement of God around us. I met this guy the other day and I asked him how he was doing. He told me not so good. But then we remembered how there had been desperate need and God met that need. Of how there was tremendous pain and God brought healing. In a time of grief God overcame that feeling of loss with comfort. At each time in the past God had met this person and brought them along. This faith history was a reminder that even now, as he waits, because things are not so good, God is with him and is helping, imagining more than what we thought was possible. Joseph’s decision to marry Mary changed his life forever as he participated in God’s unfolding story of love.
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