Advent 4

Advent 4 QUIET, UNWAVERING OBEDIENCE 12/16&19/04

Joseph was the second person to receive the good news of the birth of Jesus. He was the second person, in this long line of countless people since, to have his life totally disrupted by the gift of the Savior. Joseph, an ordinary man, quietly, obediently, and courageously followed the commands of God and thereby pointed the way for folks like us. We are ordinary people, some of us quiet, quite ordinary people who are called by God to be disciples of Jesus. PLEASE PRAY WITH ME-----

Gracious God, who raised up in Israel a man named Joseph to be the guardian and care-giver of your blessed Son, and to be the husband of the blessed Mary, give us grace to imitate his righteousness, to courageously respond to your call upon our lives, to be obedient and faithful disciples in our own time and place, and to serve You daily in our lives. This we pray in the name of the Savior You sent us, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Turning to Matthew 1:18,(and I read from the Beck edition) Matthew begins his matter-of-fact treatment of the nativity with the statement: “This is how Jesus Christ was born.” Matthew writes a narrative of the birth of Jesus from the viewpoint of Joseph. Joseph demonstrates a quiet, unwavering obedience, doing what he is told by God’s heavenly messengers. Consider Mt. 1:24/as Joseph weds Mary, 2:14/Joseph takes his family to safety in Egypt, and 2:21/upon the death of King Herod, Joseph returns his family to Israel to make their home in Nazareth. Have you ever noticed that throughout all of Matthew’s Gospel, not a single word is heard from the lips of Joseph?! He handles the matter of Mary’s pregnancy in a discreet manner, but not a word from Joseph is recorded…just a quiet, unwavering obedience.

We know that Joseph is not the biological father of Jesus, but his primary role, as read in Mt 1:25 is the naming of Jesus…again, doing exactly as God told him. So simply stated, yet so tremendously significant, we read: “And he called Him Jesus,” translated “he will save his people.” Although Matthew clearly intends his account of the nativity to point to Jesus, I am fascinated by the role of quiet Joseph in the story…an ordinary, quiet compassionate carpenter caught up in the grand purposes of God. Though Joseph could not have humanly comprehended all that God intended to do through these events, Joseph simply did what he was told! And it was enough! When people, in faith and trust, do as God tells them, it is always enough!

Joseph is much older than Mary and his world is rocked as he learns his beloved Mary is with child. With unwavering righteousness, Joseph comes to the merciful conclusion to quietly (not publicly, as the law allowed) divorce Mary. Having arrived at this decision, Joseph settles down for a much needed night’s rest, only to be visited in a dream by no less than an angel of the Almighty! The angel affirms that Mary is with child, not Joseph’s child, and that he is to accept Mary’s child as his own, raise the child as his own, and name the boy Jesus. Even though Joseph is not the biological father of the child to be born, he must shoulder the demands of fatherhood. Joseph must support Mary in her awkward and socially-condemned condition and protect this child from the horrors of the ruthless King Herod.

I’ve heard Mary referred to as the “first disciple,” for she was the first to be reached by the angel and the first faithfully to say “yes” to Jesus. Joseph was, then, the second to get the news, the good news, the gospel, that God was moving to save the people through a child born to them, named Jesus. Joseph was the next to say “yes”…well, actually, typical of Joseph, he said nothing at all, remembering that in Matthew’s gospel, we hear Joseph say not a single word! Joseph, and a lesson we might all do well to consider, let his actions speak more loudly than words. It was clear to God, to Mary, and to all who knew this angel-visited couple, that Joseph trusted God and would offer a quiet, unwavering obedience.

Therefore, we remember Joseph this week immediately before Christmas. Most of us probably identify more with Joseph than with Mary, for most of us are ordinary, minding-our-own business, not so eloquent with words sort of people. Few among us could spontaneously break into the glorious “Magnificat” as did Mary upon the news she is pregnant with the Son of the Almighty God. So, even if you couldn’t burst into a hymn if you had to, if you will at least whisper “yes” to the Lord’s leading, then that makes you like Joseph! That makes you a disciple, somebody who is willing to follow the strange and unexpected movements of God in Jesus Christ wherever that takes you. A quiet, unwavering obedience is enough! Amen.