The School motto at my high school was
“Labor omnia
vincit”; work conquers all. The birth of
Jesus shows that Love conquers all.
Matthew’s gospel starts with the genealogy,
the long list of unusual sounding names, mainly men, but a few women are
mentioned. The men are a mixed bag, the women are all ‘outsiders’ in some way. While
the genealogy shows that Jesus, through Joseph, is a descendent of David; it
also shows gentiles and sinners are part of the family history of Jesus.
Before we get too far I want to tell
you a little about the marriage customs of the day. While many versions of the Bible
have that Mary and Joseph were engaged, this was more serious than engagement is
in our culture. Being ‘engaged’ was the legal or contractual part of the marriage
process. Then there was a wedding which was celebrating and feasting when the bride
and groom started living together. [i]
When Joseph found out Mary was pregnant,
they were legally married, but not yet living together. I wonder how Joseph
really felt. Matthew doesn’t give a lot away in this reading. The words of the Angel
are the only ones recorded by Matthew. You will remember from our Quiz [ii]
earlier that the angel appearing to Mary, and the journey to Bethlehem are in
Luke’s gospel, but not in Matthew’s gospel.
In Matthew, any words from Mary and Joseph
are not recorded. My hunch is that Joseph would have been angry, upset, humiliated
….
What is a good man to do?
There were rules for situations like
this.
“If a man is caught in town having sex
with an engaged woman who isn’t screaming for help, they both must be put to
death. The man is guilty of having sex with a married woman. And the woman is
guilty because she didn’t call for help, …” Deuteronomy 22:23-24 CEV
Joseph decides not to make a fuss and
ask for her stoning, he will call off the marriage quietly.
And just like his Old Testament
namesake, Joseph has a dream, a dream that changes history. A dream that showed
a different way.
Joseph and the Angle skit [Candles and
Conifers, pp 208-10]
Mary has the baby, Joseph accepts that
Jesus will be raised as his son, and all ends happily ever after. Well not
quite. But when Mary was in a very vulnerable situation; pregnant with a child
who is not her husband’s, she could easily have been stoned, or isolated or abandoned.
Joseph responds to the angel’s message,
and names the boy Jesus.
A few other comments about this
passage:
The Gospel of Matthew begins and ends with
Emmanuel, God is with us. We hear it in the story of the birth of Jesus, and
then in the final verses of the gospel. Matthew 28: 18-20 CEV
“Jesus came to them and said:
I have been given all authority in
heaven and on earth! Go to the people of all nations and make them my
disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with
you always, even until the end of the world.”
I wonder how do you feel about God
being with you always?
God isn’t always easy to be around.
Sometimes the words of God are not what we want to hear. Sometimes the words of God are challenging.
Sometimes the words of God are just plain hard.[iii]
God isn’t always easy to be around.
Sometimes the words of God are not what we want to hear. Sometimes the words of God are challenging.
Sometimes the words of God are just plain hard.[iii]
“God with us” is God’s very own sermon.
God tells the truth about God’s self -- I am here -- as an expression of love
and relationship. How that truth gets heard might change depending on where we
are, but its truth never changes because of who God is. [iv]
God tells the truth about God’s self
-- I am here -- as an expression of
love and relationship.
Here we are week four of Advent, the
day we think about Love.
During Advent we look forward to the
coming of Jesus, preparing to celebrate his birthday. But Advent is more than
that, we also look to the time when the kingdom will come in completeness, and
we think about how we can be part of that kingdom coming into being. Where can
we work with God, where are we guided by the Holy Spirit to be active with God
in bringing about a new kingdom. A kingdom based on hope, peace, joy and love.
Yet this Advent I am also aware of that
these words seem empty to many. Sometimes life seem to go from bad to worse. Some
people are grieving, some are ill and in pain, some are lonely. Looking at the
world this week, there has been a lot of coverage of the war in Syria, and particularly
the on-off ceasefire in Aleppo. How is God’s love and presence visible in a
place like that?
There are many complex issues in our lives
and the world. It can be easy to jump to simplistic answers, but the conflict
in many parts of the world are more complicated than our simple answers.
Are we willing to take a risk and
follow the guidance of the Spirit, even when that is different to what we have always
done?
Maybe, just like for Joseph, there is
a solution we haven’t thought of.
“Joseph's faithful response to the
angel seems like quite a leap-- instead of trusting the righteousness of
faithful tradition as they knew it then, he trusts a brand new, out-of-the blue
word from God.” [v]
Maybe Love will conquer all,
when we live as Advent people,
waiting and working with God for the coming kingdom,
where war, misery and hunger are a distant memory
and hope, peace, joy and love overflow.
when we live as Advent people,
waiting and working with God for the coming kingdom,
where war, misery and hunger are a distant memory
and hope, peace, joy and love overflow.
