Give You a Sign

Introduction

I don’t know about you but it seems so strange this year to have a full week in between the 4th Sunday in Advent and Christmas. All of the rushing around thinking I am almost out of time, and now there is a week reprieve somehow. It is funny how life works that way. So much is just out of our control. In some places it is out of our control because we choose to not be in control of it and other parts of life are out of control because we can’t control it. Today’s passage in Matthew focuses on Joseph and life being out of his control.

Choices

As I was studying this passage, it was noted that Joseph is rarely in the spotlight in any stories found in scripture. Joseph is usually more of a sidebar note or just there in the story. Joseph does not actively participate in the stories. As the scholar noted, Joseph is for the most part in scripture just a bystander who is there but has little to do with the actual story. Yet this story is different. This story is an exception to what we normally find. Joseph in Matthew’s account is an active participant. He is given a choice to be part of Jesus’ story.

What choices did Joseph make? First off, he was engaged to Mary and then something happened. Mary was pregnant somehow and not by him. Life just happened to Joseph and a huge curve ball was thrown at him. He had not choice in this happened to him. Life does that a lot it seems to where we are faced with things happening to us that we had no choice in the matter. Joseph was now faced with having to deal with this. Joseph did not simply let things continue forward without taking part in his life or put another way, Joseph chose not to simply let his life blow every which way with the wind. Joseph was faced with life happening to him and he chose to do something about it.

Joseph had three options based on Jewish law. He could have had Mary stoned to death for adultery. He could have had Mary publicly shamed to bring his own honor back. Or he could quietly dismiss her. Each choice carried with it consequences. His choice was to uphold the law still yet spare Mary humility and shame. As the scripture notes, Joseph was a righteous person. This decision of his proves it out. Joseph chose the path that would end the marriage but spare Mary as much as possible while still upholding the law. Joseph chose to walk in the path of the righteous even though he would humiliated by this choice.

The new option given by God

Yet when Joseph had made up his mind to move forward, the Angel of the Lord presented him with a 4th choice. This 4th choice was not given to Joseph before because it was not an option before God told him about it. This was not how the law spoke on the manner. This was not an option Joseph knew was possible. This choice was unheard of because it was pretty radical for the situation.

When the angel spoke to Joseph about Mary being pregnant by the Holy Spirit in a dream, Joseph might have dismissed the dream as something bad he ate. Could you imagine explaining to you friends and family this dream and the reason why you are staying with your fiance? Could you imagine all the gossip and grumblings that would surround him?

Some scholars think there was no room in the inn because of this taboo. In the time of Jesus, inns often were not what we think of like hotels or motels. Often times this was family that had a couple of spare rooms for relatives to stay in. In other words, family did not approve of the choice Joseph made so they were shunned and made to stay in the barn.

Despite all this though, Joseph made a choice, he made a difficult choice and chose the path that God wanted yet it would make him a bystander in much of his life. He had no say or control over much they would face. Yet, Joseph chose not to let life happen to him, he chose to take an active role in it and be able to control what he could. He could have chosen any other option and he would have been within the law, yet he chose the new option God gave him. He could have ignored the dream, yet he chose to listen to the outrageous dream and follow what the angel told him. He made two choices in this passage: he stayed married to Mary, and he gave the name Jesus to this son. This was the new path with new choices God presented him and he chose this way.

New options given by God to us

While we love this story about Joseph, it is easy to think we would have done the same thing. What is so clear to us about this passage could not have been so clear for Joseph. What life is happening to us today?

Between politics and controversy, no day goes by without some challenge to our current life. People are faced with difficult choices where there are no good outcomes. How do we balance all the weight of the world on our shoulders? How do we keep facing the things that life throws at us that is out of our control? How do we recognize what is in our control and take part in those areas?

Being honest, today probably is not much easier than Joseph’s time. We are faced with things like choosing the lesser of two evils. We are faced with helping one person at the cost of harming another. We are faced with making decisions that will cause more problems rather than removing problems. I don’t know about you but it can be daunting. It is easier when all of life just keeps happening to us to simply become a bystander to our own lives. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and that nothing is in our control so we just go through the motions of life, blowing every which way the wind blows us.

Yet taking a step back, what is in our control? The words and actions we take are, despite it feeling hopeless. Joseph was faced with a hopeless situation, yet he decided on what he thought was the best option and made plans to proceed forward. God presented another option in that situation. I don’t know about you but I sure would like God to present another option for us today to deal with politics and controversies. Yet we learn from Joseph, we have the choice to either take part in life or simply float by as a bystander to our lives. When we make the choice, I believe God can make options known that were not known before.

Today I want to challenge you. Today I want you to step up and take part in life that is happening all around you. Look at all the options available and decide like Joseph, what is option available that causes the least amount of harm. In John Wesley’s rule of life, he says do all the good in all the ways you can. Equally important after that is to do no harm. Lastly, it is to attend to all the ordinances of God which simply means participate in the sacraments and holy life God grants us. We can weight our choices and options available against these simplified life rules. What choices do we have where we can do good? What choices or options are we facing where we can cause harm? Where are we setting ourselves apart for holy living? What choices or options bring us closer to that lifestyle?

My goal today is not to give the answers to all of our difficult choices we are facing today. I don’t know the answer to all of these questions nor do I know all the options available. Today I simply ask us to learn and take after Joseph and choose to live righteously in our decisions and words. Speak carefully and decide carefully based on the goal of doing all the good to all you can, doing no harm, and participating in a holy life made possible by God.