Isaiah 7:10–16 ESV

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.

Matthew 1:18–25 ESV

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Even More. . .

It probably comes as little surprise to you all that Advent is a big deal in our home. Tim and I both grew up in Presbyterian churches where Advent was celebrated every year. So now in our own home we have an Advent wreath. We take our time getting the Christmas decorations up. In fact, we just put our tree up last week and it still doesn’t have all the decorations on it. It’s part of the building anticipation of the season. Also, we’re just super busy.

And don’t get me wrong, it’s not because I don’t love Christmas. You can ask my husband. . . I LOVE Christmas. I love the corny music on the radio, I love the sparkly decorations, I love giving people presents. But there is just something so special about taking time to gear up for it. This season of waiting and preparing makes the moment when Christmas bursts forth into the night with candlelight services and “Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All” that much sweeter. 

This fourth and final Sunday of Advent, we are all chomping at the bit to get to the nativity: even Advent-loving me. We have been waiting for weeks. And with this morning’s passage from Matthew, we’re almost there, but not quite. This passage sort of flirts with telling us the nativity story, but it’s not quite there.

This passage talks about the virgin birth, but it’s not really about Mary or even Jesus’ birth. We still hold off on that for a few more days. Today we look at the human man who took in Jesus as his son. The man Jesus called “Daddy” when he was growing up. Today, we lit the candle of love. But Matthew tells us that love is hard and it's not always predictable. Especially the love God has for us.

This passage, one of the few that tell us much about Joseph’s character, is about Joseph’s response to God’s call. It’s also not just about how great Joseph is. As in most call stories, God calls on someone who doesn’t have it all figured out just yet. On all the Christmas cards, Joseph and Mary have giant, shiny halos of light around their heads, but they had to grow into those halos, just like the rest of us.

A little background on this passage is helpful to understand Joseph’s predicament and his response. According to the law set forth in , if a young, unmarried woman was found to have committed adultery, she was to be stoned to death. In fact, even if she resisted the encounter, she was to be stoned to death for not having screamed loud enough to be rescued from the perpetrator. 

Seems pretty harsh. I have a feeling most of us in the room have at some point in our lives know someone who unexpectedly became a parent as a teenager. It’s a story even older than the book of Deuteronomy. Thinking about that person perhaps puts into perspective the severity of what Deuteronomy says about Mary’s presumed situation.

By the time Joseph was planning to divorce Mary quietly, the penalties had been softened a bit from the time of Deuteronomy, but they were still harsh. If Mary were found to be pregnant while still betrothed to Joseph, the penalty was a public trial for adultery and possibly stoning. And for Joseph, the punishment would be serious shame.

Joseph was already, at least in part, responsible for Mary’s care. They weren’t actually married and living together yet, but a betrothal at that time was legally binding. The only way he could get out of it was by divorce. 

But Joseph was a good man. Rather than make a big fuss with a formal adultery trial, as was fully within his legal rights, he decided to be kind to Mary and divorce her quietly. This would save both of them a scandal, and it would possibly save Mary her life. At the least, it would save her a great deal of public shame. 

Joseph, her betrothed, but not yet her husband, still decided to show grace and kindness to Mary, who was probably a young teen at the time. He didn’t have to. In fact, nobody would have thought less of him if he’d let it go to trial. 

We have no way of knowing if he wanted to divorce her because he thought she’d been unfaithful or if he already knew about the Holy Spirit’s intervention and was just terrified of being married to someone who’d been used by God in such an incredible and sacred way. The scripture isn’t entirely clear on the order he found things out. Either way, Joseph decided not to make a stink of things and to let it go quietly. He chose the kind and quiet way of dealing with an uncomfortable situation.

After his decision to do the kind thing for Mary, the decent thing, the thing that was more gracious and loving than what the law or the culture of the time would tell him to do, Joseph was visited in a dream by an angel. 

One might expect that after the loving decision Joseph has made, that perhaps the angel is there to compliment Joseph on his great job. But instead, the angel says, “That’s gracious, Joseph, but not gracious enough. Don’t be afraid of this situation. Don’t worry about what people are going to think. This is God’s work. I’m gonna need you to go a step or two further than that.” 

Joseph is gracious. 

But God is even more gracious.

I don’t know about you, but I would probably have woken up and said, “yeah. . . thanks for the offer God, but. . . no.” It’s frustrating when you’re already going above and beyond by normal standards and God says to go higher and further. 

Joseph was already stretching the bounds of cultural norms and instead of saying, “I’m just doing what the law from Deuteronomy says” to get himself out of a really awkward situation, he follows God’s calling anyway. That’s where we learn what kind of person Joseph really is.

Joseph follows God’s call word for word, above and beyond doing the right - as in legally and morally acceptable - thing, or even doing the kind thing. He does God’s thing. This is too big not to take seriously. Especially knowing that that kindness he was already planning on affording Mary wasn’t far enough. Clearly he needed God’s intervention to truly do what he was called to. 

The angel says “do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife” so he takes Mary home as his wife. The angel says, “ give him the name Jesus” and he gives him the name Jesus. 

Because he listened to the call, Joseph became no longer just a good man, not just a kind man, but a man of God. He went from being an upright person to being God’s person.

Joseph could have just followed the law or he could have continued on his kind plan of not making a big deal of Mary’s situation. And that would have been fine. But if he had, he would be known quite differently in our history, if he were remembered at all. He would have been known as a kind, but slightly misdirected man rather than a man of God who took in God’s own son in confusing and weird circumstances. 

Joseph’s plans were quickly, and completely changed by God. His plans were fine. But God’s plans were bigger. 

Just because we’re doing what looks kind or gracious by the standards around us, doesn’t mean we’re off the hook for evaluating our actions through God’s eyes and with the vision of fulfilling God’s promises. Joseph’s plans were fine. They weren’t sinful. They were nice. And God changed those plans anyway.  

Just because we aren’t sinning doesn’t mean we are doing God’s work. Just doing what seems to be the kind thing to do is not necessarily God’s call for our life. We are called to even more than that. Like Joseph, we must start there, listen for God, and go a step further with our grace and participation God’s work. 

This might mean offering genuine friendship and kindness when simply being amicable is considered “good enough.” Sometimes, this might look like entering into a real conversation with someone in need who drives us crazy rather than politely avoiding them. It means don’t just listen to people who disagree with you, but actively seek out people who are different and listen deeply to their stories.  This might mean starting a new ministry at church when it already looks like you’re “doing enough” or like others aren’t doing “enough” or when you have no idea how God’s going tot provide the resources to pull it off.

Sometimes, God changes the path of our lives - individual or communal - suddenly and surprisingly. We might know a thing or two about that around here, am I right?

Sometimes, just when you think you’re exactly on the right path, God swoops down and says, “But there’s more!” and suddenly, everything looks different than it did five minutes ago. It’s not that you were on the wrong path, it’s just that there is a turn in the road that wasn’t visible until just now. 

That is frustrating and terrifying. And that’s the Christmas story. God coming down and shaking up our plans. The reason Jesus is called Emmanuel, especially this time of year, is because it means “God with us.” And the with is more than just with, it’s “among, part of, in the midst of.” God frustrates our plans, not as some sick joke, some cosmic way of messing with us for giggles, but because God’s presence, by its nature, shakes things up when it lands among us. That is what the incarnation - Jesus coming to earth as a human baby - does. 

We spend Advent singing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” and I don’t think we always realize how dangerous that request is. Joseph knew the prophecies from Isaiah. He was a good, Jewish boy waiting for the Messiah. And then the Messiah actually came. . . and whoa! It took an angel in a dream to get Joseph all the way on board. 

Sometimes, just when we think we have it figured out, God says, “But there’s more!” And God comes down and takes over and wild and wonderful things happen. Sometimes, you hear the word “incarnation” this time of year. That’s a fancy word for “becoming flesh”. It’s what Jesus did when he was born into human flesh. It’s what Joseph agreed to be a part of when he listened to that angel. It’s also, in a way, what happens when we allow ourselves to go along for the ride and be God’s hands and feet in the world today.

This year, we have prayed together for the futures of these congregations. And from those prayers and conversations, new things are brewing! There is a new momentum, a new energy rumbling around just below the surface ready to bust out at any moment. And when it does, it’s not going to look like the status quo. It’s not even going to look like the cool or kind things other congregations are doing. It’s going to be bigger and more gracious and completely different than anything we could imagine. As we enter 2020 together, let’s continue to pray and dream and create new things together. Let us embrace the crazy ride that happens when God breaks into our world - Emmanuel - God With Us - not just doing the right thing or the same thing or even just doing the kind thing. Let’s do the incarnational thing.