THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOSEPH

Opening thought: "When you see a Nativity scene, what do you look for? Is there a certain individual you are drawn to? Do you want to see how the wise men, shepherds, or angels are portrayed?

The scene at the Nativity - (a pastiche of the many events, a homogenization of the various perspectives - and these days anyone can be a part of the Nativity! Santa, Frosty, Rudolph - even Looney Tunes!)

• Joseph - He is sort of the forgotten presence. What is he doing there? Where is he to be posed? Beside Mary, greeting the wise men, sorting out the gifts, tending to the sheep. What useful thing is he supposed to be doing?

• I think there is a tendency to ignore Joseph because his perspective on the birth of Christ reminds us of the shadowy side of the birth of the Savior. When Luke writes his gospel it seems sure that he told the story of Christ's birth from Mary, and she kept many of these memories in her heart. Luke's account of the birth of Christ is by far the most popular and most well known (with the exception of the Star which we get from Matthew).

• For Joseph, Mary's betrothed husband, the story of the birth is not about things he kept in his heart, but of things he struggled with in his soul. For Joseph, the focus is not on gifts and visits. It is on the trial of it all - on what appeared to be infidelity and his thoughts of a quiet divorce, the weight of the law, the shame of sin and a fear for his family. And though it is a much rougher, shadowy account of things, it is still very much a story of good news - perhaps one very appropriate for us because it is a testimony of the gospel light breaking into the darkness. And with the help of Matthew, I want us to give attention to the gospel according to Joseph.

The Feeling of Shame and Scandal
Joseph and Mary were engaged to be married. It is supposed to be a blessed time as the two prepare for life together. There is already a sacred covenant between them and before the community they have promised themselves only to one another. They are not yet married and the rules about their interaction are guided by the community. Joseph is soon to begin his career with his father's approval and begin a family with his wife. Joseph and Mary are bound to one another, but Joseph will not take her home to live with him until after the wedding.

However, this time of ordinary happiness is spoiled by scandal. Mary is pregnant. It would be bad enough if Joseph were the father and they had shamed the expectations of marriage, but all Joseph knows at this point is that he is not the father. He is in turmoil. If he ignores what has happened, he will be ignoring God's law, and the law is very clear -
If there is a young woman, a virgin already engaged to be married, and a man meets her in the town and lies with her, you shall bring both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry for help in the town and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 22:23-24)

Joseph is a righteous man, but he is also a compassionate man. He loves God and God's law, but he also loves Mary. He does not want to humiliate and expose her as a sinful woman, she would be rejected by the village and it would shame her and her father and she is so young. But worst of all it could lead to the death penalty. If the people were outraged, they could be brutal.

But he cannot marry her either. Joseph cannot simply forgive her and marry her anyway - that's very storybook and soap opera romantic, but it is not reality in first-century Palestine - certainly not for Joseph. The law demands that he annul the marriage. This is how he shows his love of God and the people of Israel.

Joseph is seeking a way through his dilemma. Since he learned of the pregnancy he has been trying to figure a way out. He is righteous, but he is merciful. His best option - to fulfill his obligations to God and to Mary - is to give her a "quiet divorce." He can send her away to her relatives down in the hill country of Judea. She can go down there until the child is born and Joseph will prepare the divorce with a few trusted officials. It's not a perfect solution, but it is the best that he can do - nothing else is possible.

The Dream of a New Possibility
While Joseph is trying to figure it all out, he has a dream. This dream is gospel - that is, good news.

• Don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife - the child is born of the Holy Spirit
• Name him Jesus - for he will save his people from their sins

Now Joseph has a possibility that wasn't there when he was trying to figure it out on his own. Matthew says that this fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah 7) that the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son and he will be named Immanuel - God is with us.

• The first time that prophecy was spoken it was meant to convince King Ahaz to trust in God and not worry about Israel's foes. To rely on God and not his own treaties. But Ahaz chose to figure it out himself; he preferred his own solution. He decided that he would rather not bother God with this business.
  
• When Joseph awakes from the dream, he has to decide what he will do - follow his own solution, or accept the dream and the "God is with us"/Immanuel alternative. It won't be easy to accept the dream. If he takes Mary as his wife it means that onlookers will say that he has been with Mary before the wedding or they will be ashamed because Joseph has ignored the sin. (There are also risks to come that he cannot yet imagine - the aggression by Herod and the need to flee, but God's messenger is there for Joseph once again).

For Joseph, the dream is truly a gospel - good news. It means that more is possible than he would have ever imagined. It means the burden of the law has been lifted.

• Can you sympathize with Joseph? He is a good man, a righteous man and compassionate. But he is faced with (what he thought was) sin and the law doesn't just "allow" him to break off the betrothal - the law and honor demand it.
• Haven't we been there? That crossroads between righteousness and mercy? Even in our benevolence we know that we are helping, but the reason we must help might be the result of sin. How are we to be merciful without ignoring sin? In our church and in our family, we want to be merciful to those who lie and betray us who hurt us. We love them so much that we want to forgive and forget, but how can we, even in love, ignore the sin? How do we demonstrate our compassion and concern without seeming as if condone sin? What will people think? What will people say? What message will it send? In Joseph's case he is comforted with the revelation that Mary has not committed a sin, but the people Mary and Joseph know will not have shared that revelation. And what do we do when we are in turmoil over those who have indeed sinned.What do we do then?

A New Possibility - "God is With Us"

O, how we need Immanuel - God is with us. How we need Jesus! He will save! Joseph receives the word of God in this dream as good news. He welcomes the possibility that this child is the Messiah - the Son of God. Yes, there will be scandal - not because of Joseph and Mary's sinfulness but because of the sinfulness of humankind - but the possibility of the gospel that Joseph receives means that he and Mary and all their people will be saved.

• Would you like to share Joseph's dream?
• Would you like to hand your struggle over to God and just be obedient?
• Would you like to overcome the fear, worry, and shame and trust in God?
• Would you like to welcome the possibility that God is with us and he is on our side?
• Would you like to let go of the burden of finding your own solution to your problems and trust in God's possibilities - things that you and I cannot even imagine?

Joseph did all of that. He relied on God and trusted in God even when it seemed difficult or questionable. Unlike King Ahaz, Joseph sets aside his very logical, pious, and reasonable solution and pledges himself to God's risky, but amazing, solution.

The gospel according to Joseph is the good news that God's works are greater than our limitations. We are sinful and the law is often not on our side, and even when it is it is a burden God is with us!

So when you see Joseph in a nativity scene look for a man who trusts in God, look for a man who's been saved from a dilemma between righteousness and mercy. Look for a man whose dream came true - God is with us! He will save us!

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 26 December 2004

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