This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
(Matthew 1:18-25)
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When I meet with couples who are preparing to be married, there's one piece of advice that I always give to the grooms – I tell them that they have to remember and accept that the wedding at least is all about the bride. Just nod your head and say, “yes, honey. I agree.” It's the easiest way. It really is. Because the bride will get her way anyway as the marriage is planned, and frankly planning a wedding is a bit of a headache anyway if you're a guy. Sit back, put your feet up, watch hockey and football and just say “yes.” Just agree. It makes life a lot simpler. I was thinking about that as I was looking ahead to Christmas Eve this year. I don't usually deal with either of the actual Christmas stories at the Communion service. I figure that I've done that at 7:00. Why go through it again. So I usually try to find something a little bit deeper – befitting Holy Communion. But I started thinking about the two Christmas stories – Luke's which we read at 7:00, and Matthew's, which we just read a moment ago. They're very different stories, and one thing that leaps out at me as I read them is that Joseph would probably understand my advice if he and Mary were asking me to conduct their wedding. Think about this. Eight verses. That's all Joseph gets. Eight pretty skimpy verses. In the entire New Testament, as far as I can tell, Joseph gets mentioned a paltry 15 times. Meanwhile, Mary's story takes up the better part of two entire chapters of Luke's Gospel, and she remains a part of the story until the very end, watching as Jesus is crucified. It's all about Mary, it seems.
But I don't want us to forget about Joseph. There are a variety of reasons that people think might be the reason for the rather short shrift he gets. Some think that he was likely old and perhaps died not long after Jesus was born. That's possible, but others think there's a more reasonable explanation – the early Christians just didn't know what to make of Joseph, and they were perhaps a little embarrassed by him. After all, Jesus' father was God. The story is very clear about that. So what place does Joseph really have?
Some would say that the important thing about Joseph is that he's Jesus' link (even if a bit of a tenuous one, since God is really Jesus' father) to the house of David – which was necessary for Jesus to be the Jewish Messiah. Some would say that Joseph teaches us to be kind and merciful and compassionate. After all, when Mary broke the news that she was pregnant, Joseph could perhaps have been excused if his reaction had been a little bit harsh. Instead, rather than humiliating her or even handing her over to be stoned (which he could have done) Joseph simply decides to handle the whole matter quietly. Some see Joseph as the protector of his family. When Herod resolved to kill all the baby boys of Bethlehem, Joseph took his family out of harm's way to Egypt. Those are all wonderful qualities of Joseph – qualities we should try to display in our own lives. But I think there's something more about Joseph that often gets overlooked: Joseph was a man of very deep faith.
When you think about the story, it would have been very easy for Joseph not to believe. His fiance had come to him and told him that she was pregnant – and that no man was responsible; it was God's doing. Ready to walk out of the proposed marriage, Joseph is visited by an angel – and gets the impossible story shared with him again. And – somehow and in some way (and I'm not sure I'd have responded this way) Joseph believed. Joseph seemed to grasp that God could work in the most mysterious and unexpected of ways. When Joseph heard from God – no matter how unbelievable and even ridiculous the message may have seemed – Joseph believed, and Joseph acted.
Joseph is a model of faith. Gathered here tonight, let's not forget his important place in the Christmas story.
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