Matthew 1:18-25
We are just a week away from celebrating Christmas so it’s fitting that on this 4th Sunday in Advent we hear the account of Jesus’s birth from the perspective of Matthew’s gospel. And so our reading begins, “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.” However I always laugh because what follows is such a stereotypical male perspective on birth - as in there’s really nothing about the actual birth and the woman who did all the work laboring. Rather Matthew’s focus is on the man in the story and how the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth impacted him. Which, don’t get me wrong, is a very important story to tell, it’s just the lead in to the story that I find rather funny.
So as Matthew explains, Joseph is engaged to a woman named Mary, but before the marriage is consummated he discovers that Mary is pregnant. That's a big problem because he knows that the child is not his. And this puts Joseph in quite a bind because he’s a righteous man - someone who follows the rules - and in this situation the rules tell him that Mary should be exposed as being unfaithful and that she, along with her unborn child, should be stoned to death.
Interestingly, though, Joseph opts to not follow the letter of the Jewish law, but the spirit of God’s law - in the sense that he privileges compassion over rules. He is a righteous man in the best sense of the word. So he hatches a plan in hopes of sparing Mary as much grief as possible while extricating himself from this messy situation. He will quietly dismiss her and break all ties. But, thankfully, before he follows through with his plan he does a very wise thing and he sleeps on it. And that is when an angel of the Lord comes to him in a dream and gives him a new plan. A plan that begins with, “Do not be afraid…” and then follows with directions to take Mary as his wife, accept the child as his own, and give him the name of Jesus. Then we hear that upon waking, Joseph does exactly that.
It sounds so easy, but I doubt that that was the case because in order for Joseph to live into this new plan, this new, unexpected dream he had received from God it required of him to let go of his own. And that is never easy. Whatever dreams Joseph had for his own life, which was probably along the lines of marrying a nice Jewish girl, having children with her, and living a quiet life together, he had to abandon all that in order to live into God’s dream for him, and really, for the world. Which is not just Joseph’s story, but our own. Because life rarely goes as planned. Things are always bound to happen that are beyond our control. And although we may not be visited by an angel in our dreams telling us exactly what to do when the unexpected occurs those unplanned, uncharted paths in life that sometimes we are forced to take have the power to open us up in new ways to the dream that God has for each one of us - the dream that we might know God’s love more fully in our lives and let that love generously flow into the world. For no matter the circumstances, the struggles, or just the plain ordinariness of life, God is with us in all of it.
Ultimately, that’s the message that Matthew’s gospel wants to communicate. Which explains why the writer doesn’t care so much about the actual details of Jesus’ birth, but rather what that birth means and how it can transform our lives. For in addition to giving Joseph a new plan, the angel explains that this child will fulfill the long awaited prophecy of Emmanuel, God is with us. Meaning that whether or not our life follows a certain plan or fulfills a particular dream we are never lost, never abandoned, never without hope. We hear this good news proclaimed at the very beginning of Jesus’ life here in chapter one in the gospel of Matthew and then if turn to the final verse of the last chapter you will also find it there. The resurrected Jesus’ last words to us are, “And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age.” This promise, that God is with us, is a truth that not only frames Matthew’s gospel, but Joseph’s life and ours as well.
Perhaps you’ve heard the story about a wise abbot of a monastery who was the friend of an equally wise rabbi. This was in the old country, long ago, when times were always hard, but just then they were even worse. The abbot’s community was dwindling, and the faith life of his monks was fearful, weak and anxious. So one day he went to his friend and wept. His friend, the Rabbi, comforted him, and said “there is something you need to know, my brother. We have long known in the Jewish community that the Messiah is among you.”
"What,” exclaimed the abbot, “the Messiah is among us? How can this be?” But the Rabbi insisted that it was so, and the abbot went back home wondering and praying, comforted and excited. Upon returning to the monastery, the abbot started to wonder about his fellow monks as he passed them by in the halls. Then sitting in the chapel he would hear a voice and look intently at a face and quietly ask himself, “Is he the One?” The abbot had always been kind, but now he began to treat all of his brothers with profound kindness and awe, ever deeper respect, even reverence. Soon everyone noticed. And one of the other brothers came to him and asked him what had happened.
After some coaxing, the abbot told him what the rabbi had said and news spread: The Messiah is among us. Soon all the monks were looking at his brothers differently, with deeper respect and wondering. The monastery began to flourish in love, devotion, and grace. And they still say that if you stumble across this place where there is life and hope and kindness and graciousness, that the secret is the same: The Messiah is among us.
As you celebrate Christmas this year, take care to remember that the Messiah is among you. If you are waiting for perfection, Christmas is going to be a lonely and frustrating time. If you are looking for some future time, the wonders of this moment will pass you by. If you are expecting salvation outside yourself, you might just miss God’s Holy Spirit that dwells within. And if you hold your loved ones to impossible standards you likely will not recognize the Messiah who is sitting right there next to you. For the Messiah is among you and this is how the birth of Jesus takes place just like Matthew tells us - not just one time long ago or even once a year but God is with us every single day of our lives.
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