GOD IS WITH US!

(Preached on Sunday, December 23, 2007)

But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, AJoseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

                                                -Matthew 1:20

 

Michael Lindvall, a Presbyterian minister, has written a story called AThe Christmas Pageant.@  Set in the mythical town of North Haven, Minnesota, it tells of the year the young mothers of Second Presbyterian Church organized a rebellion.  Alvina Johnson had directed the Christmas pageant at Second Presbyterian for 47 years.  In nearly half a century, there had not been a single change in the script, which was lifted straight out of the King James Bible.  Youthful faces came and went, but the Christmas pageant remained the same, unshakable as Gibraltar.  That is, until the year of the young mothers= rebellion.  They demanded a new pageant, one that would have parts for all the children.  Alvina resigned in a huff, and it fell to the young mothers to plan the program.  One of the changes the young mothers made was to dump the King James Version and use a more modern translation.  As a result, Mary was no longer Agreat with child.@  She was, in more prosaic terms, Apregnant.@  The problem was, this change in the script was instituted at the last minute, and the poor little boy playing Joseph heard if from the narrator for the first time on Christmas Eve. 

The kid froze in his tracks, gave Mary an incredulous look, peered out at the congregation and exclaimed, APregnant?  What do you mean, pregnant?@

This, of course, as Lindvall tells the story, brought down the house.   AMy wife, wiping tears from her eyes, leaned over to me and said, >You know, that may well be what Joseph actually said.=@ 

 

Of course, we don=t actually know what Joseph said ... about anything.  Did you realize that?  You can look it up in the Bible (in the first two chapters of Matthew and Luke, the gospels where Joseph appears).  You will not find a single statement by Joseph.  As famous as he is, Mary=s husband is never quoted int he Bible, not a single word!  Joseph didn=t say anything, but what he did was very important.  He listened, and he acted.

 

I like Joseph.  It is really a shame that we only encounter his story here in Matthew and only once every three years.  Usually the focus late in Advent and on Christmas is on Mary, with her faithful Ayes@ to God.  But for Matthew, it is Joseph who is the focus.  Joseph, an old man in a brown homespun robe, lying on his pallet fast asleep with his mouth slightly open as the same anger who appeared to Mary whispers in his ear.  Joseph is the one in the story who is most like us, presented day by day by day with circumstances beyond our control, with lives we would have never chosen for ourselves, tempted to divorce ourselves from it all, when the angel of God whispers in our ear: ADo not fear.  God is here.  It may not be the life you had planned, but God may be born here, too, if you permit it.@

 

This is not always an easy message to hear and accept.  Even though Matthew=s account is very sparse, matter-of-fact and suggests differently, I am sure it was not an easy message for Joseph.  After all, his dreams of family life had just been dashed, broken by the unfaithfulness of his betrothed.  He knew he was not the father.  Why else would he have considered divorcing Mary?  Undoubtedly he was cut to the very core of his being, his heart strangled by the betrayal.  The wounds would have been deep, the scars probably carried for a lifetime.

 

As we approach the celebration of the Christ child=s birth, many of us, many we know, are nursing similar wounds of shame and betrayal from broken relationships and shattered dreams.  Advent/Christmastime has a remarkable way of magnifying our own brokenness, conjuring up memories of unfulfilled dreams.  How many whom we know have been confronted by the sudden unfaithfulness of a trusted partner?  How many parents have been dazed by once-beautiful children led astray by drugs?  Or suddenly grown sullen and distant by the changing bodies and hormones of teen years?  How many of the aging endure days spent in bitter isolation?  How many are dealing with the sudden loss of health, the dread diagnosis of a terminal condition, the heart-rending absence of a loved one lost to death?  Many, many people, in the face of the world=s festive celebration of this season, feel like Joseph: alone, disillusioned.

 

The good news is that Joseph discovered he was not alone.  Into his shattered and broken life, as he was sorting out how to pick up the pieces and get on with it, the voice of God spoke saying, ADo not be afraid, God is with you.  The Holy Spirit is present in this.  It is holy and sacred and part of God=s plan.@ 

 

That is a powerful, reassuring message.  It is the message Matthew most seems to want to communicate.  The first word about Jesus in Matthew=s gospel is Immanuel, God-is-with-us.  And the last word of Jesus in Matthew is still Immanuel, ALo, I am with you always.@  From first to last, the message of Matthew is clear: AGod IS with us!@

 

God is always at work becoming part of our lives and will take the most amazing rout to do so, even that of saving us through our problems, redeeming us in the midst of adversity.  Joseph was called to live faithfully in a situation which seemed C to onlookers C less than ideal.  Yet God promised to be with him through Mary=s pregnancy.  In fact, God actually assured him that God was already present, the Holy Spirit was at work in Mary. 

 

God promises to be with us, too; often in surprising ways.  There was a pastor who went to visit a woman who lived alone.  She is a senior citizen and is blind; she doesn=t get out much.  He arrived at the building and rang her on the intercom.   She answered cheerfully and buzzed him in.  He only just took off his coat, when the phone rang.  The superintendent called to check on this suspicious looking visitor.  AOh, it=s okay@ he heard her say, Ait=s just one of my boyfriends.@  They talked for a while and then, there was a knock at the door.  It was the milkman.  He walked into the room as if he was coming home.  He was on a first name basis with the woman.  They talked like family.  She asked about his baseball team and the playoffs.  He asked about her brother.  He took his milk to the fridge C brought the old milk forward, put the new milk in back.  She handed him her purse, he took out the money and gave her the change.  It was all so ordinary, and yet all so wonderful.  With his kind words and thoughtful attention he said, Ado not be afraid.@  In the most unexpected place, that pastor experienced the truth of Immanuel, God-with-us,, int he loving care of a milkman for an elderly, blind woman on his route.

 

Over a century ago, there was another clergyman called Phillips Brooks.  He spent a Christmas in Jerusalem and went to an impressive worship that lasted several hours.  Later, as he was winding down, he spent part oft he evening on the hillside outside of jerusalem and he looked out at Bethlehem, a small town.  He realized that Christ is there too.  He captured that insight in a song he wrote, the beloved carol, AO Little Town of Bethlehem,@ with the words Abut in the dark streets shineth the everlasting light.@  Our homes and our families are like Bethlehem.  There is no place so dark, so small, so ordinary, or life too troubled, no life too insignificant, where God cannot come, where God is not with us. 

 

What do you face day in and day out?  Family problems?  Indecision?  Hurt feelings?  Disappointment?  Shattered plan?  Joseph wrestled with all of these when he discovered his betrothed was pregnant.  Into his wrestling and struggle came this word: Immanuel.  God IS with us!