Joseph: Do Not Be Afraid!

St. Paul’s United Methodist Church
Matthew 1: 18 - 20a, Rev. Marianne Niesen, December 7, 2008

 

When it comes to considering the contribution of Joseph to the Christmas story, columnist Dave Barry shares a reflection to which many of us can relate. He writes:
 

"My most vivid childhood memory of Christmas that does not involve opening presents, putting batteries in presents, playing with presents and destroying presents before sundown, is the annual Nativity Pageant at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Armonk, New York." Mrs. Elson was the director, and she would tell the children what role they would play, based on their artistic abilities. For example, if you were short you would get a role as an angel, which involved being part of the Heavenly Host and gazing with adoration at the Christ Child.

"Shepherd was my favorite role," recalls Barry, "because you got to carry a stick, plus you spent most of the pageant waiting back in the closet with a rope that led up to the church bell and about 750,000 bats. Many were the happy rehearsal hours we shepherds spent back there in the dark, whacking each other with sticks and climbing up the ladder so as to cause bat emission products to rain down upon us.

"After a couple of years as shepherd, you usually did a stint as a Three King. This was not nearly as good a role because you had to lug around the gold, the frankincense and, of course, the myrrh, which God forbid you should drop because they were played by valuable antique containers belonging to Mrs. Elson. Nevertheless, being a Three King was better than being Joseph, since Joseph had to hang around with Mary who was played by a girl. You had to wait backstage with this girl and walk in with this girl. Needless to say, you felt like a total wonk, which was not helped by the fact that shepherds and three kings were constantly suggesting you really liked this girl. So during the pageant Joseph tended to maintain the maximum allowable distance from Mary, as though she were carrying some kind of fatal bacteria."
 

I have no doubt this description brings back some memories of your own! And, of course, Dave Barry has a point. It probably wouldn’t be much fun to play Joseph - not only because it often demands a boy-girl association at a time in life when that is difficult - but also because he doesn’t seem to do much of anything. After all, we like action figures! The truth is that the Bible recounts no place where Joseph even speaks. So, in the Bible, as in most Nativity plays, he stands around, a seemingly silent witness to God’s drama. And . . . it’s a good drama! Angels singing, shepherds gazing, Mary birthing, kings traveling, all of Bethlehem bustling - and there is Joseph, leading a donkey or standing around. Not too compelling at first glance!

Today, I want to move Joseph to a place he never claimed for himself - front and center. Even though, for many, Joseph is an almost disposable and, certainly, ignorable figure, I think he has something to teach us. Advent is a season of waiting and preparing and Joseph certainly understood that. But, he also did more than we sometimes realize. Joseph was a man of wisdom at a time God needed wisdom. God depended on him - and I believe depends on him still.

But, first things first . . . there is the matter of Joseph’s age. During communion today, you’ll see on the screen some artistic depictions of Joseph. And you’ll notice that Joseph is pictured as being anywhere from 18 to 80 years of age. In fact, there has been a long tradition in Christianity that Joseph was an old man at the time of his betrothal to Mary. There are a couple theories about why this developed and they both center around Mary. As the tradition developed that Mary remained a virgin throughout her life, Joseph got older. The theory, of course, was that if he was elderly, with children from a previous marriage, he would have been satisfied with a platonic relationship with his young bride. The other force that aged Joseph was the growing interest in Mary. The more devotion centered on her, the more it was important to help Joseph fade away. So he became an old guy who played his part and then bowed out. I remember learning that he died of old age before Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River. We know that because he isn’t mentioned after the nativity stories. But we don’t know that. In fact, if he had been elderly, that would have been mentioned in the Bible. It isn’t. So, most scholars, if they mention him at all, would say that Joseph was most likely the typical marriageable age for men - about 18. After all, God would have needed him to be young enough to care for Mary, to protect her as was the custom, and to provide for the young family. God worked - as God always works - through ordinary folks and Mary and Joseph were an ordinary Jewish couple, just starting their life together.

So, join me now in imaging the Christmas story from a young Joseph’s perspective. He was a carpenter in the small village of Nazareth. It was respectable work although not particularly lucrative. Still, there was always work for carpenters. Some even think he worked not with wood but with stone since there are far more rocks than trees in the area. Either way, however, he worked with his hands. It would probably have been a family trade - something he learned from his father and a trade he, in turn, would teach to Jesus and to his other sons. He was betrothed to the young - and, we imagine, lovely -Mary. Betrothal was a marriage contract which promised a couple to one another. It was a firm commitment even though they would not yet live together (that is, consummate the marriage) until after the ceremony. And it was during that time - between the betrothal and the marriage - that Mary told Joseph she was ‘with child’ by the Holy Spirit. In other words, she was miraculously pregnant.

Remember that these two didn’t know one another all that well yet. What was a fiancé to do with news like that? Talk of angels and visions and dreams wasn’t all that odd but - a heavenly vision resulting in pregnancy? That had to set Joseph back a bit! Very likely his immediate response was disbelief, even anger. Then, as he thought about it more, perhaps he gave her the benefit of the doubt imagining she was a victim of rape by Roman soldiers but didn’t want to cause an uprising of outrage. Or, perhaps he thought she had simply been foolishly unfaithful and was protecting someone else. But, whatever he thought about her, he had something else to consider. This was a culture that valued the sanctity of virginity. If he simply ignored it all, people would talk - not just about her but about him. They would assume he had violated the pre-marital vow. Imagine the tremendous internal pressure. What was he to do? Righteousness before God meant everything . . . could he be righteous and compassionate? Could there be an exception to the rule? He must have decided there was for he made the decision to ‘divorce her quietly.’ Think about it - that could not have been easy. A stoning would have been more public and Joseph would have been vindicated, his innocence clear to all lookers. A quiet divorce left room for doubt.

Don’t miss the power of this moment. Joseph had a right to revenge. The law was on his side. This was a struggle between the law and compassion. It was a struggle between revenge, war, violence and the always less popular path of mercy and peace. Even before he’d had his dream, Joseph had the courage to choose the path of compassion. When I realized that, I also realized that one of Jesus’ most important teachers must have been Joseph. Later, Jesus would tell his followers "you’ve heard it said ‘an eye for an eye’ but I say to you ‘love your enemies, do good to those who hurt you.’" That was Joseph. He knew that place. That was the power of his faith and love.

Still, what’s in it for us today? That was my question as I pondered Joseph this week. And my question led me to the text I read from Matthew a moment ago. Following his decision to ‘divorce her quietly,’ Joseph had a dream in which he heard the message do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. Joseph - do not be afraid. I realized those words are the key. Not only did Joseph take that message to heart for himself - it became the mission of his life and is his gift to us.

Do not be afraid, Mary, to have this child.

Do not be afraid of those who judge.

Do not be afraid, Jesus, of the hammer and nails.

Do not be afraid to follow your call.

You’ve heard it said there is much to fear, but I say to you what God said to me . . . do not be afraid . . . do not be afraid . . .

Is that not a message we need to hear? Fear abounds - especially today. And the fears are about real stuff. Still . . . acting from fear seldom gets us where we want to go. Fear keeps us from savoring each moment fully. It makes us close in on ourselves. It keeps us from being generous. It blinds us to the beauty of the present moment. When we act from fear, we do things we regret. Fear produces terrorists. It leads us to war. In the end, fear keeps us from loving. You see, the opposite of love is not hate. It is fear.

Consider this . . .when the angel appeared to Mary he said do not be afraid! When the angels came to the shepherds, they said do not be afraid! When the angel met the women at the tomb of Jesus, he said do not be afraid! When Jesus met his disciples in Galilee after the resurrection he said do not be afraid. When Jesus talked with his disciples before his death he said do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. There’s a theme there . . .and Joseph got it right. Now it’s our turn.

Joseph teaches us this Advent to examine our own fears - about life, the economy, the future - and hear again the message that  is fundamentally the message of Christmas. Do not be afraid. We don’t know the future any more than Joseph did. Still, our hope is that God is with us and empowers us and leads us. Dare we imitate the oh-so-ordinary love, courage and strength of that silent Advent witness - Joseph? Dare we live as people of love and generosity in a world of fear? It is only when we risk as Joseph risked that the promise of the angels will finally come to pass . . . peace on earth, good will to all.