Joseph

Matthew 2:13-23; Isaiah 63:7-9

First Sunday after Christmas

Isaiah 63:7-9

⁷ I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord , the praiseworthy acts of the Lord , because of all that the Lord has done for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. ⁸ For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely”; and he became their savior ⁹ in all their distress. It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Matthew 2:13-23

¹³ Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” ¹⁴ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, ¹⁵ and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

¹⁶ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ¹⁸ “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

¹⁹ When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ²⁰ “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” ²¹ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.

²² But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.

And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. ²³ There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”

The Sermon

“How unobtrusively and simply do those events take place on earth that are so heralded in heaven,” said Martin Luther in the early 1500’s.

“Perhaps they had a donkey for Mary to ride upon, though the Gospels say nothing about it and we may well believe that she went on foot.” These are Luther’s words. “Think how she was treated in the inns on the way, she who might well have been taken in a golden carriage…

How many great ladies and their daughters there were at that time, living in luxury, while the mother of God, on foot, in midwinter trudged her weight across the fields...

“Bad enough that a young bride…could not have had a baby in her own house instead of making all that journey, heavy with child. The inn was full. No one would release a room to this pregnant woman. She had to go to a cow stall and there bring forth the Maker of all creatures because nobody would give way.

“And so it was that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger” (Bainton, ed., Martin Luther's Christmas Book. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 2001; p. 29ff).

We were in our Education Hour class last week, looking at the stories from Luke and Matthew about the nativity; and the question was asked: with whom do you identify in these stories? The Angel Gabriel, or the unnamed angel who speaks to Joseph in his dreams? Mary? Joseph? Herod?

I suppose it’s not too surprising that the mothers who chose to speak identified with Mary; and I suppose it’s also not surprising that the men in the room who spoke all mentioned Joseph. And it should be said that we did not compare ourselves favorably with him.

In the strange circumstances in which he finds himself, he listens to what God tells him, even when it is told to him in dreams.

We should be so believing, and so receptive and attentive to our dreams.

When Joseph is given the news about Mary, the heartache must have been devastating, but his broken heart still belongs to her. And rather than allow her to be subjected to the terrible punishments called for by the misogynistic law of the land, he wants to let her go, quietly.

But an angel speaks to him in a dream and says, “Neither of those. God is doing something here that the world has never seen before.”

More than a year later, the magi, having found the holy family, offered their precious gifts. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

And with that, the elements of our familiar Christmas story come to a close. But like all parents of toddlers, Joseph and Mary were just getting started.

Again an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream.

I am more inclined to ignore my dreams or at best be entertained by them if I can even remember them in the morning—and my personality type is more given to spiritual openness than many.

But I wonder: how many messages have I missed? How many angels have I forgotten about in the cold light of day? How many times has God spoken to me in places where I’m not looking for it, only to find me looking for God in schedules and agendas and church budgets?

Joseph may have been no different at all from any of us in here. But he responded differently. In each circumstance, he listened, and he obeyed God. He was obviously a good man. But he was also an obedient man, a faithful man, committed to paying attention and following as he was led by God.

Commitment is hard to come by these days. Looking at church life these days—and I don't mean just our church; it's across the board—it’s impossible not to notice that for not all, but many, church commitments come behind almost every other kind of commitment, including the commitment to leisure time. I don’t mean to judge anyone's decisions, because I'm not in a position to judge, but I mean to be clear: Joseph surpasses us all in faithfulness, even though there is no reason it has to be that way. But as a people, and often as individuals, we choose to be less faithful than he chose to be.

So Joseph, faithfully, took Mary and the little boy to Egypt; and sure enough, Herod unleashed his heartless, gutless campaign of slaughter against the most helpless, defenseless people in the world.

And then, perhaps to reassure himself and us, Matthew mentions three times in the space of six verses that Herod died.

And that’s when an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” So Joseph got up, and took the child and his mother, and they went to the land of Israel.

Joseph was told in a dream to marry Mary, because the child she was carrying was of the Holy Spirit. Luke told us why they had to go to Bethlehem, and Matthew confirms that’s where they were when Jesus was born. This, Matthew tells us, was in God’s plan.

And Joseph was told in a dream to make for Egypt, to avoid the horrible fate that Herod unleashed in Bethlehem, and Joseph went. This, Matthew tells us, was in God’s plan.

And Joseph was told in a dream that Herod had died, and now they should go to Israel; and they went to Israel. But when they got there, Joseph learned that Herod’s son was now ruler of Judea, where they were headed.

Again, Joseph had a dream, and again, he listened to what God was telling him. And they went to Galilee, and they came to a town called Nazareth, where at long last, they made their home. This, Matthew tells us, was in God’s plan.

Gentlemen, if we identify with Joseph, then we identify with someone who listened to his dreams and chose faithfulness regardless of whether or not to do so flew in the face of reason, or profit, or convenience.

In listening and attending to the words of an angel in a dream, Joseph shepherded the son of God into the world, to bring salvation to us all.

Regardless of who you are, man, woman, child; whatever race, whatever background, whatever circumstance: this is not our time; it is God’s time. Our lives are not our own; they belong to God, for God’s good purposes.

Listen to what God is telling you—even in your dreams.

And so, let’s give the final word back to Martin Luther, who said, “To me there is no greater consolation given to humankind than this, that Christ became man, a child, a babe, playing in the lap and at the breast of his most gracious mother. Now is overcome the power of sin, death, hell, conscience, and guilt, if you come to judge this gurgling Babe and believe that he is come, not to judge you, but to save.”

Keith Grogg

Carolina Beach Presbyterian Church

Carolina Beach, NC

December 30, 2007