“We’re going to have a baby!” What did Joseph say when Mary first spoke these words to her soon to be husband? The short answer is that we have absolutely no idea. In fact, it is a bit ironic that though the Bible was produced in a male dominated world we know little of Joseph. He appears at the beginning of Matthew with this history altering dream and then essentially disappears, only showing up a couple of more times during Jesus’ childhood. Not one word from Joseph is recorded in the Bible. Even during Christmas Joseph is generally depicted as a murky background sort of character without any serious role, as even the shepherds and the wise men get more press.
Mary, on the other hand, is everywhere. When the angel visits Mary she responds by lifting her voice in song. Mary is much more than the mother of Jesus. She is a disciple, present throughout his earthly ministry, suffering with her Lord at the cross, visiting the empty tomb, and receiving the Spirit at Pentecost. In traditional Christian thought Mary is seen as an icon of the very church of Christ, the best that we have to offer, and a bundle of Christian energy. Mary is the Theotokos, the mother of God.
Now don’t get me wrong, Mary is more than deserving of all this attention given her role in the birth of the baby Jesus. And yet, this still does not explain why Jesus’ earthly father Joseph is mostly absent from the pages of Scripture. What we do know largely comes from the passage read this morning. Joseph was pledged to be married to his soon to be bride Mary when she was found to be with child. Since Joseph was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had decided to divorce her quietly. Before he could do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, telling Joseph that he should not be afraid to take Mary home as his wife because the child that was in her was actually from the Holy Spirit. Spoiling the surprise, the angel revealed that Mary was going to give birth to a son. Joseph would not have the honor of naming this firstborn since the angel told him that he was to name him Jesus because He would save his people from their sins.
Oh, the emotions that must have been swirling through Joseph’s mind at such a moment. He finds out that his teenage fiancé is going to have a baby that is not his. Quickly he moves from planning a wedding to looking for the divorce papers, while trying to be a gentleman so as not to shame his former bride to be. Then, he has a dream where he is visited by an angel who overwhelms him with the news that his Mary is pregnant via the Holy Spirit, ready to give birth to a son he will not get to name because somehow this Jesus is the Immanuel, God with us. Yes, that is right, Joseph is to be the earthly father of God himself. And unfortunately, we have little to no idea what was going through Joseph’s head once he found this out because the Scriptures largely ignore him after this incident.
Until recently I had no way to understand what was going through Joseph’s mind when Mary spoke this phrase to him. However, as many of you know, my wife Erin and I found out a couple of months ago that we are now expecting our first child, who is due to be born June 21st. Right now we are excited to say the least. But to be honest, at first I was less than overjoyed at this news. After all, I had plans. These plans included finishing my doctoral coursework, meeting my foreign language requirements, taking my qualifying exams, writing my doctoral dissertation, and staying in Chicago for another year or two while I pursued my dreams. Who did this child think he was, showing up totally unannounced, and even somewhat uninvited? And even worse, what kind of person was I to feel such feelings during what is supposed to be one of the happiest moments in my life?
After talking with a variety of friends and family, though, I quickly discovered that pregnancies often, if not always, involve a variety of emotional experiences. Sometimes we plan them; sometimes we don’t. Many pregnancies produce healthy babies; others have complications. We can be excited about a long awaited birth or scared about what an unexpected surprise might do to our previous plans. The fact is that the message that, “Unto us a child is born,” can make us feel excited, agitated, frantic, scared, terrified, worried, joyful, disappointed, frustrated, ecstatic, and afraid.
This is because babies, whether they be little Immanuel or Baby Cooper, are always a mix of good news and bad. Some of you may have heard people speak of life “BC” and “AD,” referring to our world “before children” and “after delivery.” You parents know exactly what that means. Babies are so cuddly and sweet, cute and demanding, expensive and relentless. No wonder we live in a culture where nearly a million babies are aborted every year. Even today our society wavers between sentimentalization of childhood and widespread child abuse. Babies are a threat. Sure, part of the good news is that babies are the future, but the bad news is that we decline as they increase. Babies are an ever present reminder that tomorrow belongs to them, not us, that the world isn’t all left up to us, isn’t just in our hands. So, if a baby is a sign that “God is with us,” Immanuel, then those of us who’ve had babies or will soon do so can testify that it is both good news and bad, for babies are always ambiguous. Blessings, yes, but also demanding responsibility.
No baby was ever more of a threat, more of the future, more of a sign that God is with us, more of a blessing, and more of a demanding responsibility than the one called Immanuel. King Herod may have been the only one to get the point of that baby. He knew that cooing, crying little baby in the manger was a sign, a threat to everything upon which his empire was based. That baby was a sign that Herod was not really King after all, that his ways of dealing with the world were false, that there is no hope for Israel or for anybody unless it be from God. This baby was a sign that God was going to take the government, the rule of the world off of Herod’s shoulders and put all authority on the back of a baby and call his name Immanuel.
This brings us back to Joseph, whom God had chosen along with Mary to raise this baby Immanuel, this God with us. It was Joseph who would later teach his son Jesus the Scriptures, reading him the stories of Genesis, teaching him the laws of the Torah, praying through the Psalms with him. Joseph would have also had hopes and dreams for what his life was going to be like. For young Jewish men at the time that meant taking part in the life of the synagogue, learning a good trade like carpentry, marrying a young woman, and raising children of his own. We know that all fathers have dreams for their children, dreams that they will live a long healthy life, get a good education, have a successful and fulfilling career, meet someone who will love them and care for them throughout their lives, and most importantly for those of us who know this Immanuel, that they will realize how much God loves them and respond to that love with a life of faithful discipleship.
But in one night, many of those dreams were shattered. Once the angel appeared to Joseph, his neatly ordered life was changed in an instant. What happened that night may have caused Joseph to begin to realize that many of the dreams he had for this child would not come true. Not only would the birth of this Immanuel come in the humblest of surroundings, in a manger that smelled of barnyard animals not to mention the things barnyard animals leave behind. Even more so, after fleeing their home to avoid Herod’s plot to kill his son, they would later return only so that Jesus’ three year career as an itinerant preacher would end with a cross. Joseph probably did not see all of this at the beginning, but he had no doubt started to surmise that his ways are not God ways. What he had hoped and dreamed for this child was not necessarily what God had planned for this Immanuel, this God with us.
Like Joseph, I worry about the life of my unborn child. You see, I have plans as well. These plans for my firstborn son and daughter include a variety of things, from a healthy birth to a nurturing childhood, a good education, a job that brings them happiness, a future wedding day, and a family of their own. But what if? What if my dreams and hopes for this child are not met? What if something goes wrong? I know this child is not my own but a gift from God that has been entrusted to my care, and yet, this does not lessen my anxiety, my worry, my fear. Some nights I lie awake, praying that my unborn child and my wife who carries Baby Cooper will be safe. Still, I feel helpless, knowing that I am not in control.
And yet, I think it is for this very reason that we must let the angels come to us as well so that we too, like Joseph, may hear those words, “Do not be afraid.” God is with us! When we accept Christ into our lives, nothing, not even death, can separate us from God and his love. It is what Christmas is about. God is with us. The great people of faith have always claimed that promise. Just think of it:
Moses, caught between the Pharoah and the deep Red Sea in a seemingly hopeless situation, believed that God was with him and he went forward and trusted God to open a way and He did.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went into the fiery furnace into another seemingly hopeless situation and they trusted God to be with them and He was!
Little David stood before Goliath. What chance could a small boy with a slingshot have against this giant of a warrior? But David believed that God was with him and it made all the difference!
Now, it's interesting to note that when the writer of Matthew's gospel wanted to capture the meaning of Christmas, the meaning of the Christ event, the meaning of Jesus in a single word, he did a very wise thing. He reached back into the Old Testament, pulled out an old word, dusted it off, and used it to convey the message. The word was Emmanuel. That's what Jesus is about. "His name shall be called Emmanuel" which means, "God is with us." The impact of that Christmas promise is incredible. When you believe that, when you accept that, when you claim that promise it will absolutely change your life.
God does not desert us. I find it strange that God has never deserted me. I don't understand that kind of grace frankly. I do not deserve his eternal presence, nor do you. Yet, God has forever identified with the human dilemma. There may not be a soul in the world who truly understands your feelings. God understands. All in your life may fall away. God will never fall away. Our God is a good God. He does not desert us in our hour of need. He hears the cries of Israel. He hears the cries of the church. He hears the cries of His children. Christmas is about God's eternal identification with the human dilemma.
The great writer Max Lucado tells about his neighbor who was trying to teach his six-year-old son how to shoot a basketball. They were out in the backyard. The father shot a couple of times, saying, "Do it just like that, son; it's real easy." The little boy tried very hard but he couldn't get the ball ten feet into the air. The little fellow got more and more frustrated. Finally, after hearing his father talk about how easy it was for the tenth time, the boy said, "It's easy for you up there. You don't know how hard it is from down here."
You and I can never say that about God. When Jesus became man and lived among us, he walked where we walked, he suffered what we suffer, he was tempted as we are tempted. He was Emmanuel which means "God is with us."
Joseph, just in time, heard the angel’s voice, let go of his fears, and, most importantly, remembered that God is with him. Like Mary, he said yes to the Lord. He did not dismiss Mary quietly, but took on the scandal of this unwed teenager, running off to Bethlehem for Jesus’ birth, and then fleeing their homeland with his new family, becoming refugees in Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath. The witness of Joseph calls us to cooperate with God's work in today's world. It calls us to respond to God's action among us. Joseph, not having all of the evidence and knowledge of the future, decided to do more than law and custom required. He elected to do more than was expected of him. He let justice and compassion guide his decision about his pregnant fiance. He was pulled, not by the strength of custom, but by the law of love. Even when it was hard to do, Joseph listened and heard God's command. Then he had the courage to act, to obey, to do God's will.
“So, we’re going to have a baby!” If this scares you, you are not alone. I know it scares me. And in one sense it should scare us all, because all babies are a mix of good and bad news, especially this One called Immanuel, whose arrival is as surprising and threatening as any. At the same time, though, I invite you to join Joseph in hearing that angel say, “Do not be afraid.” For the message of this Advent season is that the best news of all is that no matter what, God is with us! Amen.
