December 20, 1998
The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world and all who dwell therein. (Psalm 24.1)
Come with me a moment to stand in the sandals of Joseph, come with me a moment to stand in the sandals of Mary. This snapshot of their lives presented in today's gospel is rich with lessons to be learned by us who walk by faith.
A first lesson is this: God is here, God is in charge. Closely linked to this truth is that the God of Joseph and Mary, our God, is not tame, not cute and cuddly and easily manipulated. God demands that we deal with him on his own terms.
It had been nearly 600 years since the prophecy of Isaiah. Uncountable numbers of holy men and women had lifted their hands and hearts in prayer asking, demanding, hoping that the sign would be fulfilled, the Messiah sent, deliverance assured. And God answered, not yet. It is not the right time. In the midst of the prayers, in the midst of the answer not yet, God was present to comfort, to guide, to care for his flock. God was in charge working with his holy people, asking them to wait.
Then, at the right time, the sovereign God fulfilled the promise made through Isaiah. And as we slip into the sandals of Joseph and Mary we understand that fulfillment came on God's terms, not theirs. From Mary's perspective it would have been far better for the pregnancy to come after marriage, not before. Joseph would have concurred. In fact, Joseph, no doubt after prayer and wrestling with his conscience had decided to dismiss Mary quietly, to divorce her as it were as gently as possible. He could not see God's plan, God's presence at all.
And at this point we introduce a second lesson: God may not always seem to be on time, but grace is never late. After his fateful decision to quietly dismiss Mary, God's plan, God's desire, was on the brink of being thwarted. But the grace to understand that plan, the grace to accept this calling from God came in a dream to Joseph and accepting God on his own terms, Joseph "did as the angel of the Lord commanded him," and took Mary as his wife.
In the 2000 years since Joseph and Mary both of these lessons remain true. You and I have experienced the truth of them. We have been asked to trust God's wisdom and God's love, sometimes in spite of outward signs to the contrary. This becomes especially true as we deal with illness in ourselves or those we love. It is never easy to do all we can to promote health, to pray, and then to let go and trust in God. Every Sunday we pray here for peace in the Middle East, a noble prayer, a prayer that God will surely answer, and every week we are given stories of violence and division. We do not lose heart, we continue to lift our prayers. While God may seem to be late or slow in response, grace is never late.
We are surprised by God's activities at times—like Mary's pregnancy—God's ways are not always what we would have chosen. But as we grow quiet, as we listen for the Lord we discover that grace is never late. We discover God in the midst of our joys and sorrows. It is especially helpful in seasons like Advent and Lent to look back on our faith journey and look closely for the hand, the voice, the touch of God.
Let us take up a third lesson from today's story: we are often introduced to Jesus through someone who loves us. And, the flip side of that truth: through our love for another we are often able to introduce Jesus.
When Joseph arrived at the home of Mary and stood before her (whether to divorce or embrace her Mary did not know), when Joseph let the goofy smile light up his face, and when he opened his arms wide to embrace Mary his betrothed he welcomed Jesus into his life at the same moment. Except for the love he bore Mary and his trust in God this moment might not have occurred. And it is as true for us today as it was for Joseph and Mary. How many of us are here today because of the love and trust we placed in another who bore Jesus. And how many of us are here today because as we embraced the God bearer we embraced God as well?
Perhaps the God bearer in our life was a parent or grandparent, perhaps a boyfriend or girlfriend, perhaps a team mate or colleague, perhaps the other person, the God bearer, became our spouse. I have no doubt that most of us are here today, most of us have embraced Jesus because of our love for another who bore Jesus and so our embrace of one reached all the way to God.
And for our part, we who know and love Jesus, God bearers ourselves now, as we love others as we allow ourselves to be embraced by others, we make our Lord Jesus available to be embraced as well. It is an awesome responsibility, a joyful responsibility to bear Jesus within us, to share his life, his love with others as we share our lives and our love with others.
A modern day story might help to illustrate these lessons as we stand in the sandals of Joseph and Mary.
Imagine you are in a mall crowded with Christmas shoppers. You enter a large department store and begin browsing through the many items on display. A salesperson moves quickly to your side. "May I help you?" she asks.
"Yes, I hope so," you respond. "You see, I'm looking for the perfect gift—for myself."
And what is it you seek?" the salesperson inquires.
"A Christ," you answer. "I'm looking for a Christ—for Christmas."
"Right this way," she says as she leads you to a very special section of the store. "Here we have a number of fine models from which you might choose. On your left there is the ever popular `Care Bear Christ,' soft and cuddly with outstretched arms guaranteed to steal your heart away. Or maybe you would prefer our `Rambo Christ—a real `macho' figure that comes prepared to combat all foes with a bruising display of muscle and overwhelming firepower. Or how about our futuristic `Star Wars Christ,' able to fight evil throughout the universe with a mastery of the mystical Force and of spaceage weapons capable of destroying entire planets. Considerably lessviolent is our `Pentium Pro Home Computer Christ'—a very sophisticated and useful Christ able to play games, organize your personal finances, teach you five different languages, and answer all questions needed to solve your daily problems just by touching the right buttons as directed in our 50page manual of easy instructions."
Sound ridiculous? Of course! The Real Christ is not found in a department store available in a variety of models from which we may select the one most pleasing to us! There is only One true Christ who refuses to be conformed to our image or fit the blueprint we make for Him. Instead He reaches out to remake and remold us into His image and to renew our lives with His Spirit. This is the Christ Who cannot be bought but Who gives himself to us and for us freely. May we seek no other Christ than this and so reveal Him through our own lives that others may come to know Him and rejoice in Him as the right Christ for their lives, too.
Remember, the child Mary bore, the child Joseph embraced, is called Emmanuel, God with us. By grace do we bear this child, by grace do we share this child. God—not against us. Not before us. Not behind or above or beneath us. Not God beyond us. But God with us, delivering us from the power sin and death. Come, O come, Jesus, our Emmanuel.
The Rev. Daniel Rondeau
drondeau@stmargarets.org
20 December 1998