And Then Came The Angel
Sermon
And Then Came the Angel
Gospel Sermons For Advent/Christmas/Epiphany
If we cannot relate to Joseph and appreciate his situation, then our lives are simple, easy lives indeed. Now, by relating to Joseph or understanding what he endured, I don't mean to suggest that we all either have been engaged or married to someone impregnated by the Holy Spirit. Even in our frantic search for ways to explain how such a thing might have happened, we probably didn't think of blaming the Holy Spirit!
We relate to Joseph and appreciate his struggle in a different way, a much more practical way, a day to day sort of way. All of us have had decisions before us about which we have thought and prayed and sought advice. It may have been marriage; it may have been divorce. It may have been choosing a career; it may have been retirement. It may have been surgery; it may have been other treatment.
For Joseph, it was marriage or divorce. And lest that sounds like a simple choice, let us be reminded of the many considerations which are a part of either of these two options. Very few couples, if any, come to the altar with the thought that their marriage might not work. Even fewer come to the altar thinking that divorce is a way out if the marriage does fail. Marriage is an awesome decision and the vast majority of people who get married believe their marriage will last.
Divorce is an equally awesome decision. When a marriage ends, there is almost always one person who is willing to do whatever it takes to save the marriage, and often both people are actively involved in an effort to revive and sustain their marriage. By now, most every family has been touched in some way by divorce, but some still think of it as an easy way out for someone who has grown tired of a relationship. Those who have been through a divorce know that it is one of the most humiliating experiences one can endure. The sense of failure is overwhelming. Years are spent trying to overcome the guilt and second-guessing.
Marriage and divorce are awesome considerations. They are for us, and they were for Joseph. Even though things were different in those days, we can tell from the very delicate way in which Matthew tells this story that this decision for Joseph carried with it huge implications for his future.
Marriage normally had three steps then. First came the engagement in which the marriage partner was selected. This often was done by the families. The second stage was the betrothal which lasted about a year and required total faithfulness to one another. As a matter of fact, in order to break off the betrothal one had to secure a writ of divorce. The third stage was that of marriage to one another, actually living with one another.
It was during that second stage that we find Joseph faced with this monumental decision. It was during the betrothal stage which required complete faithfulness to one another and yet did not permit them to know one another intimately that Joseph found Mary to be with child. And, to be fair, it must have surprised Mary as much as it did Joseph.
Matthew says two things about Joseph. Both of these things made this decision of marriage or divorce that much more difficult. First, Matthew says Joseph was a just and righteous man. More often than not, what that meant in Joseph's society, as in our own, is that a comfortable and safe distance is kept between the righteous people and the unrighteous people. That's not the way it is supposed to be, but that is the way it often is. Parents say to their children, "Don't date that girl," or "Don't run around with that boy." That was the pressure Joseph felt. What would the people say if this good man with a fine reputation continued to be seen with this young woman who was inexplicably pregnant and not yet married?
Matthew also says Joseph was unwilling to expose Mary to public shame. It was not Joseph's desire to disgrace and humiliate Mary. Joseph was sensitive to the horrible ways a divorced, single mother might be treated. Joseph decided that if it must be divorce, he would do so quietly without playing it out for personal benefit or sympathy.
For Joseph, it was marriage or divorce, and what we know about him tells us that this was a very difficult decision. To uphold his reputation in the community, what choice did he have but to divorce this young woman? In order to maintain his family's dignity and honor, he had to distance himself from Mary.
But what about those feelings which he had for Mary? Even in arranged marriages, surely the time spent during their engagement planning their future meant something. And what about the days during their betrothal in which they anxiously awaited the blissful day of their marriage?
At first it may have sounded like an easy option for Joseph--marriage or divorce, but when we begin to weigh all the factors, Joseph's decision was a very difficult one. It doesn't say how long it took Joseph to reach his decision or how many people he asked for advice, but Matthew does say that Joseph decided to divorce Mary. And then, then came the angel.
The angel said, "Joseph, don't be afraid to do what you really want to do. Don't be afraid to risk your reputation. Don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife because God has a part in what is going on here."
The angel was saying, "Joseph, I know about the decision you have made to divorce Mary. I know it must have felt like the right decision at the time, but give it some more thought. Find the courage to change your mind and do that which God is leading you to do." And because of the angel's visit, Joseph changed his mind and the two were married.
Now, that is not to say that Joseph set a precedent for everyone to follow. We all have particular circumstances with which we must deal. However, Joseph does model for us what it is like to struggle with a difficult decision. Joseph handles this decision in a powerful, hopeful way. In Joseph, we find one who is willing to risk being unpopular, one who is willing to reject an easy way out, and one who is willing to face a most difficult circumstance. In Joseph, we find one who takes a courageous stand against the current and then does what is right. When all of his friends surely were urging him to cut his ties and run, Joseph stayed with Mary. It must have been a very lonely decision.
This December eight years ago, over six hundred thousand men and women from the United States found themselves in Saudi Arabia, and Teresa was turning sixteen. Families were torn apart by a military build-up aimed at moving the Iraqis out of Kuwait. Back home and seemingly unaffected by anything going on the world, Teresa had told her mother for over a year what a good sport she could be. She had said that for Christmas and her sixteenth birthday that would follow, she was willing to receive just one gift. Of course, that one gift was what most people want in this society when they turn sixteen -- wheels, something to drive. This teenager was rather specific. She wanted a truck, a red and white truck.
So, while parents and spouses and children were learning more about the Middle East than they ever wanted to know, Teresa waited for her sixteenth birthday present. Most every family had a member or a close friend who had either been called to the Persian Gulf or was on stand-by, waiting to be called. People lived in the tension between supporting a nation's troops and holding on to their loved ones. Some questioned the wisdom and motives of Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Others just prayed.
Teresa knew she wasn't going to get a red and white truck, but it was still fun to ask. It had become sort of a game between mother and daughter. "You're still getting me that truck, aren't you, Mom?" "Why, of course, I wouldn't think of getting you anything else." Truck or not, it would be a wonderful Christmas for Teresa and her family, and some playing around and joking with one another only added to the good spirit.
One afternoon Teresa's mother received the perfect item in the mail. Pizza Hut was sending out coupons to people in the area. Attached to the coupons was a magnet to put on the refrigerator. But this was no ordinary magnet. This magnet was in the shape of a truck -- a red and white Pizza Hut delivery truck. The mother couldn't wait for her daughter to get home from school to ask one more time about that birthday wish. When Teresa would say, "A red and white truck," the mother planned on fulfilling the daughter's wildest dreams by handing her the magnet in the shape and color of a red and white truck.
School just wasn't as much fun lately. Classmates anxiously awaited news about brothers and sisters and parents who were half a world away. On the bus ride home one boy was confident that his dad would whip the Iraqis' butts, while another child simply stared out the window as if to ask, "Why?"
Teresa's mom watched for the bus from her living room chair. As it drove up, she casually positioned herself around the kitchen table where the daughter regularly ate a snack upon arriving home. Sure enough, the daughter came in and sat down at the table with her mother. Not wanting to give anything away, the mother first asked a couple of questions like, "Did you have a good day? Do you have anywhere to go tonight?"
Then the time was right. Just as the daughter was getting up from the table the mother gently pulled the red and white truck magnet out of her pocket and asked, "Now what did you say you wanted for your birthday and for Christmas?" And without batting an eye the daughter said, "Mother, what I would like most of all is world peace."
The mother sat there stunned in the disappointment of a failed joke. When Teresa had left for school earlier in the day she was a carefree high-schooler who would have been pressed to find Kuwait on a map. Only hours before the mother attempted her joke, Teresa's Christmas spirit focused on what Christmas would bring her in the way of gifts. And then came the angel.
Abraham and Sarah heard the angel, as did Moses and Daniel. An angel spoke to the women at the empty tomb, as well as to the apostles who were in prison, and to Paul in the midst of a storm at sea. But by far, our favorite angel stories are those that have do with this season. An angel promised old Zechariah and barren Elizabeth a son. An angel promised Mary a special baby. An angel directed Joseph to stay with his plans to marry the young woman who was pregnant. And yes, angels even speak to teenagers and moms and people separated from their families and probably all of us at times when we stand fearfully at the crossroads.
Who knows who these angels are? Some people talk about guardian angels in this way, but we are yet to hear of a guardian angel pushing someone to do something difficult or unpopular or risky. From listening to others, it seems guardian angels are more like calming voices that protect people from those sorts of things. Angels in scripture certainly do some of that, but are more often found leading people away from themselves and into the fray. These are angels with messages to do what is right and loving and just. And surely in those difficult times when what is right and loving and just is not clear, the angel comes to calm our fears and direct our thoughts. More and more, these angels sound like the very presence of God.
Most of us can't escape difficult decisions and situations for very long at a time. The decisions range from family matters to financial ones; from health concerns to career choices; from deciding what is right to peer pressure. The decisions we must make are weighty ones involving many factors.
This Christmas we rejoice that we do not make any decision alone. The very promise which the angel brought to Joseph is our promise as well. The angel said, "The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him 'Emmanuel,' which means 'God with us.' " The promise of Emmanuel is that when we are weighing the options carefully in the midst of difficult decisions, we are in the presence of the one true God who is always for us and always with us.
One of these days we will find ourselves telling a friend about the time when we thought we wouldn't make it. The path was too difficult. The decisions were too hard. The journey back was so rough it wasn't worth it. We will tell them about how we trapped ourselves by deciding in favor of self and against God. We will tell them there was no way out.
Our patient friend will look at us and see that we are living, breathing human beings who have meaningful lives and will ask, "What changed? How were you able to overcome it? Was it really as rough as you say it was for you?"
We will answer, "Yes. It was really that rough. I didn't think I was going to make it ... And then came the angel."
We relate to Joseph and appreciate his struggle in a different way, a much more practical way, a day to day sort of way. All of us have had decisions before us about which we have thought and prayed and sought advice. It may have been marriage; it may have been divorce. It may have been choosing a career; it may have been retirement. It may have been surgery; it may have been other treatment.
For Joseph, it was marriage or divorce. And lest that sounds like a simple choice, let us be reminded of the many considerations which are a part of either of these two options. Very few couples, if any, come to the altar with the thought that their marriage might not work. Even fewer come to the altar thinking that divorce is a way out if the marriage does fail. Marriage is an awesome decision and the vast majority of people who get married believe their marriage will last.
Divorce is an equally awesome decision. When a marriage ends, there is almost always one person who is willing to do whatever it takes to save the marriage, and often both people are actively involved in an effort to revive and sustain their marriage. By now, most every family has been touched in some way by divorce, but some still think of it as an easy way out for someone who has grown tired of a relationship. Those who have been through a divorce know that it is one of the most humiliating experiences one can endure. The sense of failure is overwhelming. Years are spent trying to overcome the guilt and second-guessing.
Marriage and divorce are awesome considerations. They are for us, and they were for Joseph. Even though things were different in those days, we can tell from the very delicate way in which Matthew tells this story that this decision for Joseph carried with it huge implications for his future.
Marriage normally had three steps then. First came the engagement in which the marriage partner was selected. This often was done by the families. The second stage was the betrothal which lasted about a year and required total faithfulness to one another. As a matter of fact, in order to break off the betrothal one had to secure a writ of divorce. The third stage was that of marriage to one another, actually living with one another.
It was during that second stage that we find Joseph faced with this monumental decision. It was during the betrothal stage which required complete faithfulness to one another and yet did not permit them to know one another intimately that Joseph found Mary to be with child. And, to be fair, it must have surprised Mary as much as it did Joseph.
Matthew says two things about Joseph. Both of these things made this decision of marriage or divorce that much more difficult. First, Matthew says Joseph was a just and righteous man. More often than not, what that meant in Joseph's society, as in our own, is that a comfortable and safe distance is kept between the righteous people and the unrighteous people. That's not the way it is supposed to be, but that is the way it often is. Parents say to their children, "Don't date that girl," or "Don't run around with that boy." That was the pressure Joseph felt. What would the people say if this good man with a fine reputation continued to be seen with this young woman who was inexplicably pregnant and not yet married?
Matthew also says Joseph was unwilling to expose Mary to public shame. It was not Joseph's desire to disgrace and humiliate Mary. Joseph was sensitive to the horrible ways a divorced, single mother might be treated. Joseph decided that if it must be divorce, he would do so quietly without playing it out for personal benefit or sympathy.
For Joseph, it was marriage or divorce, and what we know about him tells us that this was a very difficult decision. To uphold his reputation in the community, what choice did he have but to divorce this young woman? In order to maintain his family's dignity and honor, he had to distance himself from Mary.
But what about those feelings which he had for Mary? Even in arranged marriages, surely the time spent during their engagement planning their future meant something. And what about the days during their betrothal in which they anxiously awaited the blissful day of their marriage?
At first it may have sounded like an easy option for Joseph--marriage or divorce, but when we begin to weigh all the factors, Joseph's decision was a very difficult one. It doesn't say how long it took Joseph to reach his decision or how many people he asked for advice, but Matthew does say that Joseph decided to divorce Mary. And then, then came the angel.
The angel said, "Joseph, don't be afraid to do what you really want to do. Don't be afraid to risk your reputation. Don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife because God has a part in what is going on here."
The angel was saying, "Joseph, I know about the decision you have made to divorce Mary. I know it must have felt like the right decision at the time, but give it some more thought. Find the courage to change your mind and do that which God is leading you to do." And because of the angel's visit, Joseph changed his mind and the two were married.
Now, that is not to say that Joseph set a precedent for everyone to follow. We all have particular circumstances with which we must deal. However, Joseph does model for us what it is like to struggle with a difficult decision. Joseph handles this decision in a powerful, hopeful way. In Joseph, we find one who is willing to risk being unpopular, one who is willing to reject an easy way out, and one who is willing to face a most difficult circumstance. In Joseph, we find one who takes a courageous stand against the current and then does what is right. When all of his friends surely were urging him to cut his ties and run, Joseph stayed with Mary. It must have been a very lonely decision.
This December eight years ago, over six hundred thousand men and women from the United States found themselves in Saudi Arabia, and Teresa was turning sixteen. Families were torn apart by a military build-up aimed at moving the Iraqis out of Kuwait. Back home and seemingly unaffected by anything going on the world, Teresa had told her mother for over a year what a good sport she could be. She had said that for Christmas and her sixteenth birthday that would follow, she was willing to receive just one gift. Of course, that one gift was what most people want in this society when they turn sixteen -- wheels, something to drive. This teenager was rather specific. She wanted a truck, a red and white truck.
So, while parents and spouses and children were learning more about the Middle East than they ever wanted to know, Teresa waited for her sixteenth birthday present. Most every family had a member or a close friend who had either been called to the Persian Gulf or was on stand-by, waiting to be called. People lived in the tension between supporting a nation's troops and holding on to their loved ones. Some questioned the wisdom and motives of Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Others just prayed.
Teresa knew she wasn't going to get a red and white truck, but it was still fun to ask. It had become sort of a game between mother and daughter. "You're still getting me that truck, aren't you, Mom?" "Why, of course, I wouldn't think of getting you anything else." Truck or not, it would be a wonderful Christmas for Teresa and her family, and some playing around and joking with one another only added to the good spirit.
One afternoon Teresa's mother received the perfect item in the mail. Pizza Hut was sending out coupons to people in the area. Attached to the coupons was a magnet to put on the refrigerator. But this was no ordinary magnet. This magnet was in the shape of a truck -- a red and white Pizza Hut delivery truck. The mother couldn't wait for her daughter to get home from school to ask one more time about that birthday wish. When Teresa would say, "A red and white truck," the mother planned on fulfilling the daughter's wildest dreams by handing her the magnet in the shape and color of a red and white truck.
School just wasn't as much fun lately. Classmates anxiously awaited news about brothers and sisters and parents who were half a world away. On the bus ride home one boy was confident that his dad would whip the Iraqis' butts, while another child simply stared out the window as if to ask, "Why?"
Teresa's mom watched for the bus from her living room chair. As it drove up, she casually positioned herself around the kitchen table where the daughter regularly ate a snack upon arriving home. Sure enough, the daughter came in and sat down at the table with her mother. Not wanting to give anything away, the mother first asked a couple of questions like, "Did you have a good day? Do you have anywhere to go tonight?"
Then the time was right. Just as the daughter was getting up from the table the mother gently pulled the red and white truck magnet out of her pocket and asked, "Now what did you say you wanted for your birthday and for Christmas?" And without batting an eye the daughter said, "Mother, what I would like most of all is world peace."
The mother sat there stunned in the disappointment of a failed joke. When Teresa had left for school earlier in the day she was a carefree high-schooler who would have been pressed to find Kuwait on a map. Only hours before the mother attempted her joke, Teresa's Christmas spirit focused on what Christmas would bring her in the way of gifts. And then came the angel.
Abraham and Sarah heard the angel, as did Moses and Daniel. An angel spoke to the women at the empty tomb, as well as to the apostles who were in prison, and to Paul in the midst of a storm at sea. But by far, our favorite angel stories are those that have do with this season. An angel promised old Zechariah and barren Elizabeth a son. An angel promised Mary a special baby. An angel directed Joseph to stay with his plans to marry the young woman who was pregnant. And yes, angels even speak to teenagers and moms and people separated from their families and probably all of us at times when we stand fearfully at the crossroads.
Who knows who these angels are? Some people talk about guardian angels in this way, but we are yet to hear of a guardian angel pushing someone to do something difficult or unpopular or risky. From listening to others, it seems guardian angels are more like calming voices that protect people from those sorts of things. Angels in scripture certainly do some of that, but are more often found leading people away from themselves and into the fray. These are angels with messages to do what is right and loving and just. And surely in those difficult times when what is right and loving and just is not clear, the angel comes to calm our fears and direct our thoughts. More and more, these angels sound like the very presence of God.
Most of us can't escape difficult decisions and situations for very long at a time. The decisions range from family matters to financial ones; from health concerns to career choices; from deciding what is right to peer pressure. The decisions we must make are weighty ones involving many factors.
This Christmas we rejoice that we do not make any decision alone. The very promise which the angel brought to Joseph is our promise as well. The angel said, "The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him 'Emmanuel,' which means 'God with us.' " The promise of Emmanuel is that when we are weighing the options carefully in the midst of difficult decisions, we are in the presence of the one true God who is always for us and always with us.
One of these days we will find ourselves telling a friend about the time when we thought we wouldn't make it. The path was too difficult. The decisions were too hard. The journey back was so rough it wasn't worth it. We will tell them about how we trapped ourselves by deciding in favor of self and against God. We will tell them there was no way out.
Our patient friend will look at us and see that we are living, breathing human beings who have meaningful lives and will ask, "What changed? How were you able to overcome it? Was it really as rough as you say it was for you?"
We will answer, "Yes. It was really that rough. I didn't think I was going to make it ... And then came the angel."
