Domes - Our Monthly Newsletter
Dunbar UCC
December 23, 2007
Matthew 1:18-25
Stumbling Along, Singing
- Joseph, the stepfather of Jesus, is a symbol of someone whose life never went as planned, so he kept improvising. He moved along from crisis to crisis, resolving each as they came, with God’s help.
- What ever happened to Joseph? Did he die by the time Jesus started his ministry? Because after the birth story in Matthew and Luke, we don’t hear any more about Joseph.
- Was Joseph mute? There’s no record of any word he spoke. We don’t know how long he was engaged to Mary when he discovered that she was pregnant with a child that wasn’t his. He wanted to quietly break off the engagement, so he must have been a kind man because he could have had her punished, or killed. He also paid attention to his dreams and the subtle ways that God uses to talk to people. He was a spiritual person because he knew that to “see” and “hear,” the heart was as important as the eyes and ears.
- When a crisis arose, Joseph looked, and listened, and then he did something. Because of his “seeing” -- his discernment -- he went to Egypt and saved Jesus when Herod had all the male infants killed. Joseph heard the angels -- God’s messengers.
- Joseph has something to teach us this Christmas. Especially those of us who rush or sometimes act impulsively. Maybe in anger we say or do things we regret. Joseph says to us, “Wait. Slow down and listen. What are the angels saying? What message is God trying to give us? What is the wise thing to do?”.
- In many ways, we are like Joseph. Things will happen to us that we didn’t plan for. Like him, we will have hard times ahead of us. Like him, we may feel betrayed in a relationship, or maybe our child’s life may be at risk. Who knows what will happen? But he trusted God to guide him. And because he took such good care of Jesus and Mary, they were able to fulfill their calling. Joseph was poor and had a hard life, but I bet that as he moved from crisis to crisis, he sang, because he knew that God was with him and that’s what mattered. The angel told Joseph, “God is with you.” And I know that when we can slow down, and listen -- we will hear the same message. God is with us, and will guide us today and in the new year -- and for the rest of our lives. So we can relax and know that everything will turn out fine.