Mary, Joseph and Jesus
December 4, 2005
Matthew 1:18-25
There are times in our lives when we come to a crossroads. A time when decisions must be made. Someone in our community refers to these as no exit challenges. When we find ourselves forced to have to make a choice, do something new, when life seems upside down and it’s unclear how we could possibly move ahead. Many times the crossroads come as consequences of our own behaviors which often arise from our own experiences of breaking the rules: cultural, societal, sexual, gender, etc. These times often feel dark and lonely. These times feel overwhelming and exhausting. These crossroad times transform the fabric of who we are and how we perceive living in this world.
This is the advent story we have for today. This is the story of how the darkness comes and goes. This is the story of how the stars are always part of the night. This is the story of how we can be sure that God will meet us wherever we are and extend grace and love to us.
She was ready to be married. She was promised to a suitable husband. Her parents were thrilled. Her adult life was ready to begin. And now she finds herself pregnant. And, she has not been with Joseph. However, it would not matter. She would be taken to the gate of Nazareth and stoned to death. It was the punishment for being pregnant before marriage. It was what the law demanded. It would disgrace her parents. It would disgrace her family. It would destroy her relationship with God. She was nothing. What would she do?
He had finally found an acceptable girl he thought would be good for a wife. He was so happy on the day the marriage was arranged and they became engaged. He thought often of the son she would bring to him. And now, he finds out she is used. So, the Law says he must take her to the gate and the elders would stone her. However, although he can not stay with her, for he is a righteous man. He must let her go in order to prove that his love for God is deeper than any other love. But, he also believes that God does not humiliate or punish so he decides he will put God first by dismissing Mary, but he will do so privately that she might not bring humiliation onto herself or her family.
God speaks to Joseph through an angel and says that Joseph and Mary are at a crossroads. They both must choose to go a course. And, the peril is all around. But, God assures both that this child, this child is special. This is God’s child and this child shall be loved and accepted as Joseph’s own.
I spent time this week with the brightest and most dynamic leaders in the United Church of Christ. We had gathered together to talk about our beloved community of faith. This denomination that is at a crossroads. This denomination that has been shrinking at a steady rate since the 1950s. The President of the UCC, John Thomas, reminded us that there were specific social justice issues that were happening around that time regarding civil rights. Some of our churches were very involved in the civil rights movement. Some of our churches chose to be oblivious. And, it seems those churches that were up front and stepped out in spite of fear or indifference and worked to change the world, those churches are thriving today. Something happened in the midst of them during those times. They couldn't go through those experiences and see the world in the same way. And in fact the motto of the UCC, "that they may all be one," seemed a little more real, that the doors could be so wide that all of God's people would be welcome in this place. However, those churches who ignored the civil rights movement even though having enormous numbers in the fifties were drastically shrinking by the sixties, in trouble by the eighties and dying in the nineties. We are at a crossroads in the United Church of Christ and it is time to decide what it is that we will choose.
What does it mean that our story of the messiah comes out of this story of virgin birth. Out of all of the ways that God could have come into this world, we have the story of God coming into the world in a completely unacceptable manner according to the rules. And yet, God ordains this child as good. And, names this child as God’s own child and the coming of the messiah. God meets Mary in this place of darkness and reminds her that she is enough, exactly as she is. God meets Joseph in this place of darkness and reminds him that he is enough and that this is part of what God intends. That good can come of this new thing, this new way of being.
So what does this mean for today?
Perhaps it means that when addiction spins out of control. When living seems only for the next fix, that God can and is willing to meet you there.
Perhaps it means that when death is all around you, you are not alone, for God can be doing a new thing within you that will make this time bearable that you might just be stronger on the other side.
Perhaps it means that all those people that we work so hard to keep our respectable children away from. That we keep our heads turned away from. Perhaps it means that they are children of God as well and God might be doing the next big thing with and through them.
Perhaps it means that in this United Church of Christ we need to learn from our past. That shrinking from what’s happening in the world actually keeps us away from what God is doing. For God is alive and well and moving in this world today. And, in order that we understand what God is doing we must be living in this world listening to all of God’s children.
There was a minister from the East Coast at the New Church Start meeting. As we processed many of the things we learned on Friday morning, he shared with the group that the vote to support same sex marriages crushed his mother’s soul. And, at the age of 90 she didn’t feel it was her church anymore. And, I smiled. In the past I would have cried. I would have been hurt and not understood how anyone could speak in such small ways. I would have felt the darkest of nights pushing in. But, this time it was full of light. For I thought about Barbara Small, Thelma and Richard Solar, Genevieve Baker, Jamie and Betty and I smiled even wider. For each one of these people is old enough to be this man’s father. And, I believe each one of them is clear that this is God’s community, not ours. And, I believe that each one of them has opened themselves to see that God can do a new thing even when it comes out of unexpected places. I smiled because I know that First Congregational United Church of Christ may not have participated in the last Civil Rights movement, but that we have jumped into this civil rights movement in spite of the rules.
This is an amazing moment in the life of our wider community of faith known as the UCC. For something really big is working on getting born. And, all of us gathered together were clear, that we must prepare ourselves for our faith is going to get clearer. Our God is going to grow bigger. Our lives are going to be more genuine.
It is advent. And something big is about to happen. And, I am praying every day that we are preparing ourselves in these dark days to open ourselves to God’s presence in our lives. That we might recognize that the stars are coming out. And, that each one can guide us to be more fully who our Creator calls us to be. How is it that we are preparing to meet this Christ child. Are we holding rocks in our hands only willing to uphold how it’s always been, just because? Are we waiting for a sign or a messenger? Are we praying for help with our backs against a wall? How is it that we will meet the messiah, for it is true, that he is coming and that some, some will be willing to meet him exactly where they are. Let us pray.