Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
[please click on one of the items above for more information]
============================================================
SERMON
Joseph intrigues me.
I suppose it’s because we actually
know so little about him …
there’s so much left to the imagination.
Before he appears in the Christmas story,
we don’t know about him.
Tradition has it that he was much older than Mary –
she was young, probably about 14 or 15,
and he may have been in his 50s or 60s.
The tradition has sometimes suggested
that Joseph had been married before,
and that he already had a family of kids who were grown and gone.
But we don’t know any of that for sure;
it isn’t part of the story.
And we only hear on Joseph once after Jesus’ birth and infancy,
in Luke’s gospel, that episode that happens when Jesus is 12,
and stays behind in Jerusalem,
causing his parents a great deal of worry.
We’re told a little more about Mary from time to time,
but never Joseph.
In fact, these eight verses in Matthew’s gospel
are the most we learn about Joseph
anywhere in the Bible.
And even here, he’s not the center of attention.
More of a “best supporting actor,” you might say.
Always in the picture,
but sort of in the background.
And that’s what interests me about him:
He seems quite content with
the role he’s been given to play.
He doesn’t question it,
or try to grab center stage away from the others …
He’s simply, faithfully, there.
Now here’s the sort of person Joseph is,
so far as we can tell from these few verses.
In the first place, he’s kind.
We find out in verses 18 and 19
that Joseph is engaged to Mary,
and that he finds out she’s pregnant.
And the child isn’t his –
he doesn’t know at this point whose it is,
but he knows it’s not his.
According to the law,
he could have had Mary put to death.
The law considered that adultery,
even though they weren’t yet married married.
They were engaged; she was promised to him;
that was enough.
But Joseph isn’t like that:
he doesn’t even want to put her to shame,
much less to death,
so he resolves that he will break things off quietly.
Perhaps he’s trying to avoid the embarrassment
of having the community find out
that his fiancée is carrying someone else’s child.
Perhaps he’s thinking that he will set Mary free
to marry whoever the father of the child is,
since obviously, she loves him.
So Joseph is kind.
Matthew says that he is “righteous.”
We might add to that,
that he is merciful.
In the next several verses,
we find out something more about Joseph:
He is obedient, and he has great faith.
Here, he has just reached what must have been a difficult decision
about a painful situation,
and that very same night,
an angel appears to him in a dream and says, “Wait!
Don’t blame Mary; this was God’s idea.”
To his credit, Joseph believes this unusual message.
Whereas, I know that if it were I,
I’d be more inclined to believe I’d had
too many anchovies on my late-night pizza
rather than really believe
that an angel was speaking to me.
But Joseph has no such qualms,
no such doubts.
He believes the angel’s story:
the child Mary is carrying is of the Holy Spirit.
And he obeys the angel’s instructions:
he does not reject Mary, but marries her.
Faith, to believe the message;
obedience, to act on it.
And all of this is pretty much the sum total
of what we know about Joseph.
There are a few more biographical details,
like the flight to Egypt and the return trip,
but they don’t tell us any more about his character
than these few early verses.
You might wonder why I’m dwelling on Joseph so long
when, as I’ve already said,
he’s not the main character in the story.
I promise you,
this is not just a personal obsession of mine!
Some time when you are visiting a museum,
or flipping through a book of pictures by the “old masters,”
check out the pictures of the nativity,
and see where Joseph is.
Here’s one example –
I know you can’t see it from where you are,
but let me describe it for you –
In the center of the picture, of course,
is the baby Jesus.
Mary is holding him and showing him to the Magi,
who are crowded around offering their gifts and looking closely at the baby.
All of the light is on this central scene,
especially on Mary, who is almost aglow.
To the right, behind the Wise Men,
are a Roman soldier and some other armed men,
though I can’t imagine which gospel they came from …
And where’s Joseph?
Far left, completely out of the action,
in the shadows, his face indistinct.
If this were a photograph,
he’d be as brightly-lit as Mary;
he’s in the same angle of light that she is.
But that’s not the way the artist saw it.
Check out the two pictures on the bulletin board in the hallway.
In the one on the right,
we see Mary and the baby, and the three Wise Men,
and no Joseph anywhere!
In the one on the left,
we again have the baby and his mother,
this time with the shepherds,
and while Joseph is in this picture and nearer the center,
he’s still in the background, standing by.
Other people are always center stage.
Joseph is sometimes offstage altogether,
more often, he’s there, just blending into the scenery.
And the reason I think this is so important
is that most of us, most of the time,
are Josephs.
We are not the central figures
splashed across the pages of history.
We’re not a main character in anyone’s life but our own,
and our immediate family,
and maybe one or two other people.
And I think Joseph is a wonderful role model or example
for most of us human beings.
Because he seems to be entirely comfortable with
not being in the spotlight,
and there’s a lot he can teach us
about playing a supporting role.
For one thing,
he demonstrates that you don’t just check out altogether
if you didn’t get the starring part.
If we could imagine ourselves in Joseph’s place,
when he receives the news that
this first baby is to be God’s and not his …
I imagine that for many of us,
the temptation would be to say,
“okay, God,
go ahead and do it your way, but count me out.”
“It’s okay if you want to change the rules;
just leave me out of the picture.”
If God wants someone else to be the star,
well, that’s certainly God’s privilege,
but don’t ask me to like it or support it.
Joseph’s reaction is just the opposite:
He seems to accept immediately his supporting role,
and he plays it with just as much seriousness
as if he were the star.
When Jesus is in danger from Herod,
Joseph immediately takes him and Mary,
and flees to Egypt to hide.
He doesn’t say to God,
“Okay, big shot, you got us into this mess;
let’s see you get us out of it.”
Joseph stays in the story,
even when it’s not turning out like he could have imagined, or planned it.
For another thing, as we mentioned earlier,
Joseph is obedient.
He accepts God’s direction, and goes with it.
That’s difficult for us, too,
because it often takes us many years
to get over the notion
that we always know what’s best for ourselves.
If Joseph had been a younger man,
his ego might not have been about to take
marrying someone who was giving birth
to someone else’s child.
Even if God had told him it was okay,
he might not have been able to make himself do it.
Obedience to God is something we often rebel against,
just as we once rebelled against
our parents and their authority.
(or maybe some of us still do!)
Somehow, like Joseph,
we have to reach a point where
we are no longer fearful of God’s commands,
and no longer need to prove ourselves
by being our own boss.
And of course, the whole question of obedience
is tied in with faith,
for us as it was for Joseph.
I think it is somehow easier for us
to accept our non-starring roles
if we really do believe that all things work together for good
for those who love God,
and if we have some sense of God’s plan,
and where we fit into it,
even if we’re just a little piece of the whole picture.
Sometimes, we do just blend into the scenery,
like Joseph.
But God is right there with us,
in the shadows,
or even offstage altogether.
And there is joy to be found
in serving God faithfully,
even if we never get to hog the spotlight.
Thanks be to God for Joseph,
and everyone like him –
ourselves included!
Amen.
© 2001 Julie
Adkins (e-mail: Drjadkins@aol.com)