Dear friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

It was the Sunday before Christmas, and the Sunday School was preparing for the annual Christmas program. Everyone was excited and happy – except for the one little boy who had been assigned the role of the Inn Keeper.  He had hoped to play the caring Joseph, so he decided secretly to rewrite a few lines to put his own character into a better construct.  When Mary, who was heavy with child, and Joseph, came to the Inn, the Inn Keeper, threw the door open and said, “Come on in – we have plenty of room.”  Joseph, however, knowing the end of the story, gazed beyond the open door and then, looking straight in the eye of the Inn Keeper, said, “No wife of mine is going to stay in a dump like this. We’d rather take the stable.” And with that the story quickly returned to the traditional ending. The Inn Keeper is always remembered in the Christmas story. Regrettably, Joseph is often the most overlooked.

Now, as an adoptive father, I feel a certain kinship with Joseph.  You know that you play an important role in the nurture versus nature debate of a child’s development, but you’re just not sure what it is.  Lake of the Isles member and poet Charlotte Gronseth beautifully captures this paradox in her poem Joseph’s Christmas.

Strange.

Mine and yet not mine,

both child and mother.

Beautiful are both,

yet both a charge to

life’s intent far beyond

my asking.

This wee man, helpless lamb, is God, the angel said.

This tiny God depends on me.

Mine and yet not mine.

Mary, I soon shall hold.

This child- how shall I call him?

Son? Yes, for Mary’s honor.

Lord? And so he is.

Lord, I hear you whimper.

Let me lift you now

and gently rock you back to sleep.

My friends, this morning let us meditate on the story of Joseph, his dream and selfless act of obedience and love, and God’s invitation to you and me this Christmas to follow Joseph’s example.

Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t offer a complete picture of Joseph. Even the gospel writers seem uncertain of his role.  The oldest gospel written by the Evangelist St. Mark never mentions Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem or his father.  Nor is he mentioned in St. John’s gospel. Joseph’s name only appears in two of the four gospels and the last time Joseph is seen in scripture is at the Passover visit to the Temple when Jesus was 12 years old.  Unbeknownst to Mary and Joseph, Jesus had stayed behind in Jerusalem, and after three days they discovered that he was missing. They finally returned to the Temple where Jesus was conferring with the scribes. Surprised, he asked them “Why were you searching for me. Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house.” It was that moment when the adoptive parent knew his work was done.” It must have seemed so painful to Joseph, just as when the adopted child says, “You’re not my real parents.”

We don’t have any idea of Joseph’s age when he was engaged and married to Mary. Nor do we know his exact occupation. He is described in scripture as a “Technon” which is translated from Greek as a carpenter. It is the same word that is used for technician and technical.  Not exactly the training needed for a preacher and miracle worker.

So, why did God choose Joseph out of all the potential fathers in Israel to mentor Jesus and to serve as Mary’s husband?  That is why this chapter in St. Matthew is so enlightening. Here we read that Joseph was a righteous man who was unwilling to expose the pregnant Mary to public disgrace and planned to divorce her quietly.  Let me be clear. Joseph was no wishy-washy man, easily swayed by emotion and sentimentality. He was a person of strength and purpose.  He was brave and courageous. Certainly, he was committed and faithful to his religious tradition, to the good order it provided with its balance of punishments and rewards, and he was ready to act on that commitment. The angel’s word, however, challenged him to turn aside from his righteous convictions and accept an unwed mother and her child his own. What Joseph understood as the correct thing to do, to divorce Mary quietly, was being challenged directly by God. Joseph was instead being encouraged to act precisely opposite to what the law demanded.  Surprisingly, there are times when God expects the same from you and me.

My friends, it is easy to follow the religious precepts of our age and not get involved. It is easy to drown out the caustic voices of hate with our own musical choruses of love.  But is that what God truly desires from us? Does he call us to do more and walk in the footsteps of the righteous and caring Joseph?  In this other Christmas story, we meet one man who risked everything in the eyes of the world-becoming an outcast to family and friends, even at the sake of personal suffering and shame, all for the sake of being obedient to God’s call and protecting this expectant mother Mary. As Joseph woke from his sleep, he knew what he had to do. He did as the angel commanded him. He took Mary as his wife and he named the child she bore Jesus.  And by doing so, he symbolically, if not formally, adopted the child as his own.

Joseph had no idea what the consequences of his gracious and merciful actions would have in the world, but we do. Jesus himself may have learned the lesson of selfless mercy and grace over rigid correctness of the world from his earthly father Joseph.  This child would one day willingly march to the cross, where he was rejected and suffered by his own, to save you and all God’s people from their sins.

My friends, in opening your life, your home and your heart to the stranger, you too will be changed and you will be richly blessed. That is what we all need to learn as we dare to follow in the footsteps of Joseph, the husband of Mary and the guardian of Jesus.  Amen.

May the peace of Go which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.