Joe...

 

Joe

 

Matthew 1:18-25
1:18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

1:19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.

1:20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

1:21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

1:22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

1:23 "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us."

1:24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife,

1:25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

 

I’ve known a lot of folks named “Joe” in my life. Two were good friends from high school. One “Joe” was a Polish Catholic who loved to ski. He was much smarter than I, and had hoped to become a doctor (I actually believe he wound up marrying one). This Joe had a great sense of humor, and a winsome smile. Having just seen him this past Summer at our 50^th class reunion, I can clearly see he has not lost any of his “fun-lovingness,” nor has that great smile faded one iota. The other high school “Joe” was Jewish, and the son of a prominent attorney in our town. His mom was one of my wife’s schoolteachers. This Joe was also much, much smarter than I (do we see a pattern here?)—in fact, I believe he was the top student in our class. He had similar interests to mine in science and the space program, and played trombone in the band, right behind us trumpets. He, too, had a wonderful sense of humor, but one much more sophisticated than any other “Joe” I ever knew. He was a master punster, as well, and had a flare for drama. In ninth grade, he was a detective in a poorly-written play our class performed, but he pulled it off, unlike the rest of us, who acted, well, like NINTH graders. I saw this Joe, too, at our 50^th class reunion. In fact, Dara and I had dinner with him and his wife (I believe they are both attorneys) at our table. What a blessing it was to spend the evening with them, just catching up. This Joe has lost some weight, and looks great for our age. He has always been an inspiring individual for me, the “real deal,” as some would say. 

 

Interestingly, none of the “Joes” I have known have lived “down” to the popular moniker, “Average Joe.” Don’t you wonder where that came from? I’ve known some “Average Dicks,” a few “Average Bobs,” and quite a few “Average Bills,” but no “Average Joes.”  And now, we have the 46^th President of the United States—the first one named “Joe.”

 

One of my favorite “Joes” is the one this weekend’s gospel lesson tells of—the Joe who was betrothed to young Mary, who would become the mother of Jesus Christ. The text says he was a “righteous man.” What a loaded phrase! What does it mean to be “righteous?” We know that the word can be parsed as “right living,” and that the judgment “right” has something to do with a person living in a way that is pleasing to God. How might we know this? One could say that living “righteously” means living according to the law of God. Our Jewish siblings would most likely have this as part of their “formula” for right living, and well they should. After all, the “law” of God was designed to help God’s people live in a way that pleases God, advances the community of faith, and helps the individual “grow” into a mature child of God. In Judaism, this law that defines righteousness includes “welcoming the stranger” as one would welcome a citizen of their own people, or in other words, accepting them like they were already part of the family of faith, even before knowing their religious pedigree, their politics, or their behavioral history. A right-living Jew—or Christian, for that matter—also loves her or his neighbor as themselves. They are not judgmental, but instead are compelled to err on the side of including and affirming “new” residents or immigrants. The righteous man Joseph was just as “chosen” by God as was the humble Mary, and we often forget that. God’s angel spoke to Joseph in a dream, affirming how he was to embrace Mary and respect her in a “new” way, other than what he had planned, namely to “dismiss her quietly.” 

 

Joseph was a man who clearly trusted God’s word to him. Joseph married the young girl, trusted that the child entrusted to her was via the Holy Spirit of God, and purposed to keep her “pure” by refraining from sexual relations with her until Jesus was born. Do we really have any idea how rare these qualities would have been in a first-century man? (Or even if this story were to happen in OUR time?) We might even draw the conclusion that by doing all of these things as the angel told him in that dream, by showing the ultimate respect for the woman, Mary, by following the words of the prophets, and especially by trusting in the “Holy Spirit of God,” Joseph was the first true “Christian,” as the doctrines of the Holy Spirit wouldn’t begin to form until after Pentecost in the Christian Era. Note that Joseph does not question any of this, but simply obeys? Indeed, he was no “Average Joe!” In fact, he showed himself to be an “Extraordinary Joe.”

 

If Joseph can be seen as a kind of “first Christian,” then might he also be a model for the modern Christ follower? Why not! Think of the ways he demonstrated “righteousness”—trusting, believing, following the Word of God to him, respecting Mary when 99% of the men of his era would have thrown her out on her ear at best, and possibly even accused her of the capital sin of adultery. And what of his willingness to not “claim his marital rights,” as the Matthean author relates to us? This is huge, as the “angel” did not make this part of the deal, but Joseph heard the word “virgin” in the prophecy and apparently decided on his own that this should be kept as Mary’s status until after Jesus was born. (Our Roman Catholic siblings SO venerate Mary that they make both her perpetual virginity as well as HER virgin birth a characteristic of the “Mother of God,” but these have never been supported in the Protestant faith.)

 

The Joe of Mary and Jesus was not a “macho man.” There is an idea out there in our time that a “true man” is tough, “masculine,” and has testosterone to spare. There are even “Christian” teachings that advance this false idea of what a “righteous man” is. Remember the “Promise Keepers”? This was a Christian men’s movement started by a football coach years ago, and while some of its values were OK, it tended to help advance this more “macho” idea of what the Christian man was supposed to be. Our biblical Joseph was more in the mold of the Joseph (son of Jacob) we read about in the Hebrew Bible—finding himself in a place he never expected, having to “swallow his pride” to be obedient to God, and yet elevated to a position of prominence and “power.” He, too, was a “dreamer.” And yet, like the Old Testament Joseph, the figure Matthew tells us of did not let any of this “go to his head.” Joseph of Egypt forgave his brothers for selling him into slavery in the far country and warmly welcomed them and saved them in a time of famine. Matthew’s Joseph accepts and celebrates Mary and her predicament, obeys God’s prophetic word and the angelic dream, and with what little more we have of the biblical record of him before he disappears, he appears to keep this righteous track record intact. 

 

O that more of us “Christian men” would resolve to be more like the humble, obedient, and apparently “nurturing” Joseph, and lose the rough, testosterone-laden exterior that often masks our human fears and inadequacies! The New Testament’s Joseph is a somewhat “unsung” hero of our faith, a model for us all to live righteously, respect persons across the spectrum of human sexuality, and welcome the strangers we encounter in life, rather than pick fights with them or offer them the wrong-finger salute!

 

This Advent, as we anticipate the continued “second coming” of Jesus, as Jesus continues to be born anew in each of us, may we “men” look to Joseph as a role model, not as some kind of “superhero,” but as a humble servant of God. And may we respect and love the “Marys” in our lives with the love of the living God. 

 

In honor of our sibling Joseph, I conclude with this wonderful poem by the late Ann Weems, about “Getting [Joseph] to the Front of the Stable”:

 

Getting to the Front of the Stable

  By Ann Weems

 

Who put Joseph in the back of the stable?

Who dressed him in brown, put a staff in his hand,

And told him to stand in the back of the crèche

background for the magnificent light of the Madonna?

God-chosen, this man Joseph was faithful

in spite of the gossip in Nazareth,

in spite of the danger from Herod.

This man, Joseph, listened to angels

and it was he who named the Child

Emmanuel.

 

Actually, Joseph probably stood in the doorway

guarding the mother and child

or greeting shepherds and kings.

When he wasn’t in the doorway,

he was probably urging Mary to get some rest,

gently covering her with his cloak,

assuring her that he would watch the Child.

 

Actually, he probably picked the Child up in his arms

and walked him in the night,

patting him lovingly

until he closed his eyes.

This Christmas, let us give thanks to God

for this man of incredible faith

into whose care God placed the Christ Child.

As a gesture of gratitude,

let’s put Joseph in the front of the stable

where he can guard and greet

and cast an occasional glance

at this Child

who brought us life.

 

Amen!