December 22, 2019 Text: Matthew 1:18-25
Dear Friends in Christ,
In Adult Bible Class we are doing a study on Joseph – the stepfather of Jesus. I challenged the class to find hymns/songs that speak of Joseph. In our hymnal you won’t find him in any of our Christmas hymns. He does have a verse on saints in LSB #517. There are a few songs on the Internet and one member e-mailed a song entitled, “It Wasn’t His Child.” It has this line, “It wasn’t his child it was God’s child.”
We don’t sing hymns about Joseph and there are no postage stamps of him holding the Christ child. But Matthew begins the Christmas story with a Joseph problem. What is he going to do about a wife carrying another man’s child? Joseph is just living life and boom, in an instant, things change. Have you had a Joseph moment? Are you living a Joseph moment? We are going to need some help here . . .
“THE CHRISTMAS PRESENCE OF GOD”
Joseph and Mary are betrothed to each other. It is like an engagement but in their cultural times it is different from ours. P.E. Kretzmann explains: “As a rule some time elapsed before a betrothed virgin was formally given in marriage and taken to her husband’s house…During this time (living together) did not take place, though the marriage contract was legal and binding…(Mary’s) situation was not only delicate, but the most distressing and humiliating which could fall to the lot of a pure maiden. Knowing herself to be innocent of even the slightest transgression in deed, and fully convinced of the fact that her condition was due only to the supernatural working of the Holy Ghost, she nevertheless could expect no one to believe her defense, should she attempt one.”
Then there is Joseph “being a just man” he wanted to divorce her quietly. Keep it out of the papers and the town gossip. He wished no harm on Mary.
His wife is pregnant and he’s not the father. This is a tough moment in his life. And get this: God designs all of it. This is the Christmas presence of God. He is in the womb of Mary. Who in the world is going to believe this?
Such a sweet and tender story, unless you are the one living it. We know the outcome and so did God – before it happened. It is the presence of God for the hard moments.
Are you having a hard moment? Or, is it moments? They are part of the tapestry of living in a sinful world. In spite of our optimism we travel from one difficulty to another – or so it seems. Anyone here not have life push you up against a wall and maybe bash your head a time or two?
Jesus told us, “In the world you will have trouble.” (Jn. 16:33) Paul and Barnabas assured us, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22b) Troubles…hardships…who wants to dwell on those?
George Orwell observed, “Men can be happy only when they do not assume that the object of life is happiness.” If being happy all the time is your goal in this world you are due for a crash. Everything is fleeting.
Why? Because of our sin. You and I have a terrible inability to live as God designed us to live – in perfect harmony with Him. There is no “utopia” out there even as man continues his search. Joseph must have felt this, do you?
Look at the Christmas presence of God for Joseph. He comes to him in a dream and tells him to take Mary home as his wife and she will give birth to a son and God gives him the name – Jesus. This is the big reveal party. It’s a boy and I’ve got his name. Talk about the Christmas presence of God. This child is going to save people from their sins. The Presence of God enters this fallen and self-destructing world in the person and work of God’s only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was made sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God. Mary had this presence. Joseph had this presence and did as the angel of the Lord commanded. For legal purposes Jesus was Joseph’s son. He would have other children and with the loving presence of God he would be a wonderful parent. It all started here when it all looked so dark and dreary.
When we have hard moments sometimes all we see are dark and dreary. The future is cloudy. What now Lord? First, he forgives our sins and our doubts about His care. He is there, even if we don’t always see Him. To be forgiven gives us comfort as we hear the Word and partake of the Holy Sacrament. The hard moments are only temporary. You know as well as I do we don’t stay there forever. An eternal home awaits where our eyes can see the presence of God. Look the Lord. I’m home!
You may receive some wonderful gifts this Christmas – hey, look new underwear – but no matter how grand and glorious, even if it’s parked in the garage, nothing compares to the greatest present. It is something with you every waking moment of your life – THE CHRISTMAS PRESENCE OF GOD.
AMEN.