Musical Prelude and Service.

Isaiah 7:10-16 & Matthew 1:18-25
On first blush, this passage from Isaiah is more than a little perplexing. Who are these people?
Well, Ahaz is the king of Judah and as Isaiah is talking with him, he is terrified that the kings of Israel
and Aram are conspiring to attack and invade their country. Apparently those other two kingdoms are
angry that he won’t join an alliance against the Assyrians. Instead, Ahaz is trying to gain favour with
the powerful Assyrians in exchange for that kingdom’s protection.
Isaiah is telling Ahaz he made the wrong choices. It will be costly. But while God is angry, God’s love
will never die and there is hope for a different future; eventually. God will show up in surprising ways
and through people you would not expect.
As I’ve considered these puzzling words in the context of the story of Joseph, I’ve attempted to
consider the perspective of a first century Jewish labourer. It’s not an easy task. We have very little
in common. Little in my life experience enables that thought process.
We are never told much about Joseph. His presence in the Gospels is brief. He leaves the narrative
quite quickly. We are not told why, but it is reasonable to assume that by the time Jesus begins his
ministry, Joseph is dead. As a skilled labourer – a carpenter we are told, he would lead a difficult and
likely short life. Three decades after Jesus’s birth, it would not be surprising to learn he died.
I am left considering what it means to be a forgettable person; just trying to get by from day to day,
but also living with the anxiety that my country is living under the rule of a client king to the most
powerful empire in the known world. That he and his community know they are the subjects of a
brutal conquering force that rules through fear, and the threat of violence and horrifying death if they
attempt to stand up for themselves.
They may have dreams of a life of freedom. A life free from fear and hunger. But where can they find
signs that those dreams can become a reality?
And into this story, while Joseph is also struggling with the news that his betrothed; the young
woman, perhaps girl, that he has agreed to marry is already pregnant. And as he debates how to
respond, he receives another dream.
Let’s remember that Joseph is, at first, left to draw his own conclusions. And as would be natural, on
learning that Mary is pregnant, his first assumption is not Immaculate Conception. So, to learn this
young woman he is to marry is already pregnant, leaves him with few options. One of those, one
which I’m going to presume would be the one others would recommend; is to publicly accuse her of
adultery. The penalty for that would be stoning her to death.
The other is to quietly divorce her and get on with life. But he eventually turns to the third option,
the one that is probably the least popular among his friends. To marry her and take this unexpected
child as his own.
Matthew tells us he is swayed by a dream that reminds him of the words of Isaiah. Words of hope
and God’s work in our world, in the midst of fear and threats of destruction and violence. The
promise that this child is special and will change the world. And so, he chooses to stand with his
bride Mary.
Joseph makes the decision to love. To love the word sent from God. To love, through his choices and
actions, his bride Mary and to love the child that she is carrying. It’s not on its face a romantic story,
but it is one of love in action.
Some of my reading this past week highlighted an aspect of this story that can get lost in the wonder
and the high stakes nature of the narrative. And that is just how normal the characters of Mary and
Joseph are.
Yes. Big, important and even mystical things are happening. This is a set up for a story of miracles
and sacrifice and world changing events. But at its heart; at the beginning, we are offered a young
bride who is not even offered a voice at this point. We are told of Joseph, an otherwise anonymous
man fretting about his reputation and his injured pride. He is merely trying to follow the rules of his
world, and also attempt to be a decent person.
Imagine trying to survive in that particular time and place; just trying to get by while under the rule
of a client king of the Roman empire. An empire that seems to be in the background much of the
time but still very present in the threat of brutal and horrifying reprisals at the suggestion of
rebellion. Fear, violence and poverty are part of their lives. And Joseph is offered a dream. A dream
reminding him of a promise of something new, something that could change their world for the
better. A promise they keep reading and hearing from their holy texts.
And in that moment, the words of Isaiah shine through. And God tells Joseph that God will deliver on
that promise through him and through Mary. Not through a celebrated warrior or a mighty king or
the powerful priests in Jerusalem. But through the baby his bride Mary is already carrying.
So, what are you going to do about that Joseph? Are you going to succumb to hurt feelings and
wounded pride? Are you going to listen to the voices telling you to lash out and demand the justice
society tells you deserve? Are you going to self righteously name yourself the wounded party and
demand satisfaction? Or are you going to quietly walk away and declare that this is not your
problem? You have noting to do with this? It’s not a big community. Will you look the other way
when faced with the sight of Mary and her family in the months and years to come? Or will you stand
with this young woman who as already demonstrated her courage and her strength? Will you find
your own strength to walk with her?
Will you believe what you were told in your dreams that this child is special and will change the
world? Do you have the courage to trust your dreams; not only of a better world but that you have a
part to play in bringing them to reality?
God doesn’t turn to the powerful, the popular, the wealthy. God looks to the ones who are constantly
forced to lean on one another; those who are constantly forced to discover new sources of strength
and courage. Those who are so often overlooked or forgotten. That’s where God so often shows up.
That’s where God finds hope.
God shows up. God is always at work, but God is working in ways that we often fail to see.
God is in the small signs of compassion and generosity. God is in the quiet decisions to not give up or
to insist on a voice. God is in the decision to not abandon those you in your community who are
vulnerable and alone. God is in the countless ways our neighbours let us know we are not forgotten
and we are not alone.
God sees us. God sees us in our vulnerability, but also sees the strength and the courage we can
forget we possess. God sees who we are and who we can be, and prevails upon us to let our
strength, our courage, our love shine brightly so we can play our part in transforming our world to
one that celebrates love, peace, generosity and compassion.
God encourages us to reject the greed, the fear, the violence and the hatred that so often is
emphasized and celebrated in our world.
Let us not forget that when confronted with a choice, Joseph rejected the calls of pride and wounded
reputation, a sense of betrayal to stand with courage, with hope and with love. And for that we say
thanks be to God. Amen
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789