The Fourth Sunday in Advent Explaining Everything (to Yourself) in the Kindest Way Grace, mercy and peace are yours from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. In today’s Gospel, God’s powerful Word gave Joseph ability and desire to do something he was previously unable and unwilling to do: “Joseph… did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.” Dear Christian friends, Joseph is a wonderful example for us because he is an average Christian and a decent guy. Sit Joseph in our pews, and he would blend in with the rest of us; simply one of the crowd; just another Christian trying to find a way to make it through to next week. Certainly Joseph is comparable to most of us in that he does not wish to be too excessively harmful to his neighbor. As God said, “Joseph was a just man, unwilling to put Mary to shame.” These Words—“unwilling to put Mary to shame”—these Words indicate that Joseph was willing to go to certain lengths to guard and protect his neighbor. Mary “was found to be with child”—that is, Mary was pregnant—and Joseph knew that he had not been involved. Nevertheless, Joseph still cared enough for his neighbor that he did not wish to make Mary’s situation worse for her. He “resolved to divorce her quietly.” By resolving to divorce Mary, Joseph illustrates for us the utter impossibility of the Eighth Commandment. What is the Eighth Commandment? “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). What does that mean? It means We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way (Small Catechism). Joseph seems to have taken his best shot at the commandment. “He resolved to divorce her quietly” because he did not wish to hurt Mary’s reputation. It seems as though Joseph summoned his strength and did everything in his power, both with regard to his neighbor and to the commandment of God. That is the problem: Joseph did everything in his power to love his neighbor by keeping the commandment and he still failed. Even if Joseph managed to keep Mary’s reputation somewhat intact, even if he could still speak well of Mary to others, in his own heart and mind Joseph could not put the best construction on Mary’s situation. Joseph could not think of any way to frame Mary’s situation acceptably and he could not explain things to himself in the kindest way. Thus he “resolved to divorce her quietly.” You cannot really blame the guy, can you? Set aside the intimate, marital aspect of the situation. Think only of the betrayal Joseph must have felt. Mary was someone to whom Joseph had given trust and confidence. Joseph had placed certain expectations upon Mary, just as you have placed certain expectations upon the people close to you. All Joseph’s expectations all crumbled to the ground in a moment. Mary might have tried to explain, but you can probably understand how fantastic and fabricated the story must have seemed to Joseph’s injured ears. God did this, Mary? By reason of weakness and injury—perhaps by reason of anger—this fellow Christian found himself unable to place a good explanation on what he dear loved one had done. Like you, Joseph probably felt as though he was going the extra mile for Mary, just by keeping his mouth shut. Like you, there was only so much Joseph could do with a bruised mind and an angry heart. So God intervened. God acted, not merely for Mary, but for Joseph, also. As Joseph considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Meditate upon this precious Gospel, dear saints! Think of the dear loved ones by whom you have been betrayed—those whose actions you have been unwilling or unable to explain to yourself in the kindest way—then return to today’s Gospel and look at “the wonders that God has done!” (Psalm 78:4) · God poured His healing Words into Joseph’s wounded ears, sending the angel of the Lord to Joseph in a dream. We have no reason to think that God will speak to us in dreams likewise today, but we do not need such speeches, either, for we have the Scriptures and we have the preaching of the Church. Thus it is written, “In many and various ways, God spoke to His people of old through the prophets”—and through angels and dreams and visions—“but now in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1). Through Scriptures and through preaching, God speaks to us with the same miracle-producing power by which He spoke to Joseph in today’s Gospel. Through such Words, God speaks to us as He spoke to Joseph; God heals us as He healed Joseph; God assures us as He assured Joseph; God gives us power to do what we are otherwise unable and unwilling to do, as He did for Joseph. · God worked the miracle of a changed mind for Joseph. “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.” We do not need to think in terms of threat or intimidation, as if the angel had forced Joseph into action. The angel’s command to Joseph carries the power of divine promise and the assurance of divine strength. What did the angel say? o He said, “Joseph, son of David,” thus returning Joseph to the great messianic hope in which Joseph had lived all the days of his life. o The angel said, “Do not fear,” thus miraculously calming Joseph’s troubled mind. o The angel also pointed Joseph to the hope and forgiveness that God created in His Son Jesus. The angel did this by saying to Joseph, The Child conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. · God wants you to know the same things He wanted Joseph to know. o In the same way that God spoke through the angel and said, “Joseph, son of David,” God your Father likewise says to you at the beginning of every worship, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” With these Words, God returns you to the ancient hope that He has already given to you and by which you have thus far lived your days—just as God returned Joseph to ancient hope when He called Joseph “son of David.” o In the same way that God spoke through the angel and said, “Fear not,” God likewise speaks to you in the absolution and He says to you, “I forgive you all your sins.” How can fear remain where sins are forgiven? God’s forgiveness comes from His perfect love for you, and “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). o In the same way that God pointed Joseph to Jesus, saying, “He will save His people from their sins,” God likewise wants you to fix your eyes upon Jesus. Jesus possesses the power of healing. Jesus possesses the power of restoration. Jesus possesses the power of a changed mind and “a right spirit within you” (Psalm 55:11) and a renewed sense of devotion toward those who have injured you. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort!” (2 Corinthians 1:3) God’s powerful Word gave Joseph ability and desire to do something he was unable and unwilling to do: “Joseph… did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.” Have you been injured or betrayed? Have you done your best with the commandment and still failed, for lack of strength? Look at Joseph. God helped His servant by means of a miracle. You have every reason to expect that the Lord your God will perform the same miracle for you, in His good time and “according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus!” (Philippians 4:19) “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16). Say with the Psalmist, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened to the voice of my prayer” (Psalm 66:18-19). Then hope with Joseph for the coming of the Lord. Your God promises that “those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
