The sermon for December 24 was based on Matthew 1:18-25.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Little children wailing like banshees as they try to get away from a department store Santa, bewildered husbands standing before a rack of greeting cards wondering which one is least likely to extend their stay in the dog house, Ebenezer Scrooge clawing in desperation at his bed clothes, there is a lot of fear in Christmas. We cover it with evergreen and the smell of cookies and, like an aging actress, we prefer that it be seen by candlelight or the flattering glow of a Christmas tree.

But there is still a lot of fear in Christmas. The shepherds were terrified. When the wise men arrived some time later they sent the whole city of Jerusalem into a panic. Even St. Joseph was afraid. When the angel came to him what was the message? Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife. I like St. Joseph. I can relate to him. He's a regular guy, concerned with doing the right things, but small potatoes as we say. All he ever wanted to do was settle down with the girl he loved and work with his hands, patron saint of the working man.

By the time the angel come to him, Joseph's dream had all but completely fallen apart. He was in a terrible position. To all outward appearances the woman he loved had been unfaithful to him. I'm sure that she had tried to explain things to him but how believable was her story? Would you have believed it, even if it came from the one you loved and had publicly promised to marry? Joseph's life had been turned upside down by circumstances beyond his control. Do you think he wondered, in the midst of it all, where God was? "Where is God as my life is falling apart?"

Joseph had to have felt as if he were over a barrel. He was afraid to trust Mary, and who could blame him? He was afraid of what people would think of him, again who could blame him? If he kept Mary as a wife people would think he was weak and maybe they'd be right. If he divorced her, broke their binding engagement, people might think he had done something to deserve her disloyalty. He was afraid to carry though on his original intention. He doubted himself. Had he been right to love this woman? Had he been right to trust her? Where was God?

What are you afraid of tonight? Are you afraid of the bills that are on the way? Are you afraid of tomorrow's dinner and the empty seat that had long been filled with someone dear to you? Are you afraid of tomorrow's dinner and the seat filled with someone whom you can't stand? Are you afraid that in your heart you are much more like Scrooge than Tiny Tim? Are you afraid that this will be your last Christmas? Maybe you are so upset about something else in your life, some other crisis, that Christmas has almost vanished. You've missed Advent and now you're afraid that you'll miss the joy and the peace that are also to be part of Christmas.

Whether your fears are big (consider the fears of our boys in Iraq who wonder whether they will ever see another Christmas) or small, "Have I made Christmas beautiful enough for the people I love" they can be boiled to down to one unpleasant pudding of fear. We are all afraid of our inability to deal with the changed circumstances of our lives. We're thrown one curve ball after another and we don't always handle it well. St. Joseph isn't the only who's ever had his life turned upside down at Christmas time. Even the most competent man can be worn down.

This is something of which we actually should be somewhat afraid. The weak in Joseph's precarious situation wasn't the Virgin Mary. Neither was it public opinion. The public, as such, always has the wrong opinion because the wrong opinion is always more entertaining. The weak link in Joseph's situation was his own doubt. He doubted his own love for Mary more than he doubted her love for him. He doubted his own judgment more than he doubted hers, maybe he had deserved her infidelity. He doubted God's willingness to save his marriage and his future.

Here again I can relate to St. Joseph. He thought he had things all figured out, that he knew how things worked when he really hadn't a clue. What he didn't understand was that the horrible, complicated, painful and unnerving mess that was visited upon him by Mary's unexpected expectancy was, in every way, infinitely better than anything he could have ever imagined, let alone brought into being by himself. His life had been turned upside down in order to save the world. While he was busy fretting over the complicated circumstances of his engagement and wonder where God was in all of this, God was literally right there beside him, sometimes in the next room, sometimes at the meal table, sometimes right there next to him.

To have God with us, to have Him with us spiritually and physically, to have Him really with us as He was in the womb of Mary and in the House of Joseph is more than merely good. Joseph wasn't created merely to work quietly with his hands. He was created for more than to simply enjoy a peaceful domestic life. He was built for something beyond the enjoyment of a good reputation. These things were all part of God's plan for Joseph but not all of it. Joseph was created to walk with God, to converse with Him and delight in His immediate presence.

So were you. God made you for the same reason He made Adam and Eve and with the same intention. We are all created to live and walk and fellowship with God and that fellowship is to be immediate and personal. We are intended to hear His voice and see His face and know without any doubt how much He loves us and how wonderful it is be so loved. Joseph's life may have been a train wreck in many ways but it was never more perfect than when he finally understood why it had been turned upside down and what it would mean to his family and friends.

One day we will see Jesus face to face, the way Joseph did. We will look into the eyes of God's only-begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. But we don't have to wait for that day to draw strength from His presence. He is present with us in flesh and blood in the Lord's Supper. He is present with His full power and comfort in all who are baptized and believe. We hear His voice in every sermon that is faithful to the inspired and inerrant Word of Holy Scripture and in every Pastor who lays his hand on us to forgive our sins. Each of these great an wonderful gifts turns our lives upside when it comes to us. Baptism brings with it a change of heart that sets the stage for a lifetime of struggle. The Bible teaches us to do things that we would never otherwise even consider, such a turning the other cheek, defying powerful authority when it sins, giving away all that we have without the expectation of repayment and so on. Holy Communion, too, comes with much complication. It requires us to be headless of public opinion, it requires us to trust God and commit ourselves to those who don't always seem to deserve it. But each of these gifts brings with them the grace and forgiveness and the presence of Jesus Christ and that more than compensates for whatever unexpected circumstances may arise. In the Means of Grace we find the meaning and purpose of our lives revealed and given to us in vessels of silver and gold.

Some of these gifts cost us friends and comforts but they also provide friends and comforts. Joseph lost some respect for keeping his commitment to Mary. He lost some peace and quiet by believing God's Word. But could he, when the angel was speaking to him, have anticipated that within a few months wise men from the East would arrive on his doorstep with Gold and Frankincense and Myrrh? Could he have anticipated that on the night Mary had her baby Shepherds would come and, with their worship of the Child, remind him of God's surpassing goodness? Could he have ever expected that Mary's relatives would, by sharing a similar experience in the birth of John the Baptist, become tremendous comforts to him as the years went by? Of course not! All Joseph could see before the angel arrived was the passing away of his little workingman's dream. But what wonders waited this humble and ordinary carpenter!

You see what a terrible mistake it would have been for Joseph to put away his wife and with her his future. Although it seemed like the responsible thing to do at the time, it would have been an absolute disaster for Joseph to have turned away from love and commitment to justice and law. Can you imagine how much worse off he would have been had he turned to the Pharisees for their religious annulment and to the representatives of King Herod for their legal divorce? They were not the agents of God's grace they were the instruments of His law and the law is not our friend.

How much better to heed the comforting words of the angel. Do not be afraid. God was good to Joseph. Jesus was better to His guardian that His guardian could ever have been to Him and yet there was such love between them that of all the people with whom Jesus grew up, He called Joseph to his throne in heaven before anyone else.

One of the Christmas cards sold by our young people here at Bethany features a painting of the Nativity by Konrad von Soest. In this painting Joseph is on his knees trying to cook dinner for Mary and the baby Jesus. He doesn't look at all like he knows what he's doing. He looks exactly like a carpenter in a kitchen. But he looks happy too. He looks like a man who is willing to grow into his life rather than settle for a life that suits his immature self. He is at once foolish looking and ever so wise. May the kind of grace that made a saint of Joseph bring you strength and joy tonight and always. Amen. 

The Peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Last Updated: 7/15/2008