Sermon: "Is it Better to Be Born Lucky than Rich?"

This was the overarching sentiment of an elderly gentleman I visited last week – he reflected how so often along his journey of life things had a habit of working out for the best even at times when things seemed to be hopeless and desperate.

I wonder if Joseph would agree?

As Matthew begins his story it is pretty obvious that Joseph is not an especially rich man – neither does he seem to be very lucky! 

Poor Joseph – what a dilemma!

All his dutiful preparations and his well-considered plans now counted for nothing. There he was in the middle of his betrothal to Mary and now given the devastating news that she was already pregnant! As if that wasn’t enough, he had to cope with the fact that he was not responsible! It is the kind of high drama situation portrayed on Eastenders or Emmerdale! And there is nothing new in this. The old medieval dramatists in their mystery plays apparently took great delight in portraying Joseph as an embarrassed man bending people’s ears in trying to find out who had been cheating him! 

The fact was that this news marked the end of the marriage. Joseph is committed to having Mary as his wife. In effect she is due to become his property because that is exactly was what it meant in the society of the day. But this property had been spoiled – damaged beyond repair. It would now be perfectly reasonable and acceptable for him to go public and to take action which could lead to the death penalty for Mary.  

But, as Matthew insists, Joseph is a just man. He doesn’t react instinctively, he thinks it through to work out an appropriate response. It would be unjust to himself if he were merely to ignore the matter and go ahead with the marriage as if nothing had happened. At the same time it would be unjust to Mary to publicise the matter, and to use her as a deterrent to other girls. He lives with an anxious uncertainty. Eventually he settles on the least unsatisfactory compromise. He will not expose Mary but will break off the formal betrothal in the presence of a minimum number of witnesses. Mary will have to make the best of a bad job and live as alone parent. He will have to live with the embarrassment of a break-up which he will refuse to explain in public, and for which, therefore, he will expect to be blamed. So, Joseph decides to take the most honourable option that the law can offer. 

All of this must have seemed like a bad dream to Joseph. I am sure that he went to bed that night hoping that when he woke up in the morning everything would be alright. Well, of course, that wasn’t to happen – the situation was a reality – but something did happen to Joseph that night. Matthew describes how an angel appeared to him in a dream with an incredible message, urging him on the face of it to do a very foolish thing. The angel’s message being that God was deep at work within this situation and that he should go ahead with the marriage. This would take an immense sacrifice on Joseph’s part, it was a tremendous risk and it called for great humility and faithfulness. But this was to be Joseph’s destiny – this was to be Joseph’s vocation – unbelievable as it may seem this was Joseph’s “lucky” day! God gave him the opportunity, we could say to “make his own luck” – that is to choose to serve God and co-operate with God’s plans – because choosing God’s way is to choose the fullness of life as Jesus himself would go on to proclaim. 

On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, which traditionally focuses upon Mary’s vocation with the announcement by Gabriel of the conception of Jesus and her willingness in saying “yes” to God – we wholeheartedly join with her song of praise and wonder in magnifying the Lord! Within Luke’s Gospel which meticulously details all of these events we can tend to play down Joseph’s role. Thankfully, Matthew sets the record straight – because just as much as Mary, Joseph too was invited to co-operate with God in the work of Salvation. 

Joseph’s dream is very significant in all of this. In our culture, we tend to be rather disparaging of dreams – we tend to think of them as a kind of fantasy or escapism we can indulge in but are very separate from reality. There used to be a TV programme on years ago called Fantasy Island – a place to escape to where you could indulge yourself without any fear of it affecting your day to day life. The dreams spoken of in the Bible are nothing like that. Joseph’s dreams are ones which take on board the reality of the situation but offer a way forward – a different perspective – a way of “thinking out of the box” to use a modern idiom. Such dreams bring the message that out of an apparently messy and hopeless situation something wonderful can come.

In Joseph’s dream it is the message of Immanuel – God with us! 

Seemingly impossible situations become transformed when we are willing to make a sacrifice and take a risk to live to the vocation God has given to us. That was the message given to Joseph in his dream. 

On Tuesday we will be celebrating Christmas and rejoicing in the message of peace and goodwill. But let us not forget that this peace and goodwill and the joy of “God with us” in the birth of Jesus was born out of tremendous sacrifice and willingness to co-operate with God on the part of both Joseph and Mary.

And for God to be made manifest in the life of Christian people and our churches and congregations in the 21^st century demands nothing less of us.  

When faced with the shock of Mary’s pregnancy I am sure that Joseph would not have considered himself to be a “lucky” man. But years later, on reflecting upon the situation he faced and the choices he made, I am just as sure that he would have considered himself to be “lucky”! Having said that, “lucky” is really the wrong word because it is not a word found in the Christian vocabulary. As people of faith we believe in a God of love who has a plan of Salvation which the whole of creation is moving towards. “Blessed” would be our choice of word which is far more appropriate. Yes, Joseph was blessed in the fulfilling of his, on the face of it, very unlikely vocation in nurturing the Saviour of the world as this poem so wonderfully captures: