Matthew 1:18-25: I Can't Do It Becomes I Can With God's Help

“I can’t do it,” said the little voice. I looked down at the six year old boy from which the words came. The genuine perplexity with which he said, “I can’t do it,” made it just about impossible for me to get upset. Of course, it was only the first day of camp. Pretty quickly though, I learned that whenever I asked this child to put on shoes, to get ready for pool, to make up his bed, to brush his teeth, or whatever else a hut leader asks her or his campers to do the reply was always the same, “I can’t do it.” By Tuesday my feeling that this was a cute child of God had melted into thinking that perhaps this was a Job situation and I was being tested by the God Almighty. Only 15 years old I did not yet have a grip on my emotions, so as the camper kept saying, “I can’t do it,” my patience wore thinner and thinner.  To top it all off though, not only was one camper saying, “I can’t,” the entire cabin of twelve 6 to 8 year olds responded to any request with the negative words.

Kevin Denson was the other leader in my cabin. We had been campers together for a few years. As we sat down on Tuesday night, he looked as tired as I felt. So I asked him, “What should we do?” His response was as malicious as it was brilliant, “Maybe we could use a devotion.” Of course, I thought, “We could turn to the Word of God to force misbehaving children into shaping up.” I know, I am not proud of what I did, but desperate times, like this, call for desperate measures.

That very same night we turned to a couple verses in Scripture to illustrate our point, namely God does not want us to respond by saying “No, I can’t,” rather we are to say I can… “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) and “For God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27). We hammered home our message by saying, instead of telling us I can’t do it, say I can. God helps us to do all things. Really, even though we had bad intentions the message was a good one. And, perhaps it was our brilliant message, but probably it was that by Tuesday all the activities (hiking, horseback riding, canoeing, swimming, games, and singing) wore the campers out such that they all fell quickly asleep. At least that is what Kevin and I thought happened.

Sometime around two o’clock in the morning, the boy who had been saying “I can’t do it” all week long came and knocked on my door. Half awake, I sat up in my bed. “Buddy, what do you need? It’s really late.” He responded, “I can. I can go to the bathroom.” By which, he meant I can’t go to the bathroom, at least not without a leader coming with him. I just about started crying there and then. He had tried his best to understand our message. He tried to stay positive and to say I can with God’s help, even if he could not.

So often we think of Advent as Mary’s season of “yes,” but today’s gospel depicts Joseph as a profound model of “I can do this” with God’s help. Joseph is a paragon of faith, an example of trust, and one righteous man! Yet to dig a little deeper reveals that this story is not just about Joseph affirming God’s call, it is about us all taking part in the YES!

Betrothal, like the one between Mary and Joseph was a legal and binding contract that was made between the elders of families. Mary and Joseph probably did not have much of a voice in this process. Then, when Joseph discovers Mary is with child, he would have been in the right, according to the book of Deuteronomy (22:23-27), not only to dismiss his betrothed quietly, but also to put her to death, as she had broken the contract. YIKES! Yet, Joseph was a righteous man, so he planned to say, “I can’t do it,” in a more subtle manner. Then, all of a sudden something changed.

“Just when Joseph resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him.” God speaks to us in so many different ways: in Creation, in stillness, in relationship, in song, in Scripture, in worship, and even in dreams. What Joseph hears spoken to him is actually of profound importance to us as well. The angel identifies Joseph, as Son of David, which puts some historical perspective around this. The God of all Creation has sent a messenger who knows exactly who Joseph is. God does not mistake Joseph calling him by the wrong name. God knows the number of hairs on his head. He knows exactly who we are too. God knows us, the number of hairs on our heads too. He knows our hearts, our minds, and our emotions…

The messenger then tells Joseph, “Do not be afraid.” Someone once told me, “Fear is a great place to visit, but it’s certainly not a place you want to live.” I can imagine that if I were in Joseph’s position and an angel came to me in a dream I would be pretty scared. Yet, the angel’s message of not being afraid is really an invitation to be open to what is coming from God. We too are asked to be open to what God is calling us to do and who God is calling us to be. The angel then lets Joseph know that this child is not some “illegitimate” son, but conceived from the Holy Spirit within Mary. The Holy Spirit comes to bear life in Mary in a very special way. Once his fear subsides, Joseph can hear that God is bearing something profound within his betrothed. We too are invited to put down our fears, so that the Spirit can bear life with Christ in us.

Joseph then discovers that he is to name this child Jesus. This is nothing all that new in Jewish history, as Ishmael, Isaac, Solomon and Josiah all had their names revealed to their family in dreams. Yet, the Angel’s last note stands out in particular! Jesus will save his people from their sins. The child within Mary will wipe away the perceived disconnection, the wrongs, and the hurt that keep people from God. This is good news. This is a good dream, but we cannot live merely in dreams.

What is remarkable about this dream though, is that Joseph wakes up! This is the season when we hear “Sleepers Awake!” Joseph does wake up and all that told to him becomes true! The “I can’t do it” in the nighttime turned into “I can” of the morning. Matthew tells us that all of this happened to fulfill a prophecy that we would know Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” WHOA! God is coming to be with us! When I really stop to think about it, I can hardly believe this. The God of all Creation wants to come and be with us? Certainly God has made Himself known through Creation, through the prophets, through wisdom, but now God is going to fully show us that God is with us! We are called to respond like Joseph.

Joseph, could have said no to this dream. Who knows what would have happened? Certainly God could have intervened in other ways, but Joseph could have put shame upon Mary, Joseph could have even had Mary put to death. Yet, he listens to what the messenger says in a dream. Joseph says I can do this with your help God! And the way in which God responds is by coming to be with Joseph, coming to be with us!

Advent is a season of Mary’s yes, but it is also a season of Joseph’s affirmation. A time for dreaming and for listening. A chance for us to wake up. We are called to say yes to God! Even when the consequences seem hard to believe. How will “I can’t do it” turn into “I can do it with God’s help”? How will you dream? How will you wake up? How will you see that God is with us?