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| This week's Gospel is not only about Joseph's dream—it's also about waking up. |
The Rev. Seth Olson © 2022
Emmanuel, God with us, let my words be your words, and when my words are not your words, let your people be wise enough to know the same. Amen.
“I can’t do it,” said the little voice. I looked down at the six-year-old boy beside me. The genuine perplexity with which he said, “I can’t do it,” made it just about impossible for me to be upset. Of course, it was only the first day of camp, and pretty quickly I learned that whatever I asked this child to do—put on shoes, get ready for the pool, make his bed, brush his teeth—whatever I asked, the reply was always the same: “I can’t do it.”
By Tuesday, my feeling that this little one was a cute child of God had melted into thinking that perhaps this was a Job situation, and I was being tested by God Almighty. Only 15 years-old, at the time, I did not have a firm grip on my emotions (do I now?). So, as the camper kept saying, “I can’t do it,” my patience wore thinner and thinner. To top it off, the entire cabin of twelve children had seemingly caught this “I can’t bug,” as they all joined in the negative chorus.
Kevin Denson was the other leader in my cabin. We had been campers together for a few years, so we had a good rapport with one another. As we sat down on Tuesday evening, 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 call for desperate measures.
That very same night we turned to verses in Scripture to illustrate our point. God does not want us to respond by saying “No, I can’t,” rather we are to say I can. Philippians 4:13 reads, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” “For God all things are possible,” Mark’s Gospel account proclaims. We hammered home our message by saying, instead of telling us I can’t do it, say I can, for 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 teaching, but more likely it was that by Tuesday all the campers were exhausted. Hiking, horseback riding, canoeing, swimming, games, and singing—it all wore the campers out such that they fell fast asleep. At least, for a while.
What you may not know about the camp where I grew up is that the bathrooms are a short walk from the cabins. To teenage me that was nothing, but to a six-year-old in the middle of the night it must have felt like a lengthy trek. Now, sometime around two o’clock in the morning, the boy who had started the, “I can’t do it” movement 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 really meant I can’t go to the bathroom, at least not without a leader. I got a little teary-eyed as I found my bathhouse sandals. This sweet little child of God had tried his best to understand our message. He tried to stay positive and to say, “Yes, 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 lesson depicts Joseph as a profound model of “I can do this” with God’s help. Joseph, does not get a lot of publicity, but he is a model of faith, an example of trust, and a righteous man, or at least he becomes one with God’s help! Yet digging deeper reveals that this story is not just about Joseph affirming God’s call, it is about us—you and me, this community—taking part in God’s YES! So, let’s take a look closer.
In those days, betrothal, like that between Mary and Joseph, was a legal and binding contract made between the elders of families. Mary and Joseph may not have had much say in this process. Then, when Joseph discovered Mary was with child, he would have been right within the law, 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. This is an instance of what is legal, what is ethical or Godly being worlds apart! Yet, Joseph planned to say, “I can’t do it,” in a respectful manner. Then, everything changed.
“Just when Joseph resolved to [dismiss Mary quietly], an angel of the Lord appeared to him.” At the start of the dream, the angel identified Joseph, as the Son of David, which put some historical perspective around this. This correct identification also meant that God knew exactly who Joseph was. God intervened into Joseph’s life to invite this Son of David into something different.
The beginning of Matthew’s Gospel account reads like a beta version of Ancestry.com, which is amusing, except that so many of the members of David’s line did not adhere to the way of God—did any of them? Even David didn’t. There were troubling women in Jesus’ ancestry primarily because there were unfaithful men in his lineage. Bathsheba’s wrong doing was because of David’s own, Tamar’s was a result of Judah’s, and Joseph could have added to that, but he did not.[1]
If you know anything about generational trauma this tiny step is huge. Joseph stopped a cycle. Do we hope for something more from Jesus’ earthly father? Of course! Still to dismiss Mary quietly was a start, or more correctly stated, it was an opening that God utilized.
In this opening, the angel first invited Joseph to live without fear. Yes, it’s easier said than done. And yet, without fear Joseph could then hear the messenger say that this child was not ill-conceived but conceived by the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit came to bear life in Mary in this unique way. Once his trepidation waned, Joseph could hear God’s good news—that this child within his betrothed was holy.
As the dream continued, Joseph learned that he was to name this child Jesus. While this was nothing novel in Jewish history, as Ishmael, Isaac, Solomon, and Josiah all had their names revealed to their family in dreams, God was doing something new here! The angel indicated what was meant by this name.
Jesus, or Joshua in Hebrew, means Savior. He would save his people from their sins. The child within Mary would wipe away the disconnection, the wrong, and the hurt that kept people from God, from each other, and from their truest selves. This was good news in a good dream, but we cannot live merely in dreams.
Perhaps the
most unremarkable bit of this passage is that Joseph woke up. However, he did
more than simply opening his eyes. In Advent, we sing songs like, “Sleepers Wake,”—“When
we hear the heralds singing,
and in our hearts new joy is springing; we wake, and rise up from our gloom; for
our Friend comes down all-glorious.”[2]
This sounds like Joseph who woke up to see not a dream but God’s truth. With
God’s help, Joseph made the impossible dream come true! The “I can’t do it” in
the nighttime turned into the “I can” of the morning.
You might be saying, “Okay, so why is all of this important to me?” or “This is all so crazy, why did it happen this way?” Could God have come into this world in another way? Certainly! Who are we to limit the Creator of the Universe? Matthew though, added a prophecy to help interpret this passage.
Isaiah, the prophet, foretold of this miraculous birth. Yes, Joseph was to name him Jesus, but the child would grow into Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” The reality that Joseph awakened into was God is with us! The God of all Creation came to be with us! At the end of Matthew’s Gospel account, Jesus reiterated this truth saying, “I will be with you always, even to the end of the ages.” God comes to be with us—in Creation, in stillness, in relationship, in song, in Scripture, in worship, in dreams, but in the person of Jesus, God shows us the fullness of what it means for God to dwell with us. In response, we are called to be like Joseph, and maybe that sounds like a low bar.
However, Joseph could have said no to this dream. Joseph could have dismissed Mary. Joseph could have even had Mary put to death. Yet, he listened not to his ancestry, but to the messenger of God. We too are asked to be open to what God is calling us to do and who God is calling us to be. Joseph said I can do this with your help, God. The way in which God responded was by coming to be with Mary and Joseph. We too are invited with each other’s help, with God’s help to heal generational wounds, to dream with the Spirit, and to awaken, so that we might make God’s dream a reality!
Advent is a season of Mary’s yes, and it is a season of Joseph’s yes. This means it’s a season of YES AND! It’s a time for healing AND for dreaming. It’s a chance for us to wake up AND make the dream come true. It’s a season of bearing Christ AND being with those who do! This Advent, I wonder, how is God transforming your “I can’t do it” into “I can with God’s help”? I wonder, what is God’s dream for you, for All Saints, and for this community? I wonder, in what ways are you awakening to the truth of Emmanuel? As we move ever closer to the Season of the Incarnation remember that God is with us then, now, and even unto the end of the ages.
[1] Joy J. Moore, “Fourth Sunday of Advent Year A.” on Sermon Brainwave Podcast. [released December 10, 2022. Accessed December 13, 2022. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sermon-brainwave-876-fourth-sunday-of-advent/id1538186845?i=1000589921282].
[2] “Sleepers Wake.” In Hymnal 1982. Words: Philipp Nicolai. Translation: Carl P. Daw Jr.. Music: Wachet auf, melody Hans Sachs, adapted by Philipp Nicolai; originally by Johann Sebastian Bach.
