Luke 2:1-20 & Matthew 2:1-12
Joseph
Merry Christmas! It warms my heart that you are celebrating this most special of days; I was there, Joseph is my name; let me tell you what happened; it would be good if I started at the beginning of things.
It was wonderful thing that had happened to me back when the Romans still occupied my homelands and my people lived in constant fear of the threats posed by the Roman soldiers. I fell in love with a wonderful young woman named Mary; she was beautiful and sweet and a faithful daughter of Israel. As was our tradition, I asked Mary’s father if I could marry her, and we worked out the marriage contract with great happiness; I was a blessed man! But I soon learned that the blessings of God can sometimes come with some interesting side effects. Mary I soon learned, was going to have a baby, and it was not mine; we were not yet fully married; we had not been together in that way. What was I to do? My mind told me to write a letter of divorce ending our marriage contract, cutting my losses and moving on. But God had another plan; in a dream like no other dream I had ever had, an angel of God told me that Mary had not been unfaithful to me, that the child that she carried was from God and this special child would be the long-awaited Messiah of God. Let me tell you; I did not see that coming! But I believed this dream to be a vision from God; and I believed Mary’s word that she had not been unfaithful; I believed Mary’s story that the child was from God, just as I was told in my dream; God’s word, settled my heart’s anger and allowed Mary and I to move forward, even though others looked at us with those accusing eyes, judging us as a young couple with no self-disciple, who could not wait until their day of marriage.
Time was growing close for Mary to give birth and Mary and I looked forward with joy to that day when she would deliver, surrounded by the support of Mary’s family and the promised help of a midwife. But again, it seemed God had other plans for us. A census was to be taken, and I was required to travel to my ancestral home, Bethlehem, to be registered; I was of the family line of David, as was Mary. My plan was to go as quickly as I could, do all that was required of me and return to Nazareth, hopefully before the child was born. My plan! (laugh) My plan was not God’s plan and it was not Mary’s plan; Mary insisted on going with me. So, I loaded my work donkey with all of our traveling gear and food and supplies for the baby if it came (my donkey was used to carrying my heavy tools and wood for my craft); but Mary could not walk for long stretches so for much of our journey Mary sat upon the donkey and I carried a pack containing as much of our supplies as I could manage. I will tell you it was not an easy journey; it was not an easy journey for either of us. Mary could never seem to find a comfortable position on the donkey. She didn’t complain, but she shifted back and forth constantly. It was my donkey that complained, he was not used to carrying anything that moved around.
With stops to eat and to sleep at night, we slowly made our way to Bethlehem. Finally seeing Bethlehem on the horizon, Mary and I paused to give thanks to God; we could not have gone on too much further in her condition. Bethlehem had grown since last, I had been there, expanded by what could only be described as a tent city all around it. My stomach dropped, worried we would not find shelter, worried that we would have to set up camp in the midst of this mass of weary travelers and who knows who or what else. We will check with our kin; no room! There was the inn; I will surely pay the fee: no room! How could this be? Where is God’s plan? Isn’t God concerned about his child? What could God possibly expect of us? I was distraught, feeling I had failed Mary and God, and feeling maybe that it was God who was failing us. As the bad news washed over me and as I walked back to where Mary was waiting a voice behind me called out an idea. There is the stable; it is quiet and private at night; there is clean straw to make a bed; see to the animals, the innkeeper offered, and you can stay the night. I jumped at his offer; I prayed that Mary would understand; I prayed that this was not going against God’s plan. All I could do was the best I could; God, I thought, would understand, I hoped.
No sooner had we made our bed, was Mary feeling the pains of child birth. I was overwhelmed; what should I do? I couldn’t leave Mary to get help, even if I knew where to find it. Women delivered babies! Well, I guess that wasn’t God’s plan; I delivered Jesus; Mary was so good; when the pain would subside, she would explain what to expect as the labor progressed. God did have a plan! The baby came easily; Mary did well; nothing went wrong; Mary told me how to wrap the baby; it was not so different from how I wrapped some of the things I make in my shop, so to protect them for shipping. Mary was exhausted; I cleaned out a feeding trough, added some clean straw and laid Jesus there safely, moving the trough between us; Mary and the baby were soon asleep; I paced a bit, but soon laid down and we all slept some.
It could have been hours later, it might have been just minutes after I had fallen asleep, when I heard the talking of men and the clapping of their sandals as they walked to the entrance of the stable. I was up in a breath; I had no idea what they were up to; there was a pitch fork against the stall; I was ready, so I thought; I it seemed, was never ready for what God had planned for Mary and I.
Our late-night visitors were shepherds, who came only to witness to the miraculous event, which was the birth of Jesus, the Messiah of God, as told them by angels. I thought to myself, an angel had told Mary, and an angel had told me, now angels (plural) had told these shepherds. God even had a plan for witnesses; not just the shepherds but later Gentiles, wisemen from the east and they brought with them gifts that would help carry us safely through another part of God’s plan and they would be witnesses to the world again as God planned.
That folks, was Mary’s and my life; we didn’t always know what would come next, but God had a plan, Jesus became a special person, God’s Son and the Savior of all who would answer his call. Thank you, again, for celebrating Jesus birthday; may your celebration be joyous and meaningful and may God’s plan for you always be clear.