St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Wesley Chapel, FL
Preacher: The Rev. Adrienne R. Hymes
December 18, 2022
Advent IV (Year A)
Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25
Lord, take our minds and think through them. Take our mouths and speak through them. Take our hearts and set them on fire. –Amen.
All around us, we see people, sometimes in our own mirrors, who affirm the glaring truth of our reality 21st century society—people are cranky. When young children are cranky, their mood is attributed to two things—they are tired or hungry (that doesn’t change much for adults, by the way). There’s even a new word to describe anger created by hunger—hangry.
When someone is cranky, or hangry, extending mercy to another, who has minimally slighted them, or has caused harm to them, is not only difficult, but out of the question. Compassion is elusive and mercy is all but absent. And, of all the times of the year when this is most evident, it is ironic that this crankiness (and sometimes, downright hatefulness) is the most prevalent in this most holy season of Advent and shortly, Christmas.
In today’s gospel passage in the first chapter of Matthew, the righteous man Joseph, Mary’s husband, is portrayed by the gospel writer as one who chooses the mercy of God over his obligation to follow Torah law.
According to Torah Law, Joseph was well within his rights, to publicly shame Mary and have her, and as a result, the child within her womb, killed for the high crime of fornication. Who could blame Joseph for reacting in a retaliatory way, toward a wife believed to have betrayed him, and who would surely cause him embarrassment and humiliation? Who could blame Joseph if he found it difficult, if not out of the question, to extend mercy to an unfaithful wife? But the writer of the gospel does not describe Joseph’s emotions, nor does the writer have him speak. We hear only the voices of the narrator and the angel, followed by the actions of Joseph.
Recall that before the angel’s visitation in Joseph’s dream, he believed that he had been betrayed and had already decided to spare Mary from public disgrace—an act of mercy. We are to view Joseph as the righteous man who followed Torah law, but acted, first, in obedience to God’s will.
Joseph’s existing desire to be merciful to Mary shows us that God selected a willing vessel for God’s divine mercy to move God’s plan for human salvation forward. By today’s standards, neither Joseph’s taking of Mary as his wife, nor his naming of the child, might seem extraordinary.
Yet, in obedience to God’s will, Joseph’s taking Mary as his wife was an extraordinary act of mercy which saved her life and, consequently, the life of the child in her womb.
Moreover, culturally, women would normally name their children. Yet, the angel of the Lord said to Joseph, “…You are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” In obedience to God’s will, Joseph named the child Jesus, which means “he saves.” Through Joseph’s actions, Jesus’ life’s purpose was embedded in his name, and he was simultaneously adopted into the Davidic line. For the gospel writer, these are critical actions which position Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah for the Jewish people.
Joseph had a critical role to play in God’s plan of salvation history. Because Joseph was obedient to God, Mary and Jesus’ lives were saved. And, because Jesus’ life was spared by Joseph’s extraordinary act of mercy toward Mary, our souls have also been saved.
Perhaps many of us can relate to the Joseph we did not encounter in our passage—the Joseph who might be a bit more relatable; the Joseph who seek retribution for the shame brought upon him; the Joseph for whom extending mercy to the one who has done him wrong, was out of the question.
We see that Joseph all around us, and if we are honest with ourselves, we are all capable of being that Joseph.
It would be unrealistic to think that followers of Jesus don’t experience spiritual dryness or become cranky towards others to the point that it can be hard for us to reflect Christ’s light, and choose mercy over anger and retaliation. Children of God are called to be self-aware; and to notice when a mood of spiritual crankiness takes hold, as none of us are immune.
We must use scripture to witness to and aspire to a higher level of humanity which willingly responds to God’s divine instruction and extends God’s mercy, even when it is difficult. In witnessing Joseph’s non-verbal responses throughout this passage, God’s faithful people are reminded that we, like Joseph, must not only do merciful acts, but choose to be merciful in accordance with the nature of God.
The truth is that people aren’t just spiritually hungry; they are starving—they are spiritually hangry. They aren’t just tired; they seek rest from the weariness of life’s spiritual assaults. There’s no wonder why experiences of spiritual crankiness, and spiritual hangriness are so prevalent. But, it does not have to be; there is an antidote to such spiritual starvation and despair which keep those who do not yet know Christ in a death-dealing mood of spiritual crankiness and a perpetual state of spiritual hangriness. The antidote is nourishing souls with the bread of life—Jesus Christ.
I have been reflecting a lot on the words restore and restoration. To restore means to bring back. Through Christ, God takes our human brokenness and restores us to God’s divine wholeness. Might you be a willing, and obedient instrument of God’s mercy to lead those who walk in darkness to the light of the world who was born to “save God’s people from their sins?” Might you care enough about another’s spiritual starvation and spiritual exhaustion to risk asking, “Sister, is your soul starving?” “Brother, does your soul seek rest?” Come to the holy table to be fed by the holy food and drink of Christ’s body and blood. And, rest in the assurance of God’s restoration, to perfect wholeness in Him, for all who believe in Jesus Christ.
May we be empowered by the Holy Spirit to know how to refuse the evil and choose the good. And may we be powerfully equipped to companion those in spiritual peril as God calls out to them to seek a relationship with the One in whom souls hunger no more; the One in whom there is perfect rest and restoration; and the One for whom mercy is never out of the question. Amen.
