Courage to Love
Courage to Love
By Rev. Terri Swan
Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. When Mary his mother was engaged to Joseph, before they were married, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband was a righteous man. Because he didn’t want to humiliate her, he decided to call off their engagement quietly. As he was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Now all of this took place so that what the Lord had spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled: Look! A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will call him, Emmanuel. (Emmanuel means “God with us.”) When Joseph woke up, he did just as an angel from God commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he didn’t have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. Joseph called him Jesus.
During worship this Advent season at Salem, we have been focusing on the angels in our sermon series, “Hark.” We have learned that like the angels, as believers, we are to be messengers of God in the world, especially in sharing His love. In this story, once again, we meet an angel who is a messenger of the Lord to Joseph. We see through Joseph’s actions, that he accepted the God’s message from the angel.
Joseph’s actions took great courage. Joseph defied the norms of society and the rules of the day when he took Mary as his wife. He chose to believe even when society said not to.
Mary was betrothed to Joseph. In today’s understanding betrothal is a promise, but the process of engagement and marriage was quite different in the time of Jesus. This betrothal involved a contract with payment of a bride price, and thus it constituted a binding legal procedure. This contract could only be broken by a legal reversal, which was considered a divorce. So, this betrothal was a pre-marriage-marriage, and sexual infidelity was considered adultery and subject to the legal penalties of adultery in that society.
So, when Joseph discovered that Mary was with child, he had some decisions to make.
Old Testament law said Mary could be stoned to death – obviously Joseph did not want harm to come to her because this is not even considered here in the scripture. The question Joseph faced was whether to proceed with a public trial to determine whether Mary had sexual relations with another man. This would establish Joseph’s innocence in the pregnancy and force Mary’s parents to repay the bridal price. Unfortunately, such a procedure would have subjected her to public disgrace. Joseph’s only other choice would be to seek a private divorce.
As we read in the verse 19, “Joseph, her husband was a righteous man. Because he didn’t want to humiliate her, he decided to call off their engagement quietly.”
Joseph was a righteous man–in other words a law-abiding man–one who followed the rules. So, it is natural that he would begin to think about what must be done in the eyes of the law. However, God intervened and helped him see beyond his circumstance.
Joseph’s thinking about divorce was interrupted in his dream–by the appearance of an angel of the Lord – a messenger. Joseph was instructed to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife.
If I had a dream like the one Joseph had, I would have been tempted to chalk it up to a restless night of worry, but Joseph did not. He took the messenger’s words to heart and chose love, instead of fear. Instead of being the one who would decide the plans and future–he let a child lead them into a new path for the future.
Joseph embodies sacrificial love and shows us what real love does for others in the face of fear.
We have all been faced with tough decisions and times that are difficult.
There is a question in making decisions that I use to guide me: “Am I making this decision from fear or love? Am I being driven by fear? Or Am I being guided by love?”
Joseph could have been driven by the fear of what others would say or do in light of Mary’s pregnancy, but he didn’t. He chose to be guided by love.
Do not be afraid – do not fear – Whatever you are going through it may not be what you planned – It may be something that came out of nowhere and uprooted everything, but God’s love may be born from it. IF you let love guide you. Because it is when we let love guide us that we know fully that God is present.
During this Advent season, reflect upon the courage love takes in the face of life’s circumstances. And say these words: I believe even when it takes courage to love. Help me be a messenger of God’s love. God is with us. Emmanuel.