Deuteronomy 18:15-20
God will raise up a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.” God said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them prophets like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in the prophet’s mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name; but a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
Mark 1:21-28
They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching--with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
***********************************************************
Two things I have in mind as I start thinking today: one is right at the beginning of the Harry Potter series, when Draco Malfoy says to Harry ‘You don’t want to be seen with the wrong sort, Potter. I can help you there.” and Harry responds “I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks.” This one tiny part defines the whole of the ground of the Potter books - a young man who isn’t afraid to get hurt for what he knows is right, and another young man who is afraid. Harry is the prophet in this story, the one who walks willingly to death for what he believes is right - the power of Love.
The other is the story of First United Church in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side. In case you don’t know, the downtown east side of Vancouver is a centre of drug use and abuse, alcohol abuse, mental illness - and a life expectancy of about 32. First United Church has for many years run a centre where those people who struggle with demons can come for a meal, a place to sleep, connections to help, and unconditional love. First United never saw itself as a shelter, but rather a radical example of the Gospel in action. They became a shelter when the City of Vancouver asked them to do so, because there were not enough shelters for the many homeless. But their rdical living of the Gospel meant that they defied laws which restricted those who could come in to a particular number. They took in anyone who needed a place. They pushed the City to build more shelters. Local police complained they had to answer calls; ambulance attendants claimed they had to go in there to pick up people; there were a couple of assaults. In the end, the shelter will close at the end of March - at the direction of the Presbytery. The three staff who worked to live this radical and prophetic vision of Gospel were forced to resign.
Lots of people these days claim to be speaking on behalf of God. In the current election in the US, people of every stripe, every colour, every religious and political persuasion are all claiming *they* speak on behalf of God. And it’s interesting that much of what God says, according to them, is about hate.
In every denomination, at every level, people claim they speak on behalf of God. The staff at First United on the Downtown East Side said they spoke for God. The Prebsytery says it speaks for God. When we call our ministers, we write in our Joint Needs Assessments that we want strong, relevant preaching, current scholarship, and the word of God. We want prophets to to teach us - but what happens, of course, is that it’s the word of God, if it’s the word we personally agree with, and it isn’t the word of God if we don’t agree.
So the question is, how do we discern who really is speaking for God. Who really carries this authority? In the reading from Deuteronomy we get one idea. Moses is coming to the end of his time, and knows he will not enter the Promised Land. The Israelites want to know who will tell them what God wants, when Moses is gone. Moses tells them that “God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.” But Moses isn’t talking about one prophet, but a new prophet for each generation - the phrase is “raising up prophets.” who will continue to speak on God’s behalf.
In today’s world our guide is not Moses, but Jesus. Anyone who says they are speaking for God must be held up to the ministry and teachings of Jesus. So today Mark takes us to Jesus at the beginning of his public ministry, and in today’s passage, Jesus begins with a sermon in the synagogue in Capernaum. He and the disciples walk in to the synagogue, the resident rabbi hands Jesus the first scroll, and he sits down to teach. So he reads the lesson, and then opens the service with the traditional berakah, or blessing. Probably not more than five minutes into his sermon, it happens. Just when the congregation is starting to notice that the sermon notes are not on an old yellow legal pad, just when they discover that the topic is not being put to them the way the traditional scribes would, just when they are starting to see that faith without action in the world is a dead faith, a raving man in the middle of church shouts vague threats at the young preacher who dared to say something radical.
"I know who you are," the man yells. “You’re God’s holy messenger, come here to destroy us.”
"Be muzzled, you evil spirit" Jesus yells back, jumping up from his chair, "Leave him alone! Stop hurting that man." The man falls to the synagogue floor, tears and shudders going through his body, wails coming from so deep inside they seem to touch a primordial chord in everyone there. Then he becomes calm. He picks himself up, now tranquil and calm, and finds a seat in the congregation.
How would you respond if that happened here? Most of us would be so shocked that we would just sit. Some of us would leave making disgusted faces at such behaviour in church. Maybe we would have called the ambulance and told them to bring the jacket and restraints.
Would you walk out of the church complimenting the preacher on a great sermon? If the teaching went contrary to what you had always been taught by the scribes and Pharisees, what would you do? Isn’t that the LAST thing you would compliment the preacher for? A wonderful teaching, with fresh insight? Yet, that is what happened in Capernaum. The congregation leaves the synangogue commenting about how wonderful the teaching was. What has teaching to do with expunging a demon?
And the crowd is “astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.”(v. 22) This rabbi clearly is different – his teaching sets him apart from those who claim to be the successors of Moses, who claim to have authority from God. We don’t find out *what* Jesus taught, just that he did, and it made an impression.
The religious leaders who claim they speak for God have shunned a man who, according to them, has a “demon”. They have *talked* about the Realm of God on earth. They have used established procedures to interpret and debate the Law of Moses. Their interpretation might be intellectually demanding, but does not demand that they change the way they think, or change their lives.
Jesus is different, because he understands the scholarly interpretations, but he also knows that theory is useless unless it is put into practice. Jesus works to bring God’s realm right in the present situation. So when a man comes to the synagogue, clearly suffering social discrimination, Jesus acts to free the man, so that he has the courage to be who he truly is regardless of what the authorities claim is God’s law.
Jesus’ authority does not come from being born into the *right* family. His authority does not come from attending the right schools or studying with the right people and earning the right degrees. Jesus’ authority is granted by God, and is demonstrated through the many ways in which he works to make the Realm of God a reality throughout his ministry. Jesus is authoritative; but there is a difference between authoritative, and authoritarian.
Two words are crucial in this text; teaching, and authority. Mark wants us to see that in Jesus, God is among us to confront our own demons, the things which hold us back from Gospel of Love. When Jesus is the teacher, teaching is not a snore of a sermon! When Jesus is the teacher at Humber, we all are faced with a choice - to let the demons speak or let Jesus drive them from us so that we learn to live and love in the very same way Jesus did.
All churches tend to deal with issues through the rumor-mill, instead of honest inquiry and ensuring that there is truth. There is not a congregation in any denomination which is free of this behaviour. Talking behind, talking about, half-truth or incomplete information. Gossiping in front of others, putting down things or people. When this happens in a congregation, energies are turned inward, and commitment to the Gospel together is divided. The congregation is divided - the result often is people turn away, just not come because they expect more of us, and we let them down. And interestingly enough, mission and commitment to the world outside our doors begin to take a back seat. Martin Luther once said, "When the gospel is preached, devils are set loose and start to roam among us."
Rev. Thomas Hall, one of my favourite preachers, asks “Could it be that preachers have lost our nerve? Our voice?” I ask “Could it be that we don’t *want* anything transformative to happen at 11 o’clock on Sunday morning? That we don’t want to be disturbed by the Gospel?” Could it be that we preachers have lost our prophetic voice in the face of self-preservation? Could it be that we as a congregation of disciples have lost the sense of mission which brings us to God and then sends us out to Love in risk and sacrifice of ourselves? Could it be that this is a message we want to contain?
If we truly follow Jesus, the stark reality is that we are called to prophecy, even if it gets us hurt. That is the message of the Gospel; Love can get us hurt. Being church can get us hurt. Our task is to work tirelessly at being the “right sort”, so that we are recognisable; our task is to work together for the building up of the whole community of the Gospel.
May it be so.
Sources:
1. The Middle Generations, Joshua 24:1-24 January 27, 2012. A sermon by Rev Christina Berry, outgoing Moderator of the Synod of Lincoln Trails
2. Speaking on Behalf of God? a sermon based on Deuteronomy 18:15-20 & Mark 1:21-28
by Rev. Richard Gehring
3. A New Teaching a sermon based on Mark 1:21-28 by Rev. Thomas Hall
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
“Gifted, Called and Chosen” January 22, 2012 Humber United Church A sermon based upon Jonah 3:2-5, 10; Mark 1:14-20
The word of God came to Jonah a second time, saying,"Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim the message that I tell you." So Jonah went to Nineveh, according to the word of God. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. He cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" The people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that would be brought upon them; and did not do it.
After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea - they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
**************************************************************************
In December of 1955, Rose Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to move to the back of a city bus. Leaders in the African-American community organized a city-wide transportation boycott, and turned to the young black pastor, Martin Luther King, Jr. as the leader. King was just 26 years old, and was torn by issues of call - to ministry, to discipleship. God called him to a vastly different ministry - and the rest is history. He became President of a new organisation called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He organised the great civil rights marches. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. His call spelled the end of his life, figuratively and literally speaking.
January is Black History month, and in particular we remember the call of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday was January 15, 1929. Had he lived, he would have been 83 now.
Poor old Jonah – he really thought he’d got away. In Scene 1, God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah says “no thanks” , takes a ship, and ends up as fish food.
In Scene 2, Jonah is a prisoner in the dank, dark cavern of the fish’s belly. He prays a doleful lament ("God-get-me-out-of-this-jam, selah") that is both inspiring and effective. Up to this point, Jonah’s trip has been a real “downer”. If you follow the Hebrew language, the writer uses the word for "down" to describe Jonah’s journey. Jonah goes . . .
Down to Joppa, down to the ship, down to the innards of the vessel, down into the sea, down into the belly of the fish, down to the land of death.
Then the winds of destiny change. Jonah is now “up” on the beach, having just been dropped off by Moby Dick. Can you see him? He’s still pulling seaweed from his beard when he hears that unmistakable voice.
"Oh Jonah?"
"Yes . . .?"
"It’s me again."
"Oh."
"I still need you to help me."
"Okay, okay. I’ll go where you want me to go, do what you want me to do, etc."
Okay, I said I want you to go to Nineveh.
So Jonah finally arrives at Nineveh to preach. Let’s look at Jonah’s message.
How would you feel if this happened next Sunday at church? Call to worship, hymns, and when when it comes time for the homily, I tell you “In forty days this church will collapse to the ground. May God add his blessing to these words." Well, that is exactly how this reluctant prophet addresses the people of Nineveh. "In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed. The End." The end? What do you mean, "the end?" What’s the rest of the sermon?
Jonah’s message is abrupt. These are the briefest words of prophecy in the entire Bible. We don’t actually know where this brief message came from - God says go and give the message that I will tell you - but nowhere in the entire story does God actually give that particular message to Jonah. Elsewhere in the scriptures, every time a prophet said something, it always started with “Thus saith the Lord....” Every prophet stated clearly and precisely what repentance needed to be done.
We have an interesting insight here that will shed even more light on this revival. The writer carefully uses the word, "Elohim" as the word for "God." Elohim is a generic word, the kind of word you use when you’re not too familiar with God. The people have never heard of Yahweh, but even before all the facts are in, they turn their lives upside down. To the last citizen, the people of Nineveh repent at once.
A couple of thousand years later, Jesus stands before the religious leaders - the equivalent of bishops, and Popes, and says "The people of Nineveh will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But someone greater than Jonah is here, and yet you refuse to repent."
I love comparing the styles of the Gospel writers. Luke is a storyteller, and the writing is graceful. Mark sticks to the bare bones of the story, the ultimate in mininal. Mark has telescoped events that occurred over days, or even weeks, into a couple of moments.
It makes us wonder what Mark considered not important. What’s missing from the text? Andrew was Peter’s younger brother - did he just follow whatever Peter did? What about James and John, the sons of Zebedee? Were they tired of cleaning fish and mending nets? Did they want to get out and see some more of the world?
Mark just tells us a few pieces of information. Two fishermen. Jesus. "Follow me." "At once they left their nets." Repeat again: another two fishermen. Jesus. "Follow me." "At once they left their nets." In five verses Mark tells us an account of how four fishermen just drop everything and follow after Jesus on the whim of an invitation--given in less than twelve words.
Doesn’t that strike you as just a bit odd? Did they really just get up and go, just like that? No
goodbyes? Just immediately drop their plans for their lives? No counting the cost. No weighing of options?
Let’s put it into a more modern context. What would be your response if your teen came to you with this piece of news?
"Guess what? I’ve met this cool guy over the internet."
"Oh? Really? That’s nice."
"Yeah, and he’s asked me to marry him right away, and I said yes!"
"Do you know where he lives? Who his parents are? Does he go to church? Is he Christian? Does he have a job? "
"No, but we’re going to get married right away! Isn’t that great?"
Maybe Jesus wasn’t talking about ‘chronos’ time - chronology, calendar, clock, aging. The words were “The realm of God has come near.” Kairos time, or God’s time. Jonah didn’t want to be part of God’s time, he wanted to do things on his own time. God kept coming after him. Remember the words of Psalm 139 from last week? If I go out into the universe, you are there. If I go to the darkest depths, you are there? Where can I go, that you are not there?
Maybe the fishermen recognised at some deep spiritual level that this was Kairos time. Mark records Jesus using the word "kairos”. God’s time. So when he says “Follow me” he is saying “turn from your sins and embrace this good news." Kairos time means a special time- God’s time - that is, the right time, a time in which your whole life is caught up in a moment, when everything crystallizes, and everything hinges on whether you say yes or no.
I wonder if, to each of us, there comes a time that is Kairos time - a time when we say yes and trust? Martin Luther King recognised that beyond a call to ministry, God called him into an unknown future. The civil rights movement was Kairos time - God’s time.
This isn’t a story about evangelism to other people. It’s a story of invitation--to invite us to open our lives to God’s kingdom. This morning God stands among us calling out to us in kairos time. Time to respond to what God wants to do in your life. Be impulsive! Make a response that comes from deep inside you. Follow your heart, not your head. Plenty of reasons to go back to fishing and mending nets. No time, too busy, have other things to do, gotta cook, work, get the kids through school, attend my aging parent, take a class, sit on a committee. Listen to your heart, respond to God without having all the facts, without knowing, without worrying, just doing it. That’s what being called and named is about.
CALLED
We are called
to leave behind our solitary searching,
to put on that single garment of destiny -
the uniform of faithfulness -
worn by creatures great and small,
old and forgotten,
young and eager,
broken and bewildered,
spirited and set on fire:
sisters and brothers who share not race or tongue,
but whose hearts are claimed by love,
signed by a cross.
Our future is together, arm in arm,
finding healing as we heal,
knowing freedom in our forgiving.
We are the strangest travellers:
seeking no reward at trail's end,
As long as we know the joy of journeying with him.
We are called
Disciples.
We are called His.
Sources:
1. “Called and Named” January 18, 2009 Rev. Fran Ota
2. “God Wants to Save Whom?” a sermon based on Jonah 3:1-5, 10 by Rev. Thomas Hall
3. “Fishers of People” a sermon based on Mark 1:14-20 by Rev. Thomas Hall
4. Poem by Timothy Haut, Deep River, Connecticut. January 18, 2009.
After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea - they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
**************************************************************************
In December of 1955, Rose Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to move to the back of a city bus. Leaders in the African-American community organized a city-wide transportation boycott, and turned to the young black pastor, Martin Luther King, Jr. as the leader. King was just 26 years old, and was torn by issues of call - to ministry, to discipleship. God called him to a vastly different ministry - and the rest is history. He became President of a new organisation called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He organised the great civil rights marches. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. His call spelled the end of his life, figuratively and literally speaking.
January is Black History month, and in particular we remember the call of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday was January 15, 1929. Had he lived, he would have been 83 now.
Poor old Jonah – he really thought he’d got away. In Scene 1, God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah says “no thanks” , takes a ship, and ends up as fish food.
In Scene 2, Jonah is a prisoner in the dank, dark cavern of the fish’s belly. He prays a doleful lament ("God-get-me-out-of-this-jam, selah") that is both inspiring and effective. Up to this point, Jonah’s trip has been a real “downer”. If you follow the Hebrew language, the writer uses the word for "down" to describe Jonah’s journey. Jonah goes . . .
Down to Joppa, down to the ship, down to the innards of the vessel, down into the sea, down into the belly of the fish, down to the land of death.
Then the winds of destiny change. Jonah is now “up” on the beach, having just been dropped off by Moby Dick. Can you see him? He’s still pulling seaweed from his beard when he hears that unmistakable voice.
"Oh Jonah?"
"Yes . . .?"
"It’s me again."
"Oh."
"I still need you to help me."
"Okay, okay. I’ll go where you want me to go, do what you want me to do, etc."
Okay, I said I want you to go to Nineveh.
So Jonah finally arrives at Nineveh to preach. Let’s look at Jonah’s message.
How would you feel if this happened next Sunday at church? Call to worship, hymns, and when when it comes time for the homily, I tell you “In forty days this church will collapse to the ground. May God add his blessing to these words." Well, that is exactly how this reluctant prophet addresses the people of Nineveh. "In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed. The End." The end? What do you mean, "the end?" What’s the rest of the sermon?
Jonah’s message is abrupt. These are the briefest words of prophecy in the entire Bible. We don’t actually know where this brief message came from - God says go and give the message that I will tell you - but nowhere in the entire story does God actually give that particular message to Jonah. Elsewhere in the scriptures, every time a prophet said something, it always started with “Thus saith the Lord....” Every prophet stated clearly and precisely what repentance needed to be done.
We have an interesting insight here that will shed even more light on this revival. The writer carefully uses the word, "Elohim" as the word for "God." Elohim is a generic word, the kind of word you use when you’re not too familiar with God. The people have never heard of Yahweh, but even before all the facts are in, they turn their lives upside down. To the last citizen, the people of Nineveh repent at once.
A couple of thousand years later, Jesus stands before the religious leaders - the equivalent of bishops, and Popes, and says "The people of Nineveh will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But someone greater than Jonah is here, and yet you refuse to repent."
I love comparing the styles of the Gospel writers. Luke is a storyteller, and the writing is graceful. Mark sticks to the bare bones of the story, the ultimate in mininal. Mark has telescoped events that occurred over days, or even weeks, into a couple of moments.
It makes us wonder what Mark considered not important. What’s missing from the text? Andrew was Peter’s younger brother - did he just follow whatever Peter did? What about James and John, the sons of Zebedee? Were they tired of cleaning fish and mending nets? Did they want to get out and see some more of the world?
Mark just tells us a few pieces of information. Two fishermen. Jesus. "Follow me." "At once they left their nets." Repeat again: another two fishermen. Jesus. "Follow me." "At once they left their nets." In five verses Mark tells us an account of how four fishermen just drop everything and follow after Jesus on the whim of an invitation--given in less than twelve words.
Doesn’t that strike you as just a bit odd? Did they really just get up and go, just like that? No
goodbyes? Just immediately drop their plans for their lives? No counting the cost. No weighing of options?
Let’s put it into a more modern context. What would be your response if your teen came to you with this piece of news?
"Guess what? I’ve met this cool guy over the internet."
"Oh? Really? That’s nice."
"Yeah, and he’s asked me to marry him right away, and I said yes!"
"Do you know where he lives? Who his parents are? Does he go to church? Is he Christian? Does he have a job? "
"No, but we’re going to get married right away! Isn’t that great?"
Maybe Jesus wasn’t talking about ‘chronos’ time - chronology, calendar, clock, aging. The words were “The realm of God has come near.” Kairos time, or God’s time. Jonah didn’t want to be part of God’s time, he wanted to do things on his own time. God kept coming after him. Remember the words of Psalm 139 from last week? If I go out into the universe, you are there. If I go to the darkest depths, you are there? Where can I go, that you are not there?
Maybe the fishermen recognised at some deep spiritual level that this was Kairos time. Mark records Jesus using the word "kairos”. God’s time. So when he says “Follow me” he is saying “turn from your sins and embrace this good news." Kairos time means a special time- God’s time - that is, the right time, a time in which your whole life is caught up in a moment, when everything crystallizes, and everything hinges on whether you say yes or no.
I wonder if, to each of us, there comes a time that is Kairos time - a time when we say yes and trust? Martin Luther King recognised that beyond a call to ministry, God called him into an unknown future. The civil rights movement was Kairos time - God’s time.
This isn’t a story about evangelism to other people. It’s a story of invitation--to invite us to open our lives to God’s kingdom. This morning God stands among us calling out to us in kairos time. Time to respond to what God wants to do in your life. Be impulsive! Make a response that comes from deep inside you. Follow your heart, not your head. Plenty of reasons to go back to fishing and mending nets. No time, too busy, have other things to do, gotta cook, work, get the kids through school, attend my aging parent, take a class, sit on a committee. Listen to your heart, respond to God without having all the facts, without knowing, without worrying, just doing it. That’s what being called and named is about.
CALLED
We are called
to leave behind our solitary searching,
to put on that single garment of destiny -
the uniform of faithfulness -
worn by creatures great and small,
old and forgotten,
young and eager,
broken and bewildered,
spirited and set on fire:
sisters and brothers who share not race or tongue,
but whose hearts are claimed by love,
signed by a cross.
Our future is together, arm in arm,
finding healing as we heal,
knowing freedom in our forgiving.
We are the strangest travellers:
seeking no reward at trail's end,
As long as we know the joy of journeying with him.
We are called
Disciples.
We are called His.
Sources:
1. “Called and Named” January 18, 2009 Rev. Fran Ota
2. “God Wants to Save Whom?” a sermon based on Jonah 3:1-5, 10 by Rev. Thomas Hall
3. “Fishers of People” a sermon based on Mark 1:14-20 by Rev. Thomas Hall
4. Poem by Timothy Haut, Deep River, Connecticut. January 18, 2009.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
“Getting to the Front of the Stable” Matthew 1:18-25 Humber United Church, Corner Brook, NL January 8, 2012
A Sunday School was putting on a Christmas pageant which included the story of Mary and Joseph coming to the inn. One boy wanted so very much to be Joseph, but when the parts were handed out, a boy he didn’t like was given that part, and he was assigned to be the inn-keeper instead. He was pretty upset about this but he didn’t say anything to the director.
During all the rehearsals he thought what he might do the night of performance to get even with this rival who got to be Joseph. Finally, the night of the performance, Mary and Joseph came walking across the stage. They knocked on the door of the inn, and the inn-keeper opened the door and asked them gruffly what they wanted.
Joseph answered, "We’d like to have a room for the night." Suddenly the inn-keeper threw the door open wide and said, "Great, come on in and I’ll give you the best room in the house!"
For a few seconds poor little Joseph didn’t know what to do. Thinking quickly on his feet, he looked inside the door past the inn-keeper then said, "No wife of mine is going to stay in a dump like this. Come on, Mary, let’s go to the barn." -And once again the play was back on track!
In all the Christmas pageants performed, Joseph doesn’t get a starring role, but he is far more important than we have ever made him. Think about what he did! Everyone praises the courage of Mary, but who praises the courage of Joseph? Here is a man of integrity who always obeyed religious law, who is engaged to a young girl - he finds out she is pregnant not by him. She says there was no other man, but the Holy Spirit which created the child.
By law he has two choices: he can go through a kind of “divorce”, severing his promise of marriage. Mary and her family would be forced to leave the village go somewhere else, public scrutiny would be too much; by law he could call for her to be stoned to death for adultery.
Yet here is a man who hears angels - and angel who whispers to him to take Mary as his wife, and trust God. So in the English translation, we are told he marries Mary even though she is a ‘virgin’.
However, In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Hebrew meaning of the word used is “young woman”. When the Gospels were written, they were first written in Hebrew - so for Joseph, Mary would not necessarily have been a technical virgin, just a young woman. The word is ‘alma’. In Isaiah 7:14, it says, “a young woman shall conceive and give birth to a child.”
When the Gospels were translated from Hebrew to Greek, there was no corresponding word - and the translator chose the Greek word meaning someone who has not been sexually active.
Yet there was a commitment and a promise between Joseph and Mary. Mary’s father was required to pay a dowry; even though they were technically not married, all the same rules applied. If Joseph should die, she would be called a widow. If she died, he would be called a widower. If the engagement broke up, it would be called a divorce. During the time they were engaged, they were called husband and wife. While they were engaged, they were both to be virgins. The engagement was to last one year and then they were to be married.
In the biblical text, we are told, “Joseph was a just man.” That means that Joseph was a good man, a kind man, an honorable man. The Bible uses the word, “righteous.” Joseph was a righteous man. Then we come to this beautiful line, “Joseph was unwilling to put her to shame.” That line says mountains to us about Joseph. He didn’t want to hurt Mary. He didn’t want to destroy her. He was not punitive. He was not revengeful. He wasn’t out for a pound of her flesh. Instead, Joseph had these feelings of grace towards her, and so he resolved to divorce her quietly. Not tell her parents. Not tell his parents. Not tell the rabbi. Not to tell the court so he could get his money back. So the first story about the birth of Jesus is a story of compassion, a story of grace, a story of a man who had been enormously violated by a pregnant woman and he vowed not to punish her. He had been deeply violated, yet he still cared for her and took care of her.
But the story continues. An angel or divine messenger appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Mary is pregnant by the Spirit of God. The Spirit hovered over her and she is now pregnant. You are to marry her and name the child Jesus for he will save the people from their sins. Call him Immanuel because God is always with us.” And so Joseph remained with Mary because he believed the dream and the message of the angel.
Notice that Joseph never says a word, in the few times he is mentioned in the birth narratives. He listens, he takes actions, but he never speaks. We might assume his words are recorded, because we can imagine the conversations he had with Mary, and the Angel Gabriel. He can “hear” him talking to the innkeeper. We can visualize him teaching Jesus about carpentry…but then he fades from the scene. It is widely thought that Joseph was much older than Mary, which would be consistent with cultural practices. When Jesus finally begins ministry, Mary appears alone - the assumption is that Joseph has died and Mary is a widow.
I think of Joseph as a man of integrity. He was a carpenter - not quite untouchable, but close to the lowest of the low. Yet he was also fluent in several languages - he would have to be, in order to work in the town of Sepphoris near Nazareth, where Greek, Roman and many other cultures rubbed elbows. He would also have been able to read. He seems like a man who plans carefully. When he was secure enough, he began to think about marriage, and approached Mary’s parents. Then he discovered that his bride-to-be was pregnant. As a man of integrity he wanted to do the right thing, in the right way. He considered divorcing Mary when he learned of her pregnancy, but wanted to do so without calling attention to the reason. Instead, he risks being questioned about Mary’s pregnancy and marries her. In those days, a marriage contract was worked out between families, and the engaged couple continued to live with their parents till their wedding. The townspeople could well have thought Mary and Joseph didn’t wait till their wedding. Joseph protected their reputation by moving up the wedding date, and the Roman census took them far away from the town’s questioning eyes.
Although Joseph came from the royal lineage of King David (thanks to the Gospel genealogy), we can easily picture him as a humble man. The brief portrait of him in Scripture suggests he was a quiet, unobtrusive man, available when needed, willing to endure hardship and disappointment. Looking forward to fathering his own child, his first was a child not his own. He accepted the humbling circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth, and he trusted God as much as Mary did.
Instead of being indignant, Joseph accepted this child as his own. Joseph accepted the revealed will of God. He followed the instructions—journeying from Nazareth to Bethlehem, then to Egypt, then back to Nazareth. Instead of putting Mary aside, or rejecting the child, Joseph received the child as a gift from God.
I think it’s high time we take Joseph out from the back of the creche and put him up front, with Mary.
Ann Weems, a Presbyterian elder and lecturer, wrote this poem, called “Getting to the Front of the Stable” (read).
**Note: because of copyright issues, it isn't possible to include the poem here.
Sources:
1. “Getting to the Front of the Stable”, a sermon by Rev. Fran Ota, Christmas 2005.
2. “Joseph and the Virgin Birth”, a sermon by Rev. Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, WA.
3. “Joseph—Father of Jesus” a sermon by Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
4. “Getting to the Front of the Stable”, a poem by Ann Weems. From “Kneeling in Bethlehem”. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia. 1987.
During all the rehearsals he thought what he might do the night of performance to get even with this rival who got to be Joseph. Finally, the night of the performance, Mary and Joseph came walking across the stage. They knocked on the door of the inn, and the inn-keeper opened the door and asked them gruffly what they wanted.
Joseph answered, "We’d like to have a room for the night." Suddenly the inn-keeper threw the door open wide and said, "Great, come on in and I’ll give you the best room in the house!"
For a few seconds poor little Joseph didn’t know what to do. Thinking quickly on his feet, he looked inside the door past the inn-keeper then said, "No wife of mine is going to stay in a dump like this. Come on, Mary, let’s go to the barn." -And once again the play was back on track!
In all the Christmas pageants performed, Joseph doesn’t get a starring role, but he is far more important than we have ever made him. Think about what he did! Everyone praises the courage of Mary, but who praises the courage of Joseph? Here is a man of integrity who always obeyed religious law, who is engaged to a young girl - he finds out she is pregnant not by him. She says there was no other man, but the Holy Spirit which created the child.
By law he has two choices: he can go through a kind of “divorce”, severing his promise of marriage. Mary and her family would be forced to leave the village go somewhere else, public scrutiny would be too much; by law he could call for her to be stoned to death for adultery.
Yet here is a man who hears angels - and angel who whispers to him to take Mary as his wife, and trust God. So in the English translation, we are told he marries Mary even though she is a ‘virgin’.
However, In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Hebrew meaning of the word used is “young woman”. When the Gospels were written, they were first written in Hebrew - so for Joseph, Mary would not necessarily have been a technical virgin, just a young woman. The word is ‘alma’. In Isaiah 7:14, it says, “a young woman shall conceive and give birth to a child.”
When the Gospels were translated from Hebrew to Greek, there was no corresponding word - and the translator chose the Greek word meaning someone who has not been sexually active.
Yet there was a commitment and a promise between Joseph and Mary. Mary’s father was required to pay a dowry; even though they were technically not married, all the same rules applied. If Joseph should die, she would be called a widow. If she died, he would be called a widower. If the engagement broke up, it would be called a divorce. During the time they were engaged, they were called husband and wife. While they were engaged, they were both to be virgins. The engagement was to last one year and then they were to be married.
In the biblical text, we are told, “Joseph was a just man.” That means that Joseph was a good man, a kind man, an honorable man. The Bible uses the word, “righteous.” Joseph was a righteous man. Then we come to this beautiful line, “Joseph was unwilling to put her to shame.” That line says mountains to us about Joseph. He didn’t want to hurt Mary. He didn’t want to destroy her. He was not punitive. He was not revengeful. He wasn’t out for a pound of her flesh. Instead, Joseph had these feelings of grace towards her, and so he resolved to divorce her quietly. Not tell her parents. Not tell his parents. Not tell the rabbi. Not to tell the court so he could get his money back. So the first story about the birth of Jesus is a story of compassion, a story of grace, a story of a man who had been enormously violated by a pregnant woman and he vowed not to punish her. He had been deeply violated, yet he still cared for her and took care of her.
But the story continues. An angel or divine messenger appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Mary is pregnant by the Spirit of God. The Spirit hovered over her and she is now pregnant. You are to marry her and name the child Jesus for he will save the people from their sins. Call him Immanuel because God is always with us.” And so Joseph remained with Mary because he believed the dream and the message of the angel.
Notice that Joseph never says a word, in the few times he is mentioned in the birth narratives. He listens, he takes actions, but he never speaks. We might assume his words are recorded, because we can imagine the conversations he had with Mary, and the Angel Gabriel. He can “hear” him talking to the innkeeper. We can visualize him teaching Jesus about carpentry…but then he fades from the scene. It is widely thought that Joseph was much older than Mary, which would be consistent with cultural practices. When Jesus finally begins ministry, Mary appears alone - the assumption is that Joseph has died and Mary is a widow.
I think of Joseph as a man of integrity. He was a carpenter - not quite untouchable, but close to the lowest of the low. Yet he was also fluent in several languages - he would have to be, in order to work in the town of Sepphoris near Nazareth, where Greek, Roman and many other cultures rubbed elbows. He would also have been able to read. He seems like a man who plans carefully. When he was secure enough, he began to think about marriage, and approached Mary’s parents. Then he discovered that his bride-to-be was pregnant. As a man of integrity he wanted to do the right thing, in the right way. He considered divorcing Mary when he learned of her pregnancy, but wanted to do so without calling attention to the reason. Instead, he risks being questioned about Mary’s pregnancy and marries her. In those days, a marriage contract was worked out between families, and the engaged couple continued to live with their parents till their wedding. The townspeople could well have thought Mary and Joseph didn’t wait till their wedding. Joseph protected their reputation by moving up the wedding date, and the Roman census took them far away from the town’s questioning eyes.
Although Joseph came from the royal lineage of King David (thanks to the Gospel genealogy), we can easily picture him as a humble man. The brief portrait of him in Scripture suggests he was a quiet, unobtrusive man, available when needed, willing to endure hardship and disappointment. Looking forward to fathering his own child, his first was a child not his own. He accepted the humbling circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth, and he trusted God as much as Mary did.
Instead of being indignant, Joseph accepted this child as his own. Joseph accepted the revealed will of God. He followed the instructions—journeying from Nazareth to Bethlehem, then to Egypt, then back to Nazareth. Instead of putting Mary aside, or rejecting the child, Joseph received the child as a gift from God.
I think it’s high time we take Joseph out from the back of the creche and put him up front, with Mary.
Ann Weems, a Presbyterian elder and lecturer, wrote this poem, called “Getting to the Front of the Stable” (read).
**Note: because of copyright issues, it isn't possible to include the poem here.
Sources:
1. “Getting to the Front of the Stable”, a sermon by Rev. Fran Ota, Christmas 2005.
2. “Joseph and the Virgin Birth”, a sermon by Rev. Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, WA.
3. “Joseph—Father of Jesus” a sermon by Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
4. “Getting to the Front of the Stable”, a poem by Ann Weems. From “Kneeling in Bethlehem”. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia. 1987.
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