Today's lectionary speaks of the other person who must cooperate with God. In truth Matthew doesn't actually have a Christmas story. There are today's verses which speak of events well before Christmas and then the story of the Magi, which takes place long after Christmas. Nevertheless, the events from today's gospel are critical if Jesus is to have a family, if he is to come from the house of David.
If Mary is incredibly brave and faithful, Joseph comes across as remarkably righteous and kind. He's learned that his wife-to-be is pregnant, and not with his child. You'd think he'd be furious. You'd think he'd lash out. Instead he plans to follow the law and break his engagement, but in a way that is as gentle as possible. And I suppose you can say Joseph is also brave and faithful because he sign's on to the angel's crazy plan as well.
I think about the sort of strength and bravery and faith shown by these two people so critical to the Christmas story, and I wonder what they might think of all the noise and anger in our world at Christmas. I wonder how they would respond to voices that posture and claim to be strong by railing against refugees or Muslims. I wonder how they, who faced very real attempts to kill their son, would react to all the hysteria and fear in our world. I wonder if they would be dumbfounded that people who claim to follow their son can get so bent out of shape because someone says, "Happy Holidays."
As we celebrate the child who was born, in part, because of the quiet bravery and faith of Mary and Joseph, I hope we might learn something from them about the shape of strength and bravery and faith.
Grace and peace to you and yours in this season of joy and peace. Wishing you a wonderful and Merry Christmas!
Click to learn more about the lectionary.
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