Fourth Sunday of Advent - Emmanuel, God is with us

A mother tells the story of her five-year-old daughter and three-year-old son watching the Christmas story on TV. As she was preparing dinner, she heard her littlest one ask his older sister, “What is a Virgin?” The mother said, ‘’ As my mind raced to come up with an answer, her five-year-old daughter answered it, it’s a lady who eats all her vegetables.’’ One afternoon after hearing the Divine Praises at benediction, a family were leaving church and their little third-grade son asked his parents, ‘’What’s a most chased spouse?’’ The mother replied: ‘’A chaste spouse is someone’s husband or wife who is good and pure and holy. Why do you ask?’’  ‘’Our prayers in church called St. Joseph Mary’s most chaste spouse’’, he said. Mom asked, ‘’What do you think it means?’’ A little embarrassed, the boy answered, ‘’Well, I thought it meant that all the girls chased after him, but Mary got him in the end.”

St. Luke’s version of the angel’s annunciation to Mary is very popular. Our one stained glass window pictures the scene and there are many, many famous paintings of the event. I can’t remember ever having seen one picture that depicts today’s gospel from St. Matthew of the annunciation to Joseph. Luke’s annunciation has a much greater poetic beauty, but Matthew’s annunciation to Joseph has a message of its own. Matthew’s account reveals some of the anxiety Joseph experienced before Jesus was born, and perhaps, as a result Mary had some anxieties as well.

We will soon sing: “Silent Night, all is calm, all is bright”, however, even with angels singing and kings arriving, all was not calm or bright. In the Jewish tradition, marriage was a two-step process. First there was a formal exchange of consent before witnesses. The second step was at a later time (usually about a year later) when the groom took the bride to his home. Even before they came to live together, legally they were married. The gospels do not tell us what emotions Mary may have gone through after the visit of the angel. St. Luke stresses the joy she felt in the beautiful hymn, the Magnificat. But she may have experienced some fear too, knowing now she was going to have a child but not by the man she was committed to. Would Joseph accept her?

If she were to be judged as sinful according to Deuteronomy (22:20-21), the penalty would be execution by stoning. There is much we do not know, but we do know, especially with this story about Joseph, that there must have been some anxious moments. I can’t imagine that Mary would not have confided in Joseph, but we don’t know what Joseph thought about the situation.  Saints and theologians and scripture scholars have differed on what might have motivated Joseph to divorce her. He planned on doing it quietly which means he was not going to call for a public trial. Was he afraid that he was not worthy of the honor of being married to Mary and of being the legal father of this holy child she was bearing? Or was he afraid, being a righteous man as Matthew describes him, that he was breaking the law of God by accepting her into his home? All we know is that it must have been a troubling time.

But a vision put Joseph at peace, so obediently, like Mary did when the angel appeared to her, he did what the angel asked him to do. As in Luke’s gospel, the angel appeared to Joseph affirmed that Mary conceived miraculously through the Holy Spirit and her son would be God with us. This is an important theme in Matthew that in Jesus God is with us. It opens Matthew’s gospel and it ends Matthew’s gospel when Jesus tells his apostles before his ascension ‘’behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

One other lesson Joseph can teach us is that he had an important job to do and it didn’t get him much credit or recognition. Is it enough satisfaction just to know we’ve done it well without anyone praising us for it? If we can say ‘’ yes’’ to that, that’s all that’s important. When we think of Joseph today, we might think of all the wonderful people in our society and in our lives who, without a lot of fanfare, make good things happen and be grateful for them and grateful to all God for giving them to us. I am certainly grateful for all the great and wonderful people who are here at St Mark’s – All of you!