Isaiah 7: 10 - 16
Psalm 80: 1 – 7, 16 – 18
Romans 1: 1 – 7
Matthew 1: 18 – 25
This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, December 18, 2022 by Fr. Gene Tucker.
“NECESSARY SUPPORTING ROLES”
(Homily text: Matthew 1: 18 – 25)
One of the great mysteries of life is the reality that God, that great, almighty God whom we worship and adore, chooses to work with human beings to carry out His plans and purposes for the world. (Not that I’m complaining, you understand…it’s an awesome thought to realize that we matter to God, and that God uses us human beings – normal, everyday human beings like Joseph and Mary – to be the agents by which He works.)
This morning, then, we are treated to Matthew’s account of God’s working with Joseph, Mary’s soon-to-be-husband, as God lays plans to intervene in human affairs directly through the birth of Jesus.
Given the circumstances of the society of the day and its expectations, Mary’s unanticipated pregnancy posed some real challenges – yes, even dangers - for both Joseph and for Mary. For, in those days and in those times, one did not become pregnant without the benefit of marriage.[1] To find oneself in such circumstances was to bring dishonor and shame to oneself and to one’s family. Matthew takes care to tell us about Joseph’s own struggle with the implications of Mary’s situation (see Matthew 1: 19).
It’s clear that God had work to do with Joseph to get him ready to assume the role that he would play in providing for and protecting Mary and the infant Jesus. (God also had work to do in getting Mary ready for her role in this divine drama. That is the focus of Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth…see Luke 1: 26 – 38.)
Joseph’s role in Jesus’ birth and growing-up years was indispensable to God plan. For it would fall to Joseph to be the financial supporter of Mary and Jesus, and to be their protector, particularly as they are forced to flee from King Herod’s wrath (see Matthew 2: 13 – 15).
But, the question with which we began is still before us: Why does God choose to work with and alongside human beings, often, normal, everyday human beings, people who are – in the world’s estimation of their importance – of little account? I’m not sure I can answer that question, for it is one which is bound up in the mysteries of God, one that we will have to wait to receive an answer to when we see God in eternity.
The inescapable truth is, however, that God does choose to work through and with people.
God chooses to work through and with you and me. By virtue of our coming to an intimate, intense, lively and personal faith relationship with God, we are fitted out to be ready to do whatever God has in mind for us, so that His will and His purposes in the world can unfold. Essentially, that’s the story of both Joseph and Mary, for they both said “yes” to God’s invitation to be part of His plan for the saving of the world. (Mind you, each of them could have declined the invitation, and we shouldn’t look down on them if they had, for there was great personal danger to each of them, given the situation, as we examined a moment ago.)
We know from Matthew’s description that Joseph seemed to struggle with God’s call. In the fulness of time, God intervened to make clear to him just what God was doing, and what his role in God’s plan would be. We don’t know how long Joseph struggled with the challenges he faced, though I think we can be sure that there was some passage of time until God intervened to clarify the situation.
One final observation is in order: If God calls us to do something in order for His will and His plan to come into being, God can – and often does – keep after us until we grasp the nature and the scope of God’s plan. God can be quite a pest, if need be. We need to be prepared for that, and come to the realization that it is in our best interest to say, along with Joseph and Mary, that we are ready to be God’s instruments for the advancement of God’s kingdom in the world.
AMEN.
