Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” 

When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. – Matthew 1:18-25 (NRSV)

I don’t know about you, but my dreaming has been off the charts since COVID hit back in March.  Almost all of them nonsense.  Places that don’t make sense with people who don’t make sense being there, all with little or no redeeming value.  Sometimes I remember enough of them to share with my family.  I think they are getting concerned about me – at least that’s what last night’s dream indicated...

Dreams sometimes provide insight into our lives, at other times they serve simply as a release valve for our over-worked and over-stressed brains, and at times God speaks in dreams.  I’ve had a few over my lifetime that I couldn’t shake and that spoke to me.  In ancient times, people took such things extremely seriously.  So, while we may laugh off Joseph’s dream as the result of too many slices of pizza, the original hearers of the story would have understood it as a sign of God’s voice.  What’s harder for you to believe, that the angel Gabriel would show up to Mary in broad daylight, or that an angel would speak to Joseph in a dream?  What would have more influence on you?

            We know that Joseph was troubled as he drifted off to sleep.  Of course.  The news of Mary’s pregnancy was a serious infraction.  Some were likely calling for her to be stoned.  Joseph would have to throw the first one.  He may have wanted to kill her for what this was doing to his life, but he didn’t really want her dead.  His decision to cut his losses, to see it for what it was – a dead end – made sense.  Lights out.

            The dream’s message was offering an alternative narrative and possibility, however.  This was not the end but a beginning to a different story than he could have imagined.  It didn’t have to mean the end of hope. God was up to something – would Joseph like to get in on it?  “God with us” was the possibility – would Joseph play his part to help usher it in?

            Such a dilemma is not for the faint of heart.  It is a very human issue.  Extremely relevant.  We are all Joseph at one time or another.  We get a bad deal.  Life doesn’t treat us fairly.  People we thought we could trust don’t appear so.  People we care about hurt us.  The plans we had are laid waste.  A lot of us feel this right now thanks, in small or large measure, to COVID-19.  Some of us have lost loved ones to COVID-19.  Some have lost jobs.  Some have lost loved ones to other things but had to soldier on alone due to safety restrictions.  Some have lost their businesses.  Some have lost their homes.  It’s okay, by the way, to “fly the bird” at COVID-19 and bid it a fine F-You!  Good release.  Cathartic.  COVID is like the honey badger – it doesn’t care what you think.

            Like Joseph, we are faced with our own decisions as to how to respond to what we are all experiencing.  Joseph’s initial reaction was to divorce Mary.  That may appear kind and honorable, but it meant awful things for Mary and only sympathy for Joseph.  There is a kind of retribution in his decision which is completely understandable and rational.  It was a decision that served to protect his ego and sort of soothe his pain.

In his dream, however, he was told that God was still in the game and was wanting to even use this to bring more of God into the world.  It could still happen without Joseph.  Yet God was extending an invitation to him to join in.  All he had to do was choose the way of shalom over retribution, the way of God over ego.  Not easily done, and very disorienting.

There is another character named Joseph in the Bible’s first book of Genesis.  He is the 11th son of his very wealthy dad, Jacob, and the first-born son of his mom, Rachel.  He was created from true love, and he was dad’s favorite.  Everybody knew it, which lead to family problems.  Joseph was a dreamer and interpreter of dreams.  Sometimes the dreams were highly offensive to his brothers, who eventually reached the tipping point and got rid of Joseph by selling him into slavery in Egypt.  Not fair!  I think Joseph would be a bit angry, don’t you?  He made the best of slavery, but yet again was mistreated.  Not fair!  He was even imprisoned.  Not fair!  He made the best of it and thought he had worked out a deal with a guy who owed him a big favor that would lead to him getting released from prison.  The guy forgot for a long time.  Not fair!  Over a long period of time Joseph didn’t only grow older, he matured.  There is a world of difference between the two, isn’t there?  He let go of his anger and hatred that was eating him alive (no doubt), and instead chose the way of shalom, which also happens to lead to more shalom.  After an incredible series of events, the story gets a happy ending.  The family is reunited.  The future of Israel is secured.  God was with them the whole time.

To review, that story was about a Joseph whose dreams were used by God to invite him into what God was doing in the world, who ended up traveling all the way to Egypt, only to discover God was still with him.

In Jesus’ birth narrative, a different Joseph dreams of God inviting him to participate in what God is wanting to do – bring Emmanuel into the world, bring more “God with us” into our world.  If you’ve read ahead, you know that this Joseph also traveled to Egypt after Jesus was born (which means Jesus did, too).  Then the respective families eventually made their way back home.  It’s actually a recurring theme that runs the length of the Bible, which means there is a lesson to be learned here.  Life continually cycles through Order-Disorder-Reorder.  If you think about it for a while, you will see the pattern in your life.  When we’re in the middle of the disorder, we forget that this is simply part of life.  We freak out.  We react instead of responding.  We choose to divorce Mary quietly. But when we are still enough, I wonder if, like Joseph, we will be able to hear the voice of God inviting us to play our part in bringing Emmanuel into the world, more God with us than before.

Take heart, my friends!  And listen up!  Advent reminds us that God is with us and compels us to follow the lead of those in the story who heard the invitation to play their part, say yes.